Recovery Is All the Rage — Are You Focused on Frosting or Cake?
Recovery is the most popular topic in health clubs, among athletes, and on podcasts and social media.
Athletes and people looking to maximize the benefits from their workouts are turning to a myriad of recovery practices, gadgets, and tools to enhance recovery. All this is done with the goal of bouncing back from workouts faster and potentially absorbing even more of the physiological benefits of the workout – of course, all quantified by our wearables.
Authors of a brand-new narrative review published in the scientific journal Sports attempt to delineate the cake from the frosting when it comes to recovery.
Here is what works (the cake):
Sleep. This is the foundation. The authors state, “Sleep is an essential process for the optimal maintenance of an athlete’s health and plays a critical role in the psychophysiological recovery of an athlete when many restorative bodily functions and processes take place. It is well recognized that sleep loss impairs numerous functions, including cognition, memory consolidation, immunity, and, importantly, athletic performance.”
Nutrition. This involves consuming carbohydrates, protein, and hydration after prolonged or intense exercise as well as adequate daily protein intake.
Plan workouts thoughtfully. This means taking a few days of recovery between strength training workouts. Or, for example, gradually ramp up your marathon training mileage and intensity. Don’t do two strength workouts, six Pilates classes, four yoga classes, three spin classes, and two HIIT classes in a week (and expect to improve your fitness).
What works less well (or potentially not at all besides the placebo effect – the frosting): Foam rolling, compression garments, cryotherapy, cold water immersion, stretching and sauna.
It’s not that the aforementioned have no benefits; it’s that these tools don’t hasten recovery from our workouts or help us maximize the benefits from our training. You can employ them, but focus on the cake first.
Key takeaways:
Get really good at sleep.
Get really good at nutrition.
Get really good at planning your workouts.
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