Lecture 7 - Recovery

Question 1

As repeated sprints are a key indicator of athletics performance what happens to capacity for this if 3 games are player back to back ?

Answer 1

Following the first game sprint performance is decreased for 2 days, returning to baseline by day 3.

However, following a game on day 4 it takes an extra day for performance to return to normal. This effect is seen again of a game is played again on day 9, with 4 days being needed to return to baseline.

Indications of this are for teams who play many games in a week as they are unlikely to be recovering fully.

Question 2

What are some influences that can effect the amount of sleep an athlete may get ?

Answer 2

• Light
• Napping
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Game arousal
• Travel fatigue
• Scheduled inconsistency
• Specific player sleep needs

Question 3

Are cool downs following training sessions worth it?

Answer 3

No, as there is no benefit to doing these as it makes no difference on subsequent performance, or injury prevention.

It may help remove some of the lactate that could be circulating however, if you are already low on carbohydrate stores you are going to fatigue yourself more by doing this.

Question 4

What is the purpose of post exercise protein ingestion ?

Answer 4

Protein ingestion is important post exercise to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. This allows repair to the damaged muscle, therefore, facilitating recovery.

If only carbohydrate is given then their is a net loss of protein as muscle protein is broken down during exercise.

Question 5

If you want to optimise muscle glycogen recovery what is the best method ?

• Moderate carb alone ?
• Moderate carb and protein ?
• High carb ?

Answer 5

High Carb alone is the best response if glycogen recovery is the goal. Whereas moderate carb and protein does result in a better insulin response and glycogen recovery tat moderate carb alone, high carb still resulted in a higher level.

If an athlete cannot take in a very high carb level than protein accompaniment is usefull.

Intake was 1.2g Carbs per kg for 5 hours post exercise.

Question 6

How do measures of Doms and knee extensor ROM support fatigue following football games ?

Answer 6

Doms is elevated and ROM is reduced in the groups who played the games following the football matches and this increases with every game.

Question 7

What are the suggested benefits of cold water immersion ?

Answer 7

• Lowering inflammation
• Lowering muscle pain
• Lowering swelling and spasms
• Lowering muscle damage
• Increasing venous return.

Question 8

As glycogen is stored in the liver is their a best method to restore this post exercise ?

Answer 8

Yes, Intake of glucose ALONGSIDE fructose or sucrose resulted in an elevated liver glycogen synthesis.

Question 9

Does Foam Rolling enhance performance ?

Answer 9

There is no evidence for foam rolling to improve performance and recovery. However, it has been shown to improve feelings of DOMS and ROM.

Question 10

What is the issue with consuming alcohol post exercise for MPS ?

Answer 10

1.5g/kg bm alcohol with protein impairs MPS compared to protein alone.

Question 11

What has beetroot juice been shown to improvement compared to a control ?

Answer 11

• CMJ performance does not drop as much
• RSI doesn’t drop as much
• Pain perception is improved

Question 12

What are suggested interventions to aid re-hydration ?

Answer 12

Measure pre and post session weights to measure the amount of water lost.

• Intake more fluid than was lost during exercise
• Drink this fluid slowly to store more
• intake some carb, protein and sodium with drinks

Carb, protein and sodium used as these enhance cell osmolarity to ensure fluid is retained. thus reducing urine output.

Question 13

What is the recommended sleep level for athletes and what are some factors that are impaired with inadequate sleep ?

Answer 13

Minimum 8 Hours

Impaired factors

• Accuracy
• Alertness
• Reaction time
• Situational reactions

Motor skill and cognitive performance impaired

Question 14

In general is protein and carb intake with fluid beneficial to performance ?

Answer 14

Yes, as water co-ingested with carbohydrates improves following endurance performance, no matter if they trained in fasted or non fasted state.

There is sometimes a performance enhance from protein intake as well, however this is likely from the added calories protein will bring. overall there is less support for protein intake and performance recovery.

Question 15

Can carbohydrate intake during exercise effect performance ?

Answer 15

Yes, as high carbohydrate resulted in a significantly increased time to fatigue then a lower dine of carbs alone or with protein.

Question 16

What are some detrimental effects on post exercise fatigue with sleep disturbance ?

Answer 16

• Inhibited muscle glycogen re-synthesis
• Muscle damage increases and inhibition or muscle repair.
• Cognitive impairment
• Mental fatigue increase.

Question 17

What are some metabolic consequences of dehydration ?

Answer 17

• ↓ VO2max
• ↑ anaerobic metabolism
• ↑ lactic acid production
• ↑ muscle glycogen utilisation
• Accelerated fatigue

Question 18

What are the cognitive consequences of dehydration ?

Answer 18

Impairment of

• Reaction time
• False alarms
• Incorrect responses
• Response time
• Tension anxiety
• Fatigue/ inertia.

Question 19

If oxidative stress and inflammation is an issue, what nutritional interventions can be done to address this ?

Answer 19

Anti-oxidant foods, such as tart cherry can be consumed to reduce losses in
- MVC and CMJ performance.

• Its also reduced VAS scores and IL6 levels, thus reducing inflammation.

Question 20

What happens to glycogen levels following a football match if no interventions are given ?

Answer 20

Muscle glycogen levels are significantly reduced for 24 hours. It has still not recovered fully by 48 hours and takes 72 hours to fully recover following 1 football match.

Question 21

What are the strength and endurance associated benefits of compression garments ?

Answer 21

Strength recovery is improved 2-9 hours post exercise

Endurance performance is improved compared to control at 24 hours post exercise.

Question 22

What does a heightened level of free radials post exercise indicate about fatigue and performance status of the muscle ?

Answer 22

Elevated free radicals interact with the membrane lipids and cellular proteins resulting in the muscle being unable to performance the same amount of contractile ability.

Question 23

What are the suggested benefits of cryotherapy?

And is is actually effective?

Answer 23

• Lowering inflammation
• Lowering muscle pain
• Lowering swelling and spasms
• Lowering muscle damage
• Increasing venous return.

According to a review there is no difference in level of DOMS, or recovery compared to rest.

Question 24

What are the suggested benefits of using contrast therapy ?

And does it actually work ?

Answer 24

• Lowering inflammation
• Lowering muscle pain
• Lowering swelling and spasms
• Lowering muscle damage
• Increasing venous return
• Increased blood flow
• This does work to assist DOMS, muscle damage, strength and power.

Question 25

Sleep hygiene recommendations for athletes ?

Answer 25

• Don’t go to bed until sleepy
• Regulate sleeping pattern and pre-sleep routines.
• Get full nights sleep
• If need to nap only one hour before 3pm
• Use bed for sleep and intimacy only
• Avoid caffeine
• Avoid alcohol
• Don’t smoke
• Avoid HIIT before bed
• Make room quiet and dark, and a little cool.
• Avoid blue light for 2 hours before sleep.
• Natural light when waking
• Don’t hit snooze
• High carb and protein are good for sleep, high fat not.
• Melatonin containing foods
• Don’t fall asleep to tv.
• Some mental recovery as well.

Question 26

What has been shown to be another methods to measure levels of fatigue in players who have multiple games in a week ?

Answer 26

Their levels of CK. Leaks out from the cells indicating damage. It is raised following game 1 and raises to a higher level following game 2 and does not return to the start level before game 3, indicating there is still some cellular damage visible before play.

Question 27

What are the traditional reasons for completing a cool down following a training session ?

Answer 27

Increasing blood flow, avoiding venous pooling and enhanced lactate oxidation.

Question 28

Does massage ACTUALLY enhance recovery or endurance / jump performance ?

Answer 28

No there has been no measured difference performance or recovery with the use of massage. However, if the recovery is kept short there may be some benefit to doing massage.

The more likely reason is a placebo effect following the massage improving performance.

Question 29

What are some values of effective recovery ?

Answer 29

• Facilitates optimal performance
• Lowers risk of injury
• Lowers risk of burnout.

Question 30

What may be the reason that cold water immersion and contrast bathing both result in improvements in performance and recovery variables ?

Answer 30

Is likely due to the fact that both require submergence in bodies of water, which itself is going to cause a compression effect similar to compression garments.

Question 31

What is the most beneficial effect sleep intervention to enhance recovery and performance ?

Answer 31

Extend sleeping time in one sitting.

Question 32

With enhanced sweating dehydration can occur. Why does dehydration effect performance?

Answer 32

Dehydration resulted in reduced blood volume because the total plasma is reduced.

This limit the ability to thermoregulate is impaired as they are unable to sweat as well.

Moreover, this can result in cardiac drift. Because plasma is reduced, volume is reduced, meaning SV is reduced, thus lowering Q. HR increases to try and offset this but is not as dominant as SV.

As a result blood pressure drops and total peripheral resistance increases, meaning reduced blood flow into the muscle, meaning loss oxygen uptake, i.e reduced VO2max

Question 33

In elite football players what variables have been recorded to be significantly altered post game ?

Answer 33

• MVC ability
• VAS levels
• CK

Question 34

What has been shown about levels of CRP and White blood cells following match day performance, and what could this indicate ?

Answer 34

Following heavy match day performance levels of CRP and white blood cells are increased. This could be the reason for the increased levels of DOMS and delayed recovery of muscle function because of the heightened inflammatory response.

Question 35

What are the suggested benefits of getting massage for recovery ?

Answer 35

• Lowering muscle tension/stiffness
• Lowering muscle pain
• Lowering swelling and spasms
• Lowering muscle damage
• Improving flexibility
• Increasing muscle blood flow (via heating and increased venous return)
• Facilitates substrate delivery and metabolite removal.

Question 36

Report the optimal post race recovery routine for cyclist undergoing a multi evening event.

Answer 36

Immediately following race end, athletes should cool down (10–15 min at a very low intensity), while sipping a hydrating beverage (∼1.5L·kg−1·BM−1 loss with 60mmol·L−1 of sodium) and eat a carbohydrate and protein containing snack (80 g CHO 30 g PRO) in the 60 min post exercise.

Changing into compression socks can be done on the way to the hotel. Dinner should be easily digestible and low in fat. Following, CWI at 15°C for 15 min could be of benefit. Minimizing electronic device use is advised.

Practicing mental recovery techniques such as thought stopping and deep breathing can be helpful. Tart cherry juice (30 mL) and casein protein consumption before bed (∼27–40 g) and a quiet, dark, and cool sleep (19°C) environment is recommended.

Question 37

What interventions can be introduced to assist with sleep quality or quantity and what has been shown

Answer 37

Mid day napping or quiet sitting resulted in a return of performance variables back to baseline.

Daily napping/ resting when nightly sleep is reduced allowed the enhancement of most performance associated variables like accuracy and speed.