There has been some discussion lately about the necessity of recovery during training. So how much and what recovery do we need? How do we fit in all our training, cross-training, weights, etc. and still have time for recovery? What can we do to recover faster? How much recovery is needed prior to taper? How do you balance training hard and training and recovery?
It sucks getting old. I'm sore as hell. :toohurt:
Former Member
Good idea, Al. I think I will try that with breaststroke.
When it comes to recovery, the best thing is to use what strength and energy you have wisely and don't break yourself down beyond a nights repair, especially if you like training hard everyday. Seems simple enough, but what if you are a butterflyer and want to train for the 100 or 200? Are you going to train 500, 1000, 2000 yards a day at 40+? Maybe Dennis Baker could handle it, but many of us would be destroyed for days or weeks.
No kidding, I'm still sore after overdoing the fly 1 and 1/2 weeks ago. Thinking of auctioning off my musculo-skeletal system on ebay.
Does massage help boost your immune system too?
Fortress,
Here are a few nits that I use outside of the pool to improve my recovery:
1) Take a multivitamin just to make sure you are covered.
2) Omega-3 gel tab, supposed to improve healing (?), seems to work ok.
3) Feed the pain. More pain gets bigger meals :wine:, no pain gets a snack.
4) Don't sleep on the side that hurts. The side you sleep on tends to get less circulation, so keep the hurting side up when laying down.
5) Drink lots of water.
6) Adjust lifting routine to accomodate pool training. Lift before swimming if you are planning your swim workout to be recovery. If the day for weight training comes and you are still exhausted from the days before, go ahead and lift, but drop the intensity a notch. Save the heavy lifting for another day.
