The importance of recovery!

Last July, three others and myself took on the first stage of next years TdF route when it visits gods own county, Yorkshire in July.

The route should have taken us from Leeds, out towards Skipton, Kettlewell, Hawes, over Buttertubs Pass to Reeth, Grinton, Masham and Ripon and onto the final run in to Harrogate that afternoon.

However due to an error navigating we ended up taking a detour up to Scotch Corner instead of turning off after Reeth, this meant the total mileage for the day was in excess of 150 miles, the furthest I've ever ridden!

Good nutrition and training stood me in good stead for the mileage, which proved not to be much of an issue, although very tiring.

After a stop in Ripon before the final run into Harrogate, I found myself thinking of how best to recover when I got home.. Combining sports therapy knowledge with personal experiences, I have come up with 5 top tips for recovering after a long ride, event or training session of any kind. Short recovery is essential for any athlete so that they can progress with training and ultimately, perform better in events.

Here they are below, in order of importance:

+ Sports Massage - By far the most efficient way of flushing out lactic acid from the legs, used by professional athletes regularly, the client feels fresh & tiredness of the area reduced. It can also iron out any knots in the muscles, release tightness and improve muscle function.

+ Elevation - Raising the legs to 45 Degrees by propping them up on a duvet, pillows or anything else of reasonable height will help drain the lactic acid out of the legs towards the heart to be distributed evenly around the body.

+ Contrast bathing - Contrast bathing uses the principals of vasoconstriction and vasodilation to flush the lactic acid from the legs through both the lymph system and the circulatory system. Firstly, the client should get into a cold/ice bath for a small amount of time (too long and a risk of hypothermia is possible) this will have the blood and lymph vessels to constrict. The client should then get into a hot bath soon after to open up the blood & lymph vessels, increase flow to the area and flush toxins out & induce inflammation, the bodies natural method of repairing damaged tissue. This process of switching between hot & cold should be repeated several times for highest efficiency.

+ Foam Rolling - Similar to massage but less focused, foam rolling is ideal to do at home straight after a ride due to its simple nature and ease. A foam roller is an inexpensive way to consistently reduce recovery times. Disadvantages are that the client often won't push hard enough into muscles due to discomfort and this will reduce the efficiency and overall effects of foam rolling.

+ Stretching - The most basic of all of the above and completely free both in terms of cost and hassle. Time should be taken to stretch thoroughly all the major muscle groups post exercise for at least 30 seconds per stretch to be at all efficient. It should only be done post workout as doing it cold can do more harm than good to muscles by tearing fibres.

Stephen from Yorkshire Bike Fitting also runs a company called Leeds Sports Therapy, check them out! www.leedssportstherapy.co.uk