By Nicolas Desjardins, PhD in Natural Medicine · DBA(c) · Master’s in Neuroscience (in progress), designer of the Q-Technology system. Nicolas Desjardins is not a medical doctor. October 2026.
Lire cet article en français : Tu crois manquer de récupération
The short answer. “Recovery” is a catch-all word: we pack into it training load, rest, the stress of the rest of life and everything we feel at the end of a session. An expert consensus considers the balance between load and recovery essential, with individual monitoring. Another lead is documented: according to a systematic review, a state of mental fatigue lowers endurance performance without changing the usual physiological measures. And a review on dual tasks shows that keeping your balance, standing or walking, takes attention. We don’t promise you better recovery: during the Test Posture Parfaite, we show you your tilts, your neck rotation and your strength and stability tests.
Improve recovery: first, know what you’re talking about
You want to improve your recovery. But when you say “I’m not recovering,” what do you mean? Technique that breaks down at the end of a session? A head that checks out before the body does?
These are different things, with different causes. Filing them under the same word means looking for the answer in the wrong place: you add an ice bath, a day off, and nothing changes, because what was costing you may not have been there.
What experts say about athletic recovery DOCUMENTED
- Load and recovery, a balance. A consensus of experts who met in 2016 at the Technical University of Munich (Kellmann et al., 2018) sets the frame: an adequate balance between stress (training and competition load, and the other demands of life) and recovery is essential for an athlete to sustain high-level performance over time. The authors recommend systematic monitoring and stress how much responses vary, from one athlete to another and within the same athlete.
- Sleep, according to another consensus. A 2021 expert consensus (Walsh et al.) reports that elite athletes are particularly prone to short sleep (under 7 hours a night) or poor-quality sleep. A night or more without sleep reduces performance; the effect of partial restriction over one to three nights remains unclear. The authors consider a one-size-fits-all guideline (for example 7 to 9 hours a night) unlikely to be ideal, and recommend an individualized approach.
What to remember: the basics are known, and they aren’t ours. Load and rest are managed with your coach or strength and conditioning coach, and no circuit replaces them.
Same engine. What had changed was perception DOCUMENTED
A systematic review (Van Cutsem et al., 2017) gathered 11 studies, 6 of strong and 5 of moderate quality, on mental fatigue: a state caused by prolonged, demanding cognitive activity. The general finding:
- endurance performance declines (shorter time to exhaustion, lower self-selected power or speed, or longer completion time);
- this decline goes with higher-than-normal perceived exertion;
- heart rate, blood lactate, oxygen uptake, cardiac output and maximal aerobic capacity are unchanged;
- maximal strength, power and anaerobic work are not affected.
The authors identify perceived exertion as the main factor; the duration and intensity of the task also matter.
Read that again: same physiological measures, and yet less endurance. Our reading (an interpretation, not a finding of this review, which was not about recovery): part of what we file under “lack of recovery” may not show up in the usual physiological measures.
Holding your posture isn’t free for your attention DOCUMENTED
We assume standing and walking are automatic. Not quite. A review on attention and the control of posture and gait (Woollacott and Shumway-Cook, 2002) reports that, even in young adults, cognitive factors play a role in controlling balance while standing and walking. Researchers use the dual task: keep your balance while doing something else, and see what degrades. The attentional demand varies with the complexity of the balance task and the type of secondary task.
Our reading (an interpretation, not a finding of these studies): a session isn’t just muscles working. It’s also a nervous system organizing your posture with every step and every load, while you count your reps, listen to your coach and manage your breathing. Part of what you feel at the end of a session could come from that attentional load. It isn’t a lack of willpower, nor necessarily a lack of recovery: it’s a system with a lot to hold at once.
What we look at during the test, and what we don’t promise
We don’t promise you better recovery. We show you what can be measured: your posture on three planes, your neck rotation, your tests holding or giving way. We have never measured recovery or attentional load with our circuits, and the test measures neither.
One case, not proof TESTIMONIAL: one person who wears our insoles sent us six screenshots of their Garmin “Body Battery”: three days in late August, before the insoles, and three in September and October, with them. In their words (translated from French): “You can see that the curves are less steep with the insoles, and when I have moments of rest during the day, I can climb back up faster.” On their screenshots, the lowest point of the day sits between 24 and 42 out of 100 without the insoles, and between 42 and 55 with them.
What it’s worth, honestly: Body Battery is an estimate the watch calculates from heart rate variability, stress, sleep and activity, on a scale of 5 to 100 (Garmin); it is not a measure of recovery. This is one person, six days they chose, before and after on different dates, with no protocol and no comparison group: their work, their sleep or the season may have changed in between. It’s one data point that leans toward better recovery, nothing more: it proves nothing, and we don’t promise it to you.
Individual testimonial · Results vary · Not a medical claim.
What we look at, before and while you wear the circuit, during the Test Posture Parfaite (fifteen minutes, with a certified tester, no equipment):
- the tilts of the pelvis and shoulders on three planes, in centimeters;
- neck rotation, scored out of 7 on each side;
- strength and stability tests, right and left, holding or giving way.
If it shows nothing, the test is refunded. To understand what we aim for, read what perfect posture means.
What we observe OBSERVATION: while the circuit is worn, we observe a postural correction during the test: tilts decrease, neck rotation evens out, tests that gave way now hold.
Functional assessment, non-medical · Before/after protocol · Observations from internal tests · Individual results vary · Not a medical claim.
Our hypothesis HYPOTHESIS: the passive resonant circuit removes nothing and blocks nothing. It gives the nervous system a coherent, stable reference. This is a hypothesis about the circuit’s mechanism, and it may be wrong. It is not about your attention or your recovery: we have measured neither with the circuit.
Support, not cure. While you wear the circuit, the effect is there. Take it off, and you’re back where you started, like glasses: you wear them, you see; you take them off, you don’t. Your training load and your rest remain your job and your coach’s.
Passive circuit: no substance. Check with your federation.
FAQ
How do you improve athletic recovery?
An expert consensus (Kellmann et al., 2018) considers the balance between load (training, competition, the rest of life) and recovery essential, and recommends systematic, individual monitoring. A 2021 consensus (Walsh et al.) recommends an individualized approach to sleep. Build that plan with your coach.
Does the Q-Technology circuit improve recovery?
We don’t claim it does: no recovery measurement has been made with our circuits. What we show happens during the test, while the circuit is worn: tilts, neck rotation, strength and stability tests holding or giving way. Functional assessment, non-medical · Individual results vary.
What does research say about mental fatigue and performance?
A systematic review of 11 studies (Van Cutsem et al., 2017) reports a decline in endurance performance, with higher perceived exertion, and no change in the usual physiological measures. Maximal strength, power and anaerobic work were not affected.
Is it allowed in competition?
The circuit is passive: no substance, no battery, no electrode. Check with your federation or your event organizer.
How can I check for myself?
Book a Test Posture Parfaite: fifteen minutes, €33, with a certified tester. You compare before and after, on your own body. If it shows nothing, it is refunded.
Your load and rest are for you and your coach to sort out. What your posture does, on three planes, in fifteen minutes, is something you can see: book your Test Posture Parfaite, refunded if it shows nothing.
Sources
- Kellmann M, et al. Recovery and Performance in Sport: Consensus Statement. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2018;13(2):240-245. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0759
- Walsh NP, et al. Sleep and the athlete: narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations. Br J Sports Med. 2021;55(7):356-368. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102025
- Van Cutsem J, Marcora S, De Pauw K, Bailey S, Meeusen R, Roelands B. The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports Med. 2017;47(8):1569-1588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0672-0
- Woollacott M, Shumway-Cook A. Attention and the control of posture and gait: a review of an emerging area of research. Gait Posture. 2002;16(1):1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0966-6362(01)00156-4
- Garmin. Body Battery (owner’s manual: definition and 5-to-100 scale). https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-EA4C028F-6CC0-4957-9BB2-20B2E5DAE9CD/EN-US/GUID-87E1392B-2C55-40B7-A1FF-3AB9252DA0A0.html
