Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

Prev Next
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [daustin] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
1. Sleep- 70%

2. Good nutrition- 25%

3. Everything else- 5% (foam roll, yoga, stretch, etc.)


I'm not always the most disciplined of getting enough sleep, but man what a difference it makes when you consistently get 8+ hours. WFH has been enlightening how much more intensity and TSS I can tolerate with having an additional 30-60 mins sleep per night. In late 2020, I ran a big half marathon PR (1:23) on a slow course, a month after taking a 2 weeks break and doing basically just Z2 leading in. I was really disciplined about sleeping 8+ hours leading in and felt the most fresh and ready to go the week leading into that half that I ever have.

Nutrition matters too, but not nearly as much IMO. My nutrition definitely went way in the drain for 2 weeks around Christmas this year, and I definitely felt more sluggish in my sessions at that time. A week after the new year, I was back to normal and HR was down ~5bpm at the same effort.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [damon.lebeouf] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
damon.lebeouf wrote:
people like to talk trash on recovery tools, but i'll happily buck their sentiment and say that expensive recovery tools are in no way useless and a waste of money. you cant measure their effects and put it on a spreadsheet. that doesnt mean they dont work.

i love my recovery boots. half my life i live at home, half my life i live at a remote work location (im extremely fortunate that i can train essentially the same at work or home). the half that im home and have my recovery boots i can tell a difference in the fatigue level in my legs versus when im at work. so much so that im saving my pennies for another set of boots for work.

hypervolt, really love it for certain points i have nagging trouble with. again, its not magic, but i can tell a difference when im using it versus not.

Well said. Sure, all you need is proper food and appropriate sleep and you’ll function. Have yet to meet anyone that’s using additional recovery tools that wasn’t already doing that stuff and are now feeling the same - they feel better. Psychological or physiological? Who knows, or better yet, who cares - the additional stuff works.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [mattr] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I like the Norma-Tech boots (and hip attachment) but I hate taking the time to actually sit that long and use them. I use them when I can and I sure think they help a little bit.

In all honesty, after hard rides and hard runs, I think a cold (or even just cool) bath is about the best thing I've ever done. It cools the legs, really refreshes things, I think it reduces my recovery INFINITELY. I'm fortunate enough to have a swim spa at home also and even with that being a little warmer than a "cool bath", it still does wonders.

I also get a ton of massage work, and use the Thera-Gun when I remember to use the damn thing

The most effective and cheapest? Get yourself a cold bath for 20 minutes, it's the best thing ever
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [daustin] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Moji Curve Pro roller. Great on quads, hamstrings and calves. The individual rollers let you get into small knots.


https://gomoji.com/...ducts/moji-curve-pro
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [Savage8778] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Exactly the same. Need to be done with the afternoon/evening workout by 6 (ideally, though not always possible) in order not to toss and turn. Hands down quality sleep does amazing things. Way better than any device.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [Uno_mas!] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Agree with sleep being #1. My new girlfriend, Norma Tec is my fav late night activity. An hour a night...every night.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [mikeridesbikes] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
mikeridesbikes wrote:
1. Sleep- 70%

2. Good nutrition- 25%

3. Everything else- 5% (foam roll, yoga, stretch, etc.)


I'd change it to:

1. Sleep- 51%

2. Meeting kcal and macro needs - 48%

3. Everything else- <1% (foam roll, yoga, stretch, massage, chiro, PT, etc.)

Not exaggerating re: 1%. Truly.

In fact, there have been inverse correlations found between time spent using recovery modalities and performance of athletes, in pretty tightly controlled elite athlete settings. Unpublished USOC data which I reviewed in graduate school... and which I no longer have access to. And of course it's possible that injured folks skewed data conclusions in favor of not using these other modalities. But, I don't think that was the case and was pretty well-convinced that the athletes who steered well clear of focusing ANY energy at all on the little things, and poured all their energy into the big 3 (training, sleep, fueling), performed the best, pretty convincingly.

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub
Last edited by: DrAlexHarrison: Feb 12, 21 14:15
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'd bet that comparing elites with regular folks just doesn't work too well. And those studies must not include those who broke down from injury. Any athlete not able to continue with training due to inadequate recovery of any kind will be taking serious steps backwards. In that study, inverse correlation means that those who rested too much didn't progress in terms of performance. What a shocking conclusion!

It is always about the appropriate balance of stress and rest. Our 'debate' is what is optimal rest.

There certainly is a great deal of variability in what training load athletes can handle and much depends on their genetics. Recovery for MOP athletes in general has a much broader range of needs, IMO. And I'm not even going to mention the, ahem, 'older athlete' which I've become.

That 1% recovery aids which includes 'everything else' becomes a much bigger number in that circumstance.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [dtoce] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
dtoce wrote:
I'd bet that comparing elites with regular folks just doesn't work too well. And those studies must not include those who broke down from injury. Any athlete not able to continue with training due to inadequate recovery of any kind will be taking serious steps backwards. In that study, inverse correlation means that those who rested too much didn't progress in terms of performance. What a shocking conclusion!

It is always about the appropriate balance of stress and rest. Our 'debate' is what is optimal rest.

There certainly is a great deal of variability in what training load athletes can handle and much depends on their genetics. Recovery for MOP athletes in general has a much broader range of needs, IMO. And I'm not even going to mention the, ahem, 'older athlete' which I've become.

That 1% recovery aids which includes 'everything else' becomes a much bigger number in that circumstance.

I hope you'll grant me more assumed intellect than that implied by the bolded text above! hahahaha! I can assure you I wouldn't take time to explain such a an intuitive phenomenon, but I can see why you might think that was a conclusion worth mocking for it's obviousness if my initial comments led you to believe that was my conclusion. I apologize for being unclear.

Clarifying point:
The correlation being drawn was not between sleep, and/or nutrition, and/or training, and performance outcomes. The inverse correlation was between amount of time spent using auxiliary recovery modalities (like massage, PT, foam rolling, ice bathing, heating, stim, you name it, but NOT sleep/nutrition) and competitive performances.

Athlete ages ranged from 16-42, if I remember right.

I argue that recovery for MOP athletes have a much narrower range of needs than for elite athletes. Fatigue management and fueling is virtually everything. Elites are much more likely to push tissues to the brink of recoverability even with optimal sleep and nutrition, than MOP'ers, with all due respect to MOP athletes like myself.

I would estimate that importance of massage & PT only very very slightly increases for population in the 40-65y/o range and that fatigue management through sleep, nutrition, and intelligently applied age-appropriate progressive overload in training are still vastly more important. I have no data to support this claim.

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
My n=1 is that I havent noticed any performance difference on a subsequent workout after rolling, foam roller, or a nice warm bath. Sometimes I’ll do those things just because they feel nice and relaxing, and I’ll get a better sleep. But I’m not convinced that they actually do anything to directly aid recovery.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Dr H-it was for others edification, not for me. Clarity is always better.

Jason
Fwiw, My n=1 is that my best races and Pr bike performances have routinely come post call on sleep deprived nights after ‘other’ recovery was utilized.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [daustin] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Therapeutic benefits aside, AvE doesn’t think much of the theragun...


Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [daustin] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Compression gear: calf sleeves and quad sleeves (cheap, and really help reduce soreness). My CEP calf sleeves were $30 new, and the quad sleeves were $7.50 used on eBay; so dirt cheap as recovery aides go.

Theragun would be a runner up. Got one as a gift over the holidays, and really have found it helpful. It's biggest advantage is that it doesn't require "work" to use (unlike a foam roller), so it's easy to do your legs while crashing on the couch or bed.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Haha I saw that today. He’s so great

the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [daustin] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
In the order of most likely to least likely to happen, Endurox R4 recovery drink, compression boots, nap.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
JasoninHalifax wrote:
My n=1 is that I havent noticed any performance difference on a subsequent workout after rolling, foam roller, or a nice warm bath. Sometimes I’ll do those things just because they feel nice and relaxing, and I’ll get a better sleep. But I’m not convinced that they actually do anything to directly aid recovery.

I don’t know that I’ve noticed much performance difference either. And when I was using recovery boots more frequently I would often use them post workout then nap after use. So it’s just as likely nap helped. But mostly it’s just to make things feel good and get better sleep.
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [daustin] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
40% sleep
40% nutrition
10% stretching/yoga/foam rolling
5% active recovery aka not sitting around
5% mental breaks
Quote Reply
Re: What is your favorite recovery tool? [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
the other thing that just came to mind is an adequate warmdown, particularly after a harder session. I've seen more than a few instances, here and elsewhere, where someone has said that they aren't really a big fan of a long warmdown, but IME if I get a decent warmdown (usually longer than prescribed in the actual workout) then I generally feel like I could do the same workout again half an hour later. (I doubt I could actually hit the same numbers, but that's how I feel).

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
Quote Reply

Prev Next