Bill's House of Pain-No Vacancy (Page 8)

TIP OF THE DAY

Remember what I said about each of the six elements to success in triathlon being equally important? Imagine if you spent six months getting ready for a race without ever once logging a swim workout. Or maybe you step up to the plate to do your first Ironman with a water bottle and a handful of gummy bears. Most people would say that falls way short of what would pass for an IM nutrition plan (no disrespect to gummy bears). But it’s not surprising to see triathletes completely overlook good RECOVERY, which is the topic for the tip of the day.

The “yin and yang” of triathlon preparation are work and rest. We all intuitively understand the work part. It’s in our nature to go out a work hard to accomplish our goals. Recovery is the part that’s hard for us to wrap our heads around. How can I get faster if I’m sitting here with my feet up? The goal of training is to improve fitness. That fitness develops at rest. And that’s why without recovery, training is too much of a good thing by default.

While the need for proper recovery is universal, there is no one recovery technique that works for everyone. There are however elements of recovery that we can all be conscious of to ensure we recover well. I’ll address them in the order that they occur, be bear in mind they are all important.

Post workout nutrition is one key to speedy recovery. Muscle glycogen stores can be largely if not completely depleted by a workout of significant duration or intensity. The body’s optimum window for uptake of carbohydrates and protein is widely believed to be within the first 30 minutes post exercise. The ratio of carbohydrates to protein that most experts advocate is 4:1. So what I do is I take in 80 grams of carbs and 20 grams of protein straight away, usually while I’m standing at my kitchen sink trying not to sweat all over anything clean. If I can tolerate solid food, it’s usually something like bread or tortillas and very lean ham, or a protein bar and juice. As long as the ratio is 4:1, and there’s not too much dietary fat, I’m happy. I normally avoid high glycemic index carbs, but here is when I’ll get some in. Maybe flour tortillas and an apple, and 20 grams of protein powder. Whatever it takes and I can tolerate. Often I make a smoothie with frozen mangoes and strawberries, a cup or two of water and some protein powder. Awesome.

After that first recovery meal, I get my shower, maybe do some light stretching, and I get my feet up. If I did a long bike or run I like to do “leg drains”. I simply lay on the floor with my feet up on the wall at a 60 degree angle or greater. This promotes dependent blood flow via gravity, and as that blood leaves my legs hopefully it takes some of the waste products from muscle metabolism along with it. I know my legs feel better after I lay there for about 10 or 15 minutes. I don’t have any evidence to that say they help from a physiology standpoint. But they make my legs feel better in the short term (as soon as I stand up) and I know when I do them, I feel better the next day than I do on days when I don’t do them.

When I have the opportunity to get down on the floor with my foam roller, I engage in about 10 minutes of self-abuse rolling out my quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. It feels good when I stop. I stretch more than I used to, and while I’m gaining flexibility I can’t yet qualify or quantify how that flexibility is helping me. But for the purposes of this discussion, I want to include it because when I stretch it occurs in this first two hours post workout or that evening before I go to bed.

After these first recovery steps take place, it’s usually time to eat again. My personal policy is to eat that same 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein, and it works for me because my meals are pretty small. If you try to maintain that ration with a 1500 calorie meal you would be looking at a LOT of protein. If I eat a large meal, I cut my protein off at about 35-40 grams and the rest is carbs and healthy fats.

The next very important short term recovery element is sleep. Most of us don’t get as much as we’d like. I get more than I used to simply by turning off the TV and computer and going to bed. But the need for sleep is something I think we all understand so no need to go too deep here. The night after your key workout, try to get to bed early and get a full 8 hours so your body can recover.

It’s a lot easier to lay out short term recovery than it is to actually do it. Often when I’d be stretching I’m getting a “cool down” by push moving my lawn or playing on the floor with my kids. We all need balance in our lives. Going for a two hour ride and coming home to put our two hour short-term recovery plan into effect might not be cool with the people who are waiting for us to be done training. But those are the key elements. Fit in as many as you can as often as possible. ESPECIALLY the nutrition and if possible, the sleep. I’ll discuss recovery week planning the next time this topic comes up. Happy recovering. 

<------- Tip of the day was a recovery topic. It's at the bottom of page 9.

Aaaaaand it's a recovery week for me. I'm going to need help kepping it short. Be sure to chastise me appropriately if I'm not keeping it light.

Bill, I have heard this before - not specifically relating to recovery.

I have heard personal trainers use this analogy for gaining fitness and for losing weight (among other things) That is, planning to do it is easy, not doing it is even easier. Changing direction / momentum / habits is difficult to do. I, for one, will need to focus on this important aspect of training.