5 Ways to Recover After Racing and Training

Only during recovery can we repair, improve fitness, grow muscles and support physiological adaptations. Big concept, but one that needs to be taken more seriously by the endurance population. Neglecting recovery is like buying a plant, then failing to nourish it with water. It may survive but it will not adapt to its new environment and get stronger. It will become weak, wilted, dry and brittle. In human terms a lack of recovery is likely to lead us to injury, fatigue, low mood and lacking motivation. No amount of carbon fibre, aero garments, watts per kilo or 120g of carbs per hour is going to enhance performance notably more than what a focus on recovery will. Let’s rest easy by applying these 5 recovery tips for racing and training.

Nutrition and Hydration

My number one, gold medal placing recovery tip is nutrition and hydration. Trivial coming from a dietitian but here me out. When we exercise we contract and release our muscle fibre over and over, this causes microtears to the muscle fibers (1). When our body repairs these microtears with adequate nutrition and rest it strengthens and grows our muscles while reducing inflammation. This growth is what leads to enhanced athletic performance, reduced chance of injury in the future and long-term health benefits (2).

To adequately rehydrate after exercise we want to replenish 125-150% of fluids lost with an available hydration source, in the 4-6 hours following exercise (3). More information on adequate rehydration after exercise can be found in one of my prior articles here.

In regards to nutrition, the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends males eat within 0.6 grams to 1 gram of carbohydrates for every kilogram of body weight as close to finishing exercise as possible (4). In addition to getting good quality carbohydrates you also want to supplement this with about 25-35g of good quality protein. An example of this could be;

+1 Veloforte High Protein Shake - Molto (Vanilla & Cinnamon) OR Pure Sports Nutrition Recovery Shake Sachet - Cacao & Honey

+2 cups of coconut water

+1 banana

+1/3 cup of granola

+4 pitted dates

[740 Cal. 40g Protein, 14g Fat, 113g Carbohydrates]

Females want to have around 60-100g of carbohydrates, 15-20g of fat and 30-40g of protein straight after finishing exercise. This will help replace glycogen and fat stores in your muscles, increase protein synthesis, reduce cortisol levels and regulate hormone synthesis which prevents long term catabolic state and menstrual disturbances (5,6,7). An example of this could be;

+1 cup of oats with water or milk

+1 Radix Nutrition - Whey Protein DIAAS Complex™ 1.61

+1.5 Tbsp of 100% nut butter

+1/2 cup of berries

[590 Cal. 42g Protein, 16g Fat, 69g Carbohydrates]

Read more about post exercise nutrition Here.

Sleep

Sleep is the ultimate recovery tool, I would allocate it the silver medal very close behind adequate nutrition.

I’ve written a whole article on sleep and the different tools that may help each sex which you can read about Here [INSERT LINK TO SOUND A SLEEP ARTICLE WHEN PUBLISHED].

During deep sleep, our body releases growth hormones which help repair those muscle microtears we mentioned earlier. It also provides our brain with energy. Poor sleep can lead to a higher chance of injury, poor food choices and the obvious low energy symptoms (8). Adults are recommended to get at least 7 hours of unbroken sleep each night as often as they can.

Rest Days

Continuing on with the medal theme, our bronze medal goes to ‘rest days’. Around one third of non-elite endurance athletes suffer from Overtraining Syndrome (9,10). Overtraining syndrome can be defined by ‘Consistent extreme increased training leading to a temporary performance decrement with improved performance after rest’ (11). Notice the ‘improved performance after rest’ part. Only when we rest can we improve performance!

Rest does not have to be sitting down, sleeping or having a whole week off training but can involve very gentle exercise such as ocean swim, easy walks, massage or using recovery tools. Which leads me to my next point, recovery tools.

Recovery Tools

There are an abundant amount of recovery tools on the market these days but lets just talk about foam rollers, compression boots and massage guns. All of these work to promote blood flow, reduce muscle stiffness and increase ROM (12). Compression boots are best used post exercise for 20-30mins (13). Interestingly, foam rolling for 90s-120s before a workout is the optimal amount to achieve flexibility benefits. Pretty good time efficiency if you ask me.

Cold Gels

Cold gel therapy is a safe and effective treatment for sports-related soft tissue injuries (14). Using an alcohol based gel like Rygg Cryoactive recovery gel four times a day has been shown to decrease pain and induce effective muscle relaxation in athletes with sports related soft tissue injuries (14).

Ash Miller
Dietitian and Nutritionist (Masters)
Bachelor of Physical and Health Education
Instagram: @ashthomo_nutrition

^References^:

^{Stožer A, Vodopivc P, Križančić Bombek L. Pathophysiology of exercise-induced muscle damage and its structural, functional, metabolic, and clinical consequences. Physiol Res. 2020 Aug 31;69(4):565-598. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.934371. Epub 2020 Jul 16. PMID: 32672048; PMCID: PMC8549894.}

^{Wang L, Meng Q, Su CH. From Food Supplements to Functional Foods: Emerging Perspectives on Post-Exercise Recovery Nutrition. Nutrients. 2024 Nov 27;16(23):4081. doi: 10.3390/nu16234081. PMID: 39683475; PMCID: PMC11643565.}

^{Maughan RJ, Shirreffs SM. Recovery from prolonged exercise: restoration of water and electrolyte balance. J Sports Sci. 1997 Jun;15(3):297-303. doi: 10.1080/026404197367308. PMID: 9232555.}

^{Kerksick CM, Arent S, Schoenfeld BJ, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Nutrient timing. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:33. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0189-4}

^{Michaela C. Devries, Mazen J. Hamadeh, Stuart M. Phillips, and Mark A. Tarnopolsky. Menstrual cycle phase and sex influence muscle glycogen utilization and glucose turnover during moderate-intensity endurance exercise. 291, R1120-1128 (2006).}

^{Roy, B. et al. “The influence of post-exercise macronutrient intake on energy balance and protein metabolism in active females participating in endurance training.” International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism 12 2 (2002): 172-88 .}

^{Jäger, R., Kerksick, C.M., Campbell, B.I. et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14, 20 (2017).}

^{Charest J, Grandner MA. Sleep and Athletic Performance: Impacts on Physical Performance, Mental Performance, Injury Risk and Recovery, and Mental Health. Sleep Med Clin. 2020 Mar;15(1):41-57. doi: 10.1016/j.jsmc.2019.11.005. PMID: 32005349; PMCID: PMC9960533.}

^{Cardoos, Nathan MD. Overtraining Syndrome. Current Sports Medicine Reports 14(3):p 157-158, May/June 2015. | DOI: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000145}

^{Raglin JS, Morgan WP.}^{International journal of sports medicine. 1994 Feb;15(02):84-8.}

^{Kreher JB, Schwartz JB. Overtraining syndrome: a practical guide. Sports Health. 2012 Mar;4(2):128-38. doi: 10.1177/1941738111434406. PMID: 23016079; PMCID: PMC3435910.}

^{Hendricks S, Hill H, Hollander SD, Lombard W, Parker R. Effects of foam rolling on performance and recovery: A systematic review of the literature to guide practitioners on the use of foam rolling. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2020 Apr;24(2):151-174. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2019.10.019. Epub 2019 Nov 2. PMID: 32507141.}

^{Brown F, Gissane C, Howatson G, van Someren K, Pedlar C, Hill J. Compression Garments and Recovery from Exercise: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2017 Nov;47(11):2245-2267. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0728-9. PMID: 28434152.}

^{Airaksinen OV, Kyrklund N, Latvala K, Kouri JP, Grönblad M, Kolari P. Efficacy of cold gel for soft tissue injuries: a prospective randomized double-blinded trial. Am J Sports Med. 2003 Sep-Oct;31(5):680-4. doi: 10.1177/03635465030310050801. PMID: 12975186.}