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PVC & Therapy Balls...

Friday, 15 August 2014 00:10

Former Recovery Secrets....

By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)

As triathletes our bodies take a beating day after day. The thought of using recovery to get faster is probably at the back of our minds. I personally have never been fond of days off, “recovery” days, “tapering” or resting. Unfortunately if you don’t take care of your body eventually it will break down and which may lead to injury.

Even with rest and recovery we’re still pretty hard on our bodies. Here are some ‘tools’ I use (or have tried) to help promote recovery and healing to be as fresh as possible for my next training session.

1. PVC pipe – This has been my best friend since recovering from stress fractures in 2007. I roll out on a 3 inch PVC pipe following every run and ride.   Rolling on a PVC pipe is pretty intense if you’re not used to it, a four inch PVC pipe is a little...

less intense.  The grid foam roller is probably a good place to start if you haven’t been rolling.

2. Dimpled Softball – I typically use this on my hamstrings and glutes but it’s also good for the inner thighs. The softball can dig into those painful spots a bit better than the flat surface of the PVC pipe. Carrying a softball while traveling is also much easier than carrying a PVC pipe.

3. Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls – I put two of these together and lie on my back, lining the balls up on each side of my spine, slowly roll up and down my back. If that’s too intense you can do the same but against the wall. These are also great to work into your glute muscles. READ MORE