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In this episode 5 of a 6-part special series on fitness, exercise and performance with Andy Galpin, PhD, professor of kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton, he explains how to optimize post-training recovery and how to avoid overtraining in order to better achieve your fitness and exercise goals. He explains the cellular mechanisms of muscle soreness and pain, why adequate recovery is essential for all physical adaptations, and how to enhance recovery using breathwork, thermal, movement, and pressure-based techniques. He describes how overtraining impedes exercise progress and how to assess if you are overreaching or overtraining, by using specific biomarkers and indicators. Like other performance metrics, recovery is a skill that can and should be trained, and that can be learned. This episode provides an actionable toolkit for how to monitor and improve your exercise recovery abilities, which will improve your overall mental and physical health.
Dr. Andy Galpin
Articles
- Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal (Cell Reports Medicine)
- Altered brown fat thermoregulation and enhanced cold-induced thermogenesis in young, healthy, winter-swimming men (Cell Reports Medicine)
Other Resources
- Carbon Dioxide Tolerance Clip (Galpin Guest Series Episode 3)
- SHIFT Breathwork Assessment
- BMJ tool for visualizing the variability of lab test results
Timestamps
- 00:00:00 Recovery
- 00:04:17 Exercise & Delayed Muscle Soreness, Pain
- 00:11:35 Muscle Spindles, Reduce Soreness
- 00:18:56 Exercise, Homeostasis & Hormesis; Blood Test & Fitness Level
- 00:30:20 Recovery Timescales, Adaptation & Optimization
- 00:35:10 Adaptation & Biomarkers Levels
- 00:40:36 4 Recovery Levels, Enhance Recovery
- 00:47:28 AG1 (Athletic Greens)
- 00:48:19 Overreaching vs. Overtraining
- 00:52:53 Tool: Acute Overload & Recovery, Breathwork
- 01:03:39 Tool: Alleviate Acute Soreness, Compression Clothing
- 01:08:27 Tool: Acute Soreness, Massage, Temperature
- 01:14:21 Cold & Heat Contrast, Cold Shower vs. Immersion, Sauna & Fertility
- 01:20:44 InsideTracker
- 01:21:46 Combine Recovery Techniques
- 01:24:34 Monitoring for Overreaching & Overtraining
- 01:31:33 Overreaching/Overtraining, Performance & Physiology, Sleep
- 01:45:41 Overreaching/Overtraining, Biomarkers, Cortisol
- 01:50:45 Cortisol, Daily Levels & Performance; Rhodiola Supplementation
- 02:01:25 Carbohydrates, Cortisol & Sleep
- 02:05:05 Tool: Stress Biomarkers, Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
- 02:15:07 Tool: “Acute State Shifters”, Stimulants, Dopamine Stacking, Phones
- 02:25:04 Mirrors & Resistance Training
- 02:29:01 Tool: “Chronic State Shifters”
- 02:32:43 Training Recovery & Resilience; Bowling Alley Analogy
- 02:39:45 Trigger Adaptations & Stress Recovery
- 02:42:41 Tool: Measure Recovery; Blood Biomarkers
- 02:50:06 Libido & Sex Hormones, Supplementation Caution
- 03:00:08 Tools: No-/Low-Cost Recovery Measurements
- 03:03:45 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Neural Network Newsletter