Hard activity increases the body's need for recovery afterwards due to the breakdown of muscles and is crucial to reducing the risk of injury. Here you can read more about why recovery is important and what you can actively do to build up your body and get back to your normal physical shape after a marathon.
After a race, your body has been through enormous strain and it is normal to feel tired and heavy in the legs after a competition. Regardless of whether you have trained well before a marathon, it is completely normal to feel discomfort in, among other things, your calf muscles, knees and hips.
Nevertheless, it may be important to take some measures afterwards to prevent the pain and discomfort from getting worse. Do you need advice or an appointment with a physiotherapist? Then our physiotherapists are here for you both on video and in the clinic!
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Recovery depends on the length of the race and training background because it affects how quickly the body is able to recover.
If you have run a half-marathon or marathon, your body spends more time on the recovery process than if you have run 5 km. It also depends on how hard the race was for you both physically and mentally — but as a general rule it can make sense to take 1-3 days to rest.
When you feel that your body is ready for it, you can gradually resume training that involves low-intensity movement and short sessions that allow you to recover, for example going for a walk, swimming or cycling. This is to ensure increased blood flow to the muscles so that further breakdown of the body is avoided.
Within 1-3 weeks, you can usually start to gradually build up your training amount to normal training, depending on your running experience and the length of the race. Here it is important to listen to your body so that you get the most gentle possible adaptation to increased intensity and amount of training.
In order to rebuild the body, it is also very important to fill up with plenty of fluids and nutritious food.
If you experience persistent pain, swelling or discoloration around the area in question, it may be a good idea to contact a physiotherapist for an examination and customized treatment. The same applies if you experienced an accident in the form of an ankle sprain or fall/twist during the race and have persistent pain afterwards.
The physiotherapist will carry out an examination and, on the basis of that, advise or treat the possible injury. If you feel unsure about something related to injuries or how to go about resuming training, our physiotherapists can also help you via video with advice and tips.
Book appointmentAuthor: Ida Hessen
