Post-exercise recovery is a broad term that refers to the restoration of training capacity. After training or competition, there is fatigue accumulation and a reduction in sports performance. In the hours and days following training, the body recovers and performance is expected to return to normal or improve.
This study reviewed ScienceDirect, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Google Scholar databases to identify studies and position declarations examining the relationship between nutrition and sports recovery. As an evidence-based framework, a 4R's approach to optimizing post-exercise recovery was identified: (i) Rehydration - a fundamental process that will depend on the athlete, environment and sports event; (ii) Refuel - the consumption of carbohydrates is not only important to replenish the glycogen reserves but also to contribute to the energy requirements for the immune system and tissue reparation; (iii) Repair - post-exercise ingestion of high-quality protein and creatine monohydrate benefit the tissue growth and repair; and (iv) Rest - pre-sleep nutrition has a restorative effect that facilitates the recovery of the musculoskeletal, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems.
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