RECOVERY! Its what makes all the differance : )

BIG WORD UP!!!!!!!!! to all my endurance athlete folks ; )

Today I will chat a bout recovery and just some general actions that tend to help people. In addition these are all things that I have found useful employing in my own training.

Recovery is quite important as we spend most of they day doing other activities other than training.

1) Static stretching.

What is static stretching? This is when one holds a stretch for a few seconds. Ideally you want to hold it for 20 seconds to a minute at a time. It is important to do this at the end of a work out to maintain flexibility as often muscles tend to tighten up after workouts. Keeping flexible may help you go faster in the long run as you are able to have more range of motion. Stretching may even prevent some soreness.

It is also important to note that static stretching should be done at the end and not the beginning of a workout as it relaxes the muscle and lengthens it to the point ware doing exercise on it may create an injury. (I will talk more about this tomorrow when I chat about warming up)

2) Message.

Oh yes they feel good and help to keep your muscles to be nice and relaxed. They are a great way to keep the blood flow going in your legs which will in turn may help you recover quicker. Top professional athletes in many types of sports get messages daily. To quote Napoleon Dynamite "LUCKY!"

3) Recovery rides and or swims.

recovery rides and swims are a great way to aid recovery. In order to keep joints flexible we must move. Why is this? Are joints are not lubricated via the blood stream rather they are lubricated through are lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is not pumped through are body by the heart but by human inertia or movement. This now why more and more Dr.s are telling people to move as mush as possible when then have a sore back or other areas of pain.

Recovery rides and swims also raise your heart rate. (It is important to keep you heart rate way down in these work outs. Zone 1 is what you want.) This slight elevation in heart rate will help get a little more blood in out of your muscles thus the theory is you speed recovery. I have found this seems to be true for me. A least I feel better on next normal work out VS sitting on my dumper and doing nothing.

4) Sleep.

Sleep rocks. It is when you mind and body have time to rest and recover, probably the most. This is also when your body releases quite allot of human growth hormone. In order to maximize this stay away from eating carbohydrates 2 hour before sleep as this will inhibit the body from releasing human growth hormone. Human Growth hormone has been indicated in many studies to play a large role in helping one recover and build muscle.

How many hours of sleep you need varies from person to person. Michale Jordan all through his playing days only slept for 3 hours a night. Most people need 7-9. I believe that consistency is key in sleeping too. Going to bed and getting up at the same time I find to be useful in feeling the most energy when arising.

4) Meditation.

YEAH BABY! I Love meditating. I do this almost every day. After doing one of these sessions I feel fresh alert and ready to go. It teaches you to let go and relax your mind. I find it to better than a nap as I feel sharper.

5) elevate your legs.

I read from one of Joe Friel's books that elevating ones legs after a work can help too. I have employed this tactic and find it works for me. The idea is to drain your legs. For every hour I train I keep them elevated for 5 minutes. Thus 3 hours= 15 minutes of elevation.

I lie flat on my back and keep them up above the rest of my body usually propped on a wall or stability ball.

6) Compression socks.

This is a new one but I believe it has some merit. Often after a hard day of training I find that my ankles and lower shin can look swollen and feel stiffer. Compression socks have helped with this for me. I ware them after I train.

I'm also going to employ the socks while traveling as I notice this big time after flying. I Know some pros are doing this and I'm sure some of you triathletes out there have seen some people out there sporting these knee high socks in races. I have yet to break them out for that as I believe it will take me to long to put them on in transition and I want my legs to breath.

That's all folks, Much peace & love to you all