 Hey, what's up everyone? Welcome to another video. My name is Dylan and I'm a Cyclone Coach at CTS, and today we're going to be talking about recovery. Specifically, we're going to be examining different recovery methods and seeing whether or not they hold up to the science. I'll touch on massage, foam rolling, compression boots, compression socks, stretching, cold water immersion, and lastly, we'll talk about nutrition, which may surprise some people. Turns out a lot of people's idea of good post-ride nutrition doesn't line up with the science. If you're new to this channel and make weekly training, racing, and gear-related videos, if you want to learn how to get faster or just more about the science of training in general, then be sure to subscribe. And if you have a training question or a topic you'd like to see me cover in a future video, be sure to leave it down in the comments section below. I do my best to get to all the questions in the comments. Cyclists are always trying to improve their recovery, and we'll use a variety of methods to help do so. Some effective, and some not so much. Dude, my go-to recovery method? I just go to the local group ride and tell them that I'm taking a recovery day. That way, when I inevitably get dropped, I can just use the excuse that I was taking it easy because I gotta stay in zone one. Let's start things off with massage. Getting a massage definitely feels good, and we've all seen Grand Tour riders get a massage after a stage to help them prepare for the next day. But does it actually help improve your recovery? This study on the effectiveness of various recovery methods split subjects into groups and had them perform different recovery protocols after a cycling test which included a massage group. The subjects then performed the same cycling test 24 hours later. What they found was that in the control group, performance 24 hours later significantly declined. However, this decline in performance was not present in the massage group. As always though, we want to look at the balance of evidence and not just one study. This 2016 meta-analysis looking at massage and recovery did just that and came to the conclusion that the effects of massage on performance recovery are rather small and partly unclear, but can be relevant under appropriate circumstances. For example, it's interesting to note that massage may be more helpful after high-intensity mixed exercise than after strength and endurance exercise and that untrained athletes actually seem to benefit more from massage. However, one very important thing to note about these studies done on massage and recovery is that they test whether or not it helped with recovery between two tests usually done on the same day, usually less than an hour apart from each other, not the following day. For example, this study on the effect of massage for recovery from cycling had subjects perform two cycling tests separated by less than 30 minutes. Probably unsurprisingly, they didn't find any difference in performance in the second test after subjects received massage versus when they didn't. Studies looking at recovery 24 hours later though seem to indicate a benefit. This is a reoccurring theme with a lot of the recovery research. There are a lot of studies on 30 minutes to an hour after exercise and less 24 hours after, which is what we really care about. For those of us who aren't world tour pros or can't afford a daily massage, we often turn to self-myofascial release, whereas it's more commonly referred to as foam rolling or using the stick. These methods are really painful if you're not used to them or have very sore muscles, but are they actually doing anything or are we just making ourselves hurt for no reason? Unfortunately, there's no foam rolling studies on cyclists. However, there are a handful done on lifting, running and other sports and they all seem to show that it's beneficial. This review on self-myofascial release came to this conclusion stating that studies to date suggest SMR may have beneficial effects on recovery. They even mentioned that this may be convenient for athletes by eliminating the need for a massage therapist and this conclusion appears to be echoed in multiple reviews. It seems you can get the benefits of massage by just using a foam roller. In terms of proper use, the study protocols were all over the place, but studies seem to find benefits with 30 seconds to two minutes using a foam roller or a stick over each muscle group. A more expensive but still cheaper than massage home recovery method is the use of peristaltic external pneumatic compression or as it's more commonly referred to compression boots. There are multiple companies that make these and they all work by pumping air into chambers around the leg to squeeze it. From personal experience, I can attest to the fact that they do make your legs feel pretty good, but are they actually helping? Again, there are a few studies that look at the use of compression boots before exercise or during a 30-minute recovery period between exercise, and not surprisingly the conclusion was that the boots were not helpful for recovery or performance. However, when looking at soreness the next day, it seems to be a different story. This study on dynamic compression on elite athlete recovery took athletes from the Olympic Training Center and had the experimental group use compression boots after their morning workout while the control group did not. They then tested soreness immediately after and later on after an afternoon workout. The compression group experienced significantly less soreness immediately after and later that day than the control group and these results have been repeated in further studies resulting in increased blood flow and decreased soreness. However, it is important to note that the research on these products is somewhat limited and it would be interesting to see more studies exploring this. If you can't afford the hefty price tag of compression boots, then there's always compression socks or leggings. These are common in the medical field for helping improve blood flow and they've also become common among athletes to help improve recovery. The UCI may strictly prohibit socks of this height, but that's okay because it appears that they have no effect on your performance if you wear them during competition. Thank God! I think I'd rather quit cycling than have to wear knee-high socks. Talk about not pro. What we're concerned about though is how wearing these unsightly compression garments after a ride affects your recovery. Looking to this study on the effects of compression garments on subsequent 40k time trial performance, subjects were given compression garments or a similar looking non-compression placebo to wear for 24 hours between two 40k time trials. They found that time and power output was improved in the second 40k time trial after wearing compression garments compared to the placebo. These findings were supported by a meta-analysis looking at many studies that came to the conclusion that compression garments are effective in enhancing recovery from muscle damage. So it looks like compression socks are another viable option for improving your recovery. So far, all these supposed recovery methods seem to stack up against the science. However, this isn't always the case. For example, stretching. Stretching is common practice to improve recovery in athletes. However, when you actually look at the science, it doesn't seem to be backed up. This study on whether post-exercise stretching relieved soreness had subjects perform a 20-minute step test to induce soreness. Subjects were then randomly assigned into one of three groups. One that didn't stretch at all, one that only stretched the left leg, and one that stretched both legs. They found no difference in soreness between the stretching and non-stretching groups one, two, or three days after exercise, leading to the conclusion that stretching did not alleviate exercise-induced muscle soreness, either acutely or chronically. And again, this isn't a one-off study. These results seem to be consistent across the literature. A systematic review looking at stretching's effects on soreness from exercise found that stretching before or after exercising does not confer protection from muscle soreness. This review came to the same conclusion stating that the studies produced very consistent findings. They showed that there was little or no effect of stretching on muscle soreness experienced in the week after physical activity. If you watch my recent stretching video then this is all very familiar to you. But if you haven't I'll leave it linked in the description below if you want to check it out. It turns out that stretching may not be as beneficial as you previously thought it was. The next recovery method that we're going to tackle is cold water immersion. We've all seen athletes taking ice baths and science suggests that it may help a little bit. This 2016 meta-analysis looking at cold water immersion on muscle soreness found that cold water immersion may be slightly better than passive recovery in the management of muscle soreness and it seems that for the best results you want temperatures between 11 and 15 degrees Celsius and you want to stay in for 11 to 15 minutes. However a concern has been raised that cold water immersion may be harmful to your overall performance by hindering your adaptation to exercise. And there is some science that suggests that this may be true at least in lifting. These two studies on the use of cold water immersion after lifting both found that subjects actually gained more strength in the control group that didn't use cold water immersion. This is because cold water immersion appears to attenuate the acute changes in cells that regulate muscle growth and this means less muscle and strength gains. Okay great but that's weightlifting. Is this also a problem for cyclists? Research is limited but this study on the effect of cold water immersion on adaptation in competitive cyclists had subjects complete 39 days of training either with or without cold water immersion four times a week. The results were somewhat mixed based on the test for example the cold water group saw greater gains in max sprint but the results were the same for 10 minute time trial performance however cold water certainly wasn't a detriment. Given these results cyclists probably don't have to worry about an ice bath robbing them of their fitness gains however considering the fact that the effects of cold water immersion are already small to begin with I wouldn't go out of your way to make it part of your daily routine especially with more effective recovery methods out there. This wouldn't be a recovery video without talking about nutrition. First let's talk about timing how soon after a ride do you need to eat. From this article on glycogen re-synthesis after exercise they stated that to maximize glycogen re-synthesis carbohydrates should be consumed immediately after exercise and if you wait two hours the rate of glycogen re-synthesis is reduced by 50%. Glycogen re-synthesis is significantly faster right after you're done working out so it's important to get food in as soon as possible. Some people talk about a 30 minute window but if you miss this window it's not as if you should say screw it and just wait till dinner it's a gradual decrease. Eating one minute after exercise is better than 30 minutes after exercise and eating 30 minutes after exercise is better than eating two hours after exercise. The go-to food for many athletes after a workout is a protein shake but is this really the best thing to be consuming post-ride. A systematic review on the effects of protein supplements for recovery found that high quality and consistent data demonstrated there is no apparent relationship between recovery of muscle function and ratings of muscle soreness and surrogate markers of muscle damage when protein supplements are consumed prior to during or after bouts of endurance or resistance exercise. It turns out that what's more important post-workout is carbohydrate consumptions to replenish your lost glycogen stores. However there has been some debate as to whether or not you should consume carbs only or consume a carb and protein mixer. Some studies do point to the inclusion of protein as being the best choice. In this one for example they had subjects consume just carbs just protein or carbs and protein together after a two-hour ride. What they found was that glycogen re-synthesis was fastest when carbs and protein were combined then when subjects consume carbs only and consuming protein only performed significantly worse. However it's important to note that this study wasn't testing equal calories. The carb group in this study ingested 112 grams of carbs or around 450 calories and the carb plus protein group ingested 112 grams of carbs plus an additional 40 grams of protein or around 600 calories. Unsurprisingly those that consumed more calories recovered better however when you equalize the calories it becomes a different story. In this study on carbohydrate and protein intake during recovery they had three groups one that consumed carbs and protein one that consumed the same amount of carbs as the first group but without protein and one that consumed just carbs but matched the calories of the first group. Following recovery subjects ran to exhaustion at 70% of maximal oxygen uptake and here's what they found. Just like with the previous study carbs plus protein performed better than the same amount of carbs without protein however when they equalized the calories the carb only mixture actually performed the best. The study concluded that the inclusion of protein in the solution was no more beneficial than when ingesting a more concentrated carbohydrate solution of equivalent energy content and further research confirms these findings. Further post-workout nutritional concerns have been raised about antioxidants and whether or not they hinder the adaptation to exercise thereby robbing you of potential fitness gains and this scary claim does seem to have science to back it up. In a review on vitamin c supplements effects on performance the authors found that vitamin c supplements actually impaired performance in three human studies. The authors went on to say that large doses of vitamin c appear to reduce the training-induced adaptation which is exactly the concern that people have with antioxidants. They also stated that vitamin c from five servings of daily fruit and vegetables would be sufficient to supply vitamin c needs without undermining training adaptation. And it's not just vitamin c. A review on the impact of dietary antioxidants on sports performance found that vitamin e may improve altitude performance but impair sea level performance. The review concluded that acute antioxidant intake is probably beneficial while chronic intake likely impairs performance. So is it time to throw away your high dose antioxidant supplements? Most definitely but what about fruits vegetables and other healthy foods? They're loaded with antioxidants. Does this mean that we should be cutting out salad from our diet? Man I hope so. A study looking at the effect of tomato juice on oxidative stress took 50 male track athletes and divided them into two groups a control group and an experimental group that drank tomato juice after their workouts. They tested both groups in a 12 minute time trial before and after and found that those drinking tomato juice ran significantly farther than they previously had while the control group saw no improvement. The tomato juice drinkers also showed a reduction in markers of oxidative stress leading to the conclusion that the antioxidant lycopene in the tomato reduced oxidative stress and improved performance. These sorts of findings are all over the scientific literature. A study on lemons and exercise-induced oxidative stress found the same thing concluding that the lemon did not block the cellular adaptive response but also reduced cellular oxidative damage. You get a reduction in oxidative damage which improves recovery and you're getting the maximum benefit out of that recovery period. Basically the best of both worlds and it's not just for tomatoes and lemons. Basically any high antioxidant fruit or vegetable has shown the same thing. Cherry juice has been shown to increase antioxidant capacity after a marathon leading to aided recovery and in another study reduced symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage. That study showed that strength loss after eccentric exercise was 22% with a placebo but only 4% with subjects consume cherry juice and blueberries have been shown to reduce inflammation after two and a half hours of running. The takeaway? Unnaturally high amounts of antioxidants in pill form? Bad. Naturally occurring antioxidants in whole foods? Good. What a shocker. This includes recovery supplements. For your post-workout meal just stick to whole foods. From this paper on basic recovery aids eating whole foods seems to be as beneficial as consuming specifically engineered recovery foods or beverages. Many of the commercial calorie replacement products are quite expensive and are not any better than whole foods. Additionally they are typically dense in macronutrients but poor in micronutrients. And as we've seen these micronutrients that these recovery supplements lack have a significant positive effect on recovery. With all that being said your post-workout meal should be high carb, high antioxidant, and come from whole foods. My go to oatmeal with berries. Alright let's do a quick summary. Massage has been shown to aid in recovery but if getting a massage all the time isn't an option then self myofascial release or foam rolling or using the stick has also been shown to be effective. Compression has also shown to aid recovery as well. Compression boots have limited science but the available data looks promising while compression socks may not help you if you wear them while you're riding but are beneficial in recovery if you wear them after. Stretching someone surprisingly doesn't seem to be effective at enhancing recovery or reducing soreness. Cold water immersion may have marginal recovery benefits however there is evidence that it may hinder adaptation at least in lifters. At the end of the day it's probably not worth your time. When it comes to nutrition it turns out carbohydrates are more important than protein post-workout and while high antioxidant supplements have been shown to be detrimental to performance high antioxidant whole foods actually show the opposite effect. Bonus tip for all you 20%ers who actually watch the whole video. My Enduro Bro friends said that drinking beer after a ride is great for recovery mainly because if you wake up the next day with a hangover the only ride you're gonna feel like doing is a recovery ride. Now that's science. Thanks for watching and if you like this video be sure to give it a like share it with a friend and subscribe and if you want to be notified every time I put out a video make sure you hit the notification bell as well. If you're looking for a coach if you sign up through CTS be sure to use my code CTSDJ to save $40 by waiving the registration fee. Details are down in the description.