Hi,
Training breaks you down. Every interval, every long ride, every heavy session, it's damage. Controlled damage, but damage.
What builds you back up is recovery. And that's where most athletes lose the plot.
We talked to three world champions: Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, Mike Woods, and Lionel Sanders. CrossFit and HYROX. World Tour cycling. IRONMAN. They don't train the same way, and they don't have the same bodies. But they all treat recovery as the thing that separates them from everyone else who trains hard.
Mike Woods: Sleep is everything (even when you're bad at it)
Mike's honest about it: he doesn't sleep well. Seven hours on a good night. Night sweats during heavy race blocks. For most athletes, that would be the thing that holds them back.
For Mike, it's the reason he takes recovery more seriously than almost anything else. Magnesium every night. Collagen daily to protect his joints across a full season. He fuels hard on the bike; 100-110 grams of carbs per hour, solid food, sodium bicarb before the hardest stages, because he knows poor sleep shrinks his recovery window, so everything else has to be airtight.
He also visualizes before every stage. Writes mantras. Rehearses the course. Recovery for Mike is physical and mental, and he treats both as non-negotiable.
Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr: Nothing is left to chance
Tia doesn't improvise recovery. She programs it with the same precision as her training. Weekly deloads are mandatory. Rest days don't move. Sauna and float tank sessions are scheduled and kept.
That same discipline carries into daily nutrition: electrolytes in every bottle, creatine, a trusted gel for long sessions. At night, a dedicated sleep supplement so her nervous system can come down after 13-hour training days.
Most athletes treat recovery as something they do when they have time. Tia treats it as the competitive advantage that makes her training possible in the first place.
Lionel Sanders: Fuel the work
"What separates the best is often how well they recover, adapt, and execute when it matters."
He used to be reactive about nutrition and recovery. Now it's the most intentional part of his program. "Underfueling doesn't make you fitter. A lot of the time it just makes you more tired and less able to do the real work."
Race day is dialed. 100-150 grams of carbs per hour, drink mix, beet shot, solid fuel, hydration throughout. But recovery is where he's made the biggest gains.
"Basic, but basic done consistently. Sleep, fueling, hydration, getting off my feet when I can, hot tub, being smart with load, and actually respecting recovery days."
Protein after every session. Vitamin D daily. Sleep.
"I think recovery is less about secret hacks and more about removing stupid mistakes."
The pattern
Three champions. Three sports. One competitive advantage: they recover better than everyone else.
Hydration and electrolytes, every day: LMNT, Mortal Hydration.
Fuel your training: 60-100+ grams of carbs per hour: Maurten Gel 100, Carbs Fuel Drink Mix, Amacx Energy Oat Bar.
Prioritize sleep: give your nervous system help winding down with Pillar Magnesium and Dream Shot.
Eat after you train: Momentous Whey Protein, Skratch Recovery.
Respect rest days: schedule them and keep them.
Training is what breaks you down. Recovery is what makes you better. These three figured that out a long time ago.
- The Feed.
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