Experts in Sport: The importance of recovery in elite-level sport

In the latest ‘Experts in Sport’ podcast, host Martin Foster and his panel the panel discuss the overarching role of recovery in team sports, the differences between various types of recovery, as well as questioning the role of lactic acid on recovery.

Within sport, it is well known that recovery plays an important part of any training schedule, but how exactly does this impact team sports?

In the latest ‘Experts in Sport’ podcast, host Martin Foster is joined by Dr Tom Clifford, Lauren Delany, Loughborough University alumna, and Performance Nutritionist for Leeds Rhinos, and Dr Will Abbott, Academy Performance Manager at Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club.

During the episode, the panel discuss the overarching role of recovery in team sports, the differences between various types of recovery, as well as questioning the role of lactic acid on recovery.

This week's episode

Speaking about his role at Brighton, Dr Will Abbott explains the importance in recovery in different age groups within the football club. Lauren Delany also offers her expertise in how food and some nutritional supplements can aid an athlete’s recovery:

“Recovery [in nutrition]...is all about refueling those energy and glycogen stores that you use during exercise,” Lauren says.

“The most researched food in terms of recovery… is looking at milk. You’ve got a source of protein, a source of carbohydrate, it’s a fluid and there’s vitamins and minerals in there to support the body.”

Lauren also explains that milk contains casein, which can also be consumed as a convenient supplement – a subject that both Tom and Will have researched previously.

The Experts in Sport podcast is a regular series that brings together experts from across Loughborough University with external thought leaders to discuss the latest research and hot topics in sport and academia with new episodes launched every two weeks.

Listeners can subscribe to the podcast and download the latest episode by visiting iTunes, Spotify, and TuneIn. All subscribers will receive an alert once new episodes are published.

More information on Dr Will Abbott and Dr Tom Clifford’s research on the role of casein on recovery in professional soccer players.