Optimise your recovery to go the distance as an endurance athlete

It pays to focus on optimising your body’s natural repair and recuperation processes between training sessions.

Supporting tissue repair with the right amount of combination macronutrients is the foundation for optimal recovery.  

Our diet should replenish depleted energy reserves with quality carbohydrates, repair and regenerate muscle and connective tissues with protein and collagen, and support other physiological adaptations with hormone production with the right amount and source of natural fats, including some saturated fat.  

Your diet should also include a range of nutrients to support various metabolic processes and your immune system.

Athletes can support their diets with a range of specially formulated supplements that supply the necessary macronutrients in the correct ratios to support recovery.

For instance, it is critical to ensure your body is adequately fuelled before a hard training session, as circulating glucose you don’t deplete glycogen stores as quickly while readily available amino acids can limit muscle damage, effectively reducing your recovery requirements after training. 

A pre and intra-workout drink that combines carbs and protein like Biogen Cyto-Pro delivers the energy to fuel your efforts and amino acids to limit muscle damage and support recovery.

Directly after training or a race, it is beneficial to replace depleted glycogen stores and support the muscle repair process with a post-workout recovery shake that contains both.

Biogen Recovergen contains a carefully formulated combination of carbs and protein in 4:1 ratio to help replenish glycogen with fast-acting sources such as maltodextrin, and repair and rebuild muscles with highly bioavailable protein from hydrolysed whey.

Glutamine is another supplement that can help support recovery after hard training. During intense training, muscle L-glutamine levels drop sharply, which is why including a product like Biogen L-Glutamine Powder can support various recovery processes, like protein synthesis.

The loading forces our bodies experience during high impact activities like running can also increase the damage done to tendons and other connective tissues. 

Tendons are made of a tough, fibrous substance called collagen, which means that supplementing with a product that provides an additional source of these structural proteins, like Biogen Collagen, can support tissue repair and may reduce injury risk.

Additional protein throughout the day, especially in the morning, from a protein shake can offer additional recovery benefits. A product like Biogen Complete Whey contains a blend of high biological value, fast and slower-digesting proteins. Delivering an ideal ratio of whey, casein, milk protein concentrate, and plant proteins, this product provides a prolonged release of amino acids to support muscle recovery until your next meal or shake.

A recovery day reduces the demands you place on muscle and connective tissues to give them an opportunity to recover and adapt to the training stimulus. Moreover, athletes who engage in high-impact activities like running can benefit from additional rest.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean complete inactivity. Active recovery days de-load the stress imposed on the body while promoting circulation to support natural recovery processes.

Athletes should avoid sitting or lying down for extended periods during the day. It is important to promote blood flow and restore tissue health and function by actively engaging in restorative and regenerative activities.

Active recovery days can include a range of low-impact activities that promote movement, such as swimming, cycling, walking, yoga, mobility work and stretching. These sessions are ideal after long training sessions, structured workouts or double training days.

If athletes choose to take a day off from all activity, it is beneficial to include some form of proactive recovery technique, like cold water immersion, hot-cold contrasting, massage (self-massage, a session with a qualified massage therapist or a percussion gun), EMS, a hyperbaric chamber session or time in recovery boots/legs.

Athletes at every level need sufficient sleep every night to promote optimal recovery. Getting 7-9 hours of deep, restorative sleep a night, with sufficient deep and REM sleep, is vital as this is when your body adapts to the physiological demands we impose on it during training. 

In this regard, the hours before midnight are the most beneficial as your body generally drops off into deep sleep during this phase in the sleep cycle. This is also the period when muscle-building hormone levels typically peak. So avoid late nights and try to maintain a regular sleep routine.

You can support your recovery overnight by promoting better sleep with a sleep support supplement like Biogen Sure Sleep. This natural sleep aid provides a subtle calming effect with no lingering tiredness the next day. 

Providing your body with the nutrients it needs to support the overnight recovery process can also boost your ability to bounce back to 100% sooner. 

For instance, Biogen Night Feed contains casein, a slower-digesting protein that can help promote optimum muscle recovery and growth overnight by providing a sustained amino acid release when taken before bed.

Athletes must also consider their fluid intake and electrolyte balance needs after training, especially when it is hot and humid. Athletes must aim to replace the fluid and electrolytes lost through sweat during training sessions to prevent dehydration.

Your body requires electrolytes because these salts maintain fluid balance and promote more efficient absorption. Any fluid deficit or partial dehydration can also decrease blood volume, which in turn slows the delivery of vital nutrients to recovering muscles and the removal of metabolic waste.

As such, it important to drink an electrolyte solution like Biogen Electrolyte+ after intense or prolonged training sessions. 

The immune system is the other critical element in optimal recovery as it plays a crucial role in the process. 

Endurance training triggers a temporary inflammatory response as the body repairs damaged tissues. During this normal response to training, the body activates immune cells, mobilising white blood cells, such as neutrophils and monocytes, to help clear damaged tissue and metabolites and promote healing and tissue repair.

As such, supporting your immune system after training can speed up your recovery between sessions and after races.

Taking supplements that support the immune system can help your body handle the increased recovery demands, with a range of vitamins and minerals like vitamins C, D and E, zinc and co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) playing a role in our natural immune response.