Recovery after exercise – top tips?
Discussion
Hot shower for me.
As I understand it, although cold shower can help reduce soreness/aid recovery, if the goal is muscle hypertrophy, the cold exposure actually dampens/reduces this. So if muscle building is your goal - avoid.
I've heard of people extolling the virtues of compression post exercise - not sure how much merit there is to this?
As I understand it, although cold shower can help reduce soreness/aid recovery, if the goal is muscle hypertrophy, the cold exposure actually dampens/reduces this. So if muscle building is your goal - avoid.
I've heard of people extolling the virtues of compression post exercise - not sure how much merit there is to this?
Edited by g3org3y on Thursday 17th August 21:40
g3org3y said:
although cold shower can help reduce soreness/aid recovery, if the goal is muscle hypertrophy, the cold exposure actually dampens/reduces this.
Wow, I hadn't heard cold showers impede muscle hypertrophy. Where did you read that? (I'm merely curious, not bodybuilding.)ajap1979 said:
What sort of exercise?
Personally my foam roller is my best friend, works wonders.
Endurance swimming plus some supplementary exercises (shoulder and core stability, etc.). Personally my foam roller is my best friend, works wonders.
Thanks – foam rolling is a trick I've missed
Salted_Peanut said:
g3org3y said:
although cold shower can help reduce soreness/aid recovery, if the goal is muscle hypertrophy, the cold exposure actually dampens/reduces this.
Wow, I hadn't heard cold showers impede muscle hypertrophy. Where did you read that? (I'm merely curious, not bodybuilding.)There's been a few threads on this and very closely related topics. You've already identified the big issues.
I think recovery means different things to different people - in my book it means being in a state to achieve the intended goal or stimulus of the next session in a structured training plan. It doesn't necessarily mean the absence of fatigue and DOMS.
I think you probably need to ask different questions. What's the goal? For me a goal is a concrete measurable event or target not 'lose weight' 'get fitter' 'look better'. If you have a goal then you're in the territory of training. So my questions for a training plan are -
What's the minimum required to achieve goal injury free? - proper warm up cool down stretching helps
How quickly should I be increasing volume and intensity of sessions - ideally slowly cautiously
How do I structure this around my other commitments?
What are the key sessions for a week? These depend on goal but will be the sessions that push intensity or duration - most people can only manage 2 or 3 of these and recover well.
How do I arrive at these sessions in good shape and avoid stacking up fatigue/soreness? - don't do hard sessions on back to back days.
Recovery sessions - very low intensity perhaps in a different sport. This is where walking and swimming come in. I think you have to be pretty fit and lightweight for any running to be 'recovery'. I think its very personal whether these sessions are effective or whether most of us would be better off resting or just stretching. I think for the obsessive they are useful to schedule in to ensure something (but not too much) is done
My particular difficulty is scheduling and making progress with strength and endurance simultaneously. I find that I can build endurance in multiple sports side by side with a structured programme but adding strength is critically fatiguing so I have to make progress in different three month blocks; only progressing with weights in base/off season phases.
I think a minimum of one rest day a week and a cyclical weekly structure involve rest/deload weeks every third or fourth week is a good idea.
How you feel is important, but in my experience, tiredness, vague muscle fatigue and DOMS are a constant companion during a training cycle and that as long as it is well structured I can usually do the scheduled session. I take the view that any session can be sacked off or adapted if I'm not feeling it after the warm up. Another indicator of fatigue is HR during warm up if it was 5-10 bpm above expected, I'd can the intervals. I also think if you miss a session, don't try and make it up. Restructure the schedule to take account but don't concertina the volume and intensity.
Pro athletes and very serious amateurs who are at risk of powering through everything and overtraining look at resting heart rate and HRV.
If you want to be really obsessive most tracking programmes allow you to input how you feel at the beginning and end of sessions. This might help you build up a picture of your own patterns.
Overall I think as a general rule if you sleep well; don't get as many bugs as others and your resting HR is low then you're doing OK.
I think recovery means different things to different people - in my book it means being in a state to achieve the intended goal or stimulus of the next session in a structured training plan. It doesn't necessarily mean the absence of fatigue and DOMS.
I think you probably need to ask different questions. What's the goal? For me a goal is a concrete measurable event or target not 'lose weight' 'get fitter' 'look better'. If you have a goal then you're in the territory of training. So my questions for a training plan are -
What's the minimum required to achieve goal injury free? - proper warm up cool down stretching helps
How quickly should I be increasing volume and intensity of sessions - ideally slowly cautiously
How do I structure this around my other commitments?
What are the key sessions for a week? These depend on goal but will be the sessions that push intensity or duration - most people can only manage 2 or 3 of these and recover well.
How do I arrive at these sessions in good shape and avoid stacking up fatigue/soreness? - don't do hard sessions on back to back days.
Recovery sessions - very low intensity perhaps in a different sport. This is where walking and swimming come in. I think you have to be pretty fit and lightweight for any running to be 'recovery'. I think its very personal whether these sessions are effective or whether most of us would be better off resting or just stretching. I think for the obsessive they are useful to schedule in to ensure something (but not too much) is done
My particular difficulty is scheduling and making progress with strength and endurance simultaneously. I find that I can build endurance in multiple sports side by side with a structured programme but adding strength is critically fatiguing so I have to make progress in different three month blocks; only progressing with weights in base/off season phases.
I think a minimum of one rest day a week and a cyclical weekly structure involve rest/deload weeks every third or fourth week is a good idea.
How you feel is important, but in my experience, tiredness, vague muscle fatigue and DOMS are a constant companion during a training cycle and that as long as it is well structured I can usually do the scheduled session. I take the view that any session can be sacked off or adapted if I'm not feeling it after the warm up. Another indicator of fatigue is HR during warm up if it was 5-10 bpm above expected, I'd can the intervals. I also think if you miss a session, don't try and make it up. Restructure the schedule to take account but don't concertina the volume and intensity.
Pro athletes and very serious amateurs who are at risk of powering through everything and overtraining look at resting heart rate and HRV.
If you want to be really obsessive most tracking programmes allow you to input how you feel at the beginning and end of sessions. This might help you build up a picture of your own patterns.
Overall I think as a general rule if you sleep well; don't get as many bugs as others and your resting HR is low then you're doing OK.
Salted_Peanut said:
Apart from the obvious (sleep, hydration, enough to eat), what are your top tips for recovering from exercise?
Electrolytes. Before, during and after exercise where I sweat a lot makes a big difference in my recovery.(I'm not sure if you were including this in hydration above.)
Salted_Peanut said:
That’s where I’ve been going wrong: insufficient post-exercise cigars 
I think if there is something else that relaxes you go with that instead. For me I genuinely think switching your mind off a bit and relaxing after a hard session helps. I go with:
Eat high protein meal:
2 hours later heavy weight session 1-1 1/2 hours
Protein shake with Creatine straight away
Rest for about an hour as shattered
Small Cigar and listen to some chilled out music outside in a reclining chair watching the flowers/plants/sky/breeze on your face/fresh air (sort of)
Bed for a decent 7 hours or longer
Feels like my body relaxes with that process and I get a good sleep too. I don’t drink, so cigar after x2 upper body weights sessions a week really is my ultimate body and brain relaxation. That’s my excuse anyway!
tried both of these instead, but preferred the cigars!
oddman said:
How do I structure this around my other commitments?
What are the key sessions for a week? These depend on goal but will be the sessions that push intensity or duration - most people can only manage 2 or 3 of these and recover well.
How do I arrive at these sessions in good shape and avoid stacking up fatigue/soreness? - don't do hard sessions on back to back days.
Recovery sessions - very low intensity perhaps in a different sport. This is where walking and swimming come in. I think you have to be pretty fit and lightweight for any running to be 'recovery'. I think its very personal whether these sessions are effective or whether most of us would be better off resting or just stretching. I think for the obsessive they are useful to schedule in to ensure something (but not too much) is done
My particular difficulty is scheduling and making progress with strength and endurance simultaneously. I find that I can build endurance in multiple sports side by side with a structured programme but adding strength is critically fatiguing so I have to make progress in different three month blocks; only progressing with weights in base/off season phases.
I think a minimum of one rest day a week and a cyclical weekly structure involve rest/deload weeks every third or fourth week is a good idea.
How you feel is important, but in my experience, tiredness, vague muscle fatigue and DOMS are a constant companion during a training cycle and that as long as it is well structured I can usually do the scheduled session. I take the view that any session can be sacked off or adapted if I'm not feeling it after the warm up. Another indicator of fatigue is HR during warm up if it was 5-10 bpm above expected, I'd can the intervals. I also think if you miss a session, don't try and make it up. Restructure the schedule to take account but don't concertina the volume and intensity.
Pro athletes and very serious amateurs who are at risk of powering through everything and overtraining look at resting heart rate and HRV.
If you want to be really obsessive most tracking programmes allow you to input how you feel at the beginning and end of sessions. This might help you build up a picture of your own patterns.
Overall I think as a general rule if you sleep well; don't get as many bugs as others and your resting HR is low then you're doing OK.
Many thanks – lots of good info. I have most things in place (structured training plan, etc.). However, I find it tricky to manage post-exercise fatigue when work is hectic. Balancing serious training with fatigue from work isn’t easy.What are the key sessions for a week? These depend on goal but will be the sessions that push intensity or duration - most people can only manage 2 or 3 of these and recover well.
How do I arrive at these sessions in good shape and avoid stacking up fatigue/soreness? - don't do hard sessions on back to back days.
Recovery sessions - very low intensity perhaps in a different sport. This is where walking and swimming come in. I think you have to be pretty fit and lightweight for any running to be 'recovery'. I think its very personal whether these sessions are effective or whether most of us would be better off resting or just stretching. I think for the obsessive they are useful to schedule in to ensure something (but not too much) is done
My particular difficulty is scheduling and making progress with strength and endurance simultaneously. I find that I can build endurance in multiple sports side by side with a structured programme but adding strength is critically fatiguing so I have to make progress in different three month blocks; only progressing with weights in base/off season phases.
I think a minimum of one rest day a week and a cyclical weekly structure involve rest/deload weeks every third or fourth week is a good idea.
How you feel is important, but in my experience, tiredness, vague muscle fatigue and DOMS are a constant companion during a training cycle and that as long as it is well structured I can usually do the scheduled session. I take the view that any session can be sacked off or adapted if I'm not feeling it after the warm up. Another indicator of fatigue is HR during warm up if it was 5-10 bpm above expected, I'd can the intervals. I also think if you miss a session, don't try and make it up. Restructure the schedule to take account but don't concertina the volume and intensity.
Pro athletes and very serious amateurs who are at risk of powering through everything and overtraining look at resting heart rate and HRV.
If you want to be really obsessive most tracking programmes allow you to input how you feel at the beginning and end of sessions. This might help you build up a picture of your own patterns.
Overall I think as a general rule if you sleep well; don't get as many bugs as others and your resting HR is low then you're doing OK.
Which tracking programmes let you input how you feel? I currently use the Garmin app, as Garmin made the best swim tracker for open-water when I bought it.
Salted_Peanut said:
Many thanks – lots of good info. I have most things in place (structured training plan, etc.). However, I find it tricky to manage post-exercise fatigue when work is hectic. Balancing serious training with fatigue from work isn’t easy.
Which tracking programmes let you input how you feel? I currently use the Garmin app, as Garmin made the best swim tracker for open-water when I bought it.
Garmin and Strava. Need to log in open up the activity and edit - so a bit of a faff. A paper diary might be as good.Which tracking programmes let you input how you feel? I currently use the Garmin app, as Garmin made the best swim tracker for open-water when I bought it.
I'm a bit of a believer in 'action creates motivation' My top tip with structured programme is not to make what to do on a given day a choice, kit ready etc. and JFDI then if in doubt monitor at end of warm up - it's amazing the way you can go from a bit jaded to being up for it in 10 minutes. For me how I feel in my head is a very poor predictor of how a session or event goes - I'm usually a bit negative and then surprise myself when the adrenaline kicks in.
ETA you might be able to set up your device to prompt you - instructions here
Edited by oddman on Wednesday 23 August 20:37
Many thanks
oddman said:
My particular difficulty is scheduling and making progress with strength and endurance simultaneously. I find that I can build endurance in multiple sports side by side with a structured programme but adding strength is critically fatiguing
I’ve experienced the same problem. Have you looked into the Minimum Effective Dose for strength training?Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff