If you're making time to train at least three days a week and staying active on the others, then you're already ahead of the game. But even when you're sticking to a well-designed workout plan, there are several important lifestyle factors that could be compromising your results. Let's look at some proven ways to tweak your lifestyle so that you perform better and recover more fully between sessions. 

1)    Optimizing Your Sleep

Arguably the biggest factor that affects performance and recovery is getting consistent, high-quality sleep. A Stanford University study concluded that when basketball players extended their total sleep time, they improved their free throw percentage by nine percent and three-point accuracy by 9.2 percent. They also improved their sprinting performance and were less fatigued. Another trial by researchers from the University of California San Diego found that reaction time, speed, submaximal strength, power, and endurance all improved when athletes slept optimally.

A review published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport found that when athletes and military service members sleep well, they reduce their injury risk. When they got hurt, restful slumber helped expedite their recovery, reduced pain perception, and enhanced tissue repair. Other research has shown that optimizing sleep allows you to bounce back quicker between workouts, reduce soreness, and miss less training days due to illness. To dial in your sleep:

·      Cut off caffeine at least six hours before bedtime

·      Limit alcohol to two drinks, preferably with a meal and finishing four hours before you turn in

·      Stop looking at screens and dim your lights two hours before bed

·      Sleep in a cold, dark, quiet space and use blackout curtains and earplugs if needed

·      Keep a consistent sleep and wake time during the week, and if you must sleep in on weekends, make sure it’s for no more than an hour later

·      Get out in sunlight within two hours of waking

2)    Supporting Recovery with Supplements

The foundation for adequate recovery from a nutrition standpoint should be a well-rounded diet based on whole foods, plenty of plants, and adequate macronutrient and calorie intake. However, sometimes the recommendations for the general population fall short of what active people need to perform well and thrive.

It’s fairly well known that athletes who participate in power sports and/or strength training need more protein than others to repair the microdamage caused by their efforts and prevent muscle breakdown. But those who prefer longer, slower events might need a lot more than was previously thought to recover adequately. A study published in PLOS ONE stated that the protein recommendation for sedentary adults is just .80 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day. They found that endurance athletes who are training regularly need between 1.6 and 1.83 grams per kilogram of bodyweight – a huge increase.

This is where protein supplementation can be useful. A review published in Frontiers in Nutrition found that taking extra protein helped improve muscular endurance, time trial performance, and fatigue resistance among long-distance athletes. Whereas those focusing more on weight training enhanced muscle gains (hypertrophy) and achieved greater power and strength increases. Both training groups got back to full output faster, decreased chronic inflammation markers, and sped up muscle recovery. Putting a scoop of whey protein – or, if you’re intolerant, a combination of plant sources that contain all nine essential amino acids – in oatmeal, cereal, or cookies can be an easy way to boost per-meal protein and overall intake.  

Collagen is another supplement that can help you recover from training and reduce injury risk. It’s the most abundant type of protein in the human body and is essential for resilient ligaments, tendons, cartilage, bones, and other supporting structures, joint health, and well-functioning muscles. While our bodies produce their own collagen, this starts to decline in our late 20s and early 30s and accelerates from there.

You can source some collagen from bone broth, meat, eggs, and fish, but to get a clinically effective dose, taking a daily supplement is a good bet. A review published in Amino Acids concluded that doing so can expedite recovery from exercise and joint injury, reduce post-workout aches, support pain-free joint function, and even improve strength and body composition. Another study concluded that taking 15 grams of collagen with vitamin C 30 to 60 minutes before training doubles the rate of collagen synthesis.  

3) Timing Your Training

While training at any point in the day is going to provide physical, mental, and health benefits, you’ll probably perform and recover better if you can sync up your sessions with your chronotype. This is how you align your days and nights with your biological clock. A group of American and Canadian researchers found that when training and racing schedules are misaligned with your chronotype and ideal sleep schedule, it can reduce performance, recovery, and adaptations.

In other words, if you’re a morning lark who typically works out at night when you should be winding down for an earlier bedtime or a night owl who does most of their training in the morning while you’re still groggy, you might be shortchanging your output and rest. So you could consider switching things up so you’re planning your training for when you’re more wakeful and taking your sleep-wake schedule into account.

When you workout might also depend on what type of training adaptations you’re seeking. A paper published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism concluded that people who combined endurance and strength training gained more muscle mass at night. Whereas a Japanese study found that people who did an hour-long session in the morning burned more fat than in the afternoon or evening, a benefit that lasted for 24 hours.