What is Recovox?
Recovox is an all-natural herbal/phytonutrient formula designed to improve workout performance by speeding recovery. It is designed to help balance or mitigate the elevated amounts of cortisol your body secretes in response to training and other forms of high stress. Recovox also provides key "adaptogenic" herbs to help improve energy production through better oxygen utilization. Finally, it provides nutrients that have been shown to reduce anxiety and to support better mental focus. Unlike most macronutrient powders, drinks, bars and gels, Recovox exerts its action by providing "micronutrients" that work within the cell.

Why do I need to speed up my recovery?
When we train, we put stresses on our body that prompt our body to want to rebuild itself and become a little stronger (or faster). However, this positive adaptation to training only works if we allow our body enough rest and provide it enough raw materials to grow back incrementally stronger. Without the rest or proper nutrition, training becomes just a series of accumulated stresses that can lead to a decrease in performance and greater likelihood or illness or injury. Training only works because we allow ourselves to recover. In fact, recovery is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of the training equation. By speeding up the recovery process, we are able to train harder much sooner, so when recovery is maximized, the net effect is a noticeable improvement in performance.

What is Cortisol and why is it bad?
Cortisol is the most abundant of the gluccocorticoid hormones secreted by the adrenal glands – and the most catabolic (destructive). At normal baseline levels it has several maintenance functions in the human body. However, its most profound effect is as a "fight or flight" hormone. Cortisol is secreted in substantially greater amounts in response to stress, particularly "life or death" situations. In any high stress situation, the more familiar "adrenalin" buys us the first 20 or thirty seconds of fast action, but it is cortisol that gives us an edge for the next several hours. As a survival mechanism, first appearing millions of years ago, you couldn't imagine a more elegant adaptation.

Imagine being chased down by a lion on the plains of Africa. How you handle the next ten or fifteen minutes could determine whether or not you live another ten or fifteen years. After the initial adrenalin rush, the HPA axis at the base of the brain secrets ACTH which causes a flood of cortisol from the adrenals. This cortisol basically stops all growth processes so that any and all available resources can be diverted to the immediate survival effort. It shuts down your immune function (why try to identify something that might kill you in a year when you may not survive the next ten minutes). It stops the uptake of calcium by your bones and it causes the dismantling of your muscles so that branch chain amino acids from those muscles can be sent to the liver and converted to glucose for the brain and other muscles. Once the danger has passed and the stress is gone, your body can spend the next few days or weeks sorting out the metabolic consequences and repairing the damage. That may be acceptable if you are facing an occasional life or death situation – it's not acceptable if you respond to all forms of stress this way and if you intend to improve athletic performance!

So how does exercise (or "training") fit into all this?
Exercise is a form of stress. Unfortunately, the part of the brain that is responsible for stimulating the release of cortisol doesn't know the difference between "good" stress and "bad" stress, so it secretes more of this destructive hormone whenever we do a workout that's longer or more intense than we're used to. The irony is that when we secrete high levels of cortisol we actually impede the growth and repair processes that are necessary for improvement in strength and speed – the very things we are trying to accomplish in training. Cortisol tears muscle tissue down and severely suppresses the immune system, making us most susceptible to injury and nagging illnesses. Chronic high levels of cortisol may also possibly result in increased risk for stress fractures, since calcium uptake by the bones is so reduced. The good news is that if we can reduce the high levels of cortisol we secrete through exercise, we can also reduce much of the damage and setbacks so that we can recover faster and stronger. And the ingredients in Recovox have been shown to do just that.

How does Recovox reduce cortisol?
Recovox contains high levels of the natural phospholipid Phosphatidyl Serine (PS), which has been shown in several studies to help lower the high levels of cortisol that are produced as a direct result of hard exercise. In fact, any micronutrient product sold as a "recovery product" should contain at least 100 mg of PS or it should not be considered a true recovery product (most don't because it is such an expensive ingredient, but it is without a doubt the most effective of all micronutrient supplements affecting cortisol). Recovox also contains L-Theanine, Magnolia, and Beta-Sitosterol all of which have been shown to have a stress-mitigating effect without any known side effects. In fact, L-Theanine and Phosphatidyl Serine are such superior anti-stress nutrients that they are protected by US patents.

What are the other performance enhancing effects of Recovox?
All athletes require huge amounts of oxygen in order to perform at peak levels. In fact, for endurance athletes, the amount of oxygen available to the muscle cells is quite often the factor most dramatically limiting performance. Therefore, Rhodiola Rosea is included in Recovox because of its demonstrated effect at improving oxygen utilization. Furthermore, the L-Theanine in the formula has been shown to promote a higher level of 'alpha" waves in the brain, indicative of a state of "relaxed alertness" and a greater ability to focus on a work effort with minimal anxiety. Elite athletes are known to generate very high alpha wave levels during the best performances. Furthermore, Beta-Sitosterol has been shown to have a post exercise immune-protecting effect. The inclusion of these 5 top nutrients makes Recovox unique and unequalled anywhere in the performance market.

How should I use Recovox during training?
Most exercisers and other "high performance" people take a maintenance or baseline level of 2 capsules a day. This dose supplies 150 mg of pure Phosphatidyl Serine (500 mg of 30% standardized extract), 100 mg of L-Theanine, 100 mg of Rhodiola, 60 mg of Beta-Sitosterol, and 100 mg of Magnolia and should be sufficient to take the "edge" off any higher output of cortisol caused by normal exercise stress. People planning on doing a particularly hard workout should take from two to three times the standard dosage, depending on the intensity and duration of the workout. This dose should be spread out from before the workout – to a few hours within completing the workout (sooner is better). Since stress hormone production peaks during and immediately after the workout, taking Recovox before training ensures that your cortisol "defenses" are in place.

Should I use it when I compete, too?
It depends on the duration of the competition. Many competitive endurance athletes choose NOT to take Recovox the day before and on the day of a long race (three or more hours). During a long endurance race, they actually want the high levels of cortisol to tear down muscle tissue and cannibalize any other growth processes in order to maximize fuel production for the completion of the effort. Although they know it means tearing down the precious muscle they've worked so hard for and compromising the immune system to do it, racing is a supreme effort and it's a sacrifice athlete's are occasionally willing to make. However, after the race is over they would definitely use Recovox to speed up recovery.

In fact, some endurance athletes produce so much cortisol on a day-to-day training basis, that they are unable to produce very much more on the one day they really need it – on race day. By using Recovox during training to support normal adrenal function, you not only spare your valuable muscle tissue on a daily basis and keep your immune system functioning well, but you also ensure that your adrenals are ready to produce as much cortisol as required – if required – when race day arrives. Using a complete high-potency multi-vitamin such as the Damage Control Master Formula helps in this regard as well.

Is Recovox safe to use daily?
Yes. All the ingredients in Recovox are 100% pure and are derived from naturally occurring food-like substances or standardized herbal extracts. Recovox is designed to help your body normalize only the high levels of cortisol. It will not "eliminate" all your cortisol secretion, since some small amount of cortisol is necessary and normal.  

Are there any side effects?
No, there is no build-up of Recovox in your system, which is why it can and should be used daily and taken a few hours before training. There is one other benefit that may be labeled a "side effect": Because Phosphatidyl Serine and L-Theanine are also widely regarded as potent "neuro-enhancers" – substances that support healthy brain chemistry – many athletes notice greater focus, calmness and clarity during their workouts and during races as well as in the workplace.

Is Recovox IOC-legal?
Yes. There is nothing in Recovox that can result in a "positive" test for banned substances. Recovox was designed by Mark Sisson, former head of the International Triathlon Union Anti-doping Commission. It was designed to provide the strongest possible safe and legal recovery-enhancing effect.

Can non-athletes benefit from Recovox?
Absolutely. We all secrete "chronically" high levels of cortisol in response to a variety of stresses (remember, the brain doesn't know the difference between the stress of a saber-tooth tiger chasing us, or the stress of a traffic jam). In fact, most of us secrete far more cortisol in a month than our ancestors probably secreted in a lifetime. That's why doctors only reluctantly give cortisone shots in cases of extreme need.   Because cortisol is such a potent immune suppressor, some health practioners even believe that, as a population, our chronically high cortisol is responsible for our high rates of cancer and heart disease. Therefore, many non-athletes who are in high-stress occupations or who lead otherwise high-stress lifestyles choose to take Recovox as a means of taking the "edge" off their high cortisol production.