Recovery

[BFS]

There will be alot of people into their preseason by now, and legs and minds will be tired. One of the most neglected aspects of training is recovery. Without recovery you don't get fitter, stronger and faster.

So what can help recovery?

1) Sleep
When you sleep the body releases hormones that help the muscles recover and grow, aswell as allowing time for the muscle to refuel. You should try and get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night (I know for any young parents that may not be possible), 8 prefarably. If their are any sporting students reading this, an hours nap during the day will also give you a massive boost.

2) Nutrition
Everyone nowadays knows the important of good diet, and what is good for you and what is bad for you. However when to eat is important. It is important to eat the right foods throughout the day, starting with a good breakfast.
Two of the most important times is pre and post exercise. Pre exercise is very specific, some people have cast iron stomachs and can eat 1 hour before exercise, but in general most people 3-4 hours is enough to fuel you for training, without leaving you feeling sick. Post recovery is where people are lazy. You should eat a snack within 15 minutes of training, then have a good meal within the hour. The snack should be something that includes protein and Carbohydrates, for example chicken sandwich. Alot of people find it hard to eat at this time and will use a post training recovery supplement. Most supplement brands have a supplement that contains protein and carbs in the correct ratios. I know EAS are supplied at visport, which is the brand that I use. If your unsure talk to their staff who will advice.

3) Hydrotherapy
Water has a positive effect on recovery, so a gentle swim followed by a jacuzzi (keep hydrated) will help the muscles feel better, the following day.
Ice baths and contrast showers will help straight after exercise. This is just going from hot to cold showers for 1 minute spells, or getting in a cold bath for 2-10minutes.

4) Recovery tights
There is a popular product called "skins" that alot of professional football and rugby players used that was developed in Australia. They are just like leggings that you wear post exercise or during training that improve blood flow and help recovery.

Well Hope this helps reduce the soreness. Any questions feel free to reply!

[paul_r]

There's a lot of good points in there.

Having been recovering from training for nearly a year (injury plus overwork :1 (47):) before starting back last week I can also vouch for the fact that too much recovery doesn't help either. Ohhh the pain!

Just wanted to pick up on a couple of things mentioned by BFS. A problem I hear about a LOT is that surprisingly few people appreciate the need & benefit of good recovery. Or if they do appreciate it don't discipline themselves to do it properly. Same with warm downs and stretching after a match or training - it's a natural enough reaction to get showered and away as quickly as possible but it wastes a lot of the hard earned gains from the training. Some warm down advice would be useful too.

I've been reading a lot about ice baths recently as we are sourcing some portable versions for testing at present. I'm no expert yet but there are a lot of people now who believe this technique is very effective, and it's becoming almost a must-do for anyone training seriously (although as with most things there are people who tried it and said they got no benefit). Mostly the ice bath is used only for the lower body I believe. Haven't had the pleasure yet myself fortunately.

The other point I wanted to touch on was nutrition. About 18 months ago we sponsored a seminar by one of the sports advisory bodies on drugs and nutrition in sport. I went along because we'd sponsored it and was horrified by some of what I heard. Can't remember the details now but one speaker was from one of the big sports science universities in England and he outlined some research they had carried out on nutrition supplements. In that survey something like 8 out of 10 products they tested contained something that shouldn't be there. This ranged from useless ingredients to dust to bits of bugs to illegal substances.

As a result we did a lot of research before stocking any nutrition supplements. I don't intend to use these forums to promote what we sell but it's relevant to explain why we only stock EAS nutrition products. EAS are an American company, and the biggest in the world in that field. Not because they're the cheapest, but because this is an area where quality really is paramount. In particular, every batch of their product we stock is tested for drugs at the same centre in the UK where athletes are drug tested. So each batch is certified drug free, the certification number is on the packaging, and that number can be checked online.

For us that's critical. We have a lot of professional and serious amateur sports people among our customers. For any of them to unknowingly consume a banned substance through a nutrition product could be career threatening, so we won't take any chances on that. I'm not saying that EAS is the only manufacturer who certifies their product is drug free, but there aren't many who do.

Our very strong advice is to be sure you know what you're taking. If you aren't sure, don't take anything - isn't worth the risk to health or career.

[paul_r]

BFS - what advice would you give about fluid intake? Specifically how much water per day, how much before, during and after training?

Lastly have you any advice about sports drinks (staying away from specific brands)? Here I mean do they do any more than water, and if so when should they be taken? I tend to drink a sports orange drink on my way to training - say half an hour before then - on the basis that I'm getting a bit of a glucose shot that'll help me push a bit more during training. Also wondering about the Hydro-active drinks - are they useful in replacing minerals etc lost through sweating, or are they gimmicky?

[BFS]

The exact amount of fluid required for each person will vary greatly, depending on how active they are and their fitness levels, and just their own make up, some people sweat more than others!!

General guidlines for the public are 2l per day. However this can vary greatly depending on what you do. Some people may need up to 6-7L per day if they are training hard.

A simple way to measure what you have lost, is weigh yourself before and after your session. The weight you loose in your session is fluid and this needs replaced. for example if you looose 1kg during your 40 minute workout, you should replace this with 1L of fluid. This is a basic hydration tool. Remember that if you weigh yourself with your Tshirt on after the session alot of water will be in your clothes, so weigh yourself with this off if possible before and after.

If you are very serious about your training. Then you might want a bit more detail. My guidlines for my athletes are after exercises consume 500ml of water then, for every 1kg of BW lost replace this with a 50:50 soloution of water and sports drink. (eg powerade/lucazade sport/energise). These contain carbohydrates and minerals which help replace lost energy and help absorbtion rates.

Again getting a bit more technical, recent research suggests that your recovery drinks should also contain protein. So a ratio of carbohydrates and protein of 4:1 seems to be th proper levels. The protein helps prevent muscle breakdown after training and therefore speeds up recovery.

Water or sports drinks?
Well the proplem with drinking too much water on its own is that your body will not absorb it all, and so it passes through you taking some minerals with it, which is why most people will mix there water and sports drinks when rehydrating.

If you become very dehydrated you can use products such as dyoralite, but speak to your doctor or the pharmacist before doing this.

If you have good hydration habits then you should be fine before exercise you don't really need any extra sports drinks before. although some of my clients will start sipping sports drinks quite early in their sessions. Most do not drink them before.

Gatorade and lucazade will have research on their websites about fluid intake. But make sure any research has been peer reviewed and published in scientific journals!!

I've rambled here a bit but simple messages for the public are to keep hydrated, once you get dehydrated then its harder to recover. And use simple weigh in/out to advice on how much fluid to take after exercise.