Recovery Index: See How Fast an Athlete Recovers & at What Intensity
Recovery Index: See How Fast an Athlete Recovers & at What Intensity
The ability to clear lactate quickly while maintaining a decent power output or speed is the key to sustained endurance and repeated efforts.
Recovery Index quantifies both the speed of clearance and the exercise intensity at which it occurs, giving you a single, standardized score to measure to track and compare athletes ability to recover – across sports, athletes and training periods.
- Optimize training – Adjust load, intensity & intervals to maximize training stimulus.
- Compare across any sport, genders, or training phase.
- Get a clear, easy-to-read score instead of complex biochemical data.
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You Can’t Optimize recovery If you don’t measure it
Conventional methods to assess lactate clearance only assess how fast blood lactate values drop after an intense effort when the athlete is at complete rest. But that’s not an accurate representation of what is relevant in real life conditions. Competitions just don’t happen at a load of zero aka total rest. Real life conditions mean at a decent exercise intensity. Without knowing at what intensity an athlete clears lactate fastest, you’re drawing conclusions about recovery based on incomplete data.
If two athletes have the same lactate clearance rate but one can sustain high intensity while the other fades, how can you compare them accurately? Worse, there’s no standardized way to compare recovery across different athletes, training cycles, or even sports.
Despite having the same anaerobic threshold (408 Watt) and same body weight, Athlete A recovers faster (> 1 mmol/l/min) and at a higher power output than Athlete B. It’s clearly visible that the shape of the curve becomes more asymmetric, with the apex closer to the threshold.
❌ You only see how fast blood lactate drops at rest —not a real combustion rate when the athlete is exercising.
❌ You can’t compare recovery across different athletes, training cycles, and sports.
❌ Training adjustments are based on assumptions, not accurate recovery data.
Despite having the same anaerobic threshold (408 Watt) and same body weight, Athlete A recovers faster (> 1 mmol/l/min) and at a higher power output than Athlete B. It’s clearly visible that the shape of the curve becomes more asymmetric, with the apex closer to the threshold.
Recovery Index - One Simple metric
That Tells the Complete Story
INSCYD’s Recovery Index provides a single, normalized score (0-100) that objectively measures both: the maximum speed of lactate clearance and the intensity at which it occurs, allowing for accurate tracking, comparison, and optimization of athlete recovery across sports, training cycles and metabolic profiles.
- Track both speed and intensity with one universal metric
- Standardized for all sports, training cycles, and body compositions.
- Adjust load, intensity & recovery based on actionable data, not guesswork.
See Both Recovery Speed & Intensity in a Single Score
With the Recovery Index, you no longer have to guess whether an athlete’s recovery speed translates into actual performance. Instead of only tracking how fast lactate clears, INSCYD’s Recovery Index also measures the intensity at which recovery happens, giving you a full picture of an athlete’s ability to recover during training and racing.
- Get a single score that captures both the maximum lactate clearance speed and the exercise intensity at which it occurs.
- Adjust training intervals and recovery periods with physiology-backed precision.
Compare Recovery Across Athletes, Sports & Training Cycles
Different sports, body compositions, genders and metabolic profiles influence the speed (e.g. in running or swimming) or power output (e.g. in cycling) at which an athlete can clear lactate fastest, making standard comparisons based on speed or power unreliable. INSCYD’s Recovery Index solves this by measuring recovery based on energy expenditure rather than power or speed, providing an objective, standardized 0-100 score—allowing you to compare and benchmark athletes across different sports, training phases, and metabolic profiles.
- Standardized athlete comparisons – Compare recovery rates without bias from sport type, efficiency, or economy.
- Benchmark performance with confidence – Use a universal 0-100 scale for clear and actionable athlete comparisons.
Turn Recovery Data into
Smarter Training Decisions
Recovery data is only valuable if you can use it. Instead of just seeing raw lactate numbers, Recovery Index translates an athlete’s ability to recover into actionable insights.
Use Recovery Index to personalize training loads, optimize recovery timing, and track long-term progress with precision. Whether it’s a cyclist, a triathlete, or a team sport athlete, knowing their true recovery efficiency ensures that every training session is optimized for peak performance
- Adjust work/rest ratios based on actual recovery capacity, not assumptions.
- See how an athlete’s recovery efficiency evolves over training cycles.
- Standardized data allows for fair, meaningful athlete assessments.
Track Even the Smallest Recovery Improvements That Lead to Big Performance Gains
Even the smallest changes in recovery ability can signal meaningful adaptations. By analyzing both the apex of the lactate recovery curve and the intensity at which it occurs, the Recovery Index captures even the slightest physiological adaptations—allowing you to detect early training effects, track long-term adaptation, and fine-tune training strategies with confidence.
- Identify what’s driving recovery improvements—VO2max, VLamax, or body composition changes.
- Track subtle changes in recovery efficiency – Identify improvements that you may overlook.
What Our Coaches and Athletes Are Saying
Turn Recovery Insights
into Business Growth
By providing objective recovery assessments, you can offer premium performance analysis and personalized training adjustments—boosting client retention and attracting high-performance athletes. Integrated into testing packages or training plans, Recovery Index creates new revenue opportunities and sets your business apart.
Stand out from competitors by offering science-backed, standardized recovery tracking that no other software or diagnostic tool provides.
Athletes trust physiology-driven coaching. Provide objective recovery insights that demonstrate real progress, keeping athletes engaged and committed.
Monetize recovery tracking by offering premium services, integrating it into testing packages, or upselling data-driven coaching programs.
Use clear recovery data to fine-tune training, ensuring faster athlete progress.
Start Measuring & Optimizing Recovery with Confidence—Book Free Demo Now
Stop relying on incomplete data. Get objective, physiology-backed recovery insights that help you optimize training, improve athlete performance, and grow your coaching business.
Explore Other Performance Metrics
INSCYD provides you with a complete physiological profile of athletes, helping you analyze and optimize training with precision
VO2max – maximum aerobic power
57.55 ml/min/kg
total: 4028 ml/min
VLamax – maximum glycolytic power
0.36 mmol/l/s
CarbMax – carbohydrate metabolism
211 watt
Recovery Index
52.3
Economy
12.1 ml per m/s
FatMax – maximum fat metabolism
6.51 kcal/h/kg @ 184 watt
total: 456 kcal/h
LT1
238 watt
AT – Anaerobic Threshold (MLSS)
272 watt (=84.5% of VO2max)
3.89 watt/kg