Category Archives: Nutrition
BCAAs Reduce Muscle Soreness After Workouts
Most athletes feel a substantial decrease in the amount of muscle soreness after workouts once they begin taking BCAA supplementation. Another benefit of BCAAs is that muscles grow during recovery from the damage caused by pushing them to failure; faster recovery means that you will meet your size and strength goals faster. BCAAs may enable you to train at higher intensity levels for longer periods of time.
Antioxidants Aid Recovery
Antioxidants are a popular and effective group of nutrients that include vitamins, minerals, and flavonoids. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and help prevent cellular damage. Apart from their other benefits for cardiovascular health, muscle building, and disease prevention, antioxidant-rich foods such as blueberries are full of nutrients that provide elementary particles that pair off with free radicals, preventing them from causing cell damage
Benefits of Antioxidants:
Preventing Muscle Damage – The main benefit of antioxidant supplementation is that it reduces or prevents cellular damage following strenuous exercise. A “cocktail” of antioxidants neutralizes free radical molecules and promotes the healing and growth of muscle tissue during the recovery phase.
Improved Recovery – Many experts in nutritional medicine think that Vitamin E is also involved in the recovery process that follows exercise. Currently, the amount of Vitamin E needed to produce these effects is unknown, but the prevailing opinion is that diet may supply enough Vitamin E for most athletes.
Recovery From Training
All athletes depend on sufficient recovery to repair damaged muscles, connective tissue, and joints, replenish depleted nutrients, and clear the body of lactic acid and other performance-damping waste products. Many athletes seem reluctant to give recovery its due, perhaps from the misguided thinking that more work is always good. But in reality, recovery is an integral component of the process of athletic training and overall fitness.
Recovery from training has the following key elements: sleep, stretching, inactivity, deep muscle work and nutrition.
Recovery is the time when the body adapts to the eustress of physical training by developing new muscle mass and restoring the body’s glycogen levels. The period directly following an intense workout is particularly important for athletic training. During this time, the body is especially drained and vulnerable to injury and exhaustion. The recovery diet should be rich in two macronutrients: lean protein and complex carbohydrates. For meals immediately following a workout, consume carbohydrates and protein together, as the carbohydrates increase protein absorption.