Recovery Supplements: Markers Versus Performance
Most recovery supplements move a blood marker without moving what you can actually do.
Preliminary research suggests a consistent pattern across the recovery-supplement literature: agents that reduce creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase or C-reactive protein frequently fail to change strength, power or soreness. Branched-chain amino acids attenuate muscle-damage markers without improving performance, and creatine's recovery effect is limited largely to creatine kinase at 48 hours. Polyphenol-rich foods carry the most consistent signal of the group. We grade this C because the corpus is dominated by small trials on single agents with inconsistent outcomes, and because a meta-analysis found supplements showed no significant effect versus placebo in more than 48% of papers.
- Misconception: 'Lower creatine kinase means faster recovery.' Marker change frequently does not track performance.
- Does not recommend, dose or endorse any supplement
- Supplements are lightly regulated; this block teaches appraisal, not use
Every source below carries its own grade and links to the original study. This is the audit trail.