Guest Series | Dr. Andy Galpin: Maximize Recovery to Achieve Fitness & Performance Goals

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.

Articles

• Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal00474-8) (Cell Reports Medicine)
• Altered brown fat thermoregulation and enhanced cold-induced thermogenesis in young, healthy, winter-swimming men00266-4?returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2666379121002664%3Fshowall%3Dtrue) (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