I’ve always been a little sore after long race weekends. Exercising a bit more has helped to reduce this,but I was curious if anyone had any tips to help aid in post race recovery after races.
Here’s what has helped me.
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Stretching consistently. I have a little 10-minute routine that I like to do after every workout, and just that small amount makes a noticeable difference in feeling limber. I try to do the same at the end of a race day or session.
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Light cardio. A sports doctor once recommended this to me to help reduce muscle soreness from weightlifting; for example, 15-20 minutes of light cycling to reduce leg soreness. An easy 20 minute session on a rowing machine or stationary bike the day after a race seems to loosen me up.
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Foam rolling. Especially nice for back soreness. Acts like a massage, basically. Also good for getting knots out of your hips and legs.
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Massage and foam rolling work wonders; they have been found to be some of the most significant ways to reduce muscle-recovery times.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) post workout/race can aid in quicker muscle repair.
Hydration, hydration, hydration.
Some of it will simply be bruising, too which is another story.
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Super helpful. I’m doing some of this already, but just not as dilgently as I should.
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Proper warm-up before you start the race day basically eliminates any soreness I have at the end of the day.
Specifically, I do arm circles, shoulder shrugs, bi/tri stretches, neck circles and stretches, and jumping jacks 10 min before my first warm-up of the day.
It’s basically the warm-up for P90X’s upper body workouts.
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I am 52 now and have been racing since I was 14. I have been racing 3 classes(Briggs, Rotax and Shifter) each raceday at almost all of our club races since 2015. Before each on track session I do upper and lower body stretching in the morning before the first on track session to loosen up my muscles. You might get a few funny looks while you are stretching but it is worth it for the preventative measure it provides. For the after race care, I use Tiger Balm on the sore areas when I get home to alleviate any long term pain. If you are experiencing any rib pain, the other recommendation I have is to replace the standard kart seat plastic/aluminum countersunk washer with regular flat washers from the hardware store. This will take the height of those bolts down to less than half of what they are with the kart countersunk washers and take away the pressure points that will still be felt at the end of the day with a rib protector.
John K
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That’s quite an accomplishment. I am planning on trying to run senior as well as masters later this year. I suspect you are in really good shape if you can do 3 qualis, pre, and finals!
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