Speed ​​up your recovery from exercise

You’ve done it! Those last kilometers really cost you a lot, you felt that you had nothing left in your legs or that your lungs were about to explode but you said to yourself “move your legs!”. So I bet you’re dreading sore legs and watching out for blisters in the days to come, but is there anything you can do to speed up your recovery and get back in the gym or on the road again?

recovery strategies

nutrition and hydration

Optimal nutrition and hydration are key recovery strategies after the half marathon. As tempting as it may be, it’s highly unexpected to head straight to the pub and celebrate your performance with a couple of pints and a pub lunch. The alcohol will further dehydrate you and aggravate the dehydration induced by 2-3 hours of racing.

Replaces the water and electrolytes you’ve lost through sweat. You need to drink 1.5 liters of water for every kg of body weight you lost during the race. Be sure to add a pinch of salt to the water so that your body absorbs it.

Restore your muscle and liver glycogen stores. This restoration is highest in the first hour after exercise, so use liquid and then solid meals that contain protein and carbohydrates. To do this, consume 1-1.2 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per hour up to 4 hours after the race; for example, an 80kg athlete would need to consume 80-90g of carbohydrates per hour to replenish muscle glycogen. Here is an idea of ​​the carbohydrate content of foods:

sport drinks

Sports Lucozade – 30g

Lucozade hydro – 10g

Fruit

• 1 banana – 25g
• 1 apple – 15g
• 1 orange – 20g
• 1 kiwi fruit – 6g
• 1 portion of berries – 5g
• 2 dried figs – 15g
• 2 dried dates – 15g
• 6 dried plums – 20g
• 1 tablespoon (30 g) of raisins – 20 g

cereals

• 2 slices of granary bread – 50g
• 1 medium portion of rice – 50g
• 1 portion of medium pasta – 45g
• 1 medium portion of spaghetti – 35 g
• 1 serving Special K – 20g
• 1 serving of muesli without sugar – 30g
• 1 portion of corn flakes – 25g
• 1 serving of bran flakes – 25g
• 1 portion of porridge – 14g

vegetables

• 1 Potato – 50g
• 1 large sweet potato – 30g
• 1 portion of peas – 8g
• 1 portion of carrots – 3g
• 1 serving of broccoli – 1g
• 1 portion of cauliflower – 3g

Be sure to eat these carbohydrates with good quality protein sources that help repair running-induced muscle, tendon, ligament, and bone damage. Good sources include eggs, chicken, beef, and fish.

active recovery

As crazy as it sounds, the best thing you can do to speed recovery from those sore limbs is to do what’s called an active recovery. This can be anything from a light walk with the dog, an easy 20-minute bike ride, or jogging. Some stretching and a massage would also be a good idea as part of this active recovery. Research shows that athletes who perform active recovery report less muscle soreness and better performance compared to athletes who perform passive recovery.

cold water immersion

It is currently fashionable for athletes to use “ice baths” after exercise, as they are supposed to improve post-exercise recovery. I’m sure everyone has seen and heard Paula Radcliffe promote the benefits of using ice baths. However, how do you know if an ice bath is good for you post-workout and post-half marathon? More importantly, how can you do this at home?

There are some misconceptions about ice baths or what is also known as cold water immersion (CWI). You don’t need to throw 10kg of ice into a water bath and sit there for 10 minutes shaking in pain to benefit from CWI. The water temperature only needs to be cold (<15 degrees C) and cold water from a tap, perhaps with some ice cubes, will suffice. You can stay in the ice bath for 2-5 minutes or do a contrast bath where you do CWI for 30 seconds, then take a warm shower for 30 seconds and do 2-3 rounds of this.

CWI is useful for drawing blood from the extremities and back to the core. This helps remove waste and toxins from working muscles. When you take a warm shower or simply step out of the cold water and warm yourself up, you will have increased blood flow to the extremities bringing fresh blood and oxygen to the muscle to aid recovery.

The CWI and contrast bath have been found to be more effective than doing a passive recovery (meaning doing nothing), but no more effective than compression stockings or an active recovery. Therefore, it might be wise to combine your CWI with active recovery and compression socks.

Some people love ice baths and use them, others absolutely hate them, so I think the use of ice baths is purely subjective. In some people, the CWI decreases the feeling of soreness and fatigue after a run and increases the perception of “recovery.” So if you are one of these people then go for it. If you can’t stomach the thought, consider post-exercise nutrition, compression socks and an active recovery as a way to improve your sore legs after the half marathon.

sleeping

We don’t fully understand why we need sleep, but we do know that sleep has an amazing restorative and regenerative process in the body. We know that certain hormones are released during sleep, such as growth hormone, testosterone, and melatonin, and that these hormones run the repair processes of the body.

Good sleep hygiene refers to adopting behaviors that typically promote better quality and quantity of sleep and avoiding behaviors that interfere with sleep. One of the best ways to improve sleep is to improve sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene involves many things, such as sleeping in a dark, quiet room, aiming for 8-9 hours of sleep, eating the right foods and nutrients throughout the day (such as meat, fish, and vegetables), and avoiding foods and Other things that delay sleep. sleepiness (such as caffeine and alcohol).

Summary

• Hydrates and replenishes muscle glycogen stores within 4 hours of finishing the race.
• Get a good night’s sleep (8-9 hours)
• Use CWI if you think it benefits your recovery
• Do and active recovery the day after the race