Recovery

For information purposes only. Exercise at your own risk.




There are several elements to consider when trying to optimise recovery from exercise

Nutrition – Refuelling Muscle Stores and Preventing Immuno Suppression

Optimising recovery through nutrition begins as the training session does. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that sipping on a 5% carbohydrate and electrolyte drink throughout a session helps to offset ‘exercise induced immuno-suppression’. Basically, your body can suffer a lot of oxidative damage during an intense workout (it’s to do with electrolytes leaking from the kreb cycle but I wont go into it); this can really damage your immune system and make you susceptible to illness. Sipping a glucose drink is the one thing that has be proven to reduce the damage to your immune system. There is also evidence that it can not only enhance endurance but enhance recovery of muscle glycogen stores. Some professors and conditioning coaches also recommend adding a few grams of glutamine to a ‘during workout’ drink.

My workout drink:
500ml Water
30g Maltodextrin (glucose polymer which is less sweet and superior for rehydration to glucose)
3g Glutamine
Pinch of salt

After an intense exercise session there is a rise in the levels of insulin in the blood. This last for about two hours. Insulin is a hormone that shuttles glucose (amongst other thing) into to the muscle cells. Higher levels = more glucose into muscles = quicker recovery. Therefore it is a good idea to get some carbs down your neck, preferably within half an hour of training. Try and make at least some of these carbs high GI like glucose, white rice etc. This is also a good time to take creatine and whey protein powder. Whey protein is quickly digested and provides all essential amino acids. There is also some evidence that a strong anti oxidant like vitamin C is beneficial at this time.

Venous Return
One of the causes of stiffness after exercise is lactic acid. If you just stop exercise without stretching or a cool down then blood full of lactic acid will pool in your legs and make you feel sluggish for days.

Compression Garments
Compression garments enhance venous return from the legs. This helps recovery and also enhances some forms of endurance. To become oxygenated blood must travel up the legs back to the heart. This isn’t particularly easy as the veins have to directly fight gravity. There are a few ways that veins overcome gravity, these include valves on the veins to prevent backflow. Each time a leg muscle contracts it also helps to pump the blood vertically. Compression garments also help to pump the blood vertically. It has been shown that in order for elastic compression to mimic to increase venous return the pressure exerted by garment should be graduated with a minimum pressure of 18mmHg at ankles and 8mmHg at midthigh (Lawrence D and Kakkar VV (1980) Graduated, static, external compression of lower limb: A physiological assessment. Br. J. Surg. 67: 119-121).

Foam Roller
Myofacial release foam rollers are used in pilates and sports therapy. They can be used specifically to aid venous return. If treating the calves for example; being with the foam roller at the bottom of your calf and roll upwards. DO NOT roll back down. Place the foam roller back at the base of your calf/ves and start again.

Holding Legs Up
If you are keen on lieing down, you can actual just lie on your back with your feet elevated at 45 degrees or greater. Gravity will help increase venous return

Ice baths
Ice baths have been used in athletics for years, but they have only just caught on in sports like football. They cause ‘new’ blood to rush into the legs after you get out. The actually method of using ice baths isn’t anything too difficult. Just fill up a bath with cold water and throw in some ice. Bags of actual ice or ice bricks (those gel filled things you stick in the freezer) do the trick. Sit in it for 15-20 minutes after a hard training session. Make sure all the parts of the body that have been taxed during the session are submerged. The ideal temp is between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius. Try and have the ice bath within 2 hours of the session. I don’t eat anything heavy before having an ice bath, or I feel really sick.

My post workout routine:

Foam roller – 10 mins
Stretch – 10 mins
Post workout drink – 40g whey protein, 5g glutamine, 3g creatine, 50g maltodextrin
Ice bath - 15 mins
Meal containing carbs, protein and EFAs.

General Aches and stiffness from inflammation

Supplement with Glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM
Take this supplement to help maintain cartilage and reduce inflammation

Ice / cryotherapy Again the ice bath is useful. Use ice packs on effected areas.

Diet
Avoid junk food, these contain saturated fat, and some chemical used in their preperation can also cause inflammation.
Avoid too much sugar, this can cause inflammation in some individuals.
Avoid Night shade fruits such as tomoatoes and eggplant. These contain contain a chemical alkaloid called solanine, which can increase inflammation.
Caffeine can also worsen inflammation.

Omega-3 essential fatty acids are very powerful antiinflammatory agents. They are found in cold water oily fish, walnuts, flax seeds, canola oil and pumpkin seeds.

Other methods of reducing stiffness:
Massage, Stretching and/or heat. Used in isolation or combination. Foam rollers and knobblers can be used for self massage.