Recovery

Stretching, Compression, Rolling, and Massage

Your muscles are made up of numerous thin muscle fibers bound together to form larger muscles. You can think of them almost like a stereo cable where there are many individual wires bound together to form a larger cable. When we workout and apply stress to our muscles, those muscle fibers basically get shortened and tangled up like a girl’s ponytail blowing in the wind during a long run. Just like that girl needs to brush her hair to remove the tangles, we need to “brush” our muscles to untangle the muscle fibers and elongate them back to their normal state. Here’s how to brush them:

Stretching

Long, slow stretching after a workout can help your muscles recover because it stimulates blood flow and also elongates the muscles. Try to target your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors especially. Also make sure you get any other areas where you are particularly sore. If you have the opportunity, check out a restorative yoga class for a great recovery and other ideas for stretches. There are lots of great yoga studios out there. You can also try yoga videos on YouTube. One channel that I’ve found to be especially good is Tara Stiles. She has a lot of great videos that are only 5-10 minutes long to help you get started.

Compression

Compression apparel promotes active recovery because the compression increases blood flow and helps to flush toxins from your system. At Endurance House, we carry compression socks, calf sleeves, shorts, and tights. The compression equipment that we carry is tight enough to stimulate blood flow and is also graduated (the amount of pressure changes farther away from the heart). Be wary of ‘fashionable’ compression equipment that does not have these features. There is a lot of fashionable compression equipment out there that is little more than a tall sock. Good compression clothing should be tight and tough to get on and off.

Massage/Rolling

There are a variety of massaging and rolling tools for you to try including the stick, foam rollers, cold rollers, the R8, and Moji rollers. At a basic level, these all work the same – they apply pressure to your muscles and physically straighten those muscle fibers back out. There are pros and cons to each tool. The handhelds can be easier to apply a variety of pressure since it is entirely dependent on how hard you press down. At the same time, it can be hard to reach the right muscles and keep them relaxed while rolling it. The foam rollers make it easier to relax the muscles because your body weight applies the force, but it can be a little harder to get at all of your body parts and apply just the right amount of pressure. Some tools are also nice because they’re small enough to travel with or even stick in your race bag. The other great massage option of course is to go to a professional masseuse.

These techniques will help you recover from tough workouts faster. By decreasing your recovery time, you’ll be putting yourself in a better position for that next workout. Start adding some of these suggestions to your daily routine and you’ll feel the improvements quickly.