What To Put In Your Triathlon Post-Race Bag

Hi, I'm Ben Greenfield and today I'm going to show you how to geek out on recovery in your post triathlon race bag. There's just a few things that I carry with me so that when I cross the finish line, I know I'm going to be able to bounce back as quickly as possible and not feel like complete crap the next morning. So I'm going to show you what I put in my cute little post race recovery bag. Alright, the first thing is I like to have some kind of massage device. Now there's a bunch of different ones out there. This one's made by moji@gomoji.com there's one called a muscle track. There's one called a Myorope. A lot of times when I'm traveling to a race I want something small, which is why I don't have a big old honking foam roller in my recovery bag. It probably wouldn't fit anyways. But something like this to soothe some sore muscles, especially if you don't have access to something like post race massage therapy. But this can be really helpful just to help muscles cool down and remove some of those fascial adhesions, just like a handheld type of massage device. So that's one thing that I'll have in my post workout recovery bag. All right, next I put some kind of magnesium. Magnesium displaces calcium which tends to build up when you're engaging in hard efforts like you do when you're racing. So this is a topical magnesium. This one's made by a company called Ancient Minerals. It's got what's called MSM in it which helps it to be delivered a little bit more easily to your muscles. But that's another thing that I include in my bag and I just put some on my legs and then usually on my upper back, which tends to be kind of tight from the cycling part of the race. Now the next thing that I include is some powder just to basically put into my post race clothing to let stuff be a little bit more frictionless. Frankly, if you're like me, you have some areas that tend to be a little bit chafed, if you know what I mean, after race. And this stuff just helps to soothe those areas if you dump it down your shorts or whatever. This is made by Hammer Nutrition. It's called Cool Feet. But essentially it's just, just like a baking powder type of thing with a bunch of extra cloves and essential oils mixed in to help you to feel a little bit better in those sensitive spots. After you finish racing. Okay. The next thing that I do is action wipes. I just mentioned essential oils. This is like a baby wipe on steroids. It's got a bunch of essential oils in it and it lets you clean yourself up after the race. Especially if you don't have access to a post race shower. This is really nice. It'll leave you smelling all sexy, just like a spa. Anyways, it's called action wipes. So I put one of these in my recovery bag as well. Now the next couple of things are drugs. I don't pop an Advil or an ibuprofen because it's bad for your stomach and it actually inhibits recovery in the long run. I do two things. One is a high dose curcumin extract. Maybe you've had Indian food or curry. Well, it's known for its natural anti inflammatory properties. One thing that I put in my bag is called phenocaine. So phenocaine helps my body naturally fight inflammation without shutting down the body's ability to recover. So one thing that I'll put in there is phenocaine. The other thing that I'll put in there is a mix of what's called glucosamine and chondroitin. The one that I use is called Capreflex and it's a blend of like ginger and garlic and tart cherry. But it's also glucosamine and chondroitin which helps your cartilage to recover and your bones not to feel so ground up and beat up after a race. So just a couple of more things. The next is oil of oregano. This is something that I will put a few drops of in my mouth post race if I've swam during that race in nasty water. And if you got pond scum in your digestive tract, this just basically is a natural antibacterial and antiviral that helps to kill bad stuff that gets in your digestive tract. For me, it's my insurance I'm not going to get sick after a race. So it's oil of oregano and this is just a droplet that you put into your mouth. Now the last couple of things. One is my 110% compression gear. And these are just tight shorts that I can put on after a race that I can dump ice or put ice sleeves into these little pockets to help me with compression and icing post race to help me feel a little bit better to improve with blood flow and tissue recovery. So that's 110% compression tights and the last thing. And this is super important, probably the most important thing that's in there, remember your ID so that you can go have an ice cold margarita, beer, shot of vodka, glass of wine or whatever it is that makes you happy after you finished your race. And that's a pretty important part of post race recovery too is just having fun. Alright, well I'm Ben Greenfield and I hope that was helpful. Check out BenGreenfieldFitness.com for more recovery tips and best of luck in your racing and your recovery.