10 quick tips on running and recovery

Optimal recovery? It’s when you know how to combine the right amount of training/running with the optimal amount of rest for the body. When you take the body out of its comfort zone by pushing it, some mechanisms happen in the body.
Imagine that you have just run 10 kilometers, and your muscles are used up and very flat. There are muscle fibers that are frayed. The body needs time to repair so that you can be ready for your next run. And you have to remember to give your body permission to do that. If you don’t, it will punish you instead of helping you. The body actually helps you become stronger when you allow it to recover properly.
But be careful, because you can’t let it go dormant if you optimize all the time. You have to learn to find the right balance between proper training and proper recovery.
We’ve made some of the most common headlines when we talk about proper recovery after running and training. 10 of the fastest ones about recovering your body.

1. Can my diet influence my optimal recovery?

YES, it can to such an extent that everyone should actually learn it. It is important to replenish your reserves after a long run or another long training session where you have used up your reserves.
Of course, you don’t have to go for just any kind of food… – there are some foods that are better than others. Right after training, you should mainly focus on carbohydrates. Here I can recommend an overripe banana or maybe some rye bread (grainy) and a thin layer of Nutella on top. (The Nutella probably doesn’t have any effect – it just tastes good)
I actually use another little trick myself. I think Cocio One helps to fill you up again, and then you also have something to look forward to when you run out there, and I actually think it’s a bit of a shame for myself.
In addition, foods such as oily fish, ginger and garlic are ingredients that can help you get rid of soreness, and thus also a better recovery.

2. Don’t get too comfortable

You shouldn’t recover for too long, or you’ll lose the effect of your training and your optimization. Recovering after a run doesn’t have to sound like a science, but you still need to adhere to a few principles.

– Are you overtraining?, If you don’t give your body enough rest, you’re breaking down your body instead of building it up. And that can’t possibly be the intention of your training.

— Too easy, You will if you recover for too long, and you actually let your body fall completely back to the starting point from the last workout (homeostasis) (explanation follows further down). But if you rest your body too much after a run, you don’t build on the next time, but actually just train up to the level you had after the last run.
— You must readhonor to hit that point where your body says good for a hard activity again, and you don’t hit the point with too much recovery. It’s not as difficult as it might sound. Muscles, mood, sleep, soreness, etc. will probably teach you to find that point.

3. Recover with an ice-cold bath

There are tests that speak both for and against, but in my head it actually makes okay sense.
When you have pushed yourself with hard interval runs or a long run, and your muscles are used up, slightly warm and very tired. Then put them in an ice-cold bath. You increase blood circulation in the muscles, and thereby also the possibility of recovering faster. You dissolve and get rid of waste products in a faster way.
And you just feel so refreshed just by taking a cold shower after a hard, hot workout. I love it anyway, and it works for me.

4. Recover with a blazing hot sauna

A sauna has a lot of great benefits for you who exercise. Whether it actually helps recovery on the right track, well, I say it does. For example, if you go to a sauna right after training, you help the waste products leave the body. Your muscles relax more in heat (and you don’t actually feel the soreness as much). You quickly calm down in a sauna, and it also benefits the body when it needs to rest before the next run.
Regarding muscle soreness, a sauna relieves the pressure on your muscles in the present, and thereby also relieves the soreness. But it is not as if the soreness is completely avoided. If you have a tendency to soreness, it will probably appear relatively quickly after you have left the sauna. The sauna only works with the soreness here and now – this is similar to when you have warmed up your muscles before a workout. Then everything goes more smoothly.

5. Sleep, calm and rest are the most important things

Go to bed, and preferably at a decent time. No, of course I don’t get to decide that, but it’s proven that if you stick to a reasonable sleep rhythm, where you get the rest and sleep you need, your body can recover more easily from a workout or a hard run.

6. The masseur is your good friend during recovery

If you are already good friends with the masseuse, make sure to stay that way. A massage is great when you need to relax and/or recover. You loosen up muscles and fibers, and you allow the body to release waste products.
A massage can also prevent your muscles from swelling up in the same way, and then they have a much easier time recovering.

Instead of the classic trip to your masseuse (which of course costs a lot of money), unless you are for one reason or another privileged enough to have free massage lessons available, there are alternatives, and we have tested and written a lot about them:

Massage boots: Recovery Boots

You can achieve a lot of well-being with a set of “long boots” that you pull up over your legs. But it doesn’t stop there. We have tested Recovery Boots, We have tested Recovery BootsWe have tested Recovery Boots

Massage gun with great effect

You can take a look at our large test of Flowgun massage gun here. A massage gun with a powerful motor gives you more flexibility in your recovery massage. A massage gun usually comes with 3-5 different massage heads. You can then combine them in different places on the body, depending on what makes the most sense for you. This way you have the opportunity to start the recovery and healing process in almost all places on the body. Perfect after a hard workout.

Easy with a massage cushion

A pillow that gives massage. 2 components that in my ears stink of well-being. There is nothing missing. It should just be heat. Well, that also exists – take a look atFlowlife Flowpillow Heat here. A massage cushion that really works. Not quite as many uses as a massage gun, and not quite the same effect as Recovery boots. But an easy and cheaper way to get started with recovery massage at home on the couch.

7. You are welcome to move when you need to recover.

You can recover on the road if you absolutely cannot stay away from your running shoes. You just must not overload your system in any way. Taking a recovery run should be at a very slow pace, and it is only to get the muscles going and maybe release some tension. You should not under any circumstances strain or, worse yet, overload the muscles if it is a recovery run.
It can actually be extremely pleasant to just get out and stretch for a while, loosen up a bit. But conversely, it can also be difficult to stay in shape once you’re out. Because even if you stretch, your muscles get warm, and you don’t feel as much soreness, and your brain tells you that you can easily do more. Don’t go there. It’s not worth the trip. And in the worst case, you end up breaking down your body instead of building it up.

8. Home….what for? It’s important

Homeostasis!!! A really boring word to pronounce. But it can be said much easier. When your body is in homeostasis, it is in balance, this is where it is well-rested. Then that concept is in place.
When you start from the homeostasis stage before training, you start to break down muscle and fat through training. You are essentially forcing your body into a state it does not want to be in. It will always try to work back to its starting point (homeostasis). There is just one small thing, the body is extremely smart. Once you have pushed it out of its comfort zone, it will try to move the level of homeostasis the next time, and that is how you get in better shape and you become stronger from your training.
In the recovery phase, your body automatically rebuilds your fibers and muscles, just a little bit more. And voila, you’re stronger than last time (if you remember to let your body recover long enough).

9. Start your recovery already when you train

It may sound completely crazy that you should start considering your recovery as soon as you train, but nevertheless, cooling down or “warming up” is a factor that can be very important for your recovery. When you remember to cool down or warm up, a process occurs in the body where you allow the muscles to loosen up a bit, and thereby have an easier time getting rid of the waste products that you have just worked into them.
So think about the fact that you need to have time to warm up when you exercise. It doesn’t take more than 5-10 minutes, and your body, your muscles and your fibers love it..

10. The quick headlines about perfect recovery

– People in good shape tend to recover faster
– There is easy and hard training, and the recovery time is of course very different depending on how much you have put into training.
– There are differences in the structure of the human body. So even if you recover in one way, your training partner, who is actually similar to you in structure and shape, may well have a different genetic basis for recovery.
– Balance in the body helps you with recovery. If you are under pressure and stressed at work and don’t quite get the sleep you need, you should calculate with extra recovery after training.

EXTRA. If you don’t want to restore

Then you should probably prepare yourself for overtraining and thus injuries to come closer to your life.
Because what happens is that if you don’t let your body recover properly after each training session (short or long, easy or hard), your body will immediately punish you, and your fibers and muscles will not be in the best conditions.
You become extra tired, and the workouts you do after too little recovery have a greatly reduced effect. Your muscles and fibers simply cannot work optimally.

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