No Shame in the Recovery Game
After my busy 30-day studio tour in June, I was determined to take it easy in July and devote a majority of the month to resting and recovery. And while I started off strong, I was just too eager to get back to some of my new favorite studios that I didn’t take as much of a break in July as I had intended. So I opted for an August reset and to defer to the experts this time. Thus, I am focusing on all things recovery this month.
On the first day of my previously attempted July recovery, I found myself sitting in Dr. Nisha Meyer’s studio getting the royal treatment. And it was heaven: A little massage on my tough spots, followed by some cupping pressure here, some dry heat in the infrared sauna there, and finishing it off with a tight squeeze from the Normatec boots. It got me right! For those of you who don’t know Nisha, she is my physical therapist (PT, DPT). She is up on all of the latest and greatest PT tools and techniques. I know I fall short when it comes to rest days and have a lot to learn, so I felt like sitting down with Nisha was the best place for me to start.
Recovery can look like so many things. This is a picture of a little relaxation for me.
There are two ways to look at your recovery. The first is recovery as part of your training. Leading up to a big event (a race, a competition, etc.), recovery should be included just as much as any other training activity. And this is where I know I suck. I like to go, go, go and don’t build in regular recovery. I have a few races coming up this fall, and I am going to schedule my active recovery days weekly with Nisha. Scheduling it ahead of time will help to keep me consistent.
The second kind of recovery is what I was planning to do at the beginning of July, which was after my event. My “event” was the 30 days of workouts in June. I was looking to rest and restore my body and ultimately get back to work at the right time, doing the right types of activities. Maybe I am better at this type because I listen to my body after I beat it up. Then I seem to know I need to rest. Exactly how much and what I should be doing during that time, that’s another story.
Let’s start here because that is essentially what I was doing on July 1 in Nisha’s studio. First, we sat down to chat. Nisha wanted to understand how I was feeling. She needed to learn of any issues or pain I was having. Her ultimate goal is to lead me in the right direction for my next big event. By the way, it’s totally normal to have aches and pains after a big event- you just pushed your body to it’s limit. What do you expect? Runners will typically have pain in their knees, feet and Achilles. Powerlifters will commonly have pain in their low backs.
Soft-tissue work includes manipulation and mobilization of the areas of pain.
After the discussion, Nisha did hands on, soft-tissue work. My shoulder and wrist were sore so she focused on those areas. Nisha did some joint mobilization by applying pressure at my shoulder socket, while circling my arm in the proper motion. Nisha also used instrumental assisted soft-tissue massage in the areas where I was particularly sore. The Gua Sha tools are used to increase blood flow and calm the nervous system. Aside from the feeling of heat and tingling pressure, I immediately felt comfort, looseness and relief. What I later learned is that these techniques superficially cause the patient to focus on a different sensation, one other than the pain they had been feeling. Ahhhh, so cool!
There are several types of Gua Sha tools, each with the same purpose to increase blood flow and create a new sensation at the area of pain.
That is essentially what cupping does. Yes, cupping removes toxins and brings blood flow to the area of the cup. The increased blood flow speeds up the natural healing process by bringing in more good blood cells. But the cup also redirects your attention to this new, different kind of pressure and away from your existing pain. Nisha put one cup on my shoulder and one on the back of my shoulder. The cups should only be used for a small window, like 5 to 10 minutes, and usually provide short-term relief— i.e., enough relief to continue to train immediately after.
Cupping increases blood flow to the site, bringing the good, healing blood cells to the pain, as well as removing toxins.
That day, I got to sit in the infrared sauna. The sauna uses light and heat to release toxins and increase efficiency to burn calories. I did 25 minutes in the rising, dry heat. This therapy was more calming than anything else for me. I also got to use the Normatec Compression Boots, which I have been dying to try since I first saw my favorite Peloton instructors rocking them. Like a really tight hug around my feet and legs, these boots just felt like exactly what I needed after a significant amount of leg work. They are my favorite recovery tool, probably because my hips and feet are always my tough spots. I cannot wait to use these puppies more regularly as I up my miles for race training. If I had an acute injury, the boots would have been more therapeutic.
I used my time in the sauna to stretch, breath and just chill.
These boots were not made for walking… they were made to squeeze your legs and feet while you zone out the rest of the world.
All of these tools feel good while you are using them. But if I learned anything from my chat with Nisha, it’s that these tools must be used in conjunction with strength training to really get the full benefit. (Check out this article that I wrote about Nisha and training women to lift). So this leads me to that first type of recovery I talked about— the recovery that is built into your training. When you are training for a big event, it is essential to have an active rest day. It’s easy for me to say, but I don’t think I have consciously ever done this in the 25 years that I have been running in races. I learned from Nisha that an active rest day prevents burnout, optimizes active days and gives your brain a rest, too. All of this is vital when you are training for anything. I have often taken these things for granted, but watching those Olympic marathoners run last week, I realize just how important rest days are. Training is a marathon too and you can’t burn out at mile 15! Active rest days can include restorative yoga, walking, light cardio or nothing physical at all. A mental rest day doing something you enjoy is just as effective.
The Theragun or the Hyperice Hypervolt is a commonly used recovery tool that sends vibrations to the muscles after a workout or run. While it feels good, Nisha believes it’s most effective when immediately followed by strength training.
While training for an event, PT is going to look different. It may involve the tools I described above but with Nisha, it will be followed by strength work. Nisha believes that the therapeutic effect of any of these techniques increases with strength and movement immediately after.
The Hyperice Venom Belt vibrates and heats up, and loosens your muscles and soothes your body when added to stretching. (here is a similar belt)
I am determined to train for my upcoming races the right way, especially since I have all of you watching! So you know where to find me this fall… recovering and building strength with my girl, Nisha!
If you would like to give any of these tools a try, I have linked most of them in my Amazon shop. Also, feel free to reach out to Nisha for an appoint here. You will thank me- I promise you!