Try These Recovery Modalities To Accelerate Recovery From Training And Racing

If you’ve ever done any significant training, you’ll know the effect it has on your body and how fatigue sets in as you train consistently.

Without training stress, you can’t get better, but without sufficient recovery from training, you’ll break down, and all that work will go to waste.

Sleep and nutrition are the fundamental recovery practices that all athletes need to treat as seriously as their training. Master these, and you’ll increase your tolerance for training and enhance your performance.

Neglect them, and it doesn’t matter what else you do to recover. You’ll never reach your potential.

I highlight the importance of sleep and nutrition because I see many athletes getting caught up in the toys of recovery (some of which I will discuss shortly) before mastering the basics.

If you’re only sleeping 5-hours a night and eating junk food, other recovery modalities may help a little, but they’re comparatively superficial and have little impact on the core of your fatigue and recovery.

You’re treating the symptoms, not the cause.

Now, assuming you are an athlete who takes their sleep and nutrition seriously, here are some additional recovery modalities that I have used personally and with our athletes to accelerate recovery.

1. Foam Rollers

Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release and is the most low-tech (and cheapest) modality on this list. I believe foam rolling started in the ’80s as a way for practitioners to treat conditions that resulted from tight or inflamed fascia.

You can think of fascia as layers and layers of cling wrap encompassing all of the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints in your body. Fascia can become tight or inflamed thanks to training stress, along with lifestyle factors like poor posture, dehydration, injury, stress, and lack of movement.

Because of its simplicity, a foam roller was something I used most days during my pro career to reduce soreness and eliminate muscle knots while improving my flexibility and range of motion.

I recommend that all athletes own a foam roller and use it regularly.

2. Massage Guns

Like foam rolling, massage guns are a form of self-myofascial release. Unlike foam rolling, they use percussive therapy to help loosen fascia and your muscles. They also help move lactic acid out of your body faster.  

Like the Hydragun that I use, most massage guns come with multiple heads and several speed settings. These variations allow you to change the intensity of your massage and target specific areas of your body.

I have been using my Hydragun for around a year. It’s been a game-changer for my recovery and overall stress management.