"It is better to be 10% under-trained than 1% over-trained when you step to the start line."
~Scott Murr
The body first needs to adapt to the additional stresses training provides. Many things affect how quickly our bodies adapt and recover, such as age, fitness level, life stressors, level of health, diet, sleep, and exercise background. Therefore, everyone recovers differently and at different rates. It is important that you figure out how your own body adapts to training. Experts do recommend certain principals that seem to work for most people. For example, "conventional wisdom calls for following the hard/easy principle of training, which is typically interpreted to mean that a hard effort is always followed by 1 or more recovery days." A recovery day can mean anything from an easy run, cross-training, or rest. Note: It is important not to train too hard, or go too far on recovery days because that just defeats the purpose :) Recovery should not put additional stress on the body. A good way to prevent training too hard on an easy day is to use a heart rate monitor.
Follow this simple cycle...
Overload, fatigue, recovery, adaptation
...and you will become fitter and faster.
Overload: A planned, systematic, and progressive increase in training stress in order to improve fitness and/or performance.
Train hard and fatigue, then recover while your body adapts. According to Run Less, Run Faster: "The key to getting faster is to combine the appropriate amount of training (quality training) with adequate rest and recovery."
Advanced Marathoning provides a chart of how many days you should wait between certain types of workouts.
Monitoring Recovery
~Record Training: Keep written records of daily physical activities.~Check your weight: Day to day decreases in weight indicate dehydration, decreases over weeks indicate you are not taking in enough calories.
~Morning Heart Rate/Running HR: Check your morning heart rate daily. "If your morning heart rate is more than 5 beats per minute higher than usual, this may be an indication of inadequate recovery or illness." If your heart rate is more than 7 beats higher at a specific pace than usual, you are most likely not recovered from a previous workout.
~Environmental Conditions: Your body undergoes more stress when you run at 80 degrees and 80% humidity than at lower temps and lower humidity. When you run in the heat, your core temperature climbs which increases the amount of recovery you need. Furthermore, everyone is affected differently by heat so track your training and make adjustments as needed.
~Amount of Sleep: Losing some sleep one night is not a big deal, however, not get enough sleep every night eventually takes a toll on the body.
~Quality of Sleep: More important than the amount of sleep. Reduced sleep quality may be associated with over training.
~Quality of Diet: Diet greatly affects running and a lack of energy can be traced back to poor eating habits.
~Hydration Level: Dehydration affects running performance and increases the amount of time it takes to recover. Be sure to monitor hydration levels daily.
~Muscle Soreness: General muscle soreness provides an indication of recovery and adaption to training. Be sure the soreness is not an injury.
~Energy Level: "An assessment of energy level is one of the best indications of recovery from training. Evaluate your energy level each day." Reduced energy level could mean a variety of things such as, lack of carbohydrate intake, training too hard, illness, low iron level, lack or sleep and dehydration.
Techniques to Speed Recovery
~Hot/Cold Contrast Therapy: "There is evidence that hot/cold contrast therapy causes alternating dilation and constriction of blood vessels to improve blood flow, thereby increasing elimination of lactate and other products of hard exercise."
~Massage Therapy/Foam Roll: Running causes a lot of muscle tightness and does damage to the muscle fibers themselves. It is the time between running that our bodies repair themselves. Elite runners use massage therapy to speed recovery and prevent injury. Some benefits of massage therapy include: improved blood flow to the massaged area, muscle relaxation, improved mobility and flexibility of the muscles and surrounding tissues, and the breakdown of scar tissue. Cons: Massages are expensive! I try to foam roll, especially after particularly challenging workouts.
~Compression Apparel: "Compression apparel applies external pressure to the muscle groups." Examples of popular compression apparel include socks and tights. Paula Radcliffe, for example, wears compression socks. They can be worn during and/or after running to speed recovery.
~Adequate post workout nutrition: You will recover from a run quicker if you immediately replenish glycogen stores (read: eat/drink) after your run. It is important to do so within the first hour after running because your body's ability to absorb and produce glycogen drops 66%! Aim to take in 300-400 calories with the first hour after running.
~Adequate Cool Down: The cool down after a run is meant to return your body back to its resting state. The cool down improves recovery by removing lactic acid from the muscles and blood, reducing adrenaline levels and reducing muscle stiffness.
Recovery and rest are as essential to a runner's training plan as track work, tempo runs, and long runs. Recovery needs to be taken seriously, if we want to get better as runners.
Question: What is your favorite way to recovery after a hard run?
My favorite recovery tool is the foam roller!! It is like a massage you can give yourself. Dan uses my foam roller on his back all the time.
Do you have a foam roller? Do you want one? CSN has been kind enough to sponsor another giveaway! I will be giving away the J Fit Extra Durable High Density 36" Round Foam Roller worth $49.99 to a lucky reader!
To Enter:
1.) Leave me a comment telling me your favorite way to recover after a hard run. (Mandatory)
For Additional Entries:
2.) Be or become a follower.
3.) Link back to this post in a tweet.
4.) Link back to this post on your blog (+2 entries!)
Good luck! I will choose a winner Tuesday, August 31.
Sources
Advanced Marathoning
Run Less, Run Faster
Wow if I did 20 miles, I'd spend the rest of the day recovering and you're going camping!! Have fun.