1. Methods to Aid Recovery from Training and Racing
Dr Gordon Wright Senior ABCC Coach
A presentation given at the High Wycombe CC Club Room 26th July 2006.
Note carefully: The material presented in these notes is copyright July and must not be used in any form whatsoever without the permission of the author

2. Stage lost minutes !

3. How did he recovery so fast ?
Stage he effectively won the Tour de France

4. Recovery Issues
These notes cover a range of issues concerning recovery after training and tracing.
They do not cover every aspect of recovery that you could wish to know about– that’s a substantial text book.
But I do cover some important nutritional considerations and also some simple and some very advanced methods of tracking recovery – especially after hard training session or whilst in a heavy period of racing or training.
Hopefully most riders will find some value in the information contained here

5. It has to be if we are to improve But recovery is the key to it all
Training and Racing
is destructive
It has to be if we are to improve
But recovery is the key to it all

6. The simple answer to most non injury recovery questions in sport is
Active rest and early nutritional support
But a key issue is ‘How long do you rest’
And the answer to that is – it all depends
These note are intended to provide some methods and insights to these two key areas in particular

7. What do we mean by recovery ?
Training and racing disturb the body’s balance with its environment. Fatigue is the result.
Recovery restores the body to its previous condition
Further recovery leads to ‘overcompensation’
We are stronger and faster the next time round
The process can be summed up in the diagram which follows :-

8. The Train – Fatigue –Recovery –Overcompensation cycle
Increased fitness level
Fitness level
Train Race Phase
Fatigue Phase
Recovery phase
Overcompensation phase
De – training phase

9. The recovery cycle seen on the previous page could be the result of the recovery from
a single training session or the result of a single race.
(b) the result of a heavy week(s) of training or racing and the easy period which follows
(c) or the result of many weeks, even months, of hard training and racing followed by a complete recovery period
In fact such short, medium and long term recovery cycles are all occurring simultaneously all the time throughout a racing and training season

10. During the recovery phase there are two crucial periods in the whole recovery process:
The Early Recovery Period – the period immediately following the training or racing session. A vital aspect of this period is early nutrition to speed up the start of the recovery process
the Late Recovery Period – this is the period when overcompensation begins to set in. Many riders often do not get to this period - as a result they don’t get the benefit of over –compensation. The reason – they train hard again too soon, because they fear losing form.

11. Late recovery period Early recovery period
The Train – Fatigue –Recovery –Overcompensation cycle
Increased fitness level
Fitness level
Late recovery period
For complete recovery you must get to at least here
Early recovery period
Recovery phase
Overcompensation phase

12. The remainder of these notes address the two key issues of recovery in the
(a) Early Recovery Period and (b) the Late Recovery Period
The Late Recovery Period needs a steady nerve and confidence that a loss of fitness will not occur. It is the fear of losing form that will often prompt a rider to train hard again too soon and before full recovery has taken place let along allowing time for overcompensation to take place. To get over this fear objective methods of monitoring recovery are required.
Before we look at these issues lets first have a closer look at Fatigue :

13. What is fatigue ? An inability to maintain performance.
Body is damaged, various systems are disturbed
Fatigue can be minor or severe.
Fatigue is broadly proportional to load severity
Fatigue results from both intensity and duration
Very intense training and exceptionally long training or racing cause major fatigue.

14. Short term fatigue - hours to days
Mainly due to short term ‘overloading’
Temporary imbalance - usually a fast recovery - normally within hours to one day
Some fluid loss, lowered carbohydrate stores,
Some mineral loss, minor muscle damage,
Short term nervous system disturbance
Short term fatigue is usually very obvious :--
Factors include :
Feel tired, muscle soreness muscle heaviness, loss of strength, Muscle elasticity reduced, rhythm impaired
Higher resting heart rates, lowered racing heart rates
Recovery hours normally with appropriate action

15. Medium to Longer term fatigue - days to a week +
More serious mainly due to persistent over-loading – termed ‘Over-reaching’.
Serious glycogen depletion
Major muscle cell damage
Hormonal disturbance
Serious nervous system disturbance.
Seriously reduced energy substrates
Recovery -
Days if no further racing or hard training
Results from many successive training and racing bouts with inadequate rest days in the programme –
But one masssive overload can start the process

16. More Serious Longer term fatigue - weeks to months
The effects often less obvious than shorter term fatigue
Its more insidious - it can build up slowly without you realizing it - the end result -serious overtraining
It can take many weeks even months to recover from serious overtraining
Results from - serious and relentless ‘over-reaching’
Some indicators:
Low unexplained performance, mood state changes,
Irritable, withdrawn, excitable, night sweats, loss of
Motivation, restlessness, aggressiveness
Diagnosis can be difficult – hormone changes in
blood stream, but not practical for the club cyclist Recovery - can be weeks, months in serious cases

17. Overcompensation - the ‘Rebound Effect’
Why is recovery important
Full Performance capability is restored ONLY when fully recovered. As previously seen further recovery time leads to increased performance due to ‘over compensation’ -a ‘rebound effect’ occurs if you have the nerve to wait long enough !
Similar ‘fatigue -recovery -rebound’ cycles are occurring all the time
Recovery
Overcompensation - the ‘Rebound Effect’
Fatigue

18. Cycles to avoid Stagnation Not allowing overcompensation to take place
Slow decline
Always training hard too soon

19. A gradual progression upwards
The ideal outcome
A gradual progression upwards

20. Multiple Recovery periods
Does all the foregoing mean you have to fully recovery after every training session ?
The answer is not necessarily. There are times in training when it makes sense to have several quality training session in quick succession. So full recovery is not possible until the sequence is over, BUT then full recovery MUST be allowed to take place.
At other times full recovery from a single massive event overload may be very necessary before you can move on. Such overloads might for example be a 12 hour TT , Etape du Tour, or other very hard sportive

21. All these factors help or hinder recovery
Recovery time is related to
Age, fitness and genetics
General health status
Sleep quality and sleeping patterns
General training load
Training and race patterns -recovery days, easy weeks
Nutritional habits and status –adequate nutrient intake
Life style, social and work life- stress, + lifes demands
All these factors help or hinder recovery

22. Inadequate Recovery - Some vulnerable groups
Young riders - too much too soon – not durable
until maturity
Mature highly motivated riders - inadequate rest -
don’t know when to stop
Older riders - age related deterioration in recovery
its inevitable but can be slowed down
Come back riders - trying to run before they can walk
Come back from injury or ill health
- you can’t rush things

23. Recovery Strategies – can be based on :
Regular Sleep and active rest – frequent recovery rides
Nutritional support – need good eating habits
Massage - can be self or professionally applied
Hydrotherapy techniques – hot and cold methods
Timed rest and recovery periods – using periodisation
Need a Controlled lifestyle – maybe re-engineering
Monitoring fatigue and Recovery by various methods

24. The Early Recovery Period is improved by :
Good Re-hydration with micro nutrients
Carbohydrate intake – 60 to 100 grms in 750 mls water
Protein intake - 1/2 grm per kg of body weight
Immediately following racing and training
There is a two hour window of opportunity to replenish glycogen stores and start the process of muscle protein re -synthesis - so use this opportunity to speed recovery
After this time the process slows down considerably – so you need to get the carbs down as a matter of priority

25. Protein sources are appearing more and more in sports drinks
Protein is a key factor in recovery from hard training and racing
Research has shown recovery is improved by :
A good protein source immediately after hard training and racing BUT also some protein intake in amino acid form - during the racing and hard training periods
Protein sources are appearing more and more in sports drinks

26. Proteins in food are large complex molecules
But they can not be used for tissue repair until they have been broken down in the stomach into smaller units called Amino Acids
These units then have to be recombined in the liver and other organs into the precise protein structure required to repair various parts of the muscles that have been broken down and damaged during training and racing
Eaten protein

27. A new protein Eaten protein For tissue repair Amino acids
Digestion
Synthesis
Eaten protein
For tissue repair
Amino acids

28. Protein Synthesis
The process shown on the previous slide takes some time for completion - certainly several hours at least
So it makes sense to get the protein into your body as soon as possible after racing and hard training
Better still use recovery drinks that have amino acids in them to speed up the tissue repair even faster as you miss out one stage. A Company called ‘All Sports’ have a product called ‘Amino Load’ for this very purpose. ‘CytoMax’ contains some amino acids
Remember the faster you make a full recovery the sooner you can get back to quality training.

29. Energy Drink support to recovery
Many products now on offer
Some offer just ‘glucose polymers’ based on Maltodextrin -Maxim was the original
Many now provide ‘add-ins’ minerals, vitamins and some protein as whey or soya protein or ‘free’ amino acids

30. Minerals - Sodium and Potassium Some Amino Acids
Glucose polymer
Minerals - Sodium and Potassium
Some Amino Acids
Before during and after training and racing
Good for warm weather training and racing
Glucose polymers, Fructose
Plus plenty of Minerals

31. High Quality protein Good after training and racing recovery product
REGO Rapid
High Quality protein Good after training and racing recovery product
REGO Nocte
Slow release protein source. Night time recovery - Really ONLY for high performing riders

32. But don’t ignore the cheaper and nearly as effective alternatives
Is it essential to buy sports drinks ?
They are certainly of significant value but are relatively costly
If you are a high performer and aspiring to make big improvements then for periods of HEAVY training and racing the investment is almost certainly worthwhile
But don’t ignore the cheaper and nearly as effective alternatives

33. One yoghurt + one banana - cost about 50 pence
200 grams yoghurt
9 grams of protein
18 grams of carbohydrate
Plus sodium and vitamins
One 110 gram banana (without skin) 25 grams carbohydrate
1.O to 1.5 grams protein
2.7 grams of fibre plus vitamin C and Potassium

34. 100 grams serving costs around £1.50
100 grams provides :
26 grams of protein
58 grams of carbohydrate
Fibre 4.9 grams
Plus full range of minerals plus vitamins

35. Chicken plus vegetables plus salad
Some healthy meal options
Chicken plus vegetables plus salad
Rice Fruit and vegetables
various beans plus salad

36. Don’t even go there !

37. Ideal meals – pasta based - for the 100 or 12 hour TT or other major endurance events

38. Micro nutrient support High dose formulations
Forget the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) - that’s for normal people
Endurance athletes needs are much greater
During periods of heavy training and racing you need additional micronutrients – vitamins and minerals :-
High dose formulations

39. Some take home points so far
Think more about what you eat and when you eat it
Mixed Carbs (simple & complex) immediately after training and racing is essential
Need Protein or Amino acids in the 2 hour window
Need extra micro nutrients during hard training periods
Early Re-hydration essential after all training and racing sessions
Massage optional – useful if done on a regular basis
Hold cold baths worth thinking about – to reduce inflammation
and help flush out debris from damaged tissue
Regular sleep essential - find our what is good for you.
Frequent Active Rest and recovery days are essential

40. Monitoring recovery
Early Stage Recovery is often very obvious and you do not need anything very sophisticated to tell you that you are tired - your legs soon tell you.
Late Stage Recovery is far more complex. Think about it – when you are almost fully recovered you will feel OK to good and you will want to train again. But you may not have reached the overcompensation stage ! The fact is going on feel alone will not tell you where you are in the Late Recovery Period
This is where sophisticated heart rate monitoring can play a very big role

41. Monitoring Recovery - What can be done ?
General day by day feel - How do I feel today approach
If in doubt - rest for a day – OK for Early Stage
Watch resting heart rates - if 8 beats up –maybe tired
if elevated over several days then rest
Racing and Training Heart rates – if lower than normal
it may be an early sign of medium term fatigue
Use of Orthostatic Heart Rate Tests – can give deep insight into recovery processes at all stages

42. Advanced Heart Rate Monitoring
New tools and techniques are emerging that can be used to track recovery and give a deeper insight into fatigue and recovery in the recovery cycle.
The remainder of these notes focuses on Orthostatic Heart rate tests and heart rate variability methods (HRV). HRV is a new and emerging science as far as sport is concerned and it offers some significant insights into fatigue and recovery.

43. The Ortho static Heart Rate Test
The Orthostatic Heart rate test is a simple test which can give some valuable insights to fatigue and recovery.
The basis interpretation of the results on a day to day basis are straightforward, but more advanced interpretation is more difficult and it does need some experience -speak to me for advice
The test is undertaken by recording the heart rate in the lying position (supine) for between 2 and 4 minutes. You then stand up and continue recording the heart rate for another 2 to 4 minutes. Your breathing rate must be controlled and regular throughout the test.
Assuming you are using a Polar heart rate monitor download the data to your PC and the Polar software will display the typical Orthostatic heart rate profile as shown on the pages which follow

44. A typical Orthostatic Heart rate profile
A well rested profile of a high performing rider

45. Heart rate after standing up
Sympathetic drive
Resting heart rate laying down
Parasympathetic drive

46. Sympathetic system snaps into action Parasympathetic dominance

47. The Central Nervous System
The Orthostatic Heart rate profile is determined by the central nervous system (CNS) – more specifically the autonomic division of the CNS.
There are two parts to the CNS - parasympathetic which slows the heart rate and the sympathetic which speeds it up. These two are always balancing each other. Lay down the parasympathetic is more dominant. Stand up and the sympathetic part becomes more dominant.
Fatigue from racing and training shows up as a serious disturbance to the CNS and the shape of the Orthostatic profile changes as a result. But training affects the parasympathetic and sympathetic parts of the CNS differently and each part recovers at a different rate. The return to a normal orthostatic profile when full recovery has taken place will often reveal these changes.

48. What to look for in the Ortho Static profile
A nice sharp spike upwards as you stand up
Climb to a new stable balance – the oscillations are normal
Good resting HR with some irregularity
A quick drop and bottom out

49. Example Ortho test when very tired from endurance training
Abnormally low spike - no real drop afterwards
Shows heavy fatigue in this component – climbing and unstable

50. This part is depressed & unstable This part elevated & not stable
Rusko
Example Ortho Test After very hard Interval Training
An example of a overall depressed HR signature

51. ’25’ Mile TT Championships 2004
World TT Championship 2003
’25’ Mile TT Championships 2004

52. 6th January 5 day Training Camp - Blue Mountains - Australia
Day hours hard endurance riding
Day 2 and 3 four to five hours endurance riding
Day one hour Mountain Time Trial
Day 5 another 4 hours but steady
Overall - a severe training overload
This case study demonstrates just how long it can take to achieve full recovery. Riding during each recovery day amounted to one hour at an easy pace. Recovery day by day was tracked using Orthostatic tests as shown :-

53. Day before going on the training Camp

54. First day back after training Camp
Recovery day 1
First day back after training Camp

55. Day 1 Recovery
Pre Camp

56. Recovery day 1
Recovery day 2

58. Recovery day 3

60. Recovery day 4

61. Abnormally low resting HR

62. Recovery day 5

65. Day 5 compared to pre camp

66. Train Fatigue Recovery Cycle Late stage recovery period
Rebound effect
Recovery
Late stage recovery period
Fatigue
Took 5 days !

67. It took a full five days to fully recover from the Training Camp !
Any hard training in that five period would have only delayed the recovery process

68. What if my monitor has no memory, can I do Ortho tests you may ask
What if my monitor has no memory, can I do Ortho tests you may ask. The answer is yes :-
Note the peak HR
Observe the average heart rates supine and standing

69. Record the following data - day by day :
Get to know your own values when you are fully recovered and have no fatigue at all
Record values :
Supine =
Peak =
Standing =
Difference (standing – supine) =

70. Elite woman rider Case Number 2
Orthostatic profiles after a successful 3 day 4 stage road race - 2nd Overall and winner of the TT stage.

71. Friday 28th April - Before RR
Rested Ortho chart
Friday 28th April - Before RR

72. Tues 2nd May day after 3 day Road race - many fatigue pointers
Overall a very depressed Heart Rate signature
Lazy spike indicates lack of sympathetic tone
Continually rising slowly = poor sympathetic recovery
Tues 2nd May day after 3 day Road race - many fatigue pointers
A bit too flat indicates likely reduced R to R HR variability
Dropped too low Shows lack of sympathetic tone

73. Wednesday 3rd May 2 days after race
Spike up much improved
Rather flat here – delayed fatigue still coming out
Too much regularity here Shows lack of nervous system tone
Wednesday 3rd May 2 days after race

74. Overall still slightly fatigued
Overall slightly elevated as sympathetic drive (tone ) is increasing faster than parasympathetic tone
More tone beginning to return here although slightly elevated
Thursday 4th May

75. Friday 5th May - 4 days after Race
Overall a much better picture
A bit flat here parasympathetic drive still struggling to get back to normal
Looking much better here and probably close to normal
Friday 5th May - 4 days after Race

76. First day rider reported feeling better on the bike – 5 days later !
Slightly elevated But looking better
Elevated here - indicates sympathetic drive still dominant over the parasympathetic
Saturday the 6th May

77. Wednesday 8th March Indifference Chart
Wednesday 8th March Indifference Chart. Not fully obvious if fatigue is shown here or not !
So where do we go from here ? Look at Heart Rate Variability Data as the next level of analysis

78. Measuring Heart Rate Variability
The next level of analysis in heart rate monitoring of fatigue and recovery is to measure the heart rate variability. This is done by recording the time between one heat beat and the next - called R to R data recording. R to R is the time difference in milliseconds between R waves from an ECG trace.
These methods take a little while to prepare each day so you will need some motivation and a strong interest to spend the necessary time needed
A typical ECG trace is shown on the next page

79. Typical ECG trace The ‘R’ wave
NEXT BEAT ETC
ONE BEAT R1 R3 R2
The ‘R’ wave
QRS Complex
To undertake R to R heart rate recording you need a Polar S810i or Suunto T6 heart rate monitor

80. Polar S810i
These are the only watches available for recording beat to beat Heart rate values - called R to R
Suunto T6 or T4

81. Typical ECG trace R1 R3 R2 R to R
R to R values can be captured by the Polar S810i or Suunto T6 heart rate monitors

82. A fatigued athlete has low RR variability a recovered athlete has high RR variability
R to R
Therefore heart rate variability using RtoR values can be used to track recovery
The more variable the R to R values in an athlete the more conditioned is that athlete

83. ECG Trace with High Variability ECG Trace with Low Variability

84. Equivalent heart rate in beats per minute
A Typical set of RR data values from a Polar Heart monitor
Time between each beat in milli seconds
Equivalent heart rate in beats per minute
R to R values from a Polar S810i

85. There are a number of methods of measuring Heart rate variability
One is the ‘Poincare Plot’ method
This is undertaken by plotting a sequence of RR data values against itself but slipped by one place as shown next

86. Plot RR values against RR n+1 values
1360
1377
1221
1113
1038
1002
948
897
860
840
800
759
741
729
728
719
710
702
744
792
895
947
899
Plot RR values
against
RR n+1 values

87. This graph shows a well rested rider before hard training
An R to R Poincare scatter plot - shows great RR variability
This graph shows a well rested rider before hard training

88. These values are measures of variability
Measures SD1
Measures SD2
Polar S810i will produce this scatter plot and calculate the variability by the standard deviation scores SD1 and SD2
These values are measures of variability

89. Graph of same rider after hard training
Note the marked reduction in SD1 and SD2 values
The Variability in RR data is now markedly reduced and shows the fatigue in the rider

90. Heart rate variability is now
This rider is arguably not ready for the next hard session until SD1 and SD2 values have returned to resting levels
That is until RR variability has normalised
Heart rate variability is now
much reduced

91. Poincare plot am on the day of a 10 mile TT

92. Poincare Plot 3 hours after the ten mile TT

93. Morning after the 10 mile TT
Much recovered but still not back to normal

94. Tracking Data
You don’t need to do RR data analysis and Poincare heart rate graphs to show that you are fatigued the day after a time trial – you will know that by feel alone
But if the analysis is undertaken over many days you can track recovery from much harder races and much greater training loads
A more objective and visual method of tracking recovery is available using ‘Poincare Plot analysis’ and it is especially important in the late recovery period.

95. Much of the guess work is removed
Using heart rate variability gives deep insight into fatigue and recovery and provides an objective method of knowing when full recovery has taken place. Therefore it is a valuable tool in the late recovery period.
Much of the guess work is removed
But it’s a complex area that’s advancing all the time

96. That’s all folks for the time being !