Active Athlete Body Well-Being

PAPYRUS3

I am curious. What do those out there that train hard each and every day - run/weights for 2-3 hours (or more) a day - do for muscle/all-over body fatigue.

Do you go to regular sports massages? Foam rollers? Heat therapy?

ninerbuff

Me, I just make sure I rest enough. At my age, I don't train any body part but once a week now. That's plenty of time to recover.
But what I will say is that many athletes will do things like, ice baths, massage and saunas after really hard workouts.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Djproulx

Short answer: Foam rolling, yoga, compression gun, deep tissue massage.


Context: I have been very active for the last 15 years, with a primary focus on triathlon training and racing. My typical schedule would be to perform 9-10 sessions in 6 days. I worked with a coach for most of this period. I also work with a personal trainer weekly at my local gym.

Training for endurance events produces multiple types of fatigue as the training volume builds towards race day. The first is acute fatigue, such as after a long bike ride (3-4 hours) followed by a short run(Saturdays), or an open water swim followed by a long run (Sundays). This was a typical Saturday/Sunday routine for me. As a result, I usually took a rest day on Mondays. Many of my days included foam rolling (quads, lats, adductors, etc), with additional recovery work on Mondays, such as a yoga practice. I also used a lacrosse ball or compression gun on my quads, calves, etc. During the highest volume weeks, I also did either a walk or a very light easy spin on my bike trainer to help clear lactic buildup in my legs.

The second type of fatigue that occurs in endurance training is cumulative. My coach and I tracked all my workouts in a software tool that automatically uploaded my garmin data after each workout. The nice thing about this is that it not only provided a graph of my rising fitness, but the corresponding increase in my fatigue as well. To address this, we had recurring "recovery weeks" of lower volume, typically every 4th week.

Finally, the other things that were "must do" for me were regular deep tissue massages (every 3 weeks) and making sure I got a lot of sleep. The massages helped address the significant soreness that could develop in traps, lats, and leg muscles brought on by spending hours in the aero position on the bike, long pulling sessions during freestyle swimming and the pounding of running on tired legs after biking.

tomcustombuilder

That much training would not leave any recovery time. Regardless, a good bodywork person every week or 2 will keep things good.

springlering62

As ridiculous as it sounds, needlework.

It forces me to sit and rest, while keeping my hands too busy to snack.

I swear, eventually I’ll be able to wallpaper my house in needlepoint.

The guest room is already three afghans deep per bed from pandemic projects, as if you could even see the beds for all the fancy handmade pillows. And all the only purpose they serve is as a cat nest. 🤦🏻‍♀️

PAPYRUS3

Thank you everyone.

@Djproulx - you do indeed train hard and thank you so much for 'the how' in which you train/recover. You sound very committed to your health. 🙂

Djproulx

PAPYRUS3 wrote: »

Thank you everyone.

@Djproulx - you do indeed train hard and thank you so much for 'the how' in which you train/recover. You sound very committed to your health. 🙂

@PAPYRUS3 - I've described the "build" and "race sharpening" phases of training for long course triathlon (70.3 and 140.6 events). I typically take a 6-8 weeks off season break in the late fall, then resume a modest "base building" phase in January-March.

The other comment I'll make is that people don't stick with endurance sports unless they love the training process, since most of us train almost every day and typically only race 1-3 days per year.

I'm lucky(?) in that I have a large group of friends who are very motivated to train, so there's quite a social element to many of our workouts.

Do you have a particular training goal for your efforts?

PAPYRUS3

@Djproulx - Currently I am trying to get my nutrition in check and need to gain a lot of muscle in order to ever run again (not really my goal though. It just would be nice to be able to do so if I wish).

I only do resistance training for 40 minutes (pilates/weights-lighter and yoga). I walk (can't run right now...legs just don't have the strength😐) on the treadmill for 1 hour - incline at only 3-5 @ 3.3.. - I do this 7 days a week. I generally get in 7-12 steps/day.

As you can see I'm light years anywhere close to you my friend!

The reason for my post is that even with this marginal workout routine, my legs are constantly tight/strained, etc., I do rollers/stretch every day and the occasional massage.

Djproulx

PAPYRUS3 wrote: »

@Djproulx - Currently I am trying to get my nutrition in check and need to gain a lot of muscle in order to ever run again (not really my goal though. It just would be nice to be able to do so if I wish).

I only do resistance training for 40 minutes (pilates/weights-lighter and yoga). I walk (can't run right now...legs just don't have the strength😐) on the treadmill for 1 hour - incline at only 3-5 @ 3.3.. - I do this 7 days a week. I generally get in 7-12 steps/day.

As you can see I'm light years anywhere close to you my friend!

The reason for my post is that even with this marginal workout routine, my legs are constantly tight/strained, etc., I do rollers/stretch every day and the occasional massage.

Reading your description, I wouldn't call your routine "marginal", it may just be less than you'd like to do.
As for the bolded comments:

I. I struggle with balancing my food intake, particularly when my training volume drops after race day or in the off season. I consume lots of calories during training and have to work hard to turn down my eating when I'm not as active.

2. You are doing both resistance training and an hour on the treadmill. That's not insignificant, especially when performed 7 days per week. I'm wondering if an occasional rest day or a reduced volume week might give your legs some more effective recovery. Tightness can be "normal" for active people, but pushing too often and/or lack of sufficient recovery can lead to strains or other injuries. I find that I really enjoy the periodic low volume weeks and come back energized after recovery days.

Overuse/overtraining is a constant concern among endurance athletes. Ignoring small issues for too long can cause bigger problems. In my case, it led to a severely strained achilles tendon that required a 15 month break from running and quite a bit of chiropractic work on my posterior chain (legs and lower back) to address.

AnnPT77

@Djproulx is giving you really good advice here IMO. (That's sooo like him. 😉)

I'd especially underscore what he's saying about recovery. I don't have anything remotely like his training schedule, but I do find that if I go 7 days routinely, things start to happen that sound similar to what you describe. Even at 6 days, when there are volume increases, I need to manage intensity carefully. Personally, experience tells me I need a routine rest day - maybe mild stuff like gentle yoga or stretching, but no real workout.

You mention strength training. if you're doing a strength workout daily, I hope/assume you aren't doing the same strength exercise(s) every time, but rather some kind of split?

You mention that you're working on nutrition. Have you been tested for any deficiencies or other issues? What do you think your main issues with nutrition are? How is your protein intake (not the only important thing)?

More basics: How is hydration? How is sleep? You probably have those covered well, but when I start feeling a little struggle-y, I sometimes find I've let foundations like that slip a little, unconsciously.

This next is speculative. Under somewhat similar circumstances, I started supplementing creatine. Not the core issue for which it's commonly used, but it does have some recovery effects. (Reducing DOMS is not one of them, unfortunately.) I'm vegetarian, don't recall whether you are, but it seems to be especially useful in that context.

2021 survey of the research here (full text):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228369/


Best wishes for finding improvements!

PAPYRUS3

@Djproulx and @AnnPT77 - Thanks so much for your insights. Right now, I'm thinking I just need some rest days and I do need to mix up my exercise routines - I tend to do the same thing/set(s) every day which I know isn't a good strategy.

I do supplement with a protein whey/creatine mix. My nutrition is good'ish' (Protein over 1gram/body weight; Fats are usually around 13-16% of day- I'm a vegetarian - eat fish occasionally) I just don't eat a lot.

Thanks again (thanks for the creatine link🙂)

tulips_and_tea

Variety of both routines and exercises is important to avoid overuse injuries. I know, I've been known to find something I like and then do the same thing every day until it gets to be too much, usually with walking. Walking 2 hours per day EVERY day is too much. I enjoy it, but it's not good for my knees and feet, so I've been alternating days of lifting and cardio and doing varied routines and it has helped a lot. Keeps me more interested, too.

Not really your original topic, though. I'm not at all at the level you originally described as far as workouts, but since I do walk a lot (both outside, on the treadmill, and use the elliptical) I do take good care of my feet. Every other week I get a pedicure (year round) and they do a very nice leg (from the knee down) and foot massage. That feels great and is necessary for rest and recovery.

PAPYRUS3

@BZAH10 - thanks for your input. I'm not sure where in the world you are, but if one is living in a beautiful place (great weather/area, etc., ) walking around would not only be a great physical activity but beneficial for one's mental health too🙂.

That regular pedicure sounds wonderful (you must have some pretty toes🙂) and happy feet with that massage that comes w/it!

I too need to get onto regular massage...I always say 'I will'... but one month turns into two which turns into three😐