Recovery for Endurance Athletes

Whether you are riding long and slow or are hammering out some intervals, you need to be recovered to be able to do it all over again the next training day.  There are many components to recovery including removing metabolic waste products (lactic acid,oxidative free radicals), bringing in new amino acids for rebuilding, storing carbohydrates as glycogen, and decreasing muscle soreness.  Recently some high-tech methods that were previously available only to big-budget professionals have come down in price.  Since they have been around for a while, there’s plenty of research into their benefits.

Recovery is the ability to repeat a hard effort again within a short period of time.  When looking at recovery, it is important to ask if the way it makes you feel also goes hand in hand with the ability to exercise again.

Nutrition

Since eating is something with which most endurance athletes are familiar, this should be a good place to start. 

Recovery from exercise, especially from intense exercise, should start with replacing what you’ve lost during exercise.  While many athletes are concerned about staying lean, muscle glycogen should be the focus after exercise, not limiting calories.  A good dose of carbohydrate is 1g per kilogram (1g per 2.2 lbs of body weight).  The insulin that is released to place this carbohydrate into the muscle will also drive protein building blocks into the muscle.  The carbohydrate should be accompanied by 1/3 g per kilogram of body weight.  For the 150lb athlete this translates to:

150lb / 2.2 = 68 g of carbohydrate

68 x 0.3 = 22.67g of protein

While these numbers don’t have to be exact, they are good guidelines as long as you continue to eat between your workouts.  In the face of glycogen depleting workouts, this  amount of carbohydrate and protein should be consumed immediately and one hour following exercise.

How can you tell if your exercise was glycogen depleting?  You shouldn’t be able to replicate your intervals once your glycogen has been depleted.

Another important nutritional concern is maintaining hydration.  After a workout, you shouldn’t be losing a lot of weight.  Any weight loss is from dehydration if you didn’t eat.  You can get a good estimate of sweat loss by weighing yourself before and after a 30-minute exercise session.  The difference in dry/naked weight is your sweat loss (1lb equals 16oz) over 30 minutes.  

It is likely that replacing that much fluid will be very difficult to drink during exercise, so be sure to replace it afterward.

Although nutrition concerns are important for the ability to go hard at the next workout, eating provides fuel, but doesn’t provide relief from soreness.  For that we need to look to some other modalities.

Contrast Temperature Water Immersion

Contrast temperature water immersion involves alternating between soaking in cold (50 degree F/10 degree Celsius) and warm (110 degree Fahrenheit/42degrees Celsius) water baths.  The cold baths were 1 minute and the warm baths were for 2 minutes.  This was repeated for 6-10minutes.

Lactic acid was cleared faster with CTW than with rest, but 4 hours after exercise, there was no difference.  CTW did relieve muscle soreness more than a recovery run (done at 40%).  

Electrical Stimulation

You may have seen infomercials for electrical muscle stimulation.  Usually they are worn  by a large, well-muscled, lean man who is watching TV and getting six-pack abs.  Stim units are also used for recovery.  The theory behind them is that the muscle contractions that occur from the stimulation will act like a pump to move out metabolic waste products and facilitate recovery.

Compression

One doesn’t have to look far to see how quickly compression garments have taken off.  They are nearly ubiquitous in marathons and distance running, and calf compression sleeves are seen on many triathletes.  While their benefits during exercise are important to discuss, improved recovery  is also one of the claims.  Although there was decreased muscle soreness, muscles couldn’t be made to work any harder nor could they be electrically stimulated to work harder.

The effects of compression on performance and decrease in metabolic waste products is largely due to the improvements in the way the muscles feel, however there is some ability to speed lactate clearance.

Graded compression

Graded pneumatic compression boots “space boots” burst onto the endurance scene with their use by several high-profile professional cycling teams.  Before their use in the peloton, the boots were used to help with lymphatic drainage in patients with leg swelling.  There aren’t any studies that look at athletes, but the results for increase blood flow from non-athletic populations are encouraging.  Anyone who has put them on will tell you that they feel great once they have been removed.

Conclusion

Considering the cost range for the listed modalities ranges from free to $5,000, with the same decrease in muscle soreness, it seems like trying Contrast Temperature Water Immersion is a good place to start.  Other modalities, such as foam rolling, high-cadence spins can also be tried to achieve the same mechanism for decreased muscle soreness.

References

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Oct;111(10):2501-7. Epub 2011 Aug 17.

Does electrical stimulation enhance post-exercise performance recovery?

Babault N, Cometti C, Maffiuletti NA, Deley G.

J Sci Med Sport. 2004 Mar;7(1):1-10.

Effect of recovery modality on 4-hour repeated treadmill running performance and changes in physiological variables.

Coffey V, Leveritt M, Gill N.

J Sci Med Sport. 2010 Jan;13(1):136-40. Epub 2009 Jan 7.

The effects of compression garments on recovery of muscle performance following high-intensity sprint and plyometric exercise.

Duffield R, Cannon J, King M.

Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2008 Dec;3(4):454-68.

The effects of compression garments on intermittent exercise performance and recovery on consecutive days.

Duffield R, Edge J, Merrells R, Hawke E, Barnes M, Simcock D, Gill N.

Br J Sports Med. 2007 Jul;41(7):409-14; discussion 414. Epub 2007 Mar 6.

Comparison of three types of full-body compression garments on throwing and repeat-sprint performance in cricket players.

Duffield R, Portus M.

PLoS One. 2011;6(12):e27749. Epub 2011 Dec 7.

Effects of Whole-Body Cryotherapy vs. Far-Infrared vs. Passive Modalities on Recovery fromExercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Highly-Trained Runners.

Hausswirth C, Louis J, Bieuzen F, Pournot H, Fournier J, Filliard JR, Brisswalter J.

Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2005 Aug;30(2):164-75.

Improvement of the walking ability in intermittent claudication due to superficial femoral artery occlusion with supervised exercise and pneumatic foot and calf compression: a randomised controlled trial.

Kakkos SK, Geroulakos G, Nicolaides AN.

J Sports Sci. 2005 Jun;23(6):619-27.

The use of recovery methods post-exercise.

Reilly T, Ekblom B.

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Sep;110(2):425-33. Epub 2010 May 30.

Effects of compression stockings during exercise and recovery on blood lactate kinetics.

Rimaud D, Messonnier L, Castells J, Devillard X, Calmels P.

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Jun 28. [Epub ahead of print]

The effect of post-exercise hydrotherapy on subsequent exercise performance and heart rate variability.

Stanley J, Buchheit M, Peake JM.

Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2011 Dec 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Effect of Contrast Water Therapy Duration on Recovery of Running Performance.

Versey NG, Halson SL, Dawson BT.

Not just for drying laundry...

Many people end up using their treadmills as clothes dryers...


Or so I was warned when purchasing one a few years ago.   Check out this article on Shape.com which features some advice on alternative ways to use the treadmill as an exercise device;
http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/5-unique-ways-make-most-your-treadmill

Hand Paddles for Swimming

The other day I decided to buy my own swim paddles.  Being relatively new to the sport, I had been using paddles from my pool.  One of my colleagues at work suggested paddles would be a good investment, especially when traveling as they pack flat.  I was overwhelmed by the choices that exist: big, small, flat, curved, straps, loops.

I went to the medical and exercise science research for some answers.  Here’s what I learned:

• The use of hand paddles did not cause significant changes in hand placement and movement
• Hand paddles increased swim speed, stroke length and stroke time.  These changes increase with bigger paddles
• Hand paddles decreased stroke rate

I had read that hand paddles were to help with getting a feel for the “catch” and “pull”.  I know that if I don’t enter the water with my paddled hand right, it will get caught in the water and pulled in a funny direction.  However, the research doesn’t seem to support any lasting differences.

So, how can we use paddles more effectively?

One of the ways that I have started to use them is to employ Post-Activation Potentiation, or PAP.  I can best explain PAP like this: stand with your right side against a wall.  Lift your right arm to the side, pushing it against the wall.  Continue pushing against the wall for 20 seconds.  Now step away from the wall, you will feel like your arm is floating into the air by itself.

Using paddles, we can achieve the same effect.  Swim 50m with the large paddles, keeping your stroke rate normal.  By pushing your hands through the water, there is a large, almost isometric force across the arms.

Take a short break after the 50m and take off the paddles.

Start swimming again without the paddles and you will be able to turn over your stroke much faster and each stroke will seem easier.

Based upon this use of hand paddles, I opted for larger ones to get more resistance.  

References:

Gourgoulis V. et al. The influence of hand paddles on the arm coordination in female front crawl swimmers. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 May; 23(3):735-40

Gourgoulis V. et al. Hand orientation in hand paddle swimming. Int J Sports Med. 2008 May;29(5):429-34. Epub 2007 Sep 18.

Gourgoulis V. et al. Effect of two different sized hand paddles on the front crawl stroke kinematics. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2006 Jun; 46(2):232-7.

Telles T, et al. Effect of hand paddles and parachute on the index of coordination of competitive crawl-strokers. J Sports Sci. 2011 Feb; 29(4):431-8.

The Case for Trail Running

On the first day of my son’s soccer practice, I met another dad who is a big-time runner.  He had done several marathons at a pace I couldn’t think of holding for 26.2 miles. I have been looking forward to running with him since soccer practice ended.  Knowing that he was focused on the Philadelphia Marathon, I gave him a few weeks of recovery before calling him to go out for a run.  Since the weather was looking chilly, I thought a trail run would be a good idea.

With each footstep, I noticed that I was running 30 seconds to a minute slower per mile than his desired pace.  I pushed the pace trying to get, really angering the guys behind me. 

These guys are fast runners, even faster than I could run long distances, so why were the trails so difficult?

There are a few differences between running on trails and running on pavement.  Because of the varied terrain, certain running styles are better suited for running off-road.  These differences include:

• Shorter stride
• More side to side movement, both to a void obstacles and follow bends in the trail as well as to make micro adjustments for different surfaces
• Increased activation of the core to provide stability
• Land under center of mass which helps to avoid “over striding”
• Rapid shifts in terrain mean more hills and more intensity

I frequently perform video gait analysis.  Some of the common elements of injured runners are a long stride with a foot strike way in front of the body, weakness in the pelvic stabilizer muscles and poor core strength.  By shortening the stride and throwing some lateral movements into the mix, trail running could be the answer to many running overuse injuries.  

Next time you lace up your sneakers, head out to the trails for an entirely new workout.

Chia Power

I was running with a friend the other day.  We both had the same shoes, but the sounds coming from our feet were decidedly different.  I’m a dedicated forefoot/midfoot striker, while she is more of a heel striker. 

We were discussing minimalist running, when she exclaimed, “I should be able to do that, I have the shoes, and I even eat chia seeds!”

Chia seeds.  If you’ve read “Born to Run” or if you listen to too many triathlon podcasts, you might think that chia seeds are powerful enough to turn Lemonade into Rocket Fuel.  Let’s look at why you might think so.  

Chia seeds contain Omega 3 fatty acids.  Also known as Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s), these are fats that are easily converted into energy.  Calories that come from Chia are every bit as good as calories that come from commercially available carbohydrate drinks, especially when used as part of a carbo loading protocol.

Medium Chain Triglycerides are a great souce of fuel if you want to spare carbohydrate and decrease blood lactate increases during moderate and intense activity, especially when compared to Long Chain Triglycerides.

It isn’t enough to consume chia.  You also need to train your body to increase the use of MCT’s and that is facilitated by training.  High Intensity Training in the presence of medium chain triglycerides will enhance the ability to use fat as a fuel during endurance exercise.

So are Chia seeds worth it.  Sure.  However there are other sources of MCT’s such as almond butter, salmon, avocado and hummus that are also worthwhile options, unless you want to grow sprouts on a ceramic animal.

Sources:

¹ Lilian TG, Casey JC, Bishop PA. Omega 3 Chia seed loading as a means of carbohydrate loading. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jan;25(1):61-5

² Nosaka N et al. Effect of ingestion of medium-chain triacylglycerols on moderate- and high-intensity exercise in recreational athletes. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol. 2009 Apr;55(2):120-5.

³ Jong-Yeon K et al. Long- and medium-chain fatty acid oxidation is increased in exercise-trained human skeletal muscle. Metabolism. 2002 Apr;51(4):460-4.

Core Training for Runnners

As the winter months (and weather approach), a lot of people ask me what they can do to help with their running over the winter.  Flexibility and strength training are two items that people want to address in the off season.  I was recently interviewed for an article on Livestrong.com about this.  Here's the link:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/549952-yoga-for-runners/

Runners' World

Check out the November 2011 issue of Runners' World for some advice (by me) on keeping the immune system functioning while training for endurance events.