Hi all,
I don’t know if it is my age or what but I just can’t seem to recover very well. Even with days off my legs still feel sore, lacking pep and tight. I do very easy runs several times a week so I’m not beating the crap out of myself every time I go out. I think it is just not having a good, daily TLC routine for my body.
What do you all do to take care of your body on a day to day basis?
I use Recovox. helped me a lot http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5145&CAT=3&xref=xx
#1 Drink Rogue Dead Guy Ale
#2 Lay on couch and pretend to sleep while kids crawl all over me
#3 Pretend my legs aren’t sore the next day
Seriously, I find I’m at my fastest on the bike when my legs are a little on the sore/heavy side. I just need longer to warm up when I feel that way. Now when I start to feel the general body fatigue, it’s another story and time to take a few easy, easy days.
Stuff that I find really helpful:
Eat something with protein after every workout. Some of my veggie faves are rice with scrambled eggs, fruit and nuts and rice and beans.
L-glutamine after hard workouts
Ice bath or kick in pool after killer sessions
Sleep! Enough really good sleep is huge. If you can awing naps - even short ones are great
Foam roller every day before bed
On really hard days I will sleep in my compression socks and/or put a couple of pillows under my feet
Cheers,
Miranda
Jen, I can say that the single greastest suprise I’ve found during my long road back has been recovery. It just doesn’t happen very well.
Warmups also seem to take forever…
I found out early on protein was the elixir for muscle soreness. Call me a freak, but the difference between soreness after a brutal sesh when I have had a big recovery drink vs. not is night and day. With: ‘good’ sore and I loosen up well and feel great. W/o: don’t loosen up and have zero ‘snap’. That is why I still go into GNC and buy their random whey protein drink…it just works for me.
You should start by drinking a glass of Pepsi after every workout.
Get your testosterone levels tested. Low testosterone=terrible recovery. It’s probably easy to diagnose this if you are male…
If low Testosterone makes for terrible recovery - how do women manage?
sleep enough, eat enough
Hi all,
I don’t know if it is my age or what but I just can’t seem to recover very well. Even with days off my legs still feel sore, lacking pep and tight. I do very easy runs several times a week so I’m not beating the crap out of myself every time I go out. I think it is just not having a good, daily TLC routine for my body.
What do you all do to take care of your body on a day to day basis?
I found out early on protein was the elixir for muscle soreness.
+1 on this. If I am in a RUSH and cant get a decent full meal in right after a hard workout I’ll either:
Until I can get a decent nutrient rich meal.
Oh…one other thing. For those of you working in cubicles. I work at a Computer Graphics Animation Company and typically ALL of my time is spent at a desk. About a year or so ago I requested a standing desk and it has made a WORLD of difference to me. Sure only my long run days Id love to sit…but Ive found (somewhat anecdotally -sp) that standing and shifting around has kept my legs from tightening up too much. This is only my own half assed non scientific observation but really have found it overall GOOD for me to work standing up.
cheers
S.
I have found that I need to extend my warm up on the tougher days…used to just need 10-15’ minutes, now it’s more like 30 minutes to be firing on all cylinders. I would try that as well as the other recovery advice here.
Patrick
I typically have tight/sore calves for several days after my long runs (and being a desk jockey as well probably doesn’t help). Is it better to take a day or two off from running if your calves are sore or do slow short recovery runs? I am currently working the plan that calls for running 5-6 days a week (with reduced mileage on each run to be able to do so) but I am running whether sore or not and sometimes I struggle quite a bit to the point of having to change my gait to make it through the runs. With my recent history of PF and tendonitis I am wondering if I am doing more harm than good.
What has really worked for me was adequate sleep, for me 8hrs/night, 10pm-6am, use of Branched Chain Amino Acids approx. 3000mg/day, Infinit recovery drink after longer or tough workouts. Compression socks for after tough runs or rides.
Combination of these with good nutrition seem to allow me to do 18-20hrs/week. Not easy but can manage.
How are you sleeping? Where in the legs? Overall? Quads, glutes, hamstring, calves?
A few things to try would be more ice baths, compression, more protein after the run and elevation. After you shower or clean up lay on the ground with your legs up in the air on a wall. Similar function to an ice bath, simply trying to ‘flush’ your legs.
Lots of great suggestions so far. What helps me the most is an extended cooldown after a workout. I always stop my run 1/4 mile from my home and walk the remainder. Then I do light stretching. If I don’t do these two things, I will be sore for several days and my legs feels like crap.
I know a lot of STers argue against stretching, but my wife (a marathoner) and I both know from experience, that if we don’t stretch, our legs feel tight, lack pep and generally ache.
There may be something other than protein in that ‘random whey protein drink’ that is helping you with your recovery 
.
You need a nice fat steak now and then.
Seriously, you run a lot. If I recall you are fortyish. The two factors add up on you in a hurry. It takes me 2-3 days after a hard workout to get the burn out of my legs. Make sure you get a good recovery meal in and some good sleep and that’s about all you can do.
Get a foam roller and use it every day
.