ADFITNESS PROTOCOLS

Runners around the world widely assume that the purpose of recovery runs which are relatively short and slow runs undertaken within 24 to 36 hours post a longer or harder run is to facilitate recovery from preceding hard training. A lot of times we hear from runners talking about how recovery runs increase blood flow to the legs, clearing away lactic acid and so forth.

The reality is that lactic acid returns to their normal levels within a few hours and also does not cause muscle fatigue in the first place. Neither there is any evidence that shows a recovery run brings about muscle tissue repair, glycogen replenishment that is actually relevant to muscle recovery.

In general, recovery runs should be the easiest training day of the week, other than rest days.

What are the real benefits of Recovery Run? If your goal is to increase your running endurance levels then shorter and slow runs are for you as they challenge your muscles which are already fatigue from previous training also known as pre-fatigued state. But this causes micro-trauma to your muscles i.e break down of your healthy muscle tissue. To make it simple evidence shows that endurance adaptations occurs higher in runners who spend time exercising beyond the point of initial fatigue level.

So are recovery runs required? Research shows there is no need to push your body just after 24 hours of your previous long run. Furthermore, when a runner or an athlete begins a workout with energy-depleted muscle fibers and lingering muscle damage from previous training, the brain alters the muscle recovery patterns causing more damage to the muscles which may lead to an injury.

Recovery is important but not with recovery runs!

Athletes tend to often neglect on sleep and recovery. But athletes do not realize that loosing on either can single-handedly halt your gains, increase your risk for injury and hinder processes in your body that regulate, well, pretty much everything. In this blog we are going to focus on how to get a grip on your sleep, learn to optimize your recovery, and organize workouts that promote better muscle recovery and elevate your training.

1. Your brain requires recovery and Sleep gives you more than just rest

Sleep recharges your central nervous system and replenishes your energy stores. Your CNS is responsible for triggering muscle contractions, reaction time, and response to pain. So if you have a deeper and better sleep your CNS can function better. Also, your endocrine system and hormone profile are working while you’re sleeping.These help in secreting hormones, like cortisol and testosterone, that produce protein synthesis (muscle growth)

Hence, without proper rest and restoration, you start degrading muscle growth and recovery, and your central nervous system stops recharging, so you feel tired, unmotivated, and weak in your workouts, causing a negative feedback

2. Quality of Sleep is more important than 8 hours of sleep

Athletes usually say ‘Oh, I get eight to nine hours of sleep; that’s enough,’ The quality of your sleep matters most. You won’t recover as well as if you had six hours of high-quality sleep. Other factors which may harm your good sleep is bad nutrition habits like fatty, spicy, or ultra-processed food at night.

3. No blue light emitting gadgets.

Most athletes like to catch up on checking on chatting apps or social media late at night. The lights emitted from theses devices trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime. This impacts your body’s natural melatonin levels which help you in putting you off to sleep are going to be pushed down pretty low because your body thinks it needs to be awake. A better way is get off your electronic devices at least one hour before you go to bed, this will help your melatonin levels naturally rise to where they need to be before you go to sleep. During this one hour athletes can meditate, read a book, or talk to another human being for a change. All of these activities can relax you and get your heart rate down.

ADFITNESS PROTOCOLS

Do you really require “Recovery Run” after a harder run?

Relationship of Sleep on Recovery in Athletes