Sports recovery is part of training, whether one is an amateur or more experienced.
We all know the benefits of sports on health: improvement of cardiovascular capacities and reduction of risks, immune balance, joint comfort, weight maintenance, stress management... Regular physical activity is essential for the physiological balance of the body and is a major health factor.
However, intense and/or prolonged sports practice can cause functional disorders and/or physiological alterations that are often interconnected.
Fatigue, diffuse pains, digestive disorders, stress, disturbed sleep... are all difficulties encountered by athletes without finding a solution.
Because the main enemies, oxidative stress and ischemia-reperfusion, are unknown and neglected.
In order to prevent these disorders, appropriate recovery is necessary and goes beyond a few stretches and a quickly swallowed protein shake after training!
How sports weaken our body
In order to benefit from the advantages of regular physical exercise, it is important to understand how sport can, when practiced intensely and almost daily, affect our physiological balance and trigger imbalances.
Oxidative stress
During exertion, our body naturally produces free radicals in large quantities. This oxidative stress is the normal result of a metabolic process that occurs during physical activity. In moderate doses, it is a good thing because it allows the body to better adapt to the effort.
However, chronically and at high doses, as is the case during intense efforts, when the training load is too high and recovery is not optimal, oxidative stress can cause damage. And this is true for endurance sports as well as for anaerobic practices such as crossfit.
The direct consequence is a decrease in muscle strength associated with an earlier onset of fatigue sometimes coupled with digestive disorders or cramps.
Intestinal hyperpermeability
Digestive disorders, mainly ischemia-reperfusion, are common in athletes due to a massive attack of free radicals at the intestinal level and thus significant oxidative stress.
The immediate consequences of ischemia-reperfusion, which puts the intestine in apnea during exertion, are multiple:
- Cramps and intestinal pains,
- Diarrhea, sometimes bloody,
- Nausea,
- Vomiting,
- Gastroesophageal reflux,
- Difficulty eating,
- Digestive hemorrhages.
In the long term, phenomena of intestinal hyperpermeability appear due to a massive attack of free radicals at the tight junctions of the intestine which ensure the tightness of the walls. This induced porosity means that the intestine no longer fulfills its role of sorting and promotes endotoxemia, that is, bacterial debris ends up in the blood.
This "endotoxemia" causes discomfort, episodes of torpor, flu-like states after sustained effort. In the long term, repeated tendinitis, chronic pain, allergies, food intolerances, or autoimmune diseases are likely to appear.
Moreover, this syndrome of intestinal permeability tends to decrease the absorption of nutrients essential for the proper functioning of the body and even more essential for athletes due to the losses linked to exercise and sweating.
Acid-base imbalance
Due to the increase in energy metabolism and the production of acids (lactic, uric acid...) during exertion, the acid-base balance of the body is altered.
Notable consequences for athletes are:
- Fractures,
- digestive disorders,
- muscle weakness,
- difficult and longer recovery,
- renal lithiasis (kidney stones),
- joint pains,
- disturbed sleep.
This phenomenon is increased by hepatic imbalance (at the liver level) often linked to intestinal hyperpermeability which contributes to overloading the liver with substances toxic to the body.
Osteoarticular fragility
Articular functions can be altered by intense and/or prolonged physical activity, especially during the resumption of activity and at the end of the season. Mineral losses and acidic terrain tend to increase osteoarticular fragility and favor the occurrence of the following disorders:
Troubles with joint discomfort due to the systematic repetition of sports movements: wear and tear of cartilaginous areas, onset of osteoarthritis at different stages and more or less early,
Joint stiffness problems,
Stress fractures
Tendinitis and periostitis
Magnesium losses
Metabolism, which is a process of transforming energy reserves into energy usable by muscles, requires an adequate intake of magnesium. The more intense the effort, the more magnesium is consumed. This is especially true as minerals are lost when sweating but also due to oxidative stress.
Finally, due to intestinal hyperpermeability, not all magnesium ingested through diet will be properly redistributed in the body.
This results, in many athletes, in a magnesium deficiency with deleterious effects on their physical practice but also in everyday life:
Nervous and physical fatigue
Anxiety, hyperemotionality, irritability, insomnia
Tingling, tremors
Cramps, contractures, "restlessness" in the legs
Headaches, neck pain, lower back pain
Palpitations
Constipation
Tetany or even spasmophilia crises
Altered sleep quality
What are the keys to sports recovery?
In order to limit the damage caused to the body by intense and repeated physical exercises, good recovery is essential. It involves not only a coherent training plan and suitable nutrition but also appropriate supplementation.
- Adjusting your training plan
Even when practicing your activity at a high level, it remains that we are not professional athletes and that we must balance training, work, and family life.
It is essential to know how to adjust your training in order to avoid overdoing it and overtaxing your body. Training intensely, 7 days a week, is indeed counterproductive and exposes, through a phenomenon of increased oxidative stress, to overtraining that could knock you down for a while.
Thus, it is recommended to adapt your sessions and include recovery phases in your program. You will benefit from taking one to two days off per week, during which you will not engage in sports. You will also plan active recovery sessions: stretching, yoga, gentle swimming... to give your body time to recover after intense training.
- Eat well to recover well
We often tend to optimize meals before a workout but those that follow are just as important for proper recovery.
Within 30 minutes after intense exertion, make sure to:
- Rehydrate and mineralize your body by drinking water or beverages rich in mineral salts. These will also help to begin to reduce the acidity of the body.
- Consume carbohydrates to replenish your glycogen stores. Consider especially dried fruits (dates, apricots...)
- Consume proteins that limit tissue breakdown (catabolism) and promote anabolism, i.e., the (re)construction of tissues within muscles, bones, and viscera. Aim for 10 to 30 grams of protein depending on your morphology, the intensity, and duration of the effort provided.
The meal following training should be digestible and composed of:
- Complex carbohydrates for long-term energy recovery: whole or semi-whole cereals, legumes, sweet potatoes...
- Proteins, for structural recovery of muscle fibers: white meat, fish, tofu...
- Vegetables and fruits that provide fiber and contribute to lowering the body's pH due to their alkalizing potential. Rich in antioxidants, they will help the body better fight against excess free radicals and reduce oxidative stress.
More generally, make sure to:
- Consume foods rich in omega-3 (fatty and semi-fatty fish, nuts, rapeseed or flaxseed oil) to reduce oxidative stress and promote tissue regeneration.
- Give priority to fruits and vegetables, regularly replace meat and fish with legumes or soy derivatives and limit