COACH FORUM: Questions on Recovery
Yesterday, we held an Office Hour focusing on our Recovery Pillar. We covered a lot: importance, symptoms of fatigue, strategies to manage stress, travel, sleep, etc. Let's continue here. Anyone who has questions or wants to share ways to manage their recovery, this is the place.
Thank you,
Coach Scott Layton
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General. I feel like on most workouts I hit the zones and it's challenging, but my HR is lower than what is shown as targets. I'm not sure how to interpret that. Do I need to do an FTP test and reassess? Or why is my HR not higher? I recall seeing this topic on FB, so I wanted to see if there was some sort of universal feedback. This to me is correlated with recovery because I don't know when to push or not. Thanks!
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Good question. First you do want to ensure your zones are accurate in Today's Plan. Remember that running zones and biking zones are different. Make sure they are the same on your watch as they are in TP. If you are not sure they are accurate then doing a Lactate Threshold test would be good. For the bike this could be the 20 minute TT. Heart rates can read lower for different reasons. If you are fatigued and don't have the juice to push, sickness are two reasons. Also, remember that our hearts take time to catch up to our efforts. Different people at different times in their training can easily take 6, 8, 10 minutes to build heart rate to upper levels. This can be effected by fitness, fatigue, climate, and individuals are just different. I hope this has been helpful. Scott
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What are your favorite go-to foods for recovery? I'm not asking about post-workout, but instead, in general during the week when training fairly hard. I'm looking for specifics, not mix of protein/carbs/fat/etc. Personally, I'm a fan of blueberries covered with vanilla yogurt and granola.
Thanks!
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Jeff,
This is a great question and a tricky one. Really depends on the day. A favorite of mine, which Melinda commented on in Facebook last week, is my Salad Meal. I load this baby up: Baby kale and spinach, soft boiled eggs, candied walnuts, quinoa, chia seeds, avocado. I do not do as much dairy anymore because it doesn't agree with me, but you could add that. Also, when I have had a really hard session I do crave sliced steak or chicken mixed in. This is one of many but a favorite and checks all the boxes. And don't forget the homemade croutons! Scott
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OR sub in some crispy tofu bits for the garlic bread croutons! MMMMMMmmmm
I liked hearing your thoughts about the recovery boots, Scott. When you said they made a huge difference, what is that compared to?
e.g. was it part of your routine to go for a swim before and after a race? I really love the compression of the water (which even seems to help when I have tension/atmospheric headaches.) Wonder if the boots would still make a significant change if it was versus other types of compression? Does anyone know what the research has to day about the boots versus an active recovery/swim recovery?
If not, I'll take a look (and maybe save Scott some $). I've only tried them once but am still a critic at this point :P
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One more quick point, this one about meditation. I'm a huge fan, but it can actually make some people's minds race more and they may or may not want/be ready for that (e.g. can trigger PTSD symptoms). So if it's not for you, that's cool. Maybe one day, or maybe not.
Something else to try would to be just really focus on what you're doing like Scott when he mentioned spending time with his daughter.
(Speaking from my therapist side - OT though not psychology, but I did learn the above from a psychologist)
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Jessica,
My croutons are always with garlic!
In regards to the boots it is in comparison to various other methods I have done in the past. To preface that particular race I did do an easy swim as well. I typically try to do a super easy spin post race, all Zone 1 but with varying cadence. In my opinion, the pressure and pulsing used by these boots promote excellent blood flow the helps with rebuilding at a faster rate than standard compression clothing. And they feel good. I would like to a more in-depth study on this, but in short the few times I used them I felt better. All that being said, I don't own a pair. :(
In regards to your point on meditation, I am one of those people the mind races. I tend to use my "meditation time" to either take a quick nap or think about my daughter and wife. These help me smile more and relax. In the end that is the point.
Scott
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Scott - I love your advice for recovery as this is something I was terrible at until I had kids and it became non-negotiable. Even as time became even more scarce to find, it was then I HAD to lean into it. One of my favorite ways to relax is to find a mantra or repeat things I am grateful for. When I was returning to running postpartum, I was fatigued, tired, and coming to terms with a "new" body and norm. But, setting my timer for 5-10 mins and repeating "I am grateful for...X" helped rejuvenate!
Also, I have found that in order to make sure my recovery run is an actual recovery pace, I run while my daughter rides her bike. Since she is 5, only so fast she can go :) It helps me fit in quality time and a rejuvenating run.
Love your advice, Scott!
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Jason,
I would recommend an Epsom Salt bath any time you can fit it in. If you can only get them at rare times, I recommend them after tough session or mornings when the body just doesn't want to work. Like we discussed in the OH while the have some recovery value for the muscles, it is also a peaceful time alone so it can double as meditation or just personal reflection time. Going into this year, I wanted to be nicer to myself. Epsom baths is one simple, quick and cheap way to accomplish that.
Scott
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Some "literature" results after quickly (10-20min) searching pneumatic compression + physical activity in database EBSCOhost, results after 2005, limited to adults aged 45-64ish I believe. These are my fav's of 24 results but I have not read them. Let me know if you need help accessing!
A randomized controlled trial of manual therapy and pneumatic compression for recovery from prolonged running - an extended study.
Preconditioning with peristaltic external pneumatic compression does not acutely improve repeated Wingate performance nor does it alter blood lactate concentrations during passive recovery compared with sham
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Massage and Pneumatic Compression for Ultramarathon Recovery
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Just for fun, because I did have a little extra time this afternoon, I looked through an article. Not that this is something I considered buying/doing, but thought is might be helpful to someone out there. FYI Pneumatic Compression (aka compression in my description) is pretty much the Normatec boots.
Article:A Randomized Controlled Trial of Massage and Pneumatic Compression for Ultramarathon Recovery (Hoffman, 2016)
About the article: strong study design, clearly described methods, similar population (endurance runners, 161km, but more “pounding” than triathlon), objective and subjective measures (blood testing, relative performance in a 400m sprint, and pain rating), mostly men (74%), matched comparison groups on similar characteristics, fair/usual stats as far as I can tell (not totally sure if correct adjustments were made when comparing multiple variables but I’m assuming since it’s peer reviewed that these would have been done correctly). Results showed statistically significant differences between: massage versus nothing and compression versus nothing for pain and for fatigue, immediately following treatment. Results showed no statistically significant differences between: massage/compression/neither for 400m run performance, lower body muscle pain after Day1, muscle fatigue after Day 1
One limitation that stands out to me tis the massage was standardized whereas typically people customize their massage a bit, (even more so if they have a massage therapist they usually work with). Another is the lack of performance measures (a 400m run is not the same as a recovery workout or another race, and we do not know that participants did for a warm-up to that 400m). There were enough participants that a difference should show up if it’s there but keep in mind that even if a result isn’t statistically significant, it could be helpful/detectible by an individual. . . and research often lags behind anecdotal observations/feelings. Plus, as Scott said, the placebo effect can be helpful too.
Take-home message: Some kind of treatment (massage or pneumatic compression such as Normatec boots), is helpful to get through the day but after about 24hr there is negligible difference in feeling or performance.
Jess’ choice: Get the trainer instead. Sometimes getting through the day is really important. If I’m so sore that I am going to have a really hard time moving, I’d definitely go for massage/boot treatment. Boots may be more convenient than a massage, depending on what is available. I still like the idea of a massage best because it’s customizable but probably is more expensive in the long run. Considering financial cost my first choice would be to just stay active and get through that first day. Second would be massage due to personal preference and low number of times that I push myself to the point of not moving. Then boots. I can see how that would differ depending on the situation though . . .
Favourite quote: “The 161-km WSER presents a high physiological stress, as evidenced by near maximum post-race muscle pain and soreness . . . effective stimulus . . .“ No thanks . . . not yet anyway.
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