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Heart Recovery
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atxtri1
Jul 28, 14 9:07
Post #1 of 5 (531 views)
After doing an Olympic race yesterday, I got to thinking of my schedule this coming week, and really just post-recovery in general. My racing background includes 4 IMs, 9 HIMs, and over 30 Olympics. I usually can swim the day after races (usually take a day off from run/ride to let the legs rest), and I know a lot of folks do a day after recovery ride/spin on the bike, but I got to thinking yesterday about the recovery the heart needs. Just as any muscle, there's damage that is done to the heart after a race.....or any workout for that matter. Active recovery (recovery swim/run/ride) may be beneficial for the legs/arms/lats/etc, but what is good for a "heart recovery"? Does it need time of no aerobic activity to heal? In other words, does recovery of the heart need to be treated differently than other muscles after a race?

Just some a thought I came up w/ while I was turning myself inside out yesterday in the 6.2 mile run (I tend to think up stupid stuff when delirious).
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Re: Heart Recovery [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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g_lev
Jul 28, 14 9:22
Post #2 of 5 (510 views)
I'm not a doctor but if I remember my health/anatomy classes right, there are three types of muscle in the body.

Skeletal muscle is what you are thinking about - its what gets sore when you race.
Smooth muscle is the kind that lines the esophagus/stomach/etc. It doesnt get "sore"
Cardiac muscle is the third type and is designed to function 24/7/365 from the moment your heart forms until the day you die. It never stops. It slows when you are resting and it speeds up when you are working. But it never stops.

No I dont think you need to "rest" it like you do your skeletal muscle.
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Re: Heart Recovery [noofus] [ In reply to ]
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ericmulk
Jul 28, 14 9:48
Post #3 of 5 (487 views)
noofus wrote:
I'm not a doctor but if I remember my health/anatomy classes right, there are three types of muscle in the body. Skeletal muscle is what you are thinking about - its what gets sore when you race.
Smooth muscle is the kind that lines the esophagus/stomach/etc. It doesn't get "sore"
Cardiac muscle is the third type and is designed to function 24/7/365 from the moment your heart forms until the day you die. It never stops. It slows when you are resting and it speeds up when you are working. But it never stops. No, I dont think you need to "rest" it like you do your skeletal muscle.

Right but when you take a rest day with maybe just an easy walk, you are in essence resting your heart. Sure, it is designed to work all the time but not at 150 bpm 24/7. This is why for many years checking your waking pulse rate has been recommended. The standard advice has been if your resting pulse is 5 or 6 bpm higher than normal, then you need to take it very easy that day, or just take the day off. Certainly one can always push through the fatigue but it is going to get you sooner or later through injury, burn-out, and/or staleness.

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: Heart Recovery [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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g_lev
Jul 28, 14 9:49
Post #4 of 5 (480 views)
No argument there. My point was that simply "taking a rest day" is going to be rest for your heart as well as your body. There isn't anything you have to do differently to rest the cardiac muscle. It will "rest" by simply not having the HR elevated for a while.
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Re: Heart Recovery [noofus] [ In reply to ]
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ericmulk
Jul 28, 14 10:22
Post #5 of 5 (457 views)
noofus wrote:
No argument there. My point was that simply "taking a rest day" is going to be rest for your heart as well as your body. There isn't anything you have to do differently to rest the cardiac muscle. It will "rest" by simply not having the HR elevated for a while.

Ah good, agreement is always good, even if somewhat rare on ST:)

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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