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Dry Land Ski Conditioning – Recovery

We all come into the ATP program from different places but DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness will be a reality for all of us as we are training and shred through the season. Two days of soreness is perfectly normal but more than that means you did more than is ideal for your system. Here are a few suggestions to help you work though this stage of things and bounce back stronger.

Why is the proper recovery so important?

The chart below demonstrates the how proper recovery can enhance performance and over training can detract from performance.

What this chart shows is that if you don’t rest enough between workout and recover before your next workout you are actually depleting your strength instead of building it. The longer and more intense workouts in the ATP program should take 2-3 days to recover from. You will need less recovery (1-2 days) as your conditioning improves. You can help support your recovery with the following strategies.

Blood in Blood Out – Circulation 

We want to wash out all of the bi-products from all of the hard work you are doing.
  1. Light low to moderate volume cardio
    1. A walk, a light jog (if you are already a runner), a swim or a spin on your bike are great light impact exercises to promote circulation without increasing stress on the system.
      1. Keep the intensity low and duration short 15-30 min max
  2. Hot or Cold
    1. Warm baths with or without epsom salt or arnica could be helpful
    2. Hot/Cold contrast is the best
    3. Cold plunges/Ice baths are amazing but hard to come by.
  3. Foam rolling or tissue mobility with a ball (there are videos on the “Recovery and Mobility” section of ATP membership site
    1. Foam rolling
      1. no need to be aggressive just knead the dough and release the tension
    2. “The Stick” or a rolling pin
      1. great self-massage option
    3. Lax ball massage
      1. a great tool for sore hips
  4. Massage
    1. If you can get in for a massage here and there during the season, it will really boost your recovery.

Hydration

Also helps on so many levels.
Get your clear fluid levels up higher than usual during your training and recovery.
3-4 liters a day is a good goal so keep those bottles topped off through the day.

Nutrition

Antioxidant are very important during training cycles. Your body produces a lot of free radicals during higher intensity workouts so it is important to keep the antioxidant flowing
  1. Vitamin C is the cheapest and comes in a lot of easy-to-use forms
  2. Another more expensive product that is much stronger is NMN or NR
Creatine is another performance enhancing supplement to consider. There is no better researched supplement out there. Safe and effective, it something to consider, especially as you age and sarcopenia starts to take effect.

Anti-inflammatory eating

  1. Turns out that red meat and dairy tend to be fairly pro-inflammatory. Moderate these in your diet.
  2. Grains that are rich in Omega-6 are also more inflammatory. Try to keep the grain based carbs down and or balance them out with higher consumption of Omega-3s from fish and green leafy vegetables.
  3. Turns out it’s pretty simple: less red meat, fewer carbs from grains and more green leafy veg is all it boils down to.
  4. Keep in mind you do need more protein than normal while training so look for non-animal protein or less inflammatory animal protein sources to supply what you need.

Topical Pain Relievers

These topical ointments can help decrease discomfort while you recover. If you’re using tiger balm don’t forget to wash your hands.

  1. Arnica
  2. T-Relief (formerly traumeel)
  3. Tigerbalm

Manage Stress

Stress soaks up energy you use to perform and recover. It also releases cortisol which weakens your tissues capacity for load. Your cardio capacity or VO2 max also drops when you’re stressed. If you are stressed, you want to moderate your training and that is just that. So, respect where you are coming into this process from.
Harness the mind body connection to enhance performance recovery. Meditation and breathwork can be an excellent way to be productive on rest days.

Recover just as hard as you train.

Train Smart. Train Hard.

About the Author.

This post was written by ATP co-founder Mitch Owens PT. Mitch is a PT at Union Physical Therapy in Seattle, WA

Mitch Owens

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