Olympic athletes push themselves to the maximum to achieve world-class success. But the rest of us part-time athletes should listen to our bodies after a tough workout and be smart about recovery.

“The reason today’s athletes are achieving such fantastic scores is that they’ve learned to workout smart,” Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a cardiologist and former elite athlete tells Newsmax. “You train hard for two days and then allow at least three days of recovery to help muscles repair themselves and become stronger.”

Here are some tips:

1. Follow an intense workout with a day of light training. If you’re a runner, try swimming or walking the next day. “If you’re sore, listen to your body and ease off entirely,” says Mirkin. “The old adage of ‘no pain, no gain’ is obsolete.”

2. Replenish your body. Try to eat carbohydrates and 20 to 30 grams of protein within a half hour of exercising to help your muscles recover and grow, according to the Mayo Clinic. Hydration is critical to ensure the body functions and recovers properly, so it’s necessary to drink before, during, and after working out. Ideally, you’ll drink water, but workouts over an hour merit a sports drink to boost electrolytes and energy.

3. Get 7 to 9 hours sleep. Dr. Akshay Syal, a board-certified internal medicine physician at UCLA Health tells TODAY.com that sleep is essential to sports recovery.

4. Hop into a sauna. Syal says that the dry heat can help your muscles recover faster. Massage can also help, say experts. It loosens the muscles to relieve tightness and soreness.

5. Ice an injury. If you suffer an injury and your joint is swollen, apply ice to calm it down. Always check with a healthcare professional if you are concerned about the severity of an injury.

6. Seek medical help. According to Houston Methodist, if joint swelling comes on rapidly and is associated with one of the warning signs below, it's important to seek treatment to rule out a fracture or other serious injury:

• Any deformity of the limb’

• Inability to bear weight.

• Persistent joint pain.

• Significant swelling with inability to move fingers or toes.

• Swelling of a joint that comes on rapidly.

• Weakness when moving a limb or muscle