An Ultra Endurance Athlete’s Secret To Faster Recovery And More Energy

What you eat makes a big difference in your performance.  (Photo: Getty Images)

No matter your health philosophy, anyone who is trying to become great needs to pay attention to what they’re putting into their body.

Rich Roll — who went through an incredible lifestyle and health transformation in his 40s — knows this to be true. He went from being a couch potato lawyer to an ultra endurance athlete. He once did five Ironman triathlons in a week.

Rich, who has a new cookbook and plant-based lifestyle guide that he wrote with his wife Julie, says that what we put in our bodies truly impacts how we feel, how our bodies function, how our minds operate, and how we interact with other people.

For Rich, this means eating plant-based, which he started doing nine years ago when he did his first Ultra Ironman. While eating a plant-based diet will not inherently make you a better athlete, it will help your body repair itself more efficiently and give you incredible energy.

Related: 5 Habits Of Vegetarians You Should Steal

Consider this: Diets with high levels of red meat and processed foods are known to raise inflammation in the body. And inflammation impedes recovery.

But the quicker you can recover between workouts, the harder you can go, the longer you can go, the less likely you are to get injured, the less likely you will over train, and the less likely you will miss workouts.

Plant foods, on the other hand, are anti-inflammatory because of their high levels of antioxidants and phytonutrients. If you want to speed your recovery time, why wouldn’t you give your body the fuel that will speed that process?

We all have greater control over our health than we think. What would it look like if you not only acknowledged that control, but did something with it?

Listen below for my full conversation with Rich:

For more on Rich Roll, click here.

ABOUT LEWIS HOWES: Lewis is a pro-athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur who hosts the top-ranked podcast The School of Greatness. He interviews the best and brightest minds in health, entrepreneurship, relationships and lifestyle. Follow Lewis on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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