Six Recovery Supplements For Athletes

Good day everyone. Hope you are all going well and HAPPY NEW YEAR (almost). We have a diverse demographic of fans on this site. And today’s guest post is specially for the athletes. I’m guessing that there are not many of us who fall into this conventional category – I certainly do not!

However, in case you ever do in future, this guest post will be useful for you. Thank you to Abigail Perez from the Health Via Modern Nutrition (HVMN) team for reaching out and proactively sharing her site’s article with us.

Originally published on HVMN by Nate Martins. *This post is quite long, but very informative! The numbers at the end of sentences are citations that can be found at the end of the article*

“Why is recovery so often skipped? Athletes know it’s essential to build muscle. It’s crucial to cool down, eat protein, stretch, hydrate, and give your body an opportunity to replenish and repair post-workout.

Maybe it’s our busy schedules; we’re off to the next thing so fast, often unable to account for the extra half-hour of recovery after workouts. Maybe it’s because we don’t know the best way to recover; with so many muscles and so much information out there, it can be difficult to truly optimize recovery.

Maybe it’s a desire all athletes share; an innate need to be better, and a willingness to push ourselves until we get there. Any signs of slowdown feel instead like we’ve come to a complete stop.

For many athletes, it’s a combination. Still, we’re humans who share the same basic biology: muscle fibers that need rebuilding, glycogen stores that need repleting. While workout recovery supplements shouldn’t be solely relied upon, they can absolutely augment the recovery process.

Skipping Recovery is a Mistake

Recovery provides ample time to repair the muscle breakdown that happens with a regular workout. Post-workout recovery should be part of every training plan.

It’s a process that synthesizes protein, rebuilds muscle fibers, restores lost fluids and allows the body to metabolically remove waste products. While good ol’ fashioned rest is absolutely important, supplements can be introduced to help make the most out of that down time and reduce muscle soreness.

To put the body in the best position to again break itself down with another workout, recovery is key to progress and even safety, as worn-down muscles are more likely to be injured. Recovery isn’t just important after things like overload training.

In order to benefit from even regular training, it’s necessary to first have a simple recovery process in mind and then add new methods (like supplements).

The foundations are things you’ve probably heard coaches and trainers lamenting for years. Hydration is essential, as our muscles are 75% water. Maintaining fluid balance and can even improve endurance performance.1,2 Protein resynthesis also requires hydrated muscles.

Diet can also play a part. Since exercise triggers the breakdown of muscle protein, it’s beneficial to consume some amount of protein after a workout.3 Rebuilding and repairing muscles need amino acids to promote the development of new muscle tissue.4 Carbohydrates play a similarly important role in restoration, as they replenish glycogen stores depleted during workouts. But, no need to go too crazy: consuming even 0.5 – 0.7 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight within 30 minutes of training can lead to adequate glycogen resynthesis.3

Consumed together, protein and carbs can stimulate the insulin secretion that is a key signal to promoting glycogen synthesis.5

Hydration and diet are the traditional ways to enhance recovery. However, these supplements can supercharge the process, helping put the body in the best position go harder during its next workout.

Recovery Supplements

There are two results when it comes to supplements: objective (measured through research) and subjective (experienced personally).

While some supplements are tried and true, validated with results over years of research, others are more cutting-edge, and still require additional research to provide conclusive results. You could try them out yourself and assess your experience.

It’s always better to do some thoughtful self-experimentation rather than relying wholly on sport science research, as many studies of supplements are conducted on trained athletes in their primes; it can be hard to conceptualize these results if you don’t fall into that category. It’s important to quantify the subjectivity of using supplements, looking at your own performance and feelings when employing them in training and recovery.

Science supporting supplement use is plentiful, but don’t discount the subjective, personal feeling because you’re the athlete actually experiencing them.

BCAA

Your muscles need protein to rebuild. The body breaks down protein into amino acids which are then transported throughout the body to be used in protein synthesis for other muscles; branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are the building blocks to maintaining muscle mass.6

BCAAs are a type of essential amino acid, meaning the body can’t produce them itself–so it’s essential to obtain them through diet or supplementation. Studies incorporating BCAA to a post-workout meal broadly show enhancement of muscle protein recovery.7 Other studies in rats have showcased beneficial effects on protein synthesis,8 and a study in humans illustrated that BCAA supplementation alleviated skeletal muscle damage.9

Most BCAA supplements employ the three types of BCAA in some combination: leucine, isoleucine, and valine; however, leucine is often the highest-dosed of the three as it is the most widely implicated in muscle protein synthesis.10

• How to supplement: About 20g daily, split up in four or five servings
• When to supplement: Can be consumed pre-workout, but is best employed immediately after a workout
• Try: Evolution Nutrition BCAA5000

Are your workouts suffering from improper recovery?

We’ll show you how you can shorten your recovery time easily.

HVMN Ketone

D-BHB, the ketone body present in HVMN Ketone, acts as an anti-inflammatory recovery tool, which helps reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress from the buildup of free radicals.11 These can cause damage to the cells. BHB can also help to reduce inflammation by decreasing the activation of a pro-inflammatory part of the immune system called the NLRP3 inflammasome.12

BHB can help to decrease the impact of exercise on the body: studies of athletes using HVMN Ketone before a workout have seen a decrease in the breakdown of intramuscular glycogen and protein during exercise when compared to carbs alone.13

HVMN Ketone also expedited the resynthesis of glycogen by 60%,14 and boosted signals for protein resynthesis by 2x when added to normal carbohydrate or protein post-workout nutrition.15

These benefits help put the muscles in a position to recover effectively, enabling them to replenish the necessary energy stores for your next workout.

• How to supplement: 25ml of HVMN Ketone (one serving)
• When to supplement: 30-60 minutes after a workout with normal post-workout carbs and protein
• Try: HVMN Ketone

Protein

More generic protein supplements, protein powders, or protein rich foods, often contain ample amounts of the more popular components: BCAAs, EAAs and leucine. Before splurging on a fancy BCAA supplement, consider increasing your protein intake to achieve muscle building, and supplementing as part of a powerful recovery stack. Learn more about ways runners can supplement recovery.

In the first few post-workout hours, consuming protein can help the body begin to repair muscle damage, reduce the response from cortisol (the “stress hormone”), and speed glycogen replenishment (especially if you aren’t able to consume the optimal amount of carbohydrate).16 After a workout, increasing the availability of protein in the body accelerates the resolution of muscle inflammation and promotes muscle-building.17 Whole foods like chicken, milk, eggs, yogurt, and beans can provide necessary protein, while supplementation further introduces protein into the body, making it readily available for use.

There are a few different options athletes can take with regards to protein. Whey is the most popular protein for workout recovery; the body absorbs it the fastest, and many consider it the most effective for muscle protein synthesis.18 Consider using whey as soon as you finish your workout.

Casein is more beneficial for long-term recovery because of the time it takes the body to absorb it. Casein protein releases amino acids that slow the digestive process; a study showed that consuming it before bed led to a 34% reduction in protein breakdown.19 This makes it ideal to take before sleeping, as it slowly releases amino acids to keep your muscles fed overnight.20

You may be asking why we didn’t include soy-based proteins here. Though they’re an option for vegetarian or vegan athletes, science indicates they’re less effective than milk-based proteins.

Protein rich foods can also be a source of creatine, which is an organic acid best known for its positive effect on explosive strength performance. But it could help you with recovery too. For example, one study showed creatine supplementation reduced fatigue in swimmers21 and another study showed creatine helped speed up glycogen re-synthesis.

Together, whey and casein protein supplements can be incorporated daily to tackle different aspects of recovery and encourage muscle growth and rebuilding after a workout.

That said, many whole foods are just as good (if not better) in terms of protein content–but they’re less convenient and tasty than a protein shake.

• How to supplement: For serious athletes, one gram per pound of body weight is sufficient; for non-serious athletes, about 0.5 – 0.75 grams.
• When to supplement: Immediately after a workout (whey), or before bed (casein)
• Try: MuscleFeast Whey Protein Isolate or MusclePharm Combat 100% Casein

Buffers

The process of recovery can start even before your workout ends; some supplements, taken before or during exercise, can reduce the damage exercises cause the body, making it easier to go again.

We’ve previously discussed the role of lactate in exercise, and the resulting acidity (thanks, acidic hydrogen proton). During periods of intense exercise, lactate accumulates in the blood, making it acidic–this acidity is often associated with fatigue because when our blood is too acidic, our brains send signals (read: nausea) to make our muscles stop working so we can recycle all that extra lactate.

Buffers are meant to protect against lactate buildup and provide resistance against fatigue caused by acid accumulation. Two of the most popular are Beta-Alanine and sodium bicarbonate.

Beta-Alanine is an amino acid, but different than BCAA; it’s not used in protein synthesis but is instead converted into carnosine, which helps reduce lactic acid accumulation in the muscles, leading to improved athletic performance and reduced fatigue.22,23

By reducing lactate accumulation (and thus the stress of exercise on the body), Beta-Alanine can help make it easier for the body to recover by making that recovery time shorter.

Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) also protects the body against acidity. By binding to the protons that cause acidity, sodium bicarbonate is able to reduce blood pH and potentially provide resistance against fatigue.24 Regarding recovery, sodium bicarbonate applies the same principle as Beta-Alanine–less recovery time.

• How to supplement: For Beta-Alanine, two and eight grams daily (split evenly throughout the day) depending on the person. For sodium bicarbonate, 200 – 300mg per pound of bodyweight.
• When to supplement: Both should be taken 30 – 60 minutes pre-workout
• Try: For Beta-Alanine, try Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine, and for sodium bicarbonate, try Prescribed for Life Sodium Bicarbonate

Omega-3

Fish oil is a popular supplement used to obtain omega-3 fatty acids, with the goal of preventing the process of inflammation.25 Inflammation refers to a spectrum of processes that can affect healthy people (such as athletes), as well as those who are less healthy (such as heart disease patients or people with joint pain).

The two main fatty acids in omega-3 fish oils are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are broken down into signalling molecules called eicosanoids that can block inflammation pathways in the cell.

For athletes, acute, low-level inflammation can actually be beneficial for performance because it encourages healthy adaption. However, chronic, high levels of inflammation can be detrimental–so taking a sensible approach in deciding when to use anti-inflammatory supplements can be beneficial in the long run of an athlete’s career.

Inflammation happens throughout the body–not just in the muscles.

There are other body systems in which it can be helpful for athletes to reduce inflammation. For example, research suggested that fish oil supplementation helped decrease airway inflammation, and improve post-exercise lung function by 64%.26 This is important because during exercise, airways can narrow, restricting airflow–which can be detrimental, because oxygen is necessary for muscle function.How to supplement: 250mg – 500mg daily

When to supplement: Best taken daily, with many incorporating the supplement into daily nutrition routines. Try: Kado-3 by HVMN

CBD

The legalization of marijuana has made use of the ancient plan less taboo. Though many people are only beginning to understand its benefits, cannabis has quite a rich history of human use. It’s not yet a mainstream supplement and is being researched as it becomes more widely available.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the 104 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids found in cannabis.27 CBD is extracted from the cannabis plant and then diluted with a carrier oil. Its use for athletes is slowly becoming more widespread, as cannabis is explored and stigma dissipates.

CBD isn’t psychoactive–that’s tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is also found in cannabis and causes the psychoactive feelings often associated with marijuana. The absence of psychoactivity may be part of the reason for CBD’s increasing adoption as a natural pain relief alternative to pharmaceuticals.

For recovery, it has been used as a pain treatment for thousands of years.28

Interestingly, the body has a system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which helps regulate several bodily functions from appetite to sleep to pain.29 The body produces these endocannabinoids, which are neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors in the nervous system. Essentially, our bodies have a special way to process and use cannabinoids.

Studies on both rats and humans illustrate the benefits of CBD. Two studies (in rats) showed reduced pain response to surgical incision, and reduced sciatic nerve pain and inflammation.30,31 In humans (using a product called Sativex), studies in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis have shown CBD improved pain during movement and at rest, and improved sleep quality.32

For delivery methods, the most popular is orally, through a dropper–but other methods include topical creams and through foods mixed with CBD oil.

• How to supplement: 1mg is a standard serving size (about one dropper full), but depending on experience with CBD and size / weight, that dose can be increased or decreased
• When to supplement: As needed
• Try: Green Roads CBD Oil (different strengths depending on user), or CBDPure Hemp Oil 600

Building a Recovery Schedule

It’s necessary to budget recovery time into your training program. Read our detailed look at muscle recovery techniques and exercises to see what might work for you.

The timing of recovery in relation to exercise is also important, as each supplement and technique should be optimized for best results.

Before a workout (most important when if you are in a heavy training block or have important races/sessions without much of a break): Incorporate pre-exercise supplements that might mitigate the damage caused by the exercise. Examples include nitrates, bicarbonate, HVMN Ketone, and BCAAs 30 minutes before exercise. Omega-3 can also be taken daily for best results.

After a workout: Fuel that includes a mix of carbohydrates (for glycogen resynthesis) and protein rich in BCAAs or leucine (for muscle repair) should be taken as soon as possible after exercise. CBD oil can also be used as necessary, with no required timeframe. Active recovery can also be employed here, including things like foam rolling, stretching, a cool down period (like walking or slowly cycling), and ice baths (although the placebo effect is likely a big contributor to any benefit here).

One aspect of recovery that’s too often overlooked is rest.

While this isn’t a supplement, sleep and rest days are necessary for muscles to recover. Lack of sleep can lead to muscle degradation,33 but many don’t get the ideal seven-to-nine hours nightly. Yawn, by HVMN, is a natural sleep aid with melatonin that decreases the time it takes to fall asleep while improving the efficiency of sleep.34

Sleep quality can be optimized by creating an ideal environment for sleep. Screens can have a negative impact here,35 so 60 – 90 minutes of screenless time before bed is important to combatting the blue light from screens that can decrease our natural melatonin. Blackout curtains and a cooler temperature in the bedroom can encourage restful sleep.

Similarly, recovery days are important to ensuring muscles have adequate time to replenish depleted energy stores, fluid loss and repair damaged tissues.36 Between complete rest days, techniques for active recovery–like easy runs, yoga, cycling, or plyometrics–can increase blood flow and promote recovery.

Supplementing Recovery

These supplements can help optimize the recovery process, one that can begin before a workout (pre-hab), continues immediately post-workout and extends several hours after exercise. Without thoughtfully approaching recovery, you could be compromising those gains.

Things like protein and BCAA have been employed by athletes for decades, but it’s also worth investigating newer supplements like CBD to see if they’ll be beneficial for your workout (and recovery) goals.

The benefits of supplements are best explored on a personal basis, as each person will react and employ them differently. Regardless of approach, serious athletes know recovery should be taken seriously and implemented consistently for best results.”

Thanks once again Abigail for this article. Don’t forget to check out their site on HVMN by Nate Martins. Check out the links below, as well as the references which they have kindly provided.

Scientific Citations
1. Montner P, Stark D M, Riedesel M L, Murata G, Robergs R, Timms M, Chick T W. Pre-Exercise Glycerol Hydration Improves Cycling Endurance Time. Int J Sports Med 1996; 17(1): 27-33.
2. Hew-Butler T, Rosner M H, Fowkes-Godek S, et al. Statement of the Third International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference, Carlsbad, California, 2015. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine: July 2015 – Volume 25 – Issue 4 – p 303–320.
3. Kerksick C, Harvey T, Stout J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: nutrient timing. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2008 Oct 3;5:17.
4. Biolo G, Tipton KD, Klein S, Wolfe RR. An abundant supply of amino acids enhances the metabolic effect of exercise on muscle protein. Am J Physiol. 1997 Jul;273(1 Pt 1):E122-9.
5. Rasmussen BB, Tipton KD, Miller SL, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. An oral essential amino acid-carbohydrate supplement enhances muscle protein anabolism after resistance exercise. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2000 Feb;88(2):386-92.
6. Stoppani J., Scheett T., Pena J., Rudolph C., Charlebois D. Consuming a supplement containing branched-chain amino acids during a resistance-training program increases lean mass, muscle strength and fat loss. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009; 6(Suppl 1): P1. Published online 2009 Jul 31.
7. Negro M, Giardina S, Marzani B, Marzatico F. Branched-chain amino acid supplementation does not enhance athletic performance but affects muscle recovery and the immune system. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2008 Sep;48(3):347-51.
8. Yoshida T, Kakizawa S, Totsuka Y, Sugimoto M, Miura S, Kumagai H. Effect of endurance training and branched-chain amino acids on the signaling for muscle protein synthesis in CKD model rats fed a low-protein diet. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2017 Sep 1;313(3):F805-F814
9. Fouré A, Bendahan D. Is Branched-Chain Amino Acids Supplementation an Efficient Nutritional Strategy to Alleviate Skeletal Muscle Damage? A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2017 Sep 21;9(10)
10. Pennings B, Boirie Y, Senden JM, Gijsen AP, Kuipers H, van Loon LJ. Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 May;93(5):997-1005. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.008102. Epub 2011 Mar 2.
11. Haces, M.L., Hernandez-Fonseca, K., Medina-Campos, O.N., Montiel, T., Pedraza-Chaverri, J., and Massieu, L. (2008). Antioxidant capacity contributes to protection of ketone bodies against oxidative damage induced during hypoglycemic conditions. Exp. Neurol. 211, 85-96.
12. Youm, Y.-H., Nguyen, K.Y., Grant, R.W., Goldberg, E.L., Bodogai, M., Kim, D., D’Agostino, D., Planavsky, N., Lupfer, C., Kanneganti, T.D., et al. (2015). The ketone metabolite [beta]-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory disease. Nat. Med. 21, 263-269.
13. Cox, P.J., Kirk, T., Ashmore, T., Willerton, K., Evans, R., Smith, A., Murray, Andrew J., Stubbs, B., West, J., McLure, Stewart W., et al. (2016). Nutritional Ketosis Alters Fuel Preference and Thereby Endurance Performance in Athletes. Cell Metabolism 24, 1-13.
14. Holdsworth, D.A., Cox, P.J., Kirk, T., Stradling, H., Impey, S.G., and Clarke, K. (2017). A Ketone Ester Drink Increases Postexercise Muscle Glycogen Synthesis in Humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc.
15. Vandoorne, T., De Smet, S., Ramaekers, M., Van Thienen, R., De Bock, K., Clarke, K., and Hespel, P. (2017). Intake of a Ketone Ester Drink during Recovery from Exercise Promotes mTORC1 Signaling but Not Glycogen Resynthesis in Human Muscle. Front. Physiol. 8, 310.
16. Ivy JL. Regulation of Muscle Glycogen Repletion, Muscle Protein Synthesis and Repair Following Exercise. J Sports Sci Med. 2004 Sep; 3(3): 131–138.
17. Yang C, Jiao Y, Wei B, Yang Z, Wu JF, Jensen J, Jean WH,4, Huang CY, Kuo CH. Aged cells in human skeletal muscle after resistance exercise. Aging (Albany NY). 2018 Jun 27;10(6):1356-1365.
18. Tang J E, Moore D R, Kujbida G W, Tarnopolsky M A, Phillips S M. Ingestion of whey hydrolysate, casein, or soy protein isolate: effects on mixed muscle protein synthesis at rest and following resistance exercise in young men. American Physiological Society. 01 September 2009.
19. Boirie Y, Dangin M, Gachon P, Vasson MP, Maubois JL, Beaufrère B. Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Dec 23;94(26):14930-5.
20. van Loon LJ, Murphy R, Oosterlaar AM, Cameron-Smith D, Hargreaves M, Wagenmakers AJ, Snow R. Creatine supplementation increases glycogen storage but not GLUT-4 expression in human skeletal muscle. Clin Sci (Lond). 2004 Jan;106(1):99-106.
21. Anomasiri W, Sanguanrungsirikul S, Saichandee P. Low dose creatine supplementation enhances sprint phase of 400 meters swimming performance. J Med Assoc Thai. 2004 Sep;87 Suppl 2:S228-32.
22. Derave W, Ozdemir MS, Harris RC, Pottier A, Reyngoudt H, Koppo K, Wise JA, Achten E. beta-Alanine supplementation augments muscle carnosine content and attenuates fatigue during repeated isokinetic contraction bouts in trained sprinters. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2007 Nov;103(5):1736-43. Epub 2007 Aug 9.
23. Trexler ET, Smith-Ryan AE, Stout JR, Hoffman JR, Wilborn CD, Sale C, Kreider RB, Jäger R, Earnest CP, Bannock L, Campbell B, Kalman D, Ziegenfuss TN, Antonio J. International society of sports nutrition position stand: Beta-Alanine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2015; 12: 30.
24. McNaughton LR, Siegler J, Midgley A. Ergogenic effects of sodium bicarbonate. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2008 Jul-Aug;7(4):230-6.
25. Mori T A, Beilin L J. Omega-3 fatty acids and inflammation. Current Atherosclerosis Reports November 2004, Volume 6, Issue 6, pp 461–467.
26. Ade CJ, Rosenkranz SK, Harms CA. The effects of short-term fish oil supplementation on pulmonary function and airway inflammation following a high-fat meal. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2014 Apr;114(4):675-82.
27. ElSohly MA, Gul W. Handbook of Cannabis. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 2014. p. 20. (Constituents of cannabis sativa).
28. Hill KP, Palastro MD, Johnson B, Ditre JW. Cannabis and Pain: A Clinical Review. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2017; 2(1): 96–104. Published online 2017 May 1. doi: 10.1089/can.2017.0017
29. Mouslech Z, Valla V. Endocannabinoid system: An overview of its potential in current medical practice. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2009;30(2):153-79.
30. Genaro K, Fabris D, Arantes ALF, Zuardi AW, Crippa JAS,Prado WA. Cannabidiol Is a Potential Therapeutic for the Affective-Motivational Dimension of Incision Pain in Rats. Front Pharmacol. 2017; 8: 391. Published online 2017 Jun 21. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00391.
31. Costa B, Trovato AE, Comelli F, Giagnoni G, Colleoni M. The non-psychoactive cannabis constituent cannabidiol is an orally effective therapeutic agent in rat chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Eur J Pharmacol. 2007 Feb 5;556(1-3):75-83. Epub 2006 Nov 10.
32. Blake DR, Robson P, Ho M, Jubb RW, McCabe CS. Preliminary assessment of the efficacy, tolerability and safety of a cannabis-based medicine (Sativex) in the treatment of pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2006 Jan;45(1):50-2. Epub 2005 Nov 9.
33. Dattilo M, Antunes H K M, Medeiros A, Mônico Neto M, Souza H S, Tufika S, de Mello M T. Sleep and muscle recovery: Endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses Volume 77, Issue 2, August 2011, Pages 220-222.
34. Brzezinski A, Vangel MG, Wurtman RJ, Norrie G, Zhdanova I, Ben-Shushan A, Ford I. Effects of exogenous melatonin on sleep: a meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2005 Feb;9(1):41-50.
35. Exelmans L, Van den Bulck J .Bedtime mobile phone use and sleep in adults. Soc Sci Med. 2016 Jan;148:93-101.
36. Parra J, Cadefau J A, Rodas G, Amigo N, Cusso R. The distribution of rest periods affects performance and adaptations of energy metabolism induced by high‐intensity training in human muscle. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 169: 157-165.