Victoria Heiligenthal, a current cross country runner at UW-Madison, shares her tips for recovery routines to keep you performing at your best. Below is a brief summary of Victoria’s tips:
What are your recommendations for recovering after a run?
It is important to figure out what works best for you.Whatever your body seems to respond to the best is what I would recommend.
Do you need fancy equipment or access to medical facilities to recovery properly?
Recovery doesn’t have to be fancy! There are plenty of recovery options that can be done at home with little to no equipment.
Examples:
- Hot or cold bath at home
- Adding Epsom salt to your hot bath
- Foam roller
- Online stretching or yoga routines
- Lacrosse ball
- Stick or vibrating roller
- Massage gun
- Graston tools
What are key concepts to keep in mind when making a recovery plan?
Recovery isn’t just about stretching and rolling. It includes everything you do in you daily life before and after a training session so you can attack the next one and stay healthy. Things like how you are sleeping, eating, rehab/prehab routines, and mental rest are all part of recovery.
It is important to establish a routine. Keeping yourself accountable can prevent injury, help feel you better for the next run/workout, and continue to get better.
Can you give an example of your recovery routine to show how all these pieces come together?
I do hip and ankle activation exercises 3-4 times a week, before or after my runs. I also roll out for about 10 minutes before I run and focus on areas are sore. This also helps get my body in the running mode. Most of the time, I focus on rolling out my calves, quads, and feet using my foam roller and lacrosse ball.
After my training session, I will roll out again with my foam roller, lacrosse ball and my Graston tool for about 15 minutes, trying to spend at least 2 minutes on each part of my body (glutes, hips, quads, hamstrings, calves, feet, back)
Depending on my week with workouts or races, I will try to get in another extra piece of recovery at least 3 times a week like getting treatment from my athletic trainer, ice bath/hot tub, etc.
