You’re training a lot. Maybe you’re sore and want to expedite the recovery process. Maybe you’re just looking to get the most out of your training. Recovery is a bit of a buzz term these days, but what actually constitutes good recovery?
Should I stretch or foam roll?
Sauna or ice bath?
Massage or dry needling?
I actually find this topic so frusssstrating. It’s really so damn simple, but we’ve taken something so straightforward, simple, cheap and accessible and made it complex, confusing, expensive and innacessible.
After you’ve stressed your body, your body needs to recover.
How? Fuel 🤝 Rest. That’s it.
It’s pretty damn simple.
FUEL ⛽️
Hydration and food.
Drink water. If you’re running somewhere hot ± humid and you’ve sweated HEAPS, then consider a electrolyte drink. But unless you’re training in the tropics, simply drinking water and eating normal food will do a very good job of replenishing electrolytes. You’d be surprised how much sodium is in your lunch already.
Eat lots. Carbohydrate and protein. You don’t have to do anything crazy here, just a balanced diet will do it. The kicker is you probably need to eat WAY MORE than what you already are. Often it’s useful to top up your regular meals with an extra shake or snack to get that extra protein + carbohydrate top up.
REST 😴
Rest means sleep, it means laying on the couch, it means reading a book or playing xbox. It means actual downtime where you’re not engaging with your chosen sport. Sleep has been studied endlessly and it’s been so comprehensively proven that averaging >7.5hr per night has a significant impact on performance and injury risk. Rest also includes mental rest away from your sport.
If you nail the above, that’s 95% of your recovery done.
If you’re already doing the above 95% well, then congratulations you’re training like an elite athlete and we can then discuss the other 5%:
Sauna, ice, compression boots, active recovery, infrared, foam rolling, stretching, massage, hyperbaric therapy, la la la the list goes on. They’re all useful, but not essential.
Most of them cost money, they cost time, and they cost mental effort.
And if they’re taking time away from actual rest, they might be doing more harm than good 👀
One of the arguments is a lot of these modalities improve “blood flow”. Yeah 🤦♂️ so does walking.
Another argument is some modalities may reduce inflammation. This may be true, particularly with cold water immersion. Inflammation, however, is a necessary part of the recovery process. It’s how your body rebuilds after exercise. So blunting the inflammation process is blunting your body’s ability to adapt to the work that you’ve done. We know this is true with cold water immersion after strength training reducing hypertrophy gains. Ice baths are GREAT to reduce next day soreness, so if you’re doing multiday efforts or a sports tournament where you need to perform on consecutive days, they are fantastic. If you’re just in your regular training, ice baths may make you feel better, but are likely blunting your body’s adaptation to the hard work you’re doing.
Lastly, there’s no such thing as a recovery run.
You’re either stressing your body, or you’re recovering from the stress. There’s literally no in between. You can’t run and recover at the same time. It’s a silly grey area. Just call it an easy run 🤣
So spend less time worrying about recovery, less time commuting to the sauna, and spend that time eating food on the couch. Your body will thank you for it.