Train Hard, Recover Harder: Advice for Bouncing Back (Performance & Longevity Series)

In this episode, LaValle explores the importance of recovery, along with strategies to support both everyday athletes and those coming back from injury. Insights include the following:

• Whether you’re returning to fitness post-injury or are an athlete continuing to train consistently, a smart recovery plan is crucial to speed up your ability to come back and maximize training gains.
• It’s important to understand your personal recovery needs, especially as you age. That’s when recovery becomes more necessary.
• There are several physiological signs of poor recovery: overtraining syndrome (OTS) symptoms, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), mood changes, lack of motivation, depleted nutrient status, sleep disturbances, and reduced strength gains.
• Sleep is the No. 1 recovery strategy and you need to build all other strategies around it, according to LaValle.
• You can support your recovery with proper nutrition and targeted supplementation, including:
  • Creatine: Helps with ATP production and lean muscle mass maintenance.
  • Collagen peptides (combined with vitamin C): Help dampen connective tissue inflammation and support repair.
  • Protein: Helps with lean mass development.
  • Electrolytes and magnesium: Help with muscle function and the removal of lactic acid buildup in muscles.
  • Omega-3 fatty acids: Help regulate inflammatory signaling.
  • A greens drink: Helps provide antioxidants to counteract free radicals in the body from the stress of training.
• Some peptides and other supplements that can help with recovery include:
  • Sermorelin: This peptide can stimulate growth hormone release.
  • BPC: This peptide can help with inflammation reduction and collagen repair.
  • Glucosamine, chondroitin, and curcumin: These supplements can be helpful if you’re dealing with a connective tissue or bone injury.
• Understanding your stress level is important for realizing your body’s ability to recover and recognizing your risk for injury. As cortisol goes up, you make less growth hormone, which limits the body’s ability to build muscle. Chronic stress also inhibits gonadotropin-releasing hormone, leading to lower levels of testosterone (for men and women); this can make it difficult to maintain and build lean mass.
• Certain blood markers — including cortisol, advanced lipid markers, homocysteine, adiponectin, and mean platelet volume — can offer insights about whether you’re overtraining.
• Heart-rate measures, including heart-rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, and heart-rate recovery, are important ways to track and monitor your recovery. Many wearable devices now track these.