Introduction
Did you know that it is not while you run that you actually become fitter? It is while you rest and recover between runs? Maybe you knew that already, but I am sure there are still a few things you could do to improve your poster recovery, to help your body along the process of making those important adaptations that ultimately make you fitter and able to run faster for longer.
In fact getting serious about recovery between running sessions is something that really separates prorunners from us normal runners. But what can we all learn from elite runners like Elliot Kipchoi or Jacob Ingebrison to help us all get better at recovering between runs to get fitter and faster. Let’s start with something that a lot of us struggle with sleep.
Importance of Sleep
When it comes to recovery techniques, sleep is the absolute number one. Most important, your body uses time spent sleeping to grow, repair, and adapt. It is no wonder why us humans spend on average a third of our lives asleep. We need it to function properly.
There are two critical aspects of your sleep cycle that we want to unpack below:
- The first is Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is the phase of your sleep cycle where dreaming takes place. REM sleep is what drives brain recovery. In the absence of REM sleep, there is a reduced ability to learn new information to regulate mood reaction.
- There is NRM sleep physically. This is where the recovery enhancing magic happens. NRM sleep makes up around about 85 percent of your total sleep cycle with your deepest sleeping state occurring towards the end of a period of NRM sleep. NRM sleep is known to be anabolic meaning muscle tissue and energy building. NRM sleep is where a lot of the physical aspects of your recovery takes place, where energy stores are replenished and where muscle tissue is repaired. If we do not get enough end- REM sleep, there are big metabolic and physical consequences including but not limited to an increased risk of running injuries and a reduced ability to manage weight and maintain lean muscle mass.
Focused Training Block
During a focused training block, most fitness freaks really prioritize their sleep schedules to ensure they get enough hours of shut eye to get the maximum benefit for their training. Obviously, the reality of normal life work, family and social pressures making it hard to get a solid eight hours of sleep every night. But perhaps you can audit your own weekly schedule and see where you can claim back just an hour of extra sleep here and there it will make all the difference.
Prioritising Eating Habits
The next area where lots of us go wrong Hamrune recovery is our eating habits. Some pro- athletes have expert nutritional support at hand, whereas the majority of us are left to figure it out for ourselves.
With the aid of Google it almost goes without saying that while your body is working hard to grow, repair and adapt to become fitter and stronger between your running sessions, the result of the recovery process will only be as good as the building blocks you provide with for your body to work with.
Check out our latest article on Beginners Guide to Paleo Diet and Workout
We are an expert in nutrition and we will suggest you to see our other recent article about Health and fitness. There are, of course, so many different nutritional philosophies you could follow, each with their own pros and cons. You are free to choose whichever suits your lifestyle, but all we will say is that when you are in a period of training hard, you need to make sure of two things.
Balancing Your Diet
One that you are consuming enough calories to sustain the workload you are putting your body through. Your ratio of carbs, fats and proteins providing those calories is totally up to you and will differ hugely depending on whether you are following. Let’s say a keto diet or high carb diet. We know that there are lots of strong opinions about nutrition so please feel free to share yours down in the comments.
Importance of Protein
The other thing is to make sure that you are getting enough protein in your diet, whether that is coming from pulses or pork chops. We really do not mind, choose your own platform of getting enough protein that makes your day but your body needs the amino acids in those proteins to grow and repair between your running workouts. You can also consider eggs and oatmeal in breakfast.
Checkout our latest article on Healthy Breakfast Ideas For Fitness
You should aim to eat 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kim of body weight each day, however, you choose to consume it. You can consider above link to follow the best breakfast guide which is rich in protein.
Consistency in Workout
The next thing you can do to improve your recovery between workouts is to staying consistent by regularly working on your mobility. We are not talking about spending hours on end stretching like you are training, do the splits. We would rather have you working on specific areas of your body like hip fluxes or hamstrings where you may tend to get tight when you ramp up the mileage.
It is another thing that differentiates proruners from many of us normal runners that they usually have time to dedicate to important aspects of their training beyond running itself like strength, conditioning and mobility workouts. Of course, many of us diligently do do this type of work, but it is often squeezed into the cracks of the weekly schedule rather than being given time and consistency as it needs. We have always found that dedicating as little as 20 minutes to a targeted mobility routine three times per week makes all the difference when it comes, preventing running injuries and helping the wheels run smoothly.
Staying Hydrated
Then there is hydration. Do you think you are drinking enough water from day to day? Let alone while you are training hydration is an important part of your recovery. And just like sleep, getting enough water costs you nothing. Our bodies are composed of around about 70 percent water and we lose a significant amount of those fluids throughout the day, just existing and even more when we are exercising. Water plays an important role in stabilizing the changes in body temperature when we exercise and proper hydration plays a vital role for all the organs in the body to function properly beyond just our kidneys, especially our brains. We all sweat at different rates while running and that is just one of the ways we lose water while we exercise. It is essential that we replace lost fluids during longer runs and that we rehydrate properly after running.
Conclusion
Recovery is not a one- size fits all thing, so be sure to listen to your body and figure out what works for you next up. Make sure you see the article on the right rows to learn exactly what prorunners do to run stronger for longer. And we will see you in the next article.
FAQs
If you have any questions or you want to add anything or if you have any suggestions regarding the topic then you can simply suggests us that opinion in comment section and also If you directly want to connect us then make sure you contact us on our email. We will value your opinion and suggestions. Remember, Stay healthy, as healthy body makes a healthy mind.
