Athletes may sometimes wonder why their fitness has not improved as expected and why there has yet to be progress. Training has been done as planned, and the workout has been more challenging than ever before. So why not? The sluggishness can be as simple as eating the wrong foods or not enough, or a lack of rest and primarily a lack of quality sleep. The fourth part of our series of articles on recovery will familiarize you with these issues.

Recovery Part 4 focuses on rest and nutrition, which often remain on the sidelines when the keen athlete puts all their efforts into the training.

However, everyone would do well to internalize that sleep, rest, and nutrition are part of training and being an athlete. An athlete is an athlete 24 hours a day, not just the 1-3 hours it takes to train. Hence, the phrase “train, eat, sleep, repeat.”

Although adequate rest and regular, proper nutrition cannot replace training, they can be characterized as essential pillars of training, without which it would be much more challenging to develop and succeed in sports. Therefore, nutrition and rest, in promoting recovery and preventing and speeding up recovery from injuries and illnesses, deserve their place in this fourth part of the recovery series. The last part, part five, deals with recovery monitoring.

EAT (and DRINK) – energy after training

Nutrition is one of the most critical aspects of recovery. During exercise, fluids and electrolytes are lost, and glycogen stores in the muscles and liver are depleted. Muscle proteins are also broken down into energy, especially during long-duration exercise, and muscle damage occurs, mainly because of eccentric muscle work (running, uphill running, jumping). If the athlete wants to avoid illness and muscle breakdown (= catabolism) and to ensure that they are fit for the next training session, it is essential to ensure proper refueling after training. 

A whole book could be written on nutrition in recovery, so the points made here are only a snapshot of the subject. Readers who are more interested in the topic can find more information in sports nutrition textbooks and numerous research articles, some of which are also referred to here.

The article continues below.

Read More
Recovery – Part 1: The Physiology of Fatigue
Recovery – Part 2: Compression, Foam Roller and Massage
Recovery – Part 3a: Cold Therapy
Recovery – Part 3b: hot water and contrast therapy
Recovery – Part 4: train, eat, sleep, repeat

The first thing an athlete should do after exercise is to restore fluid balance. During training, people sweat more or less, depending on how warm and humid the air has been and how long and hard they have been moving. Individual differences such as age, gender, and training background also affect the amount and composition of sweating. The amount of fluid lost can be determined by measuring body weight before and after exercise/competition and considering the amount of fluid ingested during performance. For example, if the weight before the run was 60kg and after the run was 59kg, and the athlete consumed 0.5 liters of fluid during the run, the total fluid lost would be 60 – 59 – 0.5 = 1.5kg.

As sweating also causes a loss of salts, mainly sodium, it is recommended to add salt to either a recovery drink or solid food after exercise to ensure electrolyte balance. The sodium in the drink (e.g., salt 0.5 – 1 g/l liquid) improves fluid absorption from the intestines, facilitating fluid balance.

You can’t go far on fluid alone; you must also get energy quickly after exercise. This is even more important: the more significant the energy deficit and the more strenuous the exercise. Short recovery times between sessions, such as for a person who trains twice a day, require special attention to refueling.

The most important macronutrients are carbohydrates, which replenish muscle and liver glycogen stores; proteins, which repair muscle damage; and sometimes, glycogen storage. Fat intake is not essential immediately after exercise, as fats slow down food absorption and thus replenish energy stores. High fiber intake and excessive protein intake have the same effect. For other meals throughout the day, both fat- and fiber-rich foods should be eaten instead.

As a rule of thumb, carbohydrate intake should be around 1.0 – 1.2g/kg/h for the first four hours after exercise. Higher amounts will not increase glycogen synthesis, while lower amounts will slow it down. Muscle glycogen production is elevated immediately after training, so taking advantage of this half-hour ‘recovery window’ is essential. Particular attention must be paid to carbohydrate intake, mainly when there are 8 hours or less between performances.

Fast-glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates are preferable, as they are quickly absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream and thus transported most efficiently to the cells. Dividing carbohydrates into smaller portions, eaten at frequent intervals, facilitates digestion of food and drinks and replenishment of energy stores. If the recovery period is 24 hours or more, consuming sufficient fluids and nutrients before the next session is adequate, as deemed best.

Studies have tested how different amounts of carbohydrate (CHO) alone or in combination with protein (CHO/PRO) affect the replenishment of muscle glycogen stores. As shown in the figure, the effect is most significant at a dose of about 1.2g/kg/h HH; at higher doses, glycogen storage is no longer increased. Protein is of no benefit at HH doses of 1.0g/kg/h or more, but a protein supplement (in this case, chocolate milk) may enhance the effect somewhat at lower HH doses. 

When protein (about 0.3g/kg) is also consumed with carbohydrates, insulin secretion is enhanced, contributing to the transfer of nutrients from the blood to the muscle cells. This is particularly useful when carbohydrates cannot be consumed in large enough quantities. Protein has an anabolic, building effect in the body, which is why it is needed after exercise to repair muscle damage and prevent injuries and muscle pain. For optimal training effects and increased performance, it is advisable to ensure protein intake (20-25g of high-quality protein, e.g., whey protein, after exercise) after exercise (but NOT at the expense of carbohydrates!).

SLEEP – sleep well

Sleep is still undervalued today, although it is true that attempts have been made to improve the reputation of sleep. The reason why sleep is so crucial for athletes (and others!) is that sleep is the time when the body regenerates. During sleep, we learn new things, and during sleep, our bodies recover. Sleep refreshes us and gives us energy. This has been recognized by many elite endurance athletes who sleep 8-10 hours a night and take 1–2 hour naps, especially during hard training sessions.

The effects of sleep deprivation on performance have been widely studied. Sleep deprivation, especially for several nights in a row, increases the perceived sense of exertion, which makes the athlete feel fatigued. Sleep deprivation also hurts the athlete’s mood, and a tired athlete is often irritable and in a bad mood. Poor sleep can also be detrimental to health. In recent years, research has linked sleep deprivation to metabolic diseases, and it may be that sleep deprivation increases the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

If you must choose between waking up a couple of hours earlier in the morning to go for a run or continuing to sleep, sometimes it might be best to stay under the covers and sleep. Here, too, of course, you should listen to your body, which, if you listen to it, is often quite good at telling you how it is feeling and whether it needs sleep or whether a morning walk is in order.

REST – take it easy

Because the body does not differentiate between the stresses it faces, athletes need to minimize any unnecessary stress around them. Hard and regular endurance training puts quite a strain on an athlete’s life, and if you add to this the pressures of studies, work, or relationship problems, the total load can grow beyond the athlete’s tolerance. Then fatigue sets in, the athlete may get sick, and the body starts to break down.

Minimizing the hustle and bustle of everyday life, stopping for a moment, and noticing, becoming aware of, and enjoying the small, simple things is sometimes the right thing to do. A fresh breeze in the face, a walk in nature, and seeing familiar surroundings with new eyes can give you a surprising amount of energy to get through the daily squirrel wheel. Sometimes, it’s good to have the courage to let go, hang up the phone, and forget about the endless flood of emails.

Finally, one more important point. Athletes must be aware that the recovery methods described earlier in this series are no substitute for quality sleep and nutrition. Training is a whole that cannot function optimally, at least in the long term, without the harmonious coexistence of all the necessary elements: training, nutrition, and rest.

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Sources:

• Burke et al. 2011. Burke, Burke, Burke, et al. Carbohydrates for training and competition. J Sports Sci 29(S1), S17-S27.
• Grandner, MA. & Perlis, ML. 2013. insomnia as a cardiometabolic risk factor. SLEEP 36(1),11-12.
• Juliff, L. E., Halson, S. L. & Peiffer, J. J. Understanding sleep disturbance in athletes prior to important competitions. Journal of science and medicine in sport (0).
• Saunders MJ. 2011. Carbohydrate-protein intake and recovery from endurance exercise: is chocolate milk the answer? Curr Sports Med Rep 10(4), 203-10.