Its 2019….. but are you already over doing it?

So we’re just at the 3 week mark. You’ve given away the last box of Roses, locked the drinks cabinet and the new runners that were under the tree are well on their way to getting broken in. We’re all guilty of this, going full steam ahead when we set new goals and it’s not a bad thing. January is a time for a fresh start, to set those new goals, to revisit old ones and to generally put the possible over indulging or negativity of 2018 to bed. So of course we feel we need to take advantage of our new positive mindset.

WARNING – this comes at a risk. At PhysioElite Physiotherapy and Sports injury clinic, we tend to see a spike in mid to late January of simple overuse injuries, unwanted and unnecessary muscular tension and avoidable compensatory patterns. Eager January beavers can take on the world, can train every day, and can ignore their training logs! In the inexperienced, new training goals literally take over, and we neglect to listen to our bodies crying out for a recovery session, some cross training or very simply, just a day off.

Anyone who is familiar with my work knows I am such a huge advocate of recovery. I believe it is as important as clocking miles, setting new PB’s and getting in those results guaranteed hill sessions. Recovery is an essential component to factor into every new training plan or new long-term goal target. There are numerous methods of recovery and numerous benefits with too much science and research attached to them to ignore. Some of the most common methods include

1. Nutrition – let’s face it, eating is the reason why a lot of us run! Good nutrition ensures we’ve enough fuel to get us through our sessions but also ensures that our body can rebuild and recover post exercise. Its so important in order for us to achieve our goals that we’ve enough in the tank to get through our sessions at the desired intensity. Sports nutrition is a huge area, a whole other blog post and there is already a wealth of information on the runrepublic site. But in general, ensuring you’ve enough carbohydrates and healthy fats to get through your runs and your post training meal guarantees energy replenishment (carbohydrates) and muscle repair (protein), you’re onto a good start.
2. Hydration – water has so many important bodily functions and a side effect of exercise is loss of water through mechanisms such as sweating for example. The goal of drinking during exercise is to prevent excessive dehydration and abnormal changes in electrolyte balance to ensure that performance is not compromised. (American College of Sports Medicine, 2007). There are many complex hydration monitoring techniques, but weight monitoring is probably the easiest implemented technique that shows good effectiveness. The American College of Sports Medicines guidelines are useful and easy to follow

(American College of Sports Medicine, 2007).

3. Sleep– Factors such as the amount of sleep, the quality of sleep, as well as the timing of your night’s sleep are factors that play a role in an athlete’s ability to train, maximise the training response, recover and perform. Aiming for 7-9 hours a day and monitoring the quality of your sleep is advisable. And the power nap…. don’t underestimate the effectiveness of a good power nap!
4. Massage – while there is mixed evidence, there are some studies that clearly state that massage can decrease pain, muscle tone, hyperactivity (Roberts, 2011) and some pro inflammatory markers at a cellular level (Crane et al, 2011). I have no doubt there is a placebo effect for some individuals. But if it works for you, why not? The post-race massage is a ritual for a lot of athletes and it has many psychological benefits post-race that can also benefit the runner. A lot of recovery modalities, due to their mixed research benefits, should be given the “trial and error” approach. I’d definitely recommend the post-race massage for the trial.
5. Cryotherapy – again, another area where the research is mixed. (Crowe et al, Pfeiffer et al, 2010). Whole cold-water immersion, ice baths, cryotherapy chambers can definitely decrease the perception of pain or discomfort associated with athletic performance, it’s not the most comfortable of recovery strategies. See points 3 and 4 above!
6. Recovery systems – we use the Normatec air recovery system here at PhysioElite. It’s an air compression system that works on increasing circulation and removing lactic acid as well as giving similar effects as massage such as a decrease in inflammatory markers. Research in the Journal of Sports Strength and Conditioning Research has shown its effectiveness in decreasing pain, muscle tenderness and stiffness post exercise (Sands et al, 2015). I love it, our runners love it and it’s something anyone serious about a training plan should try during a high mileage week or heavy training load.
7. Cross training– most of us like variety and so do our muscles. Varying the type of exercise you do allows muscle groups to recover and maybe some less dominant running muscle groups to take over a bit of the work load. Doing hill runs, long slow distance or speed sessions continuously with no variety to your schedule will leave you with knees and quads that are not impressed with your carry on. Varying your schedule and including other types of exercise such as cycling, strength training and Pilates may even improve the quality of your run sessions as well as decreasing injury risk.

There is an endless list of other recovery options – self myofascial release (foam rolling) mobility/flexibility, hydrotherapy – with each of these recovery sessions being a blog post in itself.  This is only a brief taster but when you’re designing your training programme, don’t forget to incorporate your recovery schedule. I can promise you, your body will thank you for it.

Claire Shelly, GSR, ARTC

PhysioElite Templetuohy

www.physioelite.ie