Michael and I often discuss recovery, and remind each other that "improvement happens with resting." So, it's no surprise that we'd do a book review of "Good to Go." With Ms. Aschwaden's expertise as a journalist, scientist and endurance athlete, our expectations where high. We were not disappointed!
"Good to Go" is a wealth of information on the "state of the art" on recovery science, plus a primer on the research itself. To achieve this Ms. Aschwaden uses a rhythm to introduce particular practices. She explains her personal efforts, say running or skiing. Then, introduces a modality she is trying, observing how it worked for her. She then turns to doctors and researchers to discuss what might be really going on.
In this way, "Good to Go" covers a lot of ground.
First, there's truly informative history on the surging focus on recovery since the early Gatorade days over 60 years ago. There's also excellent reporting on it's relationship to marketing and sales, a powerful force in our own perceptions and beliefs on recovery. Second, there's valuable updates to common understanding of workout science. Third, she covers pretty much every kind of recovery recommendation I've heard, and a few new ones. There's some interesting surprises, to be sure. Lastly, there's plenty of solid advice, even if it does feel a bit ambiguous. I'm sure that's because the nature of the subject itself is idiosyncratic and very individualistic, making generalized yet applicable advice basically impossible.
History, a "Good to Go" once over
For many who have already been reading up on the history of recovery, and workout science overall, much of this may not be knew. For example, I already knew how "electrolytes" were turned into a marketing bonanza (it's just salt, folks!) that haunts us today. Perhaps most nefariously by encouraging the thought that we might be using up or missing out on something that helps performance. On the other hand, I was surprised to learn that lactate in the muscles is no longer considered to create muscle pain after workouts. In this line of enquiry, the most interesting thing to me was the reports on how supplement makers made things up and patted each other on the back, in their own self-created "peer review" journals.
Equally, you may already understand the nature of science overall and how weak actual research is in this area. Ms. Aschwaden nicely walks through various reported studies. She gamely follows up on marketing claims, both by reviewing the referenced studies and interviewing specialists. Through this personable exploration, it's impossible to not learn more about how to look for quality in the information (and products) you're being fed. This is very likely to save you time and money, not to mention making you smarter in evaluating your own recovery.
What can I learn about? What about the content?
Importantly, "Good to Go" covers a ton of purported recovery methods. A partial list, just to illustrate. There's actually more in the book!
Ice packs | Ice baths | Cryo-tanks |
Heat | Infrared saunas |
|
Massage | Compression devices | Massage balls, foam rollers |
Compression clothes | Sleep enhancing pajamas | Blood flow (enhancing, flushing, super-oxygenating it, etc.) |
Hydration | Dehydration | Gatorade & sports drinks |
Power or protein bars | Supplements | Alcohol |
Nutrition | Nutrient timing | Milk (plain & chocolate) |
Float tanks (sensory deprivation) | Sleep | Psychology & placebo effect |
Reading a lot about these modalities, and the studies done to validate them can be a lot of fun. For example, studies of bicyclists testing nutrition and nutrient timing who, on one hand were fed Gatorade, Kit's power bars, Clif shots and on the other hand McDonald's. Yes, fast food breakfasts of hash browns, hotcakes and orange juice. Why? The restaurant was conveniently located across from the lab! The results? "Like most sports science experiments, the study was small, but the results showed no difference between the two conditions." This little anecdote and the conclusion speaks volumes, no?
Was there anything surprising? What stood out? What are you adding into your routines?
Yes. In short, mental stress has a huge impact on physical performance. More than I had ever considered! For example, "Good to Go" cites a 2015 studio of Division I college football players. It found that during times of academic stress the risk of an injury was almost twice as great as during times when school-related stress was low. Indeed, even the typical "every day" kinds of stresses add up and have big impacts. Ms. Aschwaden's interviews with John Kiely, an Irish sports scientist, include this golden tidbit for illustration. "A classic example is the athlete whose rest day is spent scurrying about doing emotionially demanding activities like household chores, tax accounting, or frustrating errands. You have to ask, was that really a rest day or just another day where you overlaid some stresses?"
Going even further, there is a rather large study with the US Air Force and the University of Cincinnati. (Go Bearcats!) This "Signature Tracking for Optimized Nutrition and Training" (STRONG) program carefully looked at the effects of float tanks (a.k.a. sensory deprivation pods). Joshua Hagen found that using the calming float can rebalance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Aschwaden quotes Hagen as saying "It's the only modality we've seen that can fix you either way." (That is, whether your sympathetic "fight or flight" system or your parasympathetic "rest or digest" systems are out of whack.) This is born out by other studies too. For example, "Good to Go" covers work by Matthew Driller like "Flotation-restricted environmental stimulation therapy improves sleep and performance recovery in athletes."
So, was there anything that worked? What's the bottom line?!
Good news for your time and pocketbook: common sense rules supreme.
Give yourself permission to have the things your body is asking for.
Sleep - plenty of it.
Relaxation - mental stress is as impactful as physical workout difficulty!
Nutrition - just good ol', all-round, homegrown nutrition advice.
Meaning: things like food pyramids and plate guides.
Adjust the quantity to the amount you're working out. Keep the food and nutrient quality high.
Confidence - it turns out a lot of the things we athletes do give us confidence. And that's enough.
There's zero, or only a little, scientific backing for some of our recovery practices. Still, ritual and expectations help. Really!
In other words, placebos can get a bad rap. "Good to Go" suggests they be called "anticipatory response" or "belief effects" because people do experience positive effects which should not be dismissed or equated to "sham" or "quackery."