Welcome back to All Things Running with Sonja & Jen. Today Jen is going to talk about the best recovery tools. Health and fitness equipment is a 20 billion dollar industry. There are no shortage of ways to help you recover from working out.
The irony is that your body is supposed to recover on its own. The adaptations we get from training will help improve our performance. The theory goes that if you can speed up this process then you can do more work but not so fast.
Stress + Rest = Growth
I have my fair share of tools. In fact I’m pretty nerdy about it all. They all have their place but I don’t use them very often. The tools I prioritize do not cost me extra.
Rest - getting 7-8 hours of quality sleep is my goal every night. If I get one lousy night of rest that sets me back 5 days.
Nutrition - Eat and do it often. Eat a variety of foods. Fuel your body. One busy day and not prioritizing myself will leave me sluggish for 2 days.
Stretching - I love yoga. I no longer go to a studio. I do some on my own just made up with what feels good but when I want a longer session I have a DVD that is 20 years old that I use. I know but sometimes the old way was pretty good & cheap. If I don’t do yoga at least once a week then by the end of the 2nd week I’m needing extra days off as I’m too tight and everything hurts.
Drills - my warmup drills I do with precision. This allows me to check in with my body every day to identify what is tight or sore. I’ll focus on these areas for stretching & prehab work.
Recovery - Taking my easy days easy or taking a day or two off if my body is screaming at me. I don’t make a big deal about it. If I am that tired or sore, I know my body is already recovering from something or fighting off germs. I don’t have a problem with motivation. My problem is usually not listening to how I feel. If I power through and don’t listen then my body will force me to take time off for 5 days.
Training program - following a well thought out plan. Yes at times I will and I know have more fatigue in my training but this is not sustainable. I know that it needs to be followed by a less intense plan or rest. I can’t go hard every day, week or month of the year.
Inflammation - I use a cold bath not ice or turn down the water at the end of a shower. This always helps decrease inflammation. I’m puffy going in and not coming out. I can see the difference in my feet & calves.
Hydration - Making sure I am always well hydrated. Especially during the winter when the air is very drying.
20 minute Power Nap - this is my favorite and if you can squeeze in closing your eyes for 20 minutes it is a game changer.
Self massage - I’ll often use my own hands to flush out my legs. It is not that hard. In fact I always massage & prime my muscles on race day before my warm up. Just to make sure everything is loose & flowing before I start. Watch the pro’s. It is like kneading dough. It is gentle not aggressive.
Let’s talk about why we reach for tools without pointing fingers at any one device in particular.
Soreness - it is cause by micro damage to muscle tissue or fascia. So if you are already sore and you then start pounding your muscles with devices or putting your full body weight on them, how is this healing the tissue?
Tightness - Usually something in your bones is out of place creating an imbalance that causes a pulling sensation from your muscles, tendons or ligaments. So banging on them isn’t going to realign your bones.
If you can get to the root cause of why you are experiencing what you are feeling then that is where you should start. All the tools in the world can’t change that.
Remember any work on muscle tissue via a massage, rollers, guns, cups, needles also require recovery. I find that when I get cupped that it takes me 3 days from the cupping to not feel fatigue. When I get a full deep body massage, I feel unwell or even sick for 2 days and I’m not fully recovered for 5 days. So again, just a reminder that some of the simple tools like an extra half hour of sleep might actually make you feel better than all the tools in the world.
Tools have their place and can be quite useful but we should prioritize the free things and take care of our bodies.
Sonja and Jennifer are sharing their personal experiences. This is being provided for informational purposes only. We are not giving medical advice and you should always consult your own doctor for advice related to your own health.