Episode #4: Recovery Part 2- Nutrition Strategies for Recovery from Training

03/27/25 • 94 min

Recovery Part 2: Nutrition Strategies for Recovery

The foundations of recovery include adequate nutrition to support training and recovery. Getting the right quantities of macronutrients and specifically protein and carbohydrates.

Once the timing and intake of these nutrients are optimized then it is important to look at other factors including micronutrients and supplementation.

Justin and Katie share their own experience with recovery

The 4 R’s Framework for recovery: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7796021/

Rehydrate, Refuel, Repair, Rest

We review why carbohydrates are so important for recovery from exercise. Following endurance training, replenishing muscle glycogen is critical, especially when there is another training session within 4-6 hours.

Katie discusses how the muscle and liver cells are very sensitive to insulin after exercise and therefore when we consume carbohydrates and elicit an insulin response there is a greater rate of carb intake into glycogen storage. This allows for the body to quickly refuel or replenish glycogen stores that were depleted during exercise. Insulin also helps transport nutrients to the muscle cells. This is why it might be helpful to have carbs in addition to protein for muscle recovery. The insulin might be helpful for anabolism or the rebuilding of muscle post exercise. https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article-abstract/478/21/3827/230182/Interactions-between-insulin-and-exercise?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Katie shares her experience using a continuous glucose monitor and how this has helped her figure out how to fuel with carbs post exercise.

Protein is also important! Carbohydrate consumed with protein after exercise may enhance glycogen synthesis but only if the protein is added is not in replacement of carbohydrates.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10054587/

Katie recommends consuming most of the daily carbohydrate intake before, during, and after exercise. Then having lower glycemic, high fiber carbohydrates the remainder of the day to maintain balanced blood glucose levels.

Hydration is discussed and what to do when there is a lack of appetite post workout

Dehydration can disrupt performance, but dehydration can delay recovery.

Nutrition strategies/supplements and recovery- as mentioned already- eating a proper diet and getting enough carbs and protein, etc is going to be foundational. No supplement is going to help you if you don’t eat enough to promote recovery.

Here are some of the supplements discussed:

Curcumin (turmeric)
Tart cherry juice
Creatine
Micronutrients- zinc, vitamin C, magnesium, or just take a good quality multivitamin. Consider testing for nutrient deficiencies such as an iron panel. Low iron can cause fatigue and poor exercise performance. Magnesium may reduce soreness and promote recovery
Adaptogens- ashwagandha, rhodiola, CBD etc. Might help modulate cortisol levels and some may have potential anti-inflammatory effects.
Others such as L-carnitine, L-glutamine, Taurine, HMB (beta-hydroxy methyl-buterate).
L-theanine- might be be helpful in promoting relaxation and reducing stress or reducing the mental load of training
Ketones- There is some research here but not a ton. May alleviate the sensation of fatigue post exercise and may have other impacts on muscle protein synthesis and insulin which can help glycogen re-synthesis.

Recovery Part 2: Nutrition Strategies for Recovery

The foundations of recovery include adequate nutrition to support training and recovery. Getting the right quantities of macronutrients and specifically protein and carbohydrates.

Once the timing and intake of these nutrients are optimized then it is important to look at other factors including micronutrients and supplementation.

Justin and Katie share their own experience with recovery

The 4 R’s Framework for recovery: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7796021/

Rehydrate, Refuel, Repair, Rest

Katie shares her experience using a continuous glucose monitor and how this has helped her figure out how to fuel with carbs post exercise.

Hydration is discussed and what to do when there is a lack of appetite post workout

Dehydration can disrupt performance, but dehydration can delay recovery.

Here are some of the supplements discussed:

Curcumin (turmeric)
Tart cherry juice
Creatine
Micronutrients- zinc, vitamin C, magnesium, or just take a good quality multivitamin. Consider testing for nutrient deficiencies such as an iron panel. Low iron can cause fatigue and poor exercise performance. Magnesium may reduce soreness and promote recovery
Adaptogens- ashwagandha, rhodiola, CBD etc. Might help modulate cortisol levels and some may have potential anti-inflammatory effects.
Others such as L-carnitine, L-glutamine, Taurine, HMB (beta-hydroxy methyl-buterate).
L-theanine- might be be helpful in promoting relaxation and reducing stress or reducing the mental load of training
Ketones- There is some research here but not a ton. May alleviate the sensation of fatigue post exercise and may have other impacts on muscle protein synthesis and insulin which can help glycogen re-synthesis.

Previous Episode

Recovery from training and why it is important

Episode 3: Recovery from Training and Why it is Important. There is more to recovery than "resting and taking the day off". How do we know when we should do something purposeful to aid recovery? Why is recovery so important to the training process and for training adaptation? What things can we do to encourage recovery?

Here are a few other things we discuss during the podcast:

We define "Training Volume" as a 3-part equation: duration + intensity + frequency.

We discuss the Fitness-Fatigue model where the accumulation of fatigue masks fitness. Therefore, in order to observe your fitness, we must shed accumulated fatigue. This is done through the recovery process.

We talk about the four phases of training adaptation and what it means to really be "over-trained". Being over-trained is actually a rare occurrence but non-functional over-reaching and over-training is something we should be concerned about and able to identify.

We discuss that training stress is not the only type of stress that impacts training adaptation. Life stress has a major impact on our ability to build fitness and the body's ability to recover.

We talk about why our muscles get sore and what is the reason for delayed onset muscle soreness. Muscle soreness is not simply caused by mico-tears in the muscle fiber. That can be one reason but it is not the only reason why our muscles are get sore from hard training sessions.

We mention a few signs that may indicate you are under-recovered and some things you can do to aid recovery and get you back to training.

We also discuss how glycogen depletion impacts our ability to train to our full potential and why proper pre-training, intra-training, and post-training fueling is so important to the recovery process.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. Feel free to send us feedback or questions via Facebook at The Endurance Athlete Podcast Facebook group or email us at [email protected]

If you want to follow us for more content you can follow the podcast @enduranceathletejourney or you can follow Katie @the.running.dietitian or Justin @tabularasaracing.

If you prefer to watch the episode you can also find us on You Tube @theenduranceathletejourney

Next Episode

How to fit your training into your lifestyle

Sometimes being an endurance athlete requires an advanced degree in time management. You may be the parent of small children or very active children. There are no “bonus points” earned by missing out on important events or opportunities to be active in your kid’s lives simply so that you can get your workout in.

Once you find a race distance that fits easily into your life (notice I said easily and not possible), then you can go about structuring your training to meet whatever your expectations are of yourself.

Not only should you find a race distance that fits into your life, but the expectations you form on how you want to perform should also fit into your life. Expecting podium results without the ability to train for that kind of performance is going to get you injured, frustrated, or alone or some combination of those. We discuss questions you may need to ask yourself when picking a race.

We discuss several different types of lifestyle challenges and some may overlap.

Working parent/stay at home parent with younger kids: We discuss challenges which may include having to wake up early before the kids wake up to workout or doing the workout later in the evening when the kids are in bed. This is a balancing act of figuring out how to fit in the workout around the work schedule and your partners work schedule.

Several strategies are discuss to fit in the workout including being creative with how and when you do the workout.

Working parent/stay at home parent with school age children and teenagers: As kids get older, they start to become more active. Sometimes this requires a little flexibility and creativity when it comes to time management. As kids reach those teenage years, you start to gain a little more flexibility in terms of being able to leave them at home while you head out for a long workout. However, the level of activities and commitments tend to be greater as kids get older.

Strategies are suggested including slit training sessions and trying to get in a workout while the child is at an activity.

People who work shift work or extended shifts like nurses: The main thing these athletes tend to struggle with is quality sleep. This is especially true if the shift work is on a rotating schedule. With the disruption or poor quality sleep, the ability to recover from training sessions can be slowed.

We discuss strategies for shift works/12 hour shifts including scheduling the bulk of training on non-work days, getting shorted workouts on work days and being creative with how they do the workout.

Tips for shift workers working the night shift: For night shift workers, training will typically need to be structured either after the shift and before sleeping for the day or after waking up before starting the next shift. It might be most ideal to schedule the exercise after getting some sleep and before you start your next shift.

Expectations for this type of schedule and trying to train might need to be adjusted due to issues with sleep and disruptions in circadian rhythm.

Service workers with atypical work schedules: Most of the time, these types of athletes are your “night owls”. So structuring a training plan where you may be prescribing morning and evening sessions is not going to work for these types of athletes. This is a very challenging schedule due to lack of consistency.

People who travel for work: For athletes like this, it can be challenging to get in consistent training especially if your focus is on triathlon. Bike and swim training are the most challenging to get in while on the road.

Suggestions for this type of scheduling including researching the hotel and location of travel ahead of time to see if there is a gym available or safe paths or parks for running.