Recovery Nutrition
Interesting Facts
- Nutrition is the most important determiner of recovery after sleep.
- Pure protein straight after exercise is a common recommendation but this is actually far from the best method.
- A consistent calorie deficit can lead to much more than just bad performances. Over time your general health will begin to fade.
- Your body needs energy to recover. Without recovery, your body cannot adapt to training. Without adaptation, you cannot get faster!
Most of the information we present in this article comes from our interview with Bora Hansgrohe Nutritionist and Sports Scientist Dr Tim Podlogar. Other sources include 10s of external interviews with similar-level experts including triathlete Nutritionists and RED-S (Relative Energy Deficit in Sport) specialists.
Maximising Training By Maximising Recovery
Have you ever started a training session feeling tired or drained of energy? Or perhaps that’s how you feel after the training?
Most people put this down to a case of not being fit enough or over-training.
In reality, speaking from experience we often find the issue is actually under recovering.
By maximising recovery you will be in better shape to smash out trainings. Allowing you to train harder and for longer without feeling so drained.
Don’t overcomplicate it.
Let’s assume you get 7+ hours of sleep every night. From here the best thing you can do is optimise nutrition.
One of the biggest myths in sports is the best athletes are the ones that train the hardest. This is all bullshit. These days it’s about being the smartest, managing your energy, and getting the most out of your training by recovering between sessions. This allows you to smash the hard sessions harder than your competition.
Is this starting to make sense?
Protein, Carbs, and Fats
To put it simply, your body operates on two main forms of energy from foods. Fats and Carbs.
Fats are oxidised (turned into energy) slowly and can only really be used during low to moderate intensity exercise.
Carbs on the other hand are oxidised much faster. Therefore, they are a source of energy during all intensities, especially high intensity exercise where fats cannot be used.
If you train without enough carbs on long or high-intensity sessions you will find yourself in an energy deficit. Surprise surprise an energy deficit feels bad and seriously ruins recovery. Therefore recovery starts during training itself. More on this soon.
When it comes to protein, we have a detailed article on how the pro’s consume it on a daily basis here. Essentially to optimise recovery they ensure to consume a protein source at least every 5 hours throughout the day. Aim to include protein in every large meal you have. Its also a good idea to consume protein straight after training or racing to complement a carbohydrate source. This is because after exercise your body is like a sponge. It absorbs nutrients much better. See below for the World Tour ultimate recovery drink.
Podlogar also stated protein from animal-based sources is better due to its high amino acid content. Leucine is the most important amino acid for protein synthesis and recovery. Whey protein contains the greatest leucine content per g.
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Finding The Balance
The balance between maximum recovery and maximum adaptation.
It’s worth taking note that if you always consume high amounts of carbs straight after every training you will increase your Vla Max. This will increase your maximum power outputs but decrease your energy efficiency.
Hence why we recommend not overloading the carbs on easier days or the day before an easy day.
A pro example of this is Remco Evenepoel showing in a recent YouTube video how after easier rides he just has a protein shake. Consuming carbs later on.
World Tour Recovery Nutrition
A useful tip Podlogar suggested was always making sure you have enough carbs during exercise so firstly you aren’t in an energy deficit, and second, your body is already full of carbs to use for recovery after exercise. Learn more about fueling during exercise here.
When learning about the philosophies of arguably the best endurance sports coach in the world (Dan Lorang)… We discovered even during low-intensity training, both elite-level triathletes and cyclists rarely consume less than 30g of carbs per hour during training.
It is clear in the science that carbohydrates are the most important macronutrient for recovery and performance.
Multiple studies have shown this to be true. In the studies there were three groups.
- Consumed 400 calories of protein.
- Consumed 200 calories of protein and 200 calories of carbs.
- Consumed 400 calories of carbs.
Group one showed the worst recovery and group 3 showed the best. Obviously protein is still important however which is why most pros consume similar to the following after races and hard trainings.
Also key to note is liquid sources of carbs and protein are better absorbed. Hense the popularity of “recovery shakes”.
World Tour Ultimate Recovery Drink
The World Tour Ultimate Recovery Drink is a combination of carbs and protein designed for athletes after a race or very hard training session. It was given to us by Podlogar himself.
It contains;
- A fixed 25-30g of protein (ideally whey).
- 1.2g per kg of your body weight of carbs. Importantly the carbs need to be both glucose-based and fructose based ideally at a 1:1 ratio. One example of this is sugar. For a 70kg athlete, this is 84g.
When it comes to training you need to consider the session you have just done and the session you have next. If you’ve just had a relatively easy session you do not have to consume as much. It’s a similar story if you have an easier session the next day.
A similar recipe to the above should be followed after all strenuous training. The difference being you should alter the quantity of carbs depending on the difficulty of previous and upcoming sessions.
RED-S
“No athlete with RED-S will be able to train and compete at their full potential!”
50% – 80% of endurance athletes suffer from this condition!!
Relative Energy Deficit in Sport. Simply put, when an athlete consistently uses more energy than they take in.
Over time results in long term:
- Decreased bone health
- Decreased muscle health
- Decrease in cardiovascular/heart health
- Decrease in immune health
- And a decrease in menstrual cycle function.
It is the single greatest cause of failure in endurance athletes and it’s all due to a lack of nutrition and recovery.
The solution… Ensure you eat enough for your exercise load. We discuss how the pro’s do this here. It involves spending 2 minutes of your day counting rough carbohydrate quantity in what you eat before, during, and after training and racing.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are a highly debated subject when it comes to recovery.
Some experts try avoid foods with high antioxidants as they say it reduces adaptations.
Others say they don’t mind.
This study is one of many that show antioxidants to be beneficial in terms of short-term recovery.
Therefore in a target multi-day race such as a cycling tour, we recommend consuming a high-antioxidant drink such as cranberry juice after each stage. However, this is not as important as ensuring adequate carb and protein intake.