By Erika Flowers,
This week the Tour de Ski starts on the World Cup. While most domestic racers are yet to experiance a stage race of this magnitude back to back racing is something that all skiers should prepare for during their careers.
The Tour de Ski, a series of seven races over nine days, wrapped up on Sunday with an impressive and brutal climb up the iconic Alpe Cermis. If you watched the last stage of the Tour, you witnessed some heroic efforts alongside some serious struggles. Although few of us will ever compete in that sort of race-heavy schedule, a big block of intensity training or even four days of back-to-back racing at U.S. Nationals can put a similar physical strain on the body. The skier that crests the top of Alpe Cermis first isn’t always the fittest or strongest - it’s the skier that recovers the best.
Recovery is an art that few endurance athletes ever fully master. However those that do have a distinct advantage that allows them to absorb training and hard racing efforts and transform those efforts into faster racing down the road, like building a house out of glue and popsicle sticks. If you keep adding sticks to the structure without giving the glue time to dry the house is likely to fall over. However, skiers that give the glue time to dry, and add a fan, heat and reinforcements when needed, wind up with a much stronger structure over time. Okay enough with the stick analogy. In short, some of the best skiers in the world are those that know how to recover well and quickly. Given that we are in the throes of race season, we thought we’d share some of the best tactics for helping the body recover between races and hard training efforts so you can get back to the business of training and racing with a body and mind that are fitter, stronger and faster than ever.
There are really only two things that have been proven to help with recovery: eating and sleeping. If you aren’t fueling well and you aren’t sleeping well, then all the foam rolling, massage therapy, hot/cold treatment and mystery candle-voodoo rituals won’t do anything for you. However *if* you commit to eating well and sleeping well, there are a few other things you can do that will help the body recover more quickly.
Eat within 30 minutes of your workout/race. This can be as simple as eating a granola bar and a banana within 30 minutes of finishing a race or hard workout (your ideal glycogen window). Ideally you want something that is majority carbohydrates with some healthy fats and protein. Don’t be afraid to start snacking during your cooldown either. As soon as you’ve finished the “intensity” portion of your workout, your first action item, after putting on a jacket or dry clothes, should be to re-fuel. You’ll often see Norwegians slowly skiing during their cooldown while simultaneously snacking on a few gummies or a granola bar and taking down some sports drink. They know that the faster they can begin replenishing their muscles and cells, the faster they can recover and be ready for another hard effort.
Night Snack: The night before a big intensity session or race I like to top of the glycogen stores with a “night snack.” A bowl of cereal, banana and peanut butter or toast with jam typically does the job and serves two purposes: 1. I don’t go to bed hungry so I’m able to sleep more soundly (referring back to priority number one) and 2. I ensure my body has some good base fuel for the next day’s workout even if I have a hard time getting food down the next morning (race nerves anyone?). Plus who doesn’t love a 10 o’clock bowl of Lucky Charms?
Hydration: Most skiers do not drink enough water period. Although hydration needs vary by person, start by drinking at least 64oz a day and see if it changes how you feel. Be sure to add in electrolytes like Nuun to help with recovery. You should be finishing a full water bottle both during an intensity session (or warming up for a race) and after to help your body and cells do the work they need to repair stressed muscles.
Movement: Also known as “active recovery,” some sort of light activity following a hard session helps blood move through the body and aids in quicker recovery. This doesn’t mean you go hammer an hour long run at L2 pace after a morning race. However it DOES mean taking 15-30 minutes to go for a light jog or spin on a bike with some dynamic stretching. Although it may not feel great in the moment, the light movement will do wonders for your body the next day.
Massage: If you have access to a sports massage therapist, take advantage. You get many of the benefits of active recovery but don’t add additional strain on your body. A massage therapist can also help relieve any tension or tight or strained muscles that may be limiting a full range of motion.
Foam Rolling: From traditional foam rollers to lacrosse balls, sticks and everything in between, the options for foam rolling or “self massage” are endless. Most foam rollers cost less than $20 but allow you to do some of the same work of a massage therapist and work through tightness and tension that build up in the muscles following a hard effort. The science on the effectiveness of foam rolling is all over the place but at the very least it forces you to step away from the desk, TV, other to-dos of the day and move some blood through the body.
Rest: Sleep is one of the best things you can do for recovery, especially when supplemented by the above. Even a 20 minute nap gives your mind and body a chance to do the work needed to repair itself quickly, something that is much more challenging when preoccupied with other day-to-day stressors.
Recovery is often the first thing athletes scrap when they are busy or feel overloaded but really it should be the first thing to stay. Most skiers have no problem adding more volume or hours of training but have a much harder time adding, and prioritizing, recovery. Whether you are in a big training block, preparing for a race or recovering from a race effort, the above can help you turn those efforts into big gains and get back to peak form again quickly and efficiently!
