TRAINING: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR RECOVERY

We focus a lot of our time and attention on riding and improving our endurance, power and skills, but one key element of improvement is recovery. It’s not exciting, nor is it fun, which is probably why we don’t focus on it much. But optimising your recovery can make a big difference to your progress if you’re an amibtious or serious rider. – By Benoit Capostagno

Cyclists are exposed to ever increasing training loads and it is important to have appropriate recovery techniques to avoid overtraining or overuse injuries. Recovery should be thought of as an active process and cyclists should engage in strategies which could improve their recovery from training and racing.

Recovery can:

• Improve the quality of training
• Prevent overtraining or maladaptive training
• Decrease the risk of developing an overuse injury
• Improve performance in competition

Sports scientists have been investigating the most appropriate techniques and procedures to assist athletes to recover. We have discussed a few techniques below which could assist you with your recovery. In this article we have deliberately chosen to stay away from nutritional interventions, which we will cover in the next issue. While the jury is still out on the use of some of the techniques mentioned below, there is at least some scientific evidence to support all of their use.

SLEEP

Elite athletes and coaches recognise the importance of sleep as a critical aspect of recovery. Performance is heavily influenced by both the quality and quantity of sleep. Bodies are restored and repaired during sleep and the need for sleep increases with increases in training load with more sleep required during periods of high training load. Sleep deprivation will not only reduce performance during competition, but also blunt the recovery process and negatively affect adaptation to training. Poor sleep has also been associated with impairments in the functioning of the immune and endocrine (hormone) systems and these impairments will negatively affect recovery. During periods of high training load the increased muscle inflammation and pain, may negatively impact on the quality of sleep.

There are several nutritional factors which could influence sleep quality and quantity.  There is some evidence which suggests that consuming foods containing tryptophan, an essential amino acid, may improve sleep quality. Eggs, milk, meat, fish, poultry, beans, peanuts, cheese and leafy green vegetables all contain tryptophan, so try and include some of these ingredients in your last meal of the day.

Consuming alcohol before bedtime can negatively affect sleep by causing frequent wakings, increase the frequency and severity of dreams as well as increase sweat rates, gastro-intestinal discomfort, headaches and the need to urinate. Similarly, caffeine should be consumed with caution as it too could negatively impact on sleep. Caffeine is found in a wide range of products and so it is advised that you read the labels of products carefully to prevent unwanted caffeine ingestion. There are large inter-individual differences in the tolerance or response to caffeine, but to be safe, avoid consuming it close to your bedtime. Individuals who do not usually consume large amounts of caffeine should be especially careful as they will experience larger disturbances in sleep following caffeine consumption. If you habitually train in the late afternoon try and limit your caffeine intake to racing only as this may improve the onset of your sleep.

Hydration may also impact on sleep quality, with the over-consumption of water causing frequent disturbances in sleep in order to urinate. Avoid excessive consumption of fluid between the last training session and bed time in order to prevent this.

Skin temperature has been suggested as a possible target for interventions aimed at improving sleep quality. Warming of the skin in cool environments, usually through the use of hydrotherapy (warm baths), blankets and thermal clothing and cooling the skin in warm environments (cold showers and air conditioning) could improve the onset of sleep.

Other techniques which could improve sleep include:

• Ensure that your bedroom is dark (use blackout curtains or blinds)
• Keeping bedtime consistent
• Do not nap longer than 45 minutes and avoid late afternoon naps
• Remove the clock in the bedroom

Additional recovery strategies which help decrease inflammation and pain may also improve the quality of sleep.

STRETCHING

Stretching is probably the most commonly used method to improve recovery. However, there is very little scientific evidence to suggest that stretching will assist with recovery from strenuous exercise. No detrimental effects have been reported and stretching may increase flexibility and the range of motion and therefore stretching should not necessarily be avoided.

MASSAGE

Another commonly used recovery technique, especially during multi-stage mountain bike races, is massage. Interestingly there is little evidence to support the use of massage in improving recovery, but anecdotally it is often considered crucial, especially during the longer races (Cape Epic, Joberg2C, Cape Pioneer Trek). It is theorised that massage increases blood flow and hence the removal of metabolic waste products from the active muscles. However, a recent study showed that massage actually impairs blood flow and the clearance of lactic acid. Massage appears to improve the psychological aspects of recovery and is most effective when it is used in conjunction with other recovery techniques such as active recovery. Massage may help reduce the risk of injury too and therefore can be included as part of a recovery protocol.

COMPRESSION GARMENTS

These garments are designed to apply graduated compression to the limbs in order to improve the return of blood to the heart. Compression is a relatively new and under-researched recovery strategy, but the initial findings are very positive. In two separate studies, compression was shown to improve recovery when compared to a placebo and other recovery techniques. It is important to mention that the compression in these studies was applied after the initial exercise, not during. No negative effects of compression garments on recovery have been reported.

ACTIVE RECOVERY

Active recovery usually involves low-volume aerobic exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming or cycling. Active recovery has consistently been shown to be more effective than passive recovery (sitting on the couch with your feet up) in improving subsequent performance. Enhancing blood flow, reducing muscle soreness and increasing range of motion appear to be most important benefits of active recovery.

Recovery is highly dependent on the actions you take during and after completion of your training or racing. Improving the quality and quantity of your sleep could have the largest effect on your recovery. However, the inclusion of other recovery techniques such as compression and active recovery could further improve your recovery.

Benoit Capostagno is a sports scientist based at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. He is currently completing his PhD, which focuses on monitoring training loads and fatigue. Ben coaches athletes from various endurance and explosive sports disciplines.