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Leg Drain or Flush |  |
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See the Index for more topics, information, hints and tips.
I've gotten the most 'Thank you's' from this suggestion.
Whenever you work out, your muscles create waste products. These tend to pool in your legs. Your body has a hard time removing them since it has to work against gravity.
To assist your body, take off your shoes and lay down on your back in a doorway half in and half out of the room. With your hip against the door frame, swing your legs up vertically onto the door frame, putting your body in an “L” shape. Hold this position for a couple minutes to allow the waste products to drain out of your legs, hence the name ‘leg drain’. Then lay flat for a minute. Repeat this three times.
In yoga this is called Legs Up the Wall. You might want to take this idle time to do a little reading.
As you are laying there, you can massage your knees or thighs, rubbing towards your torso. I like to slide my feet up and down a couple of times every minute or so.
Another method is to lay down on a couch and put your feet on the back of the couch. It's not as effective, very relaxing.
After a race I'll do a set of three as soon as possible, one later in the day and another in the evening.
This also helps if you try some new activity which works different muscles.
Leg draining helps your legs recover faster so they won’t be as sore or stiff or tired. This is especially important when doing back to back or multiday races. Some people use this instead of icing down.
See Recovery After a Run or Race for more information.
