Old Guy Asking For Recovery Input

[SamSwimmer]

I fully expect this thread to get derailed but I’m genuinely asking for suggestions about athletic recovery. Especially from posters who work out a good amount but aren’t exactly Spring chickens.
I run a good amount, especially this year to prepare for some half marathons. I also bike a few days a week, which will pick back up now that the weather is warming. I’m trying to stick to a morning lifting program three days a week. Nothing crazy, but at least 30 minutes of dumbbell circuit training to work my shoulders & arms.
I have a protein intake goal I try to hit throughout the day. All that said, at my age, my focus is starting to shift more toward recovery so I can keep this up. Growing up, the focus was heat & ice. Then it seemed to have shifted to mainly ice. Now, it seems heat is making a comeback.
For those that workout a good amount, what are you doing to help with recovery? And what would you stay away from?

 

[mlblack16.]

Hey @murox

 

[herdfan06]

I came here thinking you were asking about AA.

 

[SamSwimmer]

Hey @murox

Rox, Rifle, Country, Doc, etc... I'm genuinely looking for advice I can utilize. I'm always nervous about putting this amount of time & effort in & getting sidelined, especially if I feel like I could have prevented it. These are bucket list items I want to achieve (the halfs & tri's). I'm not going to win any of them, & I'm fine with that. But I do want to at least have strong showings.

 

[herdfan06]

Rox, Rifle, Country, Doc, etc... I'm genuinely looking for advice I can utilize. I'm always nervous about putting this amount of time & effort in & getting sidelined, especially if I feel like I could have prevented it. These are bucket list items I want to achieve (the halfs & tri's). I'm not going to win any of them, & I'm fine with that. But I do want to at least have strong showings.

Why not step up to the big boys table and do a full marathon?

 

[SamSwimmer]

I came here thinking you were asking about AA.

Out of all the recreational "activities" I've done throughout my life, alcohol is surprisingly something I've never been a big fan of. I seem to collect bourbon more than I actually drink it. I'm pretty boring now. A lot of my time & energy is spent working out.

 

[SamSwimmer]

Why not step up to the big boys table and do a full marathon?

I've always read train for - but don't actually run a marathon. I have a crazy amount of respect for people who do though. The amount of time it takes to train for one is nuts. I already eat like a madman after my 10 mile runs - can't imagine my appetite if I stepped it up to train for a full. I've also had some gnarly injuries to both knees & a hip surgery that make me a little gun shy about pushing things too far.

 

[herdfan429]

Marc Pro | The Best Muscle Recovery & Injury Prevention Tool

Marc Pro speeds muscle recovery, enhances sports performance, prevents overuse injuries & relieves pain. Try for yourself with our Money Back Guarantee.

marcpro.com

https://hyperice.com/get-normatec/

 

[SamSwimmer]

Marc Pro | The Best Muscle Recovery & Injury Prevention Tool

Marc Pro speeds muscle recovery, enhances sports performance, prevents overuse injuries & relieves pain. Try for yourself with our Money Back Guarantee.

marcpro.com

https://hyperice.com/get-normatec/

I'll look into the muscle stimulation.

I gave the Normatec a shot once (admittedly not much of a control) but I wasn't blown away by it. Felt like a waste of time.

 

[muthed]

Swimmer, since you appear to be advancing in age and have had knee and hip problems, I'd suggest bypassing the halfs and tris and watch from the sidelines. Or you could take up something more apropos with your name....SWIMMING.

 

[SamSwimmer]

Swimmer, since you appear to be advancing in age and have had knee and hip problems, I'd suggest bypassing the halfs and tris and watch from the sidelines. Or you could take up something more apropos with your name....SWIMMING.

That switch is actually the gameplan for later this year. The halfs & tris are bucket list items - I just want to prove to myself I can do them. Also, I'm aiming to do more mini-tris, not full blown tris. Other than when I used to wrestle, I've never been in this good of shape. I'm not in the ballpark of being ready for the tri's yet, more like the parking lot across the street from the stadium. I'm taking my time & trying to do it responsibly.

 

[big_country90]

I can’t really advise to the specific recovery related to long-distance running. I feel that, in general, the best recovery is taking enough time off in between workouts (48 hours at least…which I will explain in a second), plus plenty of ice and/or icy hot. I also stretch a lot before and after workouts. Stretching after a workout, to me, is just as important as stretching before a workout.

When I lift weights, I do three basic body workouts: chest & shoulders, arms & back, and legs.

Generally, I rotate those 3 workouts on a 4 day M,T,T,F routine while usually taking off Wednesdays (except cardio).

My 1st week might look like this.

Monday: Chest & Shoulders plus cardio
Tuesday: Arms & Back plus cardio
Wednesday: off or just light cardio
Thursday: Legs plus cardio
Friday: Chest & Shoulders plus cardio

Then I rest all weekend.

Week two starts with the next workout in my rotation:

Monday: Arms & Back plus cardio
Tuesday: Legs plus cardio
Wednesday: off or just light cardio
Thursday: Chest & Shoulders plus cardio
Friday: Arms & Back plus cardio

Week 3 would be:

Monday: Legs plus cardio
Tuesday: Chest & Shoulders plus cardio
Wednesday: off or just light cardio
Thursday: Arms & Back plus cardio
Friday: Legs plus cardio

So…what happens is that, no matter what, I work out one area of my body no more than twice in a week, and always 4 days apart. This gives my muscles plenty of recovery time. You can argue that chest and tricep workouts intersect and that’s a fair argument, but when I do those in succession, it’s usually followed by a Wednesday or a weekend or has the Wednesday or weekend right in the middle, so I still rest those muscles plenty.

Occasionally (not often) I will take an entire week off when my body needs to really shut down and rest/recover. Rest and recovery are crucial. You can’t simply go non-stop at any age. Your muscles need plenty of time to rest, regroup, and rebuild. To me, that is as important as the workout itself.

 

[riflearm2]

I fully expect this thread to get derailed but I’m genuinely asking for suggestions about athletic recovery. Especially from posters who work out a good amount but aren’t exactly Spring chickens.
I run a good amount, especially this year to prepare for some half marathons. I also bike a few days a week, which will pick back up now that the weather is warming. I’m trying to stick to a morning lifting program three days a week. Nothing crazy, but at least 30 minutes of dumbbell circuit training to work my shoulders & arms.
I have a protein intake goal I try to hit throughout the day. All that said, at my age, my focus is starting to shift more toward recovery so I can keep this up. Growing up, the focus was heat & ice. Then it seemed to have shifted to mainly ice. Now, it seems heat is making a comeback.
For those that workout a good amount, what are you doing to help with recovery? And what would you stay away from?

I apologize, Swimmer. I was hoping to respond prior to Big Dummy answering for the sake of hoping you don’t get hurt from his advice. He tried giving our favorite geriatric, Geezer, cardiac arrest last month with his fitness advice. But my schedule of downtown Miami nightlife, Miami Beach mornings, and having the Mets owner text me to come visit his box got in the way of me responding. The valet charged my car for me, luckily, or I may have missed the flight and put you are risk if I didn’t get time to tell you to ignore BC.

His comment about stretching before working out is asinine. You want to warm your muscles up, but the stretching your age group is used to is not what you should be doing. That type of stretching tears muscle fibers, makes you weaker, and allows opportunity for injury.

What you want to do is warm up, not necessarily stretch. About to do upper body? Do a bunch of arm circles, big and small, in both directions. Do figure eights with your arm diagonally across your body. Do the same movements you’ll do with weights but without the weights. Do push-ups. Then, do the lifting with very light weight as a warmup.

Same sort of stuff with lower body eventually ramping up to dynamic moves.

Stretching, as you’re used to (static), should only be done after the workout.

Creatine is good for muscle recovery. You may want to try adding that to your protein intake. Rollers are good torture and muscle recovery on your legs if you’re really sore.

Knowing your body is important. Being able to answer if it is muscle soreness or joint/tendon soreness is important.

When it comes to medical and health advice, rule #1 is always to consult a sports fan message board. Rule #2 is to always ignore Big Dummy.

 

[big_country90]

What you want to do is warm up, not necessarily stretch. About to do upper body? Do a bunch of arm circles, big and small, in both directions. Do figure eights with your arm diagonally across your body. Do the same movements you’ll do with weights but without the weights. Do push-ups. Then, do the lifting with very light weight as a warmup.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with static stretching before a workout. That said, what you described is almost exactly what I do. Most of my static stretching is post-workout.

 

[riflearm2]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with static stretching before a workout. That said, what you described is almost exactly what I do. Most of my static stretching is post-workout.

OK, Doctor. I can post a million other studies, but these should suffice. The fact that you suddenly backtracked with your second sentence is enough:

Stretch Before Exercise? Not So Fast. | BU Today | Boston University

Boston University is a leading private research institution with two primary campuses in the heart of Boston and programs around the world.

www.bu.edu

Recent studies caution people away from stretching before workouts, suggesting it actually impedes your body's performance

https://alo-physiotherapy.co.uk/why-you-should-never-stretch-before-your-work-out/

Stretching alone, before a workout, might actually increase risk of injury. According to research in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, ...

Should you stretch before or after your workout?

The final answer, once and for all.

www.cnet.com

No matter what your middle-school gym teacher said, you actually shouldn't perform static stretching before you exercise, especially if your workout involves the lower body. The muscles aren't warmed up yet, and performing static stretching while you're still cold won't do anything in terms of injury prevention.


A comprehensive review found that static stretching, when done alone before working out, led to decreases in strength, power and explosive performance. So static stretching won't stop injuries from happening, and it'll also lead to bad workouts.

 

[mlblack16.]

and having the Mets owner text me to come visit his box

The hell you say? You're going to get @herdfan06 all excited.

 

[herdfan429]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with static stretching before a workout. That said, what you described is almost exactly what I do. Most of my static stretching is post-workout.

No one worth their weight in the fitness world advocates static stretching prior to working out

 

[raleighherdfan]

The hell you say? You're going to get @herdfan06 all excited.

Rifle already admitted to sucking crank. The Mets owner either needed serviced or a sandwich delivery.

 

[big_country90]

No one worth their weight in the fitness world advocates static stretching prior to working out

No one has ever gotten hurt from stretching beforehand. It’s simply junk science. I do know plenty of instances where people have gotten hurt without stretching though.

 

[riflearm2]

No one has ever gotten hurt from stretching beforehand.

You’re a moron. I’ve tweaked muscles from stretching without warming them up.

You have a guy who has worked out religiously for 25 years and been coached by or coached with professional strength coaches. You have another guy whose profession is to make sure the lower body muscles on adolescent boys are relaxed. I’ve shown a bunch of studies supporting what the two of us are telling you. Yet you claim we are the ones who are all wrong and you’re right.

Christ.

 

[herdfan429]

No one has ever gotten hurt from stretching beforehand. It’s simply junk science. I do know plenty of instances where people have gotten hurt without stretching though.

No one said DONT STRETCH. The argument is static stretching. It’s useless prior to workouts

 

[SamSwimmer]

You’re a moron. I’ve tweaked muscles from stretching without warming them up.

You have a guy who has worked out religiously for 25 years and been coached by or coached with professional strength coaches. You have another guy whose profession is to make sure the lower body muscles on adolescent boys are relaxed. I’ve shown a bunch of studies supporting what the two of us are telling you. Yet you claim we are the ones who are all wrong and you’re right.

Christ.

I've always been an advocate of stretching prior to running. For years I've been doing a 35 minute mini-workout that combines a warm up, then dynamic, & static stretching. It's out of control & only because I'm a creature of habit that's terrified of injury. I don't fully regret it, as the warm-up & dynamic stretching have definitely helped but I'm trying to get over the mental hurdle of removing the portions of static stretching & putting them after. I'm starting to think I've just been lucky to avoid injury.

A friend of mine just went into practice as a Physical Therapist & the look of shock on her face when I described my warmup routine was enough to convince me to change things up. I'm down to 15 minutes but even that's too long. Getting over the mental hurdle is a bitch.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

Recovery definitely tougher as you age. Especially if you’re doing squats and deadlifts. I’m not well versed in recovery for running , though I’m starting to read more about zone 2 cardio work and its benefits.

Recovery is most dependent upon calories/protein, sleep, and hormones. I don’t think stretching helps a ton with recovery in my experience. I do feel a little better /more limber if I do dynamic stretching on rest days some but not as important IMO as nutrition and sleep.

most exercise and diet data is flimsy (not huge randomized trials), but my experience (mostly with lifting) is consistent with what I’ve read as “recommended “ by the gurus and “bro’s” for recovery…

- get at least 1 gram protein per lb body weight per day (assuming you’re not obese). Some people use 1 g per lean body mass lbs.
- if working out on empty stomach, eat a protein rich meal or shake early after the workout. I find I recover best though if I’m lifting with a small meal about 45 mins before lifting
- you could try to drink some essential aminos or an electrolyte drink intra workout and see if that helps.
- I think creatine helps a little. 5 g per day. Doesn’t matter much when you take it.
- you’ve got to get quality sleep
- you can get labs checked to look at testosterone. Higher test the faster the recovery.
- if weight gain isn’t a concern, bump the calories up and you will improve recovery. As you can imagine I feel less sore/more “fresh” faster after a workout if I’m eating excess calories,

===

When you say “recovery” I assume you mean muscle and joint soreness, but you may want to expand on it for more thoughts.

Some tech devices/ metrics can help gauge recovery …resting heart rate, heart rate variability, etc. but obviously how you feel is ?more? important to some degree.