In the competitive world of sport, athletes and coaches alike are looking for the tiniest of advantages – one of which is how to speed up the performance gains and adaptions from training.

In this article we’re going to look at how we can adjust equipment, nutrition and recovery strategies to speed up physiological adaptions to training. We’ll look at the current thinking on tissue remodelling and how the application of KYMIRA products can enhance each.

For reference purposes, we’re looking specifically at physiological adaption here. Skill acquisition is another area entirely.

At KYMIRA we have a belief that performance is more than simply training and recovery, which is why we wrote the KYMIRA Sport KYnergy Ecosystem. Our belief, which has been obtained through extensive lab based research and in the field results, shows that in order to optimise performance we need to address the following aspects of the performance spectrum…

• Prepare
• Perform
• Recover
• Rehabilitate

These are all fundamental aspects of enhancing training adaptions. By ensuring you’ve optimised each, you’ll benefit from improved performance in training and deeper, more complete recovery.

Training is a stressor, which activates musculoskeletal, endocrine (hormonal) and neural changes in the body. These changes then take place during our recovery, aided and abetted by a sound nutritional strategy.

By optimising each of these stages we can reasonably expect to enhance the speed and quality of our training adaptions.

Training is the stimulus that signals to the body what adaptions need to take place. In the case of a runner, it might stimulate the need for increased cardiovascular capacity. It could force adaption in the Achilles tendon, or the musculature of the foot. The training stimulus is relevant to the sport being trained for.

Nutrition is the first stage of recovery. It helps to provide the building blocks from which the body is built. We know from extensive research carried out over decades that post workout protein is of particular importance [2]. For optimal health and recovery, the protein element of the diet needs to be supported with a sufficient amount of carbohydrate.

Research shows that post workout carbohydrates help to decrease muscle protein breakdown [3], so it’s important to make sure that your post workout nutrition contains carbohydrate. To many in the low carbohydrate community this may cause concern, but it’s a finding that is repeated many times across the research.

Fluid intake is also very important. Research shows that for high intensity exercise lasting more than 60 mins, athletes should drink between 600 and 1200 mls per hour of a solution containing carbohydrate and sodium [4]. Not only does this help to prevent dehydration during exercise, it also helps to rehydrate the body post workout and prevent cramping.

There is strong evidence that shows sleep deprivation compromises the quality and depth of post exercise recovery [5], leading researchers to believe that in many cases it should be the bedrock of training strategy. Sleep is the fundamental pillar of recovery, which is when physiological and neurological adaptions take place. By improving sleep you improve both the physical and technical elements of sporting performance.

It stands to reason that the quickest way to speed up training performance adaptions is to optimise each of these areas – enhancing nutrition, sleep and post exercise recovery in general.

By wearing KYMIRA you can enhance the depth and quality of your recovery.

Infrared fabrics has been shown to improve post exercise recovery across a number of different elements. One of these, is DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Mutliple studies have shown infrared reduces the severity and duration of DOMS in elite soccer players [6].

Studies into how infrared improves sleep quality also show positive impacts, in particular when it comes to sleep quality and efficiency. Subjects who were exposed to infrared fabrics at night improved their sleep efficiency by nearly 3% and reduced the time they spent awake during the night by an average of 18.3 minutes [7]. As we’ve already found out, improved sleep has a dramatic improvement on recovery, which in turn speeds the adaption to training.

Finally, the improved blood flow helps to speed tissue remodeling and post-workout toxin removal, which reduces the amount of time before the athlete is ready to train again. As we know, high quality training coupled with high quality recovery is the quickest way to improve as an athlete.

Enhancing recovery isn’t a question of improving one element dramatically, it’s making improvements across a wide range of abilities. Collectively, these add up and the result is an overall improvement in recovery.

Taking the advice in this blog post, which includes effective post workout fuelling, rehydration and improving both the quality and quantity of sleep will help you recover more effectively. You can even further enhance recovery and improve the speed of the physical adaptions by wearing KYMIRA infrared fabrics, which evidence shows boosts the physical properties of recovery across a number of different variables.

We have a range of clothing that can be worn after training and as you go about your day. This will help to improve the speed and quality of your recovery. You can take a look at the range here.

KYMIRA Recovery Range