Optimal recovery
5 min read
Updated: 2 May 2025
All athletes struggle with or against time, whether it’s about managing the final minute during intervals, getting home from work to train, or having the energy to cook after a wet, cold distance run. Striving for strong performance means not only having a good energy plan before and during a competition or training but also preparing the body to handle the next session and utilizing the body’s response to the completed activity.
For optimal recovery, rest and good nutrition are required. Nutrition is the most crucial tool we can manipulate to speed up recovery. Managing nutrition also positively affects sleep, which in turn continues to enhance your recovery. The absolutely most important factor, and often decisive, is that you achieve a sufficient energy intake. The body cannot create anything new from nothing; a continuous flow of building blocks is necessary for this. The most critical components are carbohydrates, which become glycogen, and protein, which becomes muscle protein, mitochondria, enzymes, etc.
Carbohydrates slow down muscle breakdown and replenish your glycogen stores, while protein provides the building blocks for rebuilding and enhances the storage of glycogen (carbohydrates) a little extra.
Carbohydrates
If you have particularly hard sessions or competitions, try to add carbohydrates right after finishing the session. At this point, the re-storage is super effective as the enzyme that controls the storage, as well as the transport protein that pulls carbohydrates into the muscles, are both fully activated. Providing carbohydrates at a rate of at least 70g/hour immediately after finishing leads to 45% faster glycogen storage over the next 2 hours, meaning that you will be well recovered by 4 hours after finishing and your body can start focusing more on repair and rebuilding. It prioritizes slowing down breakdown (here, carbohydrates are crucial) before it starts building up and strengthening the muscles (here, proteins are decisive).
Protein
To maximize recovery, having 20g of high-quality, complete protein (about 0.25g/kg body weight) immediately after finishing the session is a good foundation to start rebuilding. Our recommendation is some form of complete protein, meaning all amino acids are present in sufficient amounts. If you wait to consume protein for as short a time as 3 hours after finishing training, your capacity for rapid rebuilding decreases.
Practical Applications
20g of complete whey protein and 70g of fast carbohydrates (glucose and fructose-based) mixed in 0.5-1 liter of water immediately after training/competition or a recovery drink. This should be followed by a balanced meal containing carbohydrates, protein, and fat within 3 hours.
Umaras recovery products U Recover & U Recover Bar
U Recover consists of a mix of carbohydrates, protein, and amino acids to accelerate the replenishment of muscle glycogen, as well as to deliver complete protein to provide all the necessary building blocks for the muscles.
The protein sources are soy protein isolate and pea protein, providing 20g of complete protein, which is a sufficient dose to fully stimulate muscle protein synthesis so that the body gets the signals that it's time to repair. This also means that U Recover is 100% vegan, lactose-free, and nut-free.
L-Glutamine is the amino acid that acts as the main fuel for our immune system. The immune system is compromised immediately after exercise, and in studies where 200 elite athletes were given 5g of glutamine after each session, the risk of catching a cold was reduced by more than half for those who received glutamine instead of a placebo. Therefore, U Recover contains 5g of glutamine to reduce the risk of infections.
We have enhanced the amino acid balance with extra BCAA. This is to increase signaling to repair and strengthen the muscles. But also because doses of 6g of BCAA daily have been shown to preserve glutamine during exercise, making you less susceptible to infections. With the help of U Recover, you get 8g of BCAA after training.
U Recover also contains blackcurrant powder & cocoa. Blackcurrants are very rich in flavonoids, especially anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants that reduce oxidative damage, inflammation, and thereby also muscle damage/exercise soreness.
Antioxidants are not something you should consume after every workout as they can inhibit some training adaptations. But during the competition season when recovery is crucial, or after tougher sessions where you want to be able to train again soon or just avoid sore legs the next day, then U Recover is perfect.
Cocoa is also rich in antioxidants such as catechins, which help with blood circulation, vasodilation, and recovery. Moreover, the taste of chocolate is delicious, making it a great 2 in 1. That’s why U Recover Chocolate was an obvious flavor choice. You can sense the touch of blackcurrant if you are a true connoisseur.
Finally, U Recover contains both sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, thus helping to replenish all salts/minerals lost during activity. Available in both a can and as a portion pouch.
U Recover Protein Bar is perfect after a tough workout but also works great as a tasty snack. 100% Gluten-free.
The whey protein in U Recover Bar is complete on its own, and pea protein is technically not "needed," but we have chosen to supplement with pea protein to reduce the carbon footprint. Pea protein has a carbon dioxide cost of only 3.7% compared to whey protein and would have been the preferred protein source, but the protein is not complete on its own.
Here we have made a compromise between optimal amino acid profile, taste, price, and climate impact and found what we believe is a golden middle ground where the protein is complete, the bar is really tasty, and at the same time, we have significantly reduced the carbon footprint compared to a bar with 100% milk/whey protein.
