Recovery tool
As an athlete, training to be the best you can be, you need a plan of action. It can’t be all work and no play, knowing when to stop is as important. Rest gives the body a chance to fix itself and get stronger. Loughborough University, the HQ for the London 2012 Olympic Games Team GB, is where Dr Vern Neville has honed his Restwise software. A professional America’s Cup sailor, scientist and coach, Neville has spent over a decade analysing the training patterns of elite athletes from the worlds of rugby, sailing, soccer, cycling and Formula 1.

To stress or de-stress?
The success of the tool is its simplicity. It takes 15-20 seconds in the morning to complete on a smartphone, or computer, the feedback is immediate and accessible to coaches. The athlete can follow the recommendation or ignore it, as the tool can be used to intentionally stress the body, or to monitor stress levels and avoid overstressing it.

Neville says, ‘We initially thought that endurance type events would benefit more from the product but we are finding that team sports and power events have taken particularly well to the tool. We have Olympic weight lifters and sprinters and other power athletes who are finding the tool particularly useful.’

Now Neville’s team are adapting Restwise for other markets such as in post-operative recovery and for personal fitness training. Its simplicity means the same technology and smart algorithms can be used in other domains where recovery is vital.