CPSS Athlete Recovery Strategies 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Contrast water therapy (CWT) alternates between hot and cold immersion. What is its primary proposed mechanism for enhancing recovery?
- Sustained vasoconstriction to reduce inflammation
- Alternating vasodilation and vasoconstriction creating a pumping effect to clear metabolic waste (Correct answer)
- Increasing core body temperature to speed metabolism
- Reducing muscle spindle sensitivity
Correct answer: Alternating vasodilation and vasoconstriction creating a pumping effect to clear metabolic waste
Alternating thermal stimuli cause repeated vasodilation and vasoconstriction, theoretically acting as a vascular pump to flush metabolic byproducts.
Question 2: Protein intake of 0.3–0.4 g/kg is recommended immediately post-exercise primarily to:
- Restore liver glycogen
- Stimulate maximal muscle protein synthesis (Correct answer)
- Reduce cortisol levels acutely
- Improve gut microbiome diversity
Correct answer: Stimulate maximal muscle protein synthesis
Ingesting ~0.3–0.4 g/kg of high-quality protein post-exercise maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis to support repair and adaptation.
Question 3: Which approach to sleep hygiene has the strongest evidence for improving sleep onset latency in athletes?
- Keeping a consistent sleep-wake schedule and minimizing blue light exposure before bed (Correct answer)
- Sleeping in a warm room (>24°C)
- Training to exhaustion to increase sleep pressure
- Consuming high-glycemic carbohydrates immediately before sleep
Correct answer: Keeping a consistent sleep-wake schedule and minimizing blue light exposure before bed
Consistent sleep timing and reducing blue light exposure before bed are evidence-based behavioral strategies that reliably improve sleep onset and quality.
Question 4: In the context of the acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR), a ratio above 1.5 is associated with:
- Optimal recovery and peak performance
- Increased injury risk due to excessive acute load spike (Correct answer)
- Improved adaptation through overreaching
- Reduced injury risk from accumulated fitness
Correct answer: Increased injury risk due to excessive acute load spike
An ACWR >1.5 indicates the athlete's recent workload has spiked well beyond their chronic fitness base, significantly elevating injury risk.
Question 5: Which recovery modality is specifically recommended to address exercise-induced arterial stiffness and cardiovascular strain post-competition?
- Sauna/heat therapy (Correct answer)
- Foam rolling
- Cryotherapy
- Passive supine rest
Correct answer: Sauna/heat therapy
Repeated sauna use post-exercise has been shown to reduce arterial stiffness, improve endothelial function, and support cardiovascular recovery.
Question 6: A swimmer's HRV scores drop significantly during a competition travel week. The most appropriate immediate intervention is:
- Increase training volume to maintain fitness
- Prioritize sleep, reduce training load, and address jet lag with light exposure timing (Correct answer)
- Switch to a high-fat diet to conserve energy
- Increase caffeine intake to compensate for fatigue
Correct answer: Prioritize sleep, reduce training load, and address jet lag with light exposure timing
Circadian disruption from travel suppresses HRV; resetting sleep and reducing load while using light exposure to phase-shift the circadian clock is the evidence-based response.
Question 7: Which amino acid is considered the primary trigger of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) through mTORC1 pathway activation?
- Glutamine
- Leucine (Correct answer)
- Arginine
- Tryptophan
Correct answer: Leucine
Leucine acts as a nutrient sensor that directly activates mTORC1, initiating the downstream signaling cascade responsible for muscle protein synthesis.
CPSS Athlete Recovery Strategies 4
Contrast water therapy (CWT) alternates between hot and cold immersion.
What is its primary proposed mechanism for enhancing recovery?