EVIE RICHARDS' RECOVERY ROUTINE

Team GB's Evie Richards is a World Champion and gold medal-winning off-road cyclist, and passionate advocate for aspiring female athletes to safeguard their health while training and competing. Here she outlines her recovery routine after training and competition.

🕒 3 min read

Q. When does your recovery routine start?

I suppose that's like asking whether the egg came before the chicken, but I'm always trying to recover, really.

Obviously after a training session you're trying to recover, but you're also recovering while you sleep, and before your ride you're making sure you're not doing too much.

If I was to pick a recovery start point, I'd say that a good night's sleep is super important. I need between eight and nine hours to make sure I'm feeling my best.

After that I'll train. It's key for me to make sure I'm fuelling those trainings well and not depleting myself too much, so after a session I make sure I eat straight away.

After that I'll have a bath, and then normal recovery procedures like stretching and foam rolling. There are so many different things you can do, but I just prioritise the main things that work for me. I also make sure I have a good dinner before going to bed.

Q. Do you take any supplements straight after a race?

I always take the cherry juice straight after a race – I don't always find it easy to get a recovery shake in, and I know that the cherry juice has got carbs in and will help me sleep.

I know it'll start my recovery and I really enjoy drinking it, as I love the flavour.

Performance Cherry

100% pure sour cherry juice concentrate

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• Naturally high levels of anthocyanins and flavonoids
• Commonly used by professional athletes to aid recovery

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Q. How do Healthspan Elite supplements fit into your recovery routine?

I suppose they fit in in every sense, from the vitamins I take to fuel my riding to the recovery after. They help in every step of my recovery, they help stop me getting sick, they help me fuel, and they help my sleep, so Healthspan Elite products are key in helping my recovery.

Q. How long does your recovery routine last, and what do you do in that time?

Some people like to sit in the normal Tech compression boots and recover like that, but I find it quite hard to sit down and always want to be doing something.

I wouldn't say I have a recovery routine that's super strict, but for me it might involve going for a walk to help me de-stress and calm down – it's also good to turn my legs over like that.

I love to have a bath, as it really helps me recover and sit down and just chill. I think I'm probably quite different from other athletes as I just have little things that feel like they help me recover. Even when I'm baking I feel like that just like gives me time where I'm not looking at my phone or thinking about training, and I can just relax.

Swimming is another great one that helps me recover, along with, again, making sure I've got eight or nine hours of sleep.