Optimizing Sports Nutrition Recovery: Essential Strategies for Athletes

How does recovery nutrition impact athletic performance. What are the key components of an effective post-exercise nutrition plan. When is the optimal timing for consuming recovery meals and snacks. Which foods and beverages are most beneficial for post-workout recovery.

The Importance of Recovery Nutrition in Sports Performance

Recovery nutrition plays a crucial role in an athlete’s overall performance and training adaptation. The significance of post-exercise nutrition varies depending on factors such as exercise type, duration, body composition goals, and personal preferences. Understanding the importance of recovery nutrition can help athletes optimize their training and competition outcomes.

The primary goals of recovery nutrition include:

• Replenishing fuel stores and rehydrating the body
• Promoting muscle repair and growth
• Enhancing adaptation from training sessions
• Supporting immune function

Proactive recovery nutrition becomes particularly vital for athletes engaging in multiple training sessions per day or consecutive sessions with limited recovery time. However, even for those exercising once daily or a few times a week, proper recovery nutrition remains essential, although it may be achievable through regular meals and snacks rather than additional food intake.

Consequences of Inadequate Recovery Nutrition

Failing to address recovery nutrition needs, especially for athletes training multiple times a day, can lead to several negative consequences:

• Increased fatigue during training and daily activities
• Diminished performance in subsequent training sessions or events
• Suboptimal gains from completed sessions
• Elevated muscle soreness

These effects can significantly impact an athlete’s progress and overall performance, highlighting the importance of implementing effective recovery nutrition strategies.

Timing: When to Consume Recovery Nutrition

The timing of recovery nutrition is a critical factor in maximizing its benefits. While rehydration should begin immediately after completing a training session or event, the urgency for carbohydrate and protein intake depends on the time until the next exercise session.

The body is most effective at replenishing carbohydrates and promoting muscle repair and growth within the first 60-90 minutes post-exercise. However, this process continues for approximately 12-24 hours afterward. For athletes with quick turnarounds between sessions, maximizing recovery in the initial 60-90 minutes is crucial. Those with more extended recovery periods can utilize their next regular meal as recovery nutrition.

Some athletes may benefit from a two-part recovery approach:

1. Consuming a small snack soon after exercise to initiate the recovery process
2. Following up with the next main meal to complete recovery goals

Optimal Food Choices for Post-Exercise Recovery

While individual preferences and tolerances vary, effective recovery foods should generally:

• Be rich in quality carbohydrates to replenish muscle fuel stores
• Contain lean protein to promote muscle repair
• Include sources of fluid and electrolytes for effective rehydration

There is no universally “best” option for post-exercise nutrition. Dairy products such as flavored milk, smoothies, or fruit yogurt can be excellent choices, as they provide carbohydrates, protein, fluid, and electrolytes, addressing all recovery goals in a single, convenient option.

Other nutritious recovery meal and snack options include:

• Lean chicken and salad roll
• Muesli bowl with yogurt and berries
• Fresh fruit salad topped with Greek yogurt
• Spaghetti with lean beef bolognese sauce
• Chicken burrito with salad and cheese
• Small tin of tuna on crackers with a banana

Hydration Strategies: Choosing the Right Recovery Fluids

The ideal fluid for post-exercise recovery depends on individual goals. For primarily rehydration purposes, water or electrolyte drinks are suitable options. If addressing carbohydrate replenishment is also a priority, sports drinks can be beneficial, providing both carbohydrates and fluids to simultaneously hydrate and fuel the body.

Dairy-based fluids like smoothies and flavored milk are particularly advantageous, offering protein, carbohydrates, fluids, and electrolytes in a single source. While specialized protein powders and recovery shakes may be useful in certain situations, many athletes can meet their recovery goals using regular foods and drinks.

Factors Influencing Fluid Choice:

• Exercise intensity and duration
• Individual sweat rates
• Environmental conditions
• Personal preferences and tolerances

Tailoring Recovery Nutrition to Individual Needs

Recovery nutrition strategies should be personalized to meet an athlete’s specific requirements, considering factors such as:

• Training frequency and intensity
• Body composition goals
• Dietary preferences and restrictions
• Competition schedule
• Overall nutritional status

Collaborating with a sports dietitian can help athletes develop individualized recovery nutrition plans that optimize performance and support long-term health and wellness.

The Role of Macronutrients in Recovery Nutrition

Carbohydrates: Refueling Energy Stores

Carbohydrates play a crucial role in replenishing glycogen stores depleted during exercise. The amount of carbohydrates needed for recovery depends on the intensity and duration of the exercise session, as well as the time until the next training or competition.

General guidelines for carbohydrate intake during recovery include:

• 1-1.2 g/kg body weight/hour for the first 4 hours post-exercise
• 5-7 g/kg body weight/day for moderate training
• 7-10 g/kg body weight/day for intense training or competition

Protein: Supporting Muscle Repair and Growth

Adequate protein intake is essential for muscle repair, growth, and adaptation to training stimuli. Consuming protein alongside carbohydrates can enhance glycogen resynthesis and promote a positive protein balance.

Recommendations for protein intake during recovery:

• 0.25-0.3 g/kg body weight immediately after exercise
• 1.2-2.0 g/kg body weight/day for athletes, depending on training intensity and goals

Fats: Balancing the Recovery Meal

While fats play a less prominent role in immediate post-exercise recovery, they are important for overall health and hormone production. Including moderate amounts of healthy fats in recovery meals can contribute to satiety and provide essential nutrients.

Micronutrients and Recovery: Beyond the Macros

Micronutrients play vital roles in various physiological processes related to exercise recovery and adaptation. Key micronutrients to consider in recovery nutrition include:

• Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) for rehydration and muscle function
• Antioxidants (vitamins C and E, beta-carotene) to combat exercise-induced oxidative stress
• Iron for oxygen transport and energy production
• Calcium and vitamin D for bone health and muscle function

Consuming a varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins can help ensure adequate micronutrient intake to support recovery and overall health.

Antioxidants and Recovery

Exercise-induced oxidative stress can contribute to muscle damage and inflammation. While the body has natural antioxidant defenses, dietary antioxidants may provide additional support. However, it’s important to note that excessive antioxidant supplementation may interfere with training adaptations.

Foods rich in antioxidants include:

• Berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries)
• Dark leafy greens (spinach, kale)
• Nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, chia seeds)
• Colorful vegetables (bell peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes)

Practical Strategies for Implementing Recovery Nutrition

Implementing effective recovery nutrition strategies can be challenging, especially for athletes with busy schedules or limited access to food options. Here are some practical tips to enhance recovery nutrition:

1. Prepare recovery snacks in advance for easy access post-exercise
2. Keep a variety of portable recovery options on hand (e.g., protein bars, fruit, trail mix)
3. Utilize batch cooking to prepare recovery meals for the week
4. Experiment with different recovery foods to find options that work best for individual preferences and tolerances
5. Consider liquid recovery options for those with suppressed appetites post-exercise

Recovery Nutrition for Different Types of Athletes

Recovery nutrition needs can vary significantly depending on the type of sport and training regimen. Here are some considerations for different athlete categories:

Endurance Athletes

Endurance athletes, such as marathon runners or triathletes, typically require higher carbohydrate intakes to replenish glycogen stores. They may benefit from recovery strategies that emphasize:

• High-carbohydrate meals and snacks
• Adequate hydration and electrolyte replacement
• Moderate protein intake for muscle repair

Strength and Power Athletes

Athletes focusing on strength and power, like weightlifters or sprinters, may prioritize protein intake for muscle repair and growth. Their recovery nutrition might include:

• Higher protein meals and snacks
• Moderate carbohydrate intake for glycogen replenishment
• Attention to overall calorie intake to support muscle mass

Team Sport Athletes

Team sport athletes, such as soccer or basketball players, often require a balance of carbohydrates and proteins to support both energy replenishment and muscle recovery. Their recovery nutrition plans might feature:

• Balanced meals with carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats
• Emphasis on rehydration, especially in hot environments
• Snacks to support multiple training sessions or games in a day

The Impact of Recovery Nutrition on Long-Term Athletic Development

While immediate performance benefits are often the focus of recovery nutrition, its impact on long-term athletic development should not be overlooked. Consistent implementation of effective recovery nutrition strategies can contribute to:

• Improved training adaptations over time
• Reduced risk of overtraining and burnout
• Enhanced immune function and overall health
• Faster recovery between training sessions and competitions
• Potential for improved body composition and performance

By viewing recovery nutrition as an integral part of the training process, athletes can optimize their long-term development and sustainability in their sport.

Monitoring and Adjusting Recovery Nutrition Strategies

To ensure the effectiveness of recovery nutrition strategies, it’s important to monitor their impact and make adjustments as needed. Some methods for assessing the effectiveness of recovery nutrition include:

• Tracking performance metrics in training and competition
• Monitoring subjective measures of fatigue and muscle soreness
• Assessing body composition changes over time
• Evaluating overall energy levels and immune function

Regular check-ins with a sports dietitian can help athletes refine their recovery nutrition strategies based on these assessments and any changes in training or competition demands.

Emerging Trends in Recovery Nutrition Research

The field of sports nutrition is constantly evolving, with new research shedding light on optimal recovery strategies. Some emerging areas of interest in recovery nutrition research include:

Nutrient Timing and Periodization

Recent studies have explored the concept of nutritional periodization, which involves strategically manipulating nutrient intake based on training phases and competition schedules. This approach may help optimize recovery and adaptation processes throughout an athlete’s training cycle.

Gut Microbiome and Recovery

Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may play a role in exercise recovery and adaptation. Future research may lead to personalized nutrition strategies based on an athlete’s gut microbiome profile to enhance recovery and performance.

Personalized Nutrition Approaches

Advances in genetic testing and metabolomics are paving the way for more individualized nutrition recommendations. These personalized approaches may help athletes optimize their recovery nutrition based on their unique genetic makeup and metabolic responses to exercise.

Plant-Based Recovery Nutrition

With the increasing popularity of plant-based diets among athletes, research is focusing on optimizing recovery nutrition strategies using plant-based protein sources and whole foods. This area of study may provide valuable insights for athletes following vegetarian or vegan diets.

As research in these areas continues to evolve, athletes and sports nutrition professionals should stay informed about the latest findings to refine and improve recovery nutrition strategies.

Recovery Nutrition – Sports Dietitians Australia (SDA)

How important is recovery nutrition after exercise?

The importance of recovery nutrition depends on the type and duration of exercise just completed, body composition goals and personal preferences. The goals of the recovery nutrition are to:

• Appropriately refuel and rehydrate the body
• Promote muscle repair and growth
• Boost adaptation from the training session
• Support immune function

Proactive recovery nutrition is especially important if you complete two or more training sessions in one day or two sessions in close succession (e.g. evening session followed by early morning session the next day). However, if you’re exercising once a day or a couple of times a week, recovery nutrition is still important but you may be able to meet your nutrition goals from your usual meals or snacks than adding in extra food.

What can go happen if I get my recovery nutrition wrong?

• Inadequate nutrition recovery, especially if training multiple times a day, can result in:
• Increased fatigue (during training and at work or school)
• Reduced performance at your next training session or event
• Suboptimal gains from the session just completed
• Increased muscle soreness

How soon after exercise should I be eating and drinking?

Rehydrating should begin soon after finishing your training session or event, however, the urgency for carbohydrate and protein after exercise depends on how long you have until your next exercise session. The body is most effective at replacing carbohydrate and promoting muscle repair and growth in the first ~60-90min after exercise, however this will continue to occur for another ~12-24hr. So, if you have a quick turn around between sessions it’s a good idea to maximise your recovery in the first 60-90 minutes after you finish exercising. Otherwise you could use your next regular meal after the session as your recovery nutrition. Some people may benefit from splitting their recovery into two parts with a small snack soon after exercise to kick start the recovery process followed by their next main meal to complete their recovery goals.

What should I be eating after exercise?

Everyone is different in what they like to eat, what their appetite is like and what sits comfortably in their stomach in the hours after exercise but in general foods should:

• Be rich in quality carbohydrate to replenish muscle fuel stores
• Contain some lean protein to promote muscle repair
• Include a source of fluid and electrolytes to rehydrate effectively

There’s no one “best” option for what to eat after exercise. Dairy foods such as flavoured milk, smoothies or fruit yoghurt can be a great option as they can provide carbohydrate, protein, fluid and electrolytes ticking all of your recovery goals in one handy option. Some other options that you may like to choose include:

• Lean chicken and salad roll
• Bowl of muesli with yoghurt and berries
• Fresh fruit salad topped with Greek yoghurt
• Spaghetti with lean beef bolognaise sauce
• Chicken burrito with salad and cheese
• Small tin of tuna on crackers plus a banana

What is the best fluid to drink after exercise?

The ideal fluid during exercise depends on your goals. If you are using fluid mainly to rehydrate from the session than water or electrolyte drinks are a good option. If you are also drinking to meet your source of carbohydrate goals then sports drinks can be helpful as they contain both carbohydrates and fluid to help hydrate and fuel your body at the same time. Dairy based fluids such as smoothies and flavoured milk are especially handy if you want to protein, carbohydrate, fluid and electrolyte in one go. Specialised protein powders and recovery shakes may be useful in some situations for some people however, for many people their recovery goals can be met using regular foods and drinks.

For more information on this and other sports nutrition topics, subscribe to our newsletter or book to see an accredited sports dietitian.

Role of nutrition in performance enhancement and postexercise recovery

Open Access J Sports Med. 2015; 6: 259–267.

Kathryn L Beck

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

Jasmine S Thomson

²School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Richard J Swift

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

Pamela R von Hurst

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

²School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Correspondence: Kathryn L Beck, School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Private Bag 102 904, North Shore City 0745, Auckland, New Zealand, Tel +649 213 6662, Email zn. [email protected] © 2015 Beck et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) LicenseThe full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract

A number of factors contribute to success in sport, and diet is a key component. An athlete’s dietary requirements depend on several aspects, including the sport, the athlete’s goals, the environment, and practical issues. The importance of individualized dietary advice has been increasingly recognized, including day-to-day dietary advice and specific advice before, during, and after training and/or competition. Athletes use a range of dietary strategies to improve performance, with maximizing glycogen stores a key strategy for many. Carbohydrate intake during exercise maintains high levels of carbohydrate oxidation, prevents hypoglycemia, and has a positive effect on the central nervous system. Recent research has focused on athletes training with low carbohydrate availability to enhance metabolic adaptations, but whether this leads to an improvement in performance is unclear. The benefits of protein intake throughout the day following exercise are now well recognized. Athletes should aim to maintain adequate levels of hydration, and they should minimize fluid losses during exercise to no more than 2% of their body weight. Supplement use is widespread in athletes, with recent interest in the beneficial effects of nitrate, beta-alanine, and vitamin D on performance. However, an unregulated supplement industry and inadvertent contamination of supplements with banned substances increases the risk of a positive doping result. Although the availability of nutrition information for athletes varies, athletes will benefit from the advice of a registered dietician or nutritionist.

Keywords: nutrition, diet, sport, athlete, supplements, hydration

Introduction to the importance and influence of nutrition on exercise

Nutrition is increasingly recognized as a key component of optimal sporting performance, with both the science and practice of sports nutrition developing rapidly.1 Recent studies have found that a planned scientific nutritional strategy (consisting of fluid, carbohydrate, sodium, and caffeine) compared with a self-chosen nutritional strategy helped nonelite runners complete a marathon run faster2 and trained cyclists complete a time trial faster.3 Whereas training has the greatest potential to increase performance, it has been estimated that consumption of a carbohydrate–electrolyte drink or relatively low doses of caffeine may improve a 40 km cycling time trial performance by 32–42 and 55–84 seconds, respectively.4

Evidence supports a range of dietary strategies in enhancing sports performance. It is likely that combining several strategies will be of greater benefit than one strategy in isolation. 5 Dietary strategies to enhance performance include optimizing intakes of macronutrients, micronutrients, and fluids, including their composition and spacing throughout the day. The importance of individualized or personalized dietary advice is becoming increasingly recognized,6 with dietary strategies varying according to the individual athlete’s sport, personal goals, and practicalities (eg, food preferences). “Athlete” includes individuals competing in a range of sport types, such as strength and power (eg, weight-lifting), team (eg, football), and endurance (eg, marathon running). The use of dietary supplements can enhance performance, provided these are used appropriately. This manuscript provides an overview of dietary strategies used by athletes, the efficacy of these strategies, availability of nutrition information to athletes, and risks associated with dietary supplement intake.

Review of diet strategies employed by athletes

Maximizing muscle glycogen stores prior to exercise

Carbohydrate loading aims to maximize an athlete’s muscle glycogen stores prior to endurance exercise lasting longer than 90 minutes. Benefits include delayed onset of fatigue (approximately 20%) and improvement in performance of 2%–3%.7 Initial protocols involved a depletion phase (3 days of intense training and low carbohydrate intake) followed by a loading phase (3 days of reduced training and high carbohydrate intake).8,9 Further research showed muscle glycogen concentrations could be enhanced to a similar level without the glycogen-depletion phase,10 and more recently, that 24 hours may be sufficient to maximize glycogen stores.11,12 Current recommendations suggest that for sustained or intermittent exercise longer than 90 minutes, athletes should consume 10–12 g of carbohydrate per kg of body mass (BM) per day in the 36–48 hours prior to exercise.13

There appears to be no advantage to increasing pre-exercise muscle glycogen content for moderate-intensity cycling or running of 60–90 minutes, as significant levels of glycogen remain in the muscle following exercise.7 For exercise shorter than 90 minutes, 7–12 g of carbohydrate/kg of BM should be consumed during the 24 hours preceding. 13 Some14,15 but not all16 studies have shown enhanced performance of intermittent high-intensity exercise of 60–90 minutes with carbohydrate loading.

Carbohydrate eaten in the hours prior to exercise (compared with an overnight fast) has been shown to increase muscle glycogen stores and carbohydrate oxidation,17 extend cycle time to exhaustion,5 and improve exercise performance.5,18 Specific recommendations for exercise of longer than 60 minutes include 1–4 g of carbohydrate/kg of BM in the 1–4 hours prior.13 Most studies have not found improvements in performance from consuming low glycemic index (GI) foods prior to exercise.19 Any metabolic or performance effects from low GI foods appear to be attenuated when carbohydrate is consumed during exercise.20,21

Carbohydrate intake during the event

Carbohydrate ingestion has been shown to improve performance in events lasting approximately 1 hour.6 A growing body of evidence also demonstrates beneficial effects of a carbohydrate mouth rinse on performance. 22 It is thought that receptors in the oral cavity signal to the central nervous system to positively modify motor output.23

In longer events, carbohydrate improves performance primarily by preventing hypoglycemia and maintaining high levels of carbohydrate oxidation.6 The rate of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation is limited by the small intestine’s ability to absorb carbohydrate.6 Glucose is absorbed by the sodium-dependent transporter (SGLT1), which becomes saturated with an intake of approximately 1 g/minute. The simultaneous ingestion of fructose (absorbed via glucose transporter 5 [GLUT5]), enables oxidation rates of approximately 1.3 g/minute,24 with performance benefits apparent in the third hour of exercise.6 Recommendations reflect this, with 90 g of carbohydrate from multiple sources recommended for events longer than 2.5 hours, and 60 g of carbohydrate from either single or multiple sources recommended for exercise of 2–3 hours’ duration (). For slower athletes exercising at a lower intensity, carbohydrate requirements will be less due to lower carbohydrate oxidation. 6 Daily training with high carbohydrate availability has been shown to increase exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates.25

Table 1

Carbohydrate recommendations for well-trained athletes during exercise

Exercise duration	Example	Recommended carbohydrate intake per hour
30–75 minutes	Sprint triathlon (750 m swim, 20 km cycle, 5 km run) Netball (4× 15-minute quarters)	Small amounts or mouth rinsea
1–2 hours	Soccer/football – 2× 45-minute halves	30 ga
2–3 hours	Marathon run (42. 2 km run)	60 ga
>2.5 hours	Half ironman triathlon (1.9 km swim, 90 km cycle, 21.1 km run)	90 gb

The “train-low, compete-high” approach

The “train-low, compete-high” concept is training with low carbohydrate availability to promote adaptations such as enhanced activation of cell-signaling pathways, increased mitochondrial enzyme content and activity, enhanced lipid oxidation rates, and hence improved exercise capacity.26 However, there is no clear evidence that performance is improved with this approach.27 For example, when highly trained cyclists were separated into once-daily (train-high) or twice-daily (train-low) training sessions, increases in resting muscle glycogen content were seen in the low-carbohydrate-availability group, along with other selected training adaptations. 28 However, performance in a 1-hour time trial after 3 weeks of training was no different between groups. Other research has produced similar results.29 Different strategies have been suggested (eg, training after an overnight fast, training twice per day, restricting carbohydrate during recovery),26 but further research is needed to establish optimal dietary periodization plans.27

Fat as a fuel during endurance exercise

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in fat as a fuel, particularly for ultraendurance exercise. A high-carbohydrate strategy inhibits fat utilization during exercise,30 which may not be beneficial due to the abundance of energy stored in the body as fat. Creating an environment that optimizes fat oxidation potentially occurs when dietary carbohydrate is reduced to a level that promotes ketosis.31 However, this strategy may impair performance of high-intensity activity, by contributing to a reduction in pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and glycogenolysis. 32 The lack of performance benefits seen in studies investigating “high-fat” diets may be attributed to inadequate carbohydrate restriction and time for adaptation.31 Research into the performance effects of high fat diets continues.

Protein

While protein consumption prior to and during endurance and resistance exercise has been shown to enhance rates of muscle protein synthesis (MPS), a recent review found protein ingestion alongside carbohydrate during exercise does not improve time–trial performance when compared with the ingestion of adequate amounts of carbohydrate alone.33

Fluid and electrolytes

The purpose of fluid consumption during exercise is primarily to maintain hydration and thermoregulation, thereby benefiting performance. Evidence is emerging on increased risk of oxidative stress with dehydration.34 Fluid consumption prior to exercise is recommended to ensure that the athlete is well-hydrated prior to commencing exercise.35 In addition, carefully planned hyperhydration (fluid overloading) prior to an event may reset fluid balance and increase fluid retention, and consequently improve heat tolerance. 36 However, fluid overloading may increase the risk of hyponatremia37 and impact negatively on performance due to feelings of fullness and the need to urinate.

Hydration requirements are closely linked to sweat loss, which is highly variable (0.5–2.0 L/hour) and dependent on type and duration of exercise, ambient temperature, and athletes’ individual characteristics.35 Sodium losses linked to high temperature can be substantial, and in events of long duration or in hot temperatures, sodium must be replaced along with fluid to reduce risk of hyponatremia.35

It has long been suggested that fluid losses greater than 2% of BM can impair performance,35 but there is controversy over the recommendation that athletes maintain BM by fluid ingestion throughout an event.37 Well-trained athletes who “drink to thirst” have been found to lose as much as 3.1% of BM with no impairment of performance in ultraendurance events.38 Ambient temperature is important, and a review illustrated that exercise performance was preserved if loss was restricted to 1. 8% and 3.2% of BM in hot and temperate conditions, respectively.39

Dietary supplementation: nitrates, beta-alanine, and vitamin D

Performance supplements shown to enhance performance include caffeine, beetroot juice, beta-alanine (BA), creatine, and bicarbonate.40 Comprehensive reviews on other supplements including caffeine, creatine, and bicarbonate can be found elsewhere.41 In recent years, research has focused on the role of nitrate, BA, and vitamin D and performance. Nitrate is most commonly provided as sodium nitrate or beetroot juice.42 Dietary nitrates are reduced (in mouth and stomach) to nitrites, and then to nitric oxide. During exercise, nitric oxide potentially influences skeletal muscle function through regulation of blood flow and glucose homeostasis, as well as mitochondrial respiration.43 During endurance exercise, nitrate supplementation has been shown to increase exercise efficiency (4%–5% reduction in VO₂ at a steady state; 0.9% improvement in time trials), reduce fatigue, and attenuate oxidative stress. 42 Similarly, a 4.2% improvement in performance was shown in a test designed to simulate a football game.44

BA is a precursor of carnosine, which is thought to have a number of performance-enhancing functions including the reduction of acidosis, regulation of calcium, and antioxidant properties.45 Supplementation with BA has been shown to augment intracellular carnosine concentration.45 A systematic review concluded that BA may increase power output and working capacity and decrease feelings of fatigue, but that there are still questions about safety. The authors suggest caution in the use of BA as an ergogenic aid.46

Vitamin D is essential for the maintenance of bone health and control of calcium homeostasis, but is also important for muscle strength,47,48 regulation of the immune system,49 and cardiovascular health.50 Thus inadequate vitamin D status has potential implications for the overall health of athletes and performance. A recent review found that the vitamin D status of most athletes reflects that of the population in their locality, with lower levels in winter, and athletes who train predominantly indoors are at greater risk of deficiency. 51 There are no dietary vitamin D recommendations for athletes; however, for muscle function, bone health, and avoidance of respiratory infections, current evidence supports maintenance of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (circulating form) concentrations of 80–100 nmol/L.51

Diets specific for postexercise

Recovery from a bout of exercise is integral to the athlete’s training regimen. Without adequate recovery of carbohydrate, protein, fluids, and electrolytes, beneficial adaptations and performance may be hampered.

Muscle glycogen synthesis

Consuming carbohydrates immediately postexercise to coincide with the initial rapid phase of glycogen synthesis has been used as a strategy to maximize rates of muscle glycogen synthesis. An early study found delaying feeding by 2 hours after glycogen-depleting cycling exercise reduced glycogen synthesis rates.52 However the importance of this early enhanced rate of glycogen synthesis has been questioned in the context of extended recovery periods with sufficient carbohydrate consumption. Enhancing the rate of glycogen synthesis with immediate carbohydrate consumption after exercise appears most relevant when the next exercise session is within 8 hours of the first.53,54 Feeding frequency is also irrelevant with extended recovery; by 24 hours postexercise, consumption of carbohydrate as four large meals or 16 small snacks had comparable effects on muscle glycogen storage.55

With less than 8 hours between exercise sessions, it is recommended that for maximal glycogen synthesis, 1.0–1.2 g/kg/hour is consumed for the first 4 hours, followed by resumption of daily carbohydrate requirements.13 Additional protein has been shown to enhance glycogen synthesis rates when carbohydrate intake is suboptimal.56 The consumption of moderate to high GI foods postexercise is recommended;13 however, when either a high-GI or low-GI meal was consumed after glycogen-depleting exercise, no performance differences were seen in a 5 km cycling time trial 3 hours later.57

Muscle protein synthesis

An acute bout of intense endurance or resistance exercise can induce a transient increase in protein turnover, and, until feeding, protein balance remains negative. Protein consumption after exercise enhances MPS and net protein balance,58 predominantly by increasing mitochondrial protein fraction with endurance training, and myofibrillar protein fraction with resistance training.59

Only a few studies have investigated the effect of timing of protein intake postexercise. No significant difference in MPS was observed over 4 hours postexercise when a mixture of essential amino acids and sucrose was fed 1 hour versus 3 hours after resistance exercise.60 Conversely, when a protein and carbohydrate supplement was provided immediately versus 3 hours after cycling exercise, leg protein synthesis increased threefold over 3 hours.61 A meta-analysis found timed postexercise protein intake becomes less important with longer recovery periods and adequate protein intake,62 at least for resistance training.

Dose–response studies suggest approximately 20 g of high-quality protein is sufficient to maximize MPS at rest,63 following resistance,63,64 and after high-intensity aerobic exercise. 65 Rate of MPS has been found to approximately triple 45–90 minutes after protein consumption at rest, and then return to baseline levels, even with continued availability of circulating essential amino acids (termed the “muscle full” effect).66 Since exercise-induced protein synthesis is elevated for 24–48 hours following resistance exercise67 and 24–28 hours following high-intensity aerobic exercise,68 and feeding protein postexercise has an additive effect,58,64 then multiple feedings over the day postexercise might maximize muscle growth. In fact, feeding 20 g of whey protein every 3 hours was subsequently found to maximally stimulate muscle myofibrillar protein synthesis following resistance exercise.69,70

In resistance training, where postexercise intake of protein was balanced by protein intake later in the day, increased adaptation of muscle hypertrophy resulted in equivocal strength performance effects.71,72 Most studies have not found a subsequent benefit to aerobic performance with postexercise protein consumption. 73,74 However, in two well-controlled studies in which postexercise protein intake was balanced by protein intake later in the day, improvements were seen in cycling time to exhaustion75 and in cycling sprint performance.76

Fluids and electrolyte balance

Fluid and electrolyte replacement after exercise can be achieved through resuming normal hydration practices. However, when euhydration is needed within 24 hours or substantial body weight has been lost (>5% of BM), a more structured response may be warranted to replace fluids and electrolytes.77

Availability of nutritional information to athletes at varying levels

The availability of nutrition information for athletes varies. Younger or recreational athletes are more likely to receive generalized nutritional information of poorer quality from individuals such as coaches.78 Elite athletes are more likely to have access to specialized sports-nutrition input from qualified professionals. A range of sports science and medicine support systems are in place in different countries to assist elite athletes,1 and nutrition is a key component of these services. Some countries have nutrition programs embedded within sports institutes (eg, Australia) or alternatively have National Olympic Committees that support nutrition programs (eg, United States of America).1 However, not all athletes at the elite level have access to sports-nutrition services. This may be due to financial constraints of the sport, geographical issues, and a lack of recognition of the value of a sports-nutrition service.78

Athletes eat several times per day, with snacks contributing to energy requirements.79 Dietary intake differs across sports, with endurance athletes more likely to achieve energy and carbohydrate requirements compared to athletes in weight-conscious sports.79 A review found daily intakes of carbohydrate were 7.6 g/kg and 5.7 g/kg of BM for male and female endurance athletes, respectively.80 Ten elite Kenyan runners met macronutrient recommendations but not guidelines for fluid intake.81 A review of fluid strategies showed a wide variability of intake across sports, with several factors influencing intake, many outside the athlete’s control.82

Nutrition information may be delivered to athletes by a range of people (dietitians, nutritionists, medical practitioners, sports scientists, coaches, trainers) and from a variety of sources (nutrition education programs, sporting magazines, the media and Internet).83 Of concern is the provision of nutrition advice from outside various professional’s scope of practice. For example, in Australia 88% of registered exercise professionals provided nutrition advice, despite many not having adequate nutrition training.84 A study of Canadian high-performance athletes from 34 sports found physicians ranked eighth and dietitians, 16th as choice of source of dietary supplement information.85

Risks of contravening the doping regulations

Supplement use is widespread in athletes.86,87 For example, 87.5% of elite athletes in Australia used dietary supplements88 and 87% of Canadian high-performance athletes took dietary supplements within the past 6 months85 (). It is difficult to compare studies due to differences in the criteria used to define dietary supplements, variations in assessing supplement intake, and disparities in the populations studied.85

Table 2

Dietary supplement use in high-performing athletes from 2010–2015

Athletes take supplements for many reasons, including for proposed performance benefits, for prevention or treatment of a nutrient deficiency, for convenience, or due to fear of “missing out” by not taking a particular supplement.41

The potential benefits (eg, improved performance) of taking a dietary supplement must outweigh the risks.86,87 There are few permitted dietary supplements available that have an ergogenic effect.87,89 Dietary supplementation cannot compensate for poor food choices.87 Other concerns include lack of efficacy, safety issues (toxicity, medical concerns), negative nutrient interactions, unpleasant side effects, ethical issues, financial expense, and lack of quality control.41,86,87 Of major concern, is the consumption of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Inadequate regulation in the supplement industry (compounded by widespread Internet sales) makes it difficult for athletes to choose supplements wisely.41,86,87 In 2000–2001, a study of 634 different supplements from 13 countries found that 94 (14.8%) contained undeclared steroids, banned by WADA.90 Many contaminated supplements were routinely used by athletes (eg, vitamin and mineral supplements).86 Several studies have confirmed these findings.41,86,89

A positive drug test in an athlete can occur with even a minute quantity of a banned substance.41,87 WADA maintains a “strict liability” policy, whereby every athlete is responsible for any substance found in their body regardless of how it got there.41,86,87,89 The World Anti-Doping Code (January 1, 2015) does recognize the issue of contaminated supplements.91 Whereas the code upholds the principle of strict liability, athletes may receive a lesser ban if they can show “no significant fault” to demonstrate they did not intend to cheat. The updated code imposes longer bans on those who cheat intentionally, includes athlete support personnel (eg, coaches, medical staff), and has an increased focus on antidoping education.91,99

In an effort to educate athletes about sports-supplement use, the Australian Institute of Sport’s sports-supplement program categorizes supplements according to evidence of efficacy in performance and risk of doping outcome.40 Category A supplements have sound evidence for use and include sports foods, medical supplements, and performance supplements. Category D supplements should not be used by athletes, as they are banned or are at high risk for contamination. These include stimulants, prohormones and hormone boosters, growth hormone releasers, peptides, glycerol, and colostrum.40

Conclusion

Athletes are always looking for an edge to improve their performance, and there are a range of dietary strategies available. Nonetheless, dietary recommendations should be individualized for each athlete and their sport and provided by an appropriately qualified professional to ensure optimal performance. Dietary supplements should be used with caution and as part of an overall nutrition and performance plan.

Footnotes

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

References

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Role of nutrition in performance enhancement and postexercise recovery

Open Access J Sports Med. 2015; 6: 259–267.

Kathryn L Beck

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

Jasmine S Thomson

²School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Richard J Swift

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

Pamela R von Hurst

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

¹School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

²School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Correspondence: Kathryn L Beck, School of Food and Nutrition, Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Health, Massey University Albany, Private Bag 102 904, North Shore City 0745, Auckland, New Zealand, Tel +649 213 6662, Email [email protected] © 2015 Beck et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) LicenseThe full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract

A number of factors contribute to success in sport, and diet is a key component. An athlete’s dietary requirements depend on several aspects, including the sport, the athlete’s goals, the environment, and practical issues. The importance of individualized dietary advice has been increasingly recognized, including day-to-day dietary advice and specific advice before, during, and after training and/or competition. Athletes use a range of dietary strategies to improve performance, with maximizing glycogen stores a key strategy for many. Carbohydrate intake during exercise maintains high levels of carbohydrate oxidation, prevents hypoglycemia, and has a positive effect on the central nervous system. Recent research has focused on athletes training with low carbohydrate availability to enhance metabolic adaptations, but whether this leads to an improvement in performance is unclear. The benefits of protein intake throughout the day following exercise are now well recognized. Athletes should aim to maintain adequate levels of hydration, and they should minimize fluid losses during exercise to no more than 2% of their body weight. Supplement use is widespread in athletes, with recent interest in the beneficial effects of nitrate, beta-alanine, and vitamin D on performance. However, an unregulated supplement industry and inadvertent contamination of supplements with banned substances increases the risk of a positive doping result. Although the availability of nutrition information for athletes varies, athletes will benefit from the advice of a registered dietician or nutritionist.

Keywords: nutrition, diet, sport, athlete, supplements, hydration

Introduction to the importance and influence of nutrition on exercise

Nutrition is increasingly recognized as a key component of optimal sporting performance, with both the science and practice of sports nutrition developing rapidly.1 Recent studies have found that a planned scientific nutritional strategy (consisting of fluid, carbohydrate, sodium, and caffeine) compared with a self-chosen nutritional strategy helped nonelite runners complete a marathon run faster2 and trained cyclists complete a time trial faster.3 Whereas training has the greatest potential to increase performance, it has been estimated that consumption of a carbohydrate–electrolyte drink or relatively low doses of caffeine may improve a 40 km cycling time trial performance by 32–42 and 55–84 seconds, respectively.4

Evidence supports a range of dietary strategies in enhancing sports performance. It is likely that combining several strategies will be of greater benefit than one strategy in isolation.5 Dietary strategies to enhance performance include optimizing intakes of macronutrients, micronutrients, and fluids, including their composition and spacing throughout the day. The importance of individualized or personalized dietary advice is becoming increasingly recognized,6 with dietary strategies varying according to the individual athlete’s sport, personal goals, and practicalities (eg, food preferences). “Athlete” includes individuals competing in a range of sport types, such as strength and power (eg, weight-lifting), team (eg, football), and endurance (eg, marathon running). The use of dietary supplements can enhance performance, provided these are used appropriately. This manuscript provides an overview of dietary strategies used by athletes, the efficacy of these strategies, availability of nutrition information to athletes, and risks associated with dietary supplement intake.

Review of diet strategies employed by athletes

Maximizing muscle glycogen stores prior to exercise

Carbohydrate loading aims to maximize an athlete’s muscle glycogen stores prior to endurance exercise lasting longer than 90 minutes. Benefits include delayed onset of fatigue (approximately 20%) and improvement in performance of 2%–3%.7 Initial protocols involved a depletion phase (3 days of intense training and low carbohydrate intake) followed by a loading phase (3 days of reduced training and high carbohydrate intake).8,9 Further research showed muscle glycogen concentrations could be enhanced to a similar level without the glycogen-depletion phase,10 and more recently, that 24 hours may be sufficient to maximize glycogen stores.11,12 Current recommendations suggest that for sustained or intermittent exercise longer than 90 minutes, athletes should consume 10–12 g of carbohydrate per kg of body mass (BM) per day in the 36–48 hours prior to exercise.13

There appears to be no advantage to increasing pre-exercise muscle glycogen content for moderate-intensity cycling or running of 60–90 minutes, as significant levels of glycogen remain in the muscle following exercise.7 For exercise shorter than 90 minutes, 7–12 g of carbohydrate/kg of BM should be consumed during the 24 hours preceding.13 Some14,15 but not all16 studies have shown enhanced performance of intermittent high-intensity exercise of 60–90 minutes with carbohydrate loading.

Carbohydrate eaten in the hours prior to exercise (compared with an overnight fast) has been shown to increase muscle glycogen stores and carbohydrate oxidation,17 extend cycle time to exhaustion,5 and improve exercise performance.5,18 Specific recommendations for exercise of longer than 60 minutes include 1–4 g of carbohydrate/kg of BM in the 1–4 hours prior.13 Most studies have not found improvements in performance from consuming low glycemic index (GI) foods prior to exercise.19 Any metabolic or performance effects from low GI foods appear to be attenuated when carbohydrate is consumed during exercise.20,21

Carbohydrate intake during the event

Carbohydrate ingestion has been shown to improve performance in events lasting approximately 1 hour.6 A growing body of evidence also demonstrates beneficial effects of a carbohydrate mouth rinse on performance.22 It is thought that receptors in the oral cavity signal to the central nervous system to positively modify motor output.23

In longer events, carbohydrate improves performance primarily by preventing hypoglycemia and maintaining high levels of carbohydrate oxidation.6 The rate of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation is limited by the small intestine’s ability to absorb carbohydrate.6 Glucose is absorbed by the sodium-dependent transporter (SGLT1), which becomes saturated with an intake of approximately 1 g/minute. The simultaneous ingestion of fructose (absorbed via glucose transporter 5 [GLUT5]), enables oxidation rates of approximately 1.3 g/minute,24 with performance benefits apparent in the third hour of exercise.6 Recommendations reflect this, with 90 g of carbohydrate from multiple sources recommended for events longer than 2.5 hours, and 60 g of carbohydrate from either single or multiple sources recommended for exercise of 2–3 hours’ duration (). For slower athletes exercising at a lower intensity, carbohydrate requirements will be less due to lower carbohydrate oxidation.6 Daily training with high carbohydrate availability has been shown to increase exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates.25

Table 1

Carbohydrate recommendations for well-trained athletes during exercise

The “train-low, compete-high” approach

The “train-low, compete-high” concept is training with low carbohydrate availability to promote adaptations such as enhanced activation of cell-signaling pathways, increased mitochondrial enzyme content and activity, enhanced lipid oxidation rates, and hence improved exercise capacity.26 However, there is no clear evidence that performance is improved with this approach.27 For example, when highly trained cyclists were separated into once-daily (train-high) or twice-daily (train-low) training sessions, increases in resting muscle glycogen content were seen in the low-carbohydrate-availability group, along with other selected training adaptations.28 However, performance in a 1-hour time trial after 3 weeks of training was no different between groups. Other research has produced similar results.29 Different strategies have been suggested (eg, training after an overnight fast, training twice per day, restricting carbohydrate during recovery),26 but further research is needed to establish optimal dietary periodization plans.27

Fat as a fuel during endurance exercise

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in fat as a fuel, particularly for ultraendurance exercise. A high-carbohydrate strategy inhibits fat utilization during exercise,30 which may not be beneficial due to the abundance of energy stored in the body as fat. Creating an environment that optimizes fat oxidation potentially occurs when dietary carbohydrate is reduced to a level that promotes ketosis.31 However, this strategy may impair performance of high-intensity activity, by contributing to a reduction in pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and glycogenolysis.32 The lack of performance benefits seen in studies investigating “high-fat” diets may be attributed to inadequate carbohydrate restriction and time for adaptation.31 Research into the performance effects of high fat diets continues.

Protein

While protein consumption prior to and during endurance and resistance exercise has been shown to enhance rates of muscle protein synthesis (MPS), a recent review found protein ingestion alongside carbohydrate during exercise does not improve time–trial performance when compared with the ingestion of adequate amounts of carbohydrate alone.33

Fluid and electrolytes

The purpose of fluid consumption during exercise is primarily to maintain hydration and thermoregulation, thereby benefiting performance. Evidence is emerging on increased risk of oxidative stress with dehydration.34 Fluid consumption prior to exercise is recommended to ensure that the athlete is well-hydrated prior to commencing exercise.35 In addition, carefully planned hyperhydration (fluid overloading) prior to an event may reset fluid balance and increase fluid retention, and consequently improve heat tolerance.36 However, fluid overloading may increase the risk of hyponatremia37 and impact negatively on performance due to feelings of fullness and the need to urinate.

Hydration requirements are closely linked to sweat loss, which is highly variable (0.5–2.0 L/hour) and dependent on type and duration of exercise, ambient temperature, and athletes’ individual characteristics.35 Sodium losses linked to high temperature can be substantial, and in events of long duration or in hot temperatures, sodium must be replaced along with fluid to reduce risk of hyponatremia.35

It has long been suggested that fluid losses greater than 2% of BM can impair performance,35 but there is controversy over the recommendation that athletes maintain BM by fluid ingestion throughout an event.37 Well-trained athletes who “drink to thirst” have been found to lose as much as 3.1% of BM with no impairment of performance in ultraendurance events.38 Ambient temperature is important, and a review illustrated that exercise performance was preserved if loss was restricted to 1.8% and 3.2% of BM in hot and temperate conditions, respectively.39

Dietary supplementation: nitrates, beta-alanine, and vitamin D

Performance supplements shown to enhance performance include caffeine, beetroot juice, beta-alanine (BA), creatine, and bicarbonate.40 Comprehensive reviews on other supplements including caffeine, creatine, and bicarbonate can be found elsewhere.41 In recent years, research has focused on the role of nitrate, BA, and vitamin D and performance. Nitrate is most commonly provided as sodium nitrate or beetroot juice.42 Dietary nitrates are reduced (in mouth and stomach) to nitrites, and then to nitric oxide. During exercise, nitric oxide potentially influences skeletal muscle function through regulation of blood flow and glucose homeostasis, as well as mitochondrial respiration.43 During endurance exercise, nitrate supplementation has been shown to increase exercise efficiency (4%–5% reduction in VO₂ at a steady state; 0.9% improvement in time trials), reduce fatigue, and attenuate oxidative stress.42 Similarly, a 4.2% improvement in performance was shown in a test designed to simulate a football game.44

BA is a precursor of carnosine, which is thought to have a number of performance-enhancing functions including the reduction of acidosis, regulation of calcium, and antioxidant properties.45 Supplementation with BA has been shown to augment intracellular carnosine concentration.45 A systematic review concluded that BA may increase power output and working capacity and decrease feelings of fatigue, but that there are still questions about safety. The authors suggest caution in the use of BA as an ergogenic aid.46

Vitamin D is essential for the maintenance of bone health and control of calcium homeostasis, but is also important for muscle strength,47,48 regulation of the immune system,49 and cardiovascular health.50 Thus inadequate vitamin D status has potential implications for the overall health of athletes and performance. A recent review found that the vitamin D status of most athletes reflects that of the population in their locality, with lower levels in winter, and athletes who train predominantly indoors are at greater risk of deficiency.51 There are no dietary vitamin D recommendations for athletes; however, for muscle function, bone health, and avoidance of respiratory infections, current evidence supports maintenance of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (circulating form) concentrations of 80–100 nmol/L.51

Diets specific for postexercise

Recovery from a bout of exercise is integral to the athlete’s training regimen. Without adequate recovery of carbohydrate, protein, fluids, and electrolytes, beneficial adaptations and performance may be hampered.

Muscle glycogen synthesis

Consuming carbohydrates immediately postexercise to coincide with the initial rapid phase of glycogen synthesis has been used as a strategy to maximize rates of muscle glycogen synthesis. An early study found delaying feeding by 2 hours after glycogen-depleting cycling exercise reduced glycogen synthesis rates.52 However the importance of this early enhanced rate of glycogen synthesis has been questioned in the context of extended recovery periods with sufficient carbohydrate consumption. Enhancing the rate of glycogen synthesis with immediate carbohydrate consumption after exercise appears most relevant when the next exercise session is within 8 hours of the first.53,54 Feeding frequency is also irrelevant with extended recovery; by 24 hours postexercise, consumption of carbohydrate as four large meals or 16 small snacks had comparable effects on muscle glycogen storage.55

With less than 8 hours between exercise sessions, it is recommended that for maximal glycogen synthesis, 1.0–1.2 g/kg/hour is consumed for the first 4 hours, followed by resumption of daily carbohydrate requirements.13 Additional protein has been shown to enhance glycogen synthesis rates when carbohydrate intake is suboptimal.56 The consumption of moderate to high GI foods postexercise is recommended;13 however, when either a high-GI or low-GI meal was consumed after glycogen-depleting exercise, no performance differences were seen in a 5 km cycling time trial 3 hours later.57

Muscle protein synthesis

An acute bout of intense endurance or resistance exercise can induce a transient increase in protein turnover, and, until feeding, protein balance remains negative. Protein consumption after exercise enhances MPS and net protein balance,58 predominantly by increasing mitochondrial protein fraction with endurance training, and myofibrillar protein fraction with resistance training.59

Only a few studies have investigated the effect of timing of protein intake postexercise. No significant difference in MPS was observed over 4 hours postexercise when a mixture of essential amino acids and sucrose was fed 1 hour versus 3 hours after resistance exercise.60 Conversely, when a protein and carbohydrate supplement was provided immediately versus 3 hours after cycling exercise, leg protein synthesis increased threefold over 3 hours.61 A meta-analysis found timed postexercise protein intake becomes less important with longer recovery periods and adequate protein intake,62 at least for resistance training.

Dose–response studies suggest approximately 20 g of high-quality protein is sufficient to maximize MPS at rest,63 following resistance,63,64 and after high-intensity aerobic exercise.65 Rate of MPS has been found to approximately triple 45–90 minutes after protein consumption at rest, and then return to baseline levels, even with continued availability of circulating essential amino acids (termed the “muscle full” effect).66 Since exercise-induced protein synthesis is elevated for 24–48 hours following resistance exercise67 and 24–28 hours following high-intensity aerobic exercise,68 and feeding protein postexercise has an additive effect,58,64 then multiple feedings over the day postexercise might maximize muscle growth. In fact, feeding 20 g of whey protein every 3 hours was subsequently found to maximally stimulate muscle myofibrillar protein synthesis following resistance exercise.69,70

In resistance training, where postexercise intake of protein was balanced by protein intake later in the day, increased adaptation of muscle hypertrophy resulted in equivocal strength performance effects.71,72 Most studies have not found a subsequent benefit to aerobic performance with postexercise protein consumption.73,74 However, in two well-controlled studies in which postexercise protein intake was balanced by protein intake later in the day, improvements were seen in cycling time to exhaustion75 and in cycling sprint performance.76

Fluids and electrolyte balance

Fluid and electrolyte replacement after exercise can be achieved through resuming normal hydration practices. However, when euhydration is needed within 24 hours or substantial body weight has been lost (>5% of BM), a more structured response may be warranted to replace fluids and electrolytes.77

Availability of nutritional information to athletes at varying levels

The availability of nutrition information for athletes varies. Younger or recreational athletes are more likely to receive generalized nutritional information of poorer quality from individuals such as coaches.78 Elite athletes are more likely to have access to specialized sports-nutrition input from qualified professionals. A range of sports science and medicine support systems are in place in different countries to assist elite athletes,1 and nutrition is a key component of these services. Some countries have nutrition programs embedded within sports institutes (eg, Australia) or alternatively have National Olympic Committees that support nutrition programs (eg, United States of America).1 However, not all athletes at the elite level have access to sports-nutrition services. This may be due to financial constraints of the sport, geographical issues, and a lack of recognition of the value of a sports-nutrition service.78

Athletes eat several times per day, with snacks contributing to energy requirements.79 Dietary intake differs across sports, with endurance athletes more likely to achieve energy and carbohydrate requirements compared to athletes in weight-conscious sports.79 A review found daily intakes of carbohydrate were 7.6 g/kg and 5.7 g/kg of BM for male and female endurance athletes, respectively.80 Ten elite Kenyan runners met macronutrient recommendations but not guidelines for fluid intake.81 A review of fluid strategies showed a wide variability of intake across sports, with several factors influencing intake, many outside the athlete’s control.82

Nutrition information may be delivered to athletes by a range of people (dietitians, nutritionists, medical practitioners, sports scientists, coaches, trainers) and from a variety of sources (nutrition education programs, sporting magazines, the media and Internet).83 Of concern is the provision of nutrition advice from outside various professional’s scope of practice. For example, in Australia 88% of registered exercise professionals provided nutrition advice, despite many not having adequate nutrition training.84 A study of Canadian high-performance athletes from 34 sports found physicians ranked eighth and dietitians, 16th as choice of source of dietary supplement information.85

Risks of contravening the doping regulations

Supplement use is widespread in athletes.86,87 For example, 87.5% of elite athletes in Australia used dietary supplements88 and 87% of Canadian high-performance athletes took dietary supplements within the past 6 months85 (). It is difficult to compare studies due to differences in the criteria used to define dietary supplements, variations in assessing supplement intake, and disparities in the populations studied.85

Table 2

Dietary supplement use in high-performing athletes from 2010–2015

Athletes take supplements for many reasons, including for proposed performance benefits, for prevention or treatment of a nutrient deficiency, for convenience, or due to fear of “missing out” by not taking a particular supplement.41

The potential benefits (eg, improved performance) of taking a dietary supplement must outweigh the risks.86,87 There are few permitted dietary supplements available that have an ergogenic effect.87,89 Dietary supplementation cannot compensate for poor food choices.87 Other concerns include lack of efficacy, safety issues (toxicity, medical concerns), negative nutrient interactions, unpleasant side effects, ethical issues, financial expense, and lack of quality control.41,86,87 Of major concern, is the consumption of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Inadequate regulation in the supplement industry (compounded by widespread Internet sales) makes it difficult for athletes to choose supplements wisely.41,86,87 In 2000–2001, a study of 634 different supplements from 13 countries found that 94 (14.8%) contained undeclared steroids, banned by WADA.90 Many contaminated supplements were routinely used by athletes (eg, vitamin and mineral supplements).86 Several studies have confirmed these findings.41,86,89

A positive drug test in an athlete can occur with even a minute quantity of a banned substance.41,87 WADA maintains a “strict liability” policy, whereby every athlete is responsible for any substance found in their body regardless of how it got there.41,86,87,89 The World Anti-Doping Code (January 1, 2015) does recognize the issue of contaminated supplements.91 Whereas the code upholds the principle of strict liability, athletes may receive a lesser ban if they can show “no significant fault” to demonstrate they did not intend to cheat. The updated code imposes longer bans on those who cheat intentionally, includes athlete support personnel (eg, coaches, medical staff), and has an increased focus on antidoping education.91,99

In an effort to educate athletes about sports-supplement use, the Australian Institute of Sport’s sports-supplement program categorizes supplements according to evidence of efficacy in performance and risk of doping outcome.40 Category A supplements have sound evidence for use and include sports foods, medical supplements, and performance supplements. Category D supplements should not be used by athletes, as they are banned or are at high risk for contamination. These include stimulants, prohormones and hormone boosters, growth hormone releasers, peptides, glycerol, and colostrum.40

Conclusion

Athletes are always looking for an edge to improve their performance, and there are a range of dietary strategies available. Nonetheless, dietary recommendations should be individualized for each athlete and their sport and provided by an appropriately qualified professional to ensure optimal performance. Dietary supplements should be used with caution and as part of an overall nutrition and performance plan.

Footnotes

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

References

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3 R’s of Workout Recovery Nutrition

The principles of post-workout or recovery nutrition can be quite simple and easily be accounted for in a client’s custom nutrition plan. These principles include providing energy to replace muscle glycogen stores, helping to maximize the repair of muscle damage, and sufficiently replenishing any fluids and electrolytes lost during training. 

Simply put, you need to help your clients follow the three “R’s” of recovery—refuel, rebuild and rehydrate. These are the cornerstones of post-workout and recovery nutrition. They are also essential for maximizing the training effect, which can have different applications depending on the type, intensity and duration of the activity. Here is a brief overview of the three R’s of recovery, followed by sample recovery diets for three specific workouts. 

1. Refuel

Nutritional recovery starts by refueling with glycogen or carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide the body and brain with the fuel needed to recover and ultimately adapt to the training session.

Current data indicates that after a workout the muscle cells’ ability to begin rebuilding and replenishment peaks at about 15 minutes and declines by as much as 40 percent within 60 minutes.

Researchers report that immediate intake of carbohydrates results in a 300 percent increase in muscle glycogen at two hours and a 135 percent increase at four hours.

2. Rebuild

The next step is rebuilding cells by focusing on the protein and amino acids required to help maximize muscle repair. Even a simple cardio session results in muscle breakdown, so protein is an essential component for all post-exercise nutrition.

In a 2010 review published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition Exercise and Metabolism, researchers noted that the consumption of 20 grams of protein, or an equivalent of 9 grams of essential amino acids, can maximize muscle protein-synthesis rates during the first hours of post-exercise recovery.

However, the amount of protein needed in the post-workout period is often overestimated. There are certain levels of protein that are needed, but more doesn’t always mean more muscle or better recovery.

Depending on the type and intensity of exercise, and the total calories of course needed for recovery, a range of 0.3 to 0.5 grams per kg of bodyweight, or a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein, is recommended.

3. Rehydrate

The final step is rehydration. Adequate fluids help regulate body temperature and blood pressure, and transport energy and nutrients throughout the body.

That is why it is essential to allow the body to achieve balance and maintain the process of recovery by replenishing any fluids lost during activity.

Cramping and muscle fatigue can often keep clients from sticking to a workout plan. By rehydrating and replenishing sodium, they’ll be able to reduce these post-workout symptoms.

To learn more about how you to calculate how much water your clients should be drinking, check out this Evolution Nutrition blog on hydration. 

Now that you’ve had a chance to skim over the three R’s, let’s put them into practice using three different workouts. 

Steady-state Cardio Recovery Nutrition

Goal: To rehydrate and replenish electrolytes, while maximizing post-exercise calorie burning

Recovery Snack Options: Whole-wheat crackers, fresh fruit with high water content and cheese

6 whole-wheat crackers
1 medium apple (sliced)
2 slices non-fat cheese

Nutrition: 278 Calories / 43g Carbohydrate / 13g Protein / 6g Fat

Post-workout Yogurt Parfait

¼ C nonfat yogurt
½ C whole grain cereal
½ C fresh strawberries (or other berry)

Nutrition: 270 Calories / 62 g Carbohydrate / 10g Protein / 2g Fat 

Guidelines: Fluids and electrolytes can be consumed immediately after and should be equal to about 16 to 20 ounces of water/fluid for every pound lost during the steady-state cardio. If bodyweight loss cannot be measured, a good rule of thumb is to drink 1 cup immediately after exercise, and 2 to 3 cups of fluid over the next few hours of recovery. Wait 20 to 30 minutes before you start to replenish energy stores with carbohydrates, proteins or fats, but listen to your body and eat if you feel like you need to fuel. 

Weightlifting Recovery Nutrition

Goal: To maximize the “anabolic window” or recovery phase 30 to 45 minutes after the workout

Recovery Snack Options: Pita bread with hummus and black bean spread.

½ whole-wheat pita (large)
2 T hummus
2 T black bean spread

Nutrition: 261 Calories / 46g Carbohydrate / 8g Protein / 5g Fat 

Oatmeal Protein Power

½ C cooked steel-cut oats
1 T shaved almonds
2 T protein powder

Nutrition: 287 Calories / 40g Carbohydrate / 16g Protein / 7g Fat 

Guidelines: As with any workout, carbohydrates are essential to recovery post-weightlifting. To successfully rebuild muscle, special attention should be paid to how much protein is being consumed. 

Recovery Nutrition for HIIT (Cardio and Weightlifting) 

Goals: To replace energy stores within 30 minutes after workout and to repair muscle tissue 

Recovery Snack Options: One post-workout drink that is equal to about one-quarter of total carbs needed for recovery (e.g., 12- to 16-ounce fruit smoothie made with water, skim milk or a non-dairy milk alternative and protein powder) AND one workout snack 

Power Fruit Smoothie

1½ C skim milk (nonfat)
½ C frozen berries 

Banana and Peanut Butter on a Rice Cake

½ banana (small)
½ T peanut butter
1 multigrain rice cake

Nutrition: 297 Calories / 47g Carbohydrate / 16g Protein / 5g Fat 

Guidelines: Because HIIT has a higher work rate, more fluids are used and more fuel is burned. That means both will need to be replenished in higher rates than in the other two workouts. HIIT’s combination of cardio and weightlifting requires an initial liquid recovery snack, which can be consumed first or closely followed by a nutrient dense meal or snack. Post-workout, a 3:1 ratio is a good standard to use with carbs and protein (e.g., 30 to 40 grams of carbs with 10 to 15 grams of protein).

The Best Recovery Practices for Endurance Athletes

You know that sensation, when you have bottomless power, breathing is deep, and pushing hard feels so good? When you are strong, motivated, and invincible. These are the days when you slay your training and smash your race goals.

The secret to these training days and hitting race day in peak form is nailing your recovery.  Two recovery practices are foundational and must-not be missed:

While there are many more accessory recovery techniques that can be used to complement nutrition and sleep, if you are not getting in the right nutrition and enough sleep, the accessory recovery techniques will have minimal advantage. You should focus your efforts on getting those two recovery habits perfected to get the most bang for your buck.

Post-Exercise Recovery Nutrition

For weekend warrior athletes training two to three times per week, following a normal daily nutrition plan with no special additions is sufficient for optimal recovery before the next training session. For athletes training once per day or more often, refueling for the next workout as quickly as possible is crucial. Refueling accurately and consistently after workouts will restore muscle and liver glycogen stores, replace fluid and electrolytes lost in sweat, promote muscle repair and bolster the immune system. Athletes who optimize post-exercise nutrition will perform better in their next training session and accumulate more high quality sessions than athletes skipping post-exercise recovery fueling.

There are two post-exercise recovery fueling windows. The first is within 30 minutes of a hard or long training session. The second is in the two to three hours post-exercise. Short easy training sessions do not require special recovery nutrition. Athletes are best sticking to their daily nutrition plan with a normal whole foods meal after easy training sessions.

30 Minute Post-exercise

Fluid, electrolytes, carbohydrates and protein are the foundation of proper recovery nutrition. Immediately on finishing a workout, start replacing fluid and electrolyte losses with a sodium containing drink or water plus sodium containing food. Estimate fluid losses by weighing yourself before and after training and drinking 16 to 24 ounces of fluid for every one pound lost.

To restore muscle glycogen and promote protein synthesis, consume 0.8g per kg of body weight of carbohydrate and 0.2g per kg of body weight of protein within 30 minutes of finishing exercise. For a 70kg or 154lb athlete this would be 56g of carbohydrate and 14g of protein.

Fluid, electrolytes, carbohydrates, and protein can be replaced with a commercial recovery drink, a homemade smoothie or with real food plus water.  

Additionally, antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin A, probiotics, medium chain triglycerides and L-Glutamine can shorten recovery duration and are good additions to a recovery drink or snack.

Two to Three Hours Post-exercise

Continue your recovery nutrition two to three hours post-exercise by eating a whole foods meal. It is OK to eat earlier than this if you are hungry but do not delay this post-exercise meal more than three hours. This meal should contain a combination of carbohydrate, about 20g of protein and some fat. Dividing daily protein intake into four or more 20g meals has been shown to have a greater stimulus on protein synthesis than two big meals with 40g protein per meal or 8 smaller meals with 10g per meal. A 20g feeding of protein is the sweet spot to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

After a training session on a hot day, immediately cool your body down if your core temp feels hot by drinking cool fluids, sitting in cool water or air conditioning and pouring iced water over your head. Cooling off will halt continued dehydration and increase your appetite.

The Benefits of Good Sleep

Studies have shown increasing duration asleep leads to increased performance and mental well-being in athletes. We also know chronic sleep debt impairs performance and reduces motivation to excel.

Foundation sleep recommendations for adult athletes are 8 to 10 hours per night plus a 30 minute nap between 2 to 4 PM. I know that is a tough call for most athletes to achieve along with all the other responsibilities of life. Junior athletes need even more sleep with 9 hours per night plus a 30 minute nap in the afternoon.

Increasing Your Sleep Quality and Duration

Along with sleep duration, sleep quality and sleep phase also affect the regenerative qualities of sleep. Sleep quality can be improved by reducing disturbances by wearing earplugs and sleeping in a cool, dark room. Following a pre-sleep routine of relaxing activities, avoiding light exposure from screens in the hour before bed, avoiding stimulants such as caffeine after noon and alcohol in the evening may increase your sleep quality and duration. Restless leg syndrome can occur in athletes with low serum iron levels and disrupt normal sleep patterns.

Exercising late in the day can make sleep elusive for some athletes. Summertime evening group training or local races make sleep especially hard to come by. Following up an intense evening session with inadequate sleep is a poor combination. Athletes losing sleep after these evening sessions are advised to switch their intense training sessions to the morning and put their evening hours towards lower intensity activities such as yoga, stretching, and massage.

Measuring Your Sleep

If you can measure it, you can improve it! Use a sleep tracking app to measure your sleep duration and quality then identify factors that improve it. I was able to identify that red wine helps me fall asleep more quickly but it reduces my sleep quality and duration. I confirmed much to my dismay that avoiding screens in the hour before bed dramatically improves both my sleep quality and duration.

It is easier to sleep in the spring, fall and winter than mid-summer due to long days. Cover your bedroom windows with foil or install light blocking curtains to darken your bedroom and help extend your sleep time.

Accessory Recovery Techniques

After you have taken care of the big two, nutrition and sleep, there are many accessory recovery techniques to add to your routine; stress reduction, massage, compression, active recovery, stretching, foam rolling, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, rolfing, cupping, cryotherapy, hydrotherapy, sauna, dry needling, supplements such as tart cherry juice, and more.

Stress reduction is one of the more important accessory recovery techniques. Trying to add too many accessory recovery techniques on top of an already busy schedule may add stress and be counterproductive. Pick a few accessory recovery techniques you enjoy and have easy access to, rather than trying to fit every single one of them into your schedule. For example, dipping your nightly sleep time below 8 hours to log 30 minutes in the sauna is not a good trade off.

Take Rest and Recovery Seriously

We are all busy. A common mistake many athletes make is to use their rest days to run endless errands and their recovery weeks to tackle bigger projects. One of my athletes built a deck behind his house in a recovery week! He ended the week sore and exhausted and we had to follow that week up with another recovery week in order for any quality training to get done. On your rest days and recovery weeks, plan massages and lots of downtime, put your feet up and really unload fatigue. Recover as hard as you train.

Example of a Post-exercise Recovery Routine

• Finish race or hard training bout and grab a recovery drink to sip during your cool down
• Take a 10 minute ice-bath or cold river soak
• Clean up and shower
• 10 minute stretch
• 20 minute compression legs such as Elevated Legs
• 30 minute nap
• Meal with 20g protein and a combination of carbohydrate and fat
• Go to bed with enough time to get 8 hours of sleep

Eat well, sleep well and recover fast because your competitors probably are doing it!

Ultimate Guide for Sports Nutrition Performance

Endurance

Endurance is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active, as well as resist, withstand, and recover from trauma, wounds, or fatigue.

In the world of sports nutrition, this trauma relates the microscopic muscle tears that come from high levels of activity and fatigue from inadequate energy availability to those working muscles. Our muscles receive energy in four main steps: the first few seconds use stored ATP within the cell, then the next few use creatine phosphate stores to provide ATP, once that has been used glycogen stores in the muscle can be utilized (your non-oxygen energy stores), and lastly aerobic respiration (ATP produced using oxygen) takes over.

In addition to pure energy availability, there is also the worry that the key nutrients lost in sweat, sugars, and sodium, could affect endurance (also known as electrolytes). These electrolytes and available energy stores are key factors for endurance. Amino acids, specifically branched chain amino acids, are also often looked to, as they are well-known building blocks of muscle tissue and can help repair damage caused by intense exercise.

Due to this understanding, this category of sports nutrition has historically focused on electrolytes, glutamine (an essential amino acid), and creatine. However,  there has been a recent expansion of ingredients that could show great benefit for an “endurance” product such as Rhodiola, Cordyceps, and proprietary herbal blends such as ActiGin®.

Blood glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscle. It is the preferred fuel for muscle function during intense or anaerobic exercise. Glycogen is a chain of glucose molecules that your muscles and liver use to store energy. Yet, exercise induces inflammation in the muscle membrane which disrupts the supply of glucose into the muscle to replenish the used glycogen.

The body generally holds a glycogen reserve of between 450 and 550 grams, but with intense exercise, it may require more than 500 grams of carbs to restore those glycogen reserves in addition to proper rest and recovery practices. Due to this, endurance products should consider lowering muscle inflammation and take glycogen stores into consideration when designing their formulas.

A continuous supply of glucose into the muscle is necessary for the muscle to function at its maximum level.

In order to perform an anaerobic exercise (intense cycling, sprinting, weight lifting, etc) glycogen needs to be available in the muscle. A person can have higher aerobic endurance but still lack in anaerobic endurance. Since anaerobic training does not burn as many calories as aerobic exercise not as many people train for anaerobic endurance.

The unfortunate thing is that anaerobic endurance training is what helps the body develop its ability to store more glycogen and replenish those stores more quickly. Thankfully there are ingredients that can be added to a workout regimen to help increase glycogen recovery and storage such as ActiGin® and a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbs.

Adaptogens

The rise of natural plant-based herbal blends comes from the study of adaptogens. Although many have now heard this word there is still the lingering question of what really are adaptogens? These plants have been long used in Eastern medicine to protect against stress damage and maintain homeostasis within the body.

Both Eastern and Western medicine now use adaptogens to assist with stress relief, immune system support, and energy balance to avoid the use of potentially harmful synthetic ingredients. These natural substances are thought to help the body adapt to stress and to provide a normalizing effect on bodily processes. A few well-known examples are ginseng, Rhodiola and Cordyceps.

Therefore, if using an adaptogen based performance supplement, while you are exerting energy it will help to provide you with more energy, but if you are sitting on the couch it will see there is no need to pull more energy and work to maintain homeostasis instead. An adaptogen does not hold one single targeted purpose, it instead adapts to whatever your body specifically needs at a given time, which is what makes it such a powerful option for performance supplements.

Recovery

Proper recovery is vital to any exercise training program, both for the effectiveness of the program and improvement of the athlete. Because of this, it is important to understand the real physiological markers of recovery. Athletic training by nature creates microscopic tears in the muscle tissue.

Although tearing in the muscle sounds horrible and detrimental, it is actually an important part of building strength and progressing in a training program.

The problem with these tears is that this damage and inflammation impairs the ability to transport blood glucose into the skeletal muscle cell. When glucose cannot move into the muscle, glycogen stores cannot be replenished, and energy and endurance suffer.

This damage also leads to the soreness and pain often associated with a good hard workout. In order to recover and continue to improve physically,  muscle inflammation must be lowered, and glycogen stores must be restored. If these two things are not cared for prior to the next workout session, progress and performance could be compromised.

Achieving the proper level of recovery is possible through sports nutrition principals as well as proper exercise techniques. One of the most common methods of recovery training is FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type) which looks at how often workouts should occur, the intensity of the workout session, the length of time between sessions, and whether active or passive recovery is best. This can be done in addition to supplementation, or on its own, but there has been a rise in recovery supplement demand in recent years.

The most popular forms sought out by athletes include proteins, BCAAs, arginine, Beta-alanine, or even natural solutions including beetroot and antioxidants. Many supplement brands look to branded ingredients to make their formula stand out such as ActiGin®, which are specifically formulated lower that muscle inflammation and replenish glycogen stores. All have the same goal to increase recovery time and get the most benefit out of a workout as possible while keeping the body healthy and functioning at its top level of performance.

Pre-Workouts

The pre-workout market is arguably the most popular category in all of sports nutrition. Pre-workout products, whether it be a powder, capsule, or shot, are an essential aspect to many workout routines.

The main reason people take pre-workout supplements is to give them an extra boost in the gym. Pre-workouts often have an added stimulant component as people want to “feel” the energy right before their workout.

Pre-workouts can go from 80mg caffeine per serving all the way to 400 mg as some heavy supplement users have been caffeine conditioned. Much of this credit goes to Sal Abraham and his NO-Xplode as one of the first mainstream pre-workouts targeted for all gym goers.

Many pre-workout supplements contain specialized ingredients, geared toward increasing athletic performance, endurance, muscle building, weight loss and much more depending on the formulation. The most common ingredients used in the pre-workout category is citrulline, amino acids, beta-alanine, and caffeine.

These ingredients help to both increase energy and increase athletic output. This industry has recently begun seeing a rise in “specialized” ingredients added to the pre-workout sector with recent formulations. These “specialized” ingredients focus on specific areas of sports nutrition that pre-workouts had not been concerned with in the past. They could increase the functionality of the product by boosting the absorption of many essential amino acids and vitamins with ingredients like AstraGin® or black pepper extract. Or they could increase muscle endurance and recovery with ingredients such as ActiGin® or Cordyceps.

These two categories are just examples of the industry moving in the right direction, creating a much higher quality product for their consumer base. As the pre-workout sector continues to grow, so will the quality of the products being released to the marketplace.

Amino Acids

The function of amino acids in the human body is extensive. Amino acids are an essential aspect of any sports nutrition regimen as they serve a variety of purposes within the body. Many people know that amino acids are the “building blocks to protein” and while an important role, that is not their only function.

Amino acids make up a large portion of our cells, muscles, and tissues. They play a key role in both transporting and storing the nutrients inside the body as well as providing the structure needed for our cells to function.

Amino acids also help with repair and healing of wounds, organs, tendons, muscle tissue, skin, and hair.

These important building blocks are also necessary for vital processes including the synthesis of hormones and neurotransmitters.

There are almost two dozen recognized amino acids in the human body, divided into essential and non-essential categories. Non-essential amino acids are those that our bodies can produce on their own, and essential amino acids must be consumed through our diet as the body cannot produce them on its own. This makes it very common to supplement with essential amino acids.

There are nine essential amino acids (Lysine, Tryptophan, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Histidine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine). The sports nutrition marketplace, in particular, has seen a great trend in essential amino acid products entering the marketplace this past year. One of the most popular being branched chain amino acids, commonly known as BCAAs. “Branched-chain” refers to the chemical structure of the amino acid and includes leucine, isoleucine, and valine: three of the nine essentials.

Traditionally, amino acids were utilized for sports nutrition in these BCAA supplements, pre-workouts, and protein powders due to its relationship with the synthesis of protein. Many companies utilize an ingredient such as AstraGin® to increase the absorption rate of their particular amino acid product, seeing as the amino acid intake is critical to the health and structure of the human body.

Carbohydrates

Carbs, a word many people wishing to stay fit fear. But with what rationality? Carbohydrates are the fuel for our bodies! They provide us with energy and are a vital nutrient that we need to survive! This is not talking about donuts and wonder bread, but good complex carbohydrates (whole grains, oats, beans, quinoa, etc), fruits, and vegetables. If really taking into consideration the needs of an athlete, carbohydrates may be the most important nutrient to their diet!

Carbohydrates are needed to both create energy and to replenish those vital glycogen stores in the muscle and liver. They are also the main source of energy for the brain, and break down to sugar molecules called glucose that fuels for our cells so they can function properly. In this way, carbohydrates help to improve athletic performance by delaying fatigue and allowing an athlete to compete at higher levels longer.

Additionally, without access to circulating glucose and glycogen stores, the body will eventually begin breaking down muscle tissue for energy, which for an athlete is detrimental. Proper amounts of carbohydrates in the diet allows the body to use proteins for their actual role, repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue.

Therefore, consuming proper amounts of carbohydrates with your workout routine could lead to muscle gain and improved athletic performance.

Carbohydrate power is not only for fueling up before a workout and maintaining stamina throughout but is also an important aspect of recovery. While exercising, glycogen stores, or the stored energy in the muscle, get depleted. Part of the recovery process is to replenish these stores so that the next time they are needed, energy will be readily available. In order to replenish these stores, glucose must be available in the body, and as glucose comes from carbohydrates, it is necessary to include in an athlete’s diet.

 

Recovery Food – What to eat and when to eat it

The quality of recovery after training will determine how good your adaptation and gains are, further to this it will have an impact on how well you might perform or get through the next training session.

Poor recovery can mean arriving at competition or the next training session with depleted energy levels, sore, tired, fatigued, and with poor focus, meaning you may be unable to perform at your best. Recovery happens over a whole day following training not just directly post training. Timing and balanced meals are two key strategies to plan and apply for an effective recovery.

The body needs carbohydrate to replenish stores and to assist with muscle repair and recovery. The body also needs protein for muscle growth and to repair damaged muscle to limit muscle soreness.

It also need some good fats and nutrients to help it all come together effectively.

To start the recovery process, you need a protein and carbohydrate food source in a post training/competition meals as soon as you can after finishing to start adaptation and replenishing stores.

• Carbohydrate approx. 1 – 1.2 g per kilogram of body weight
• Protein approx. 10 – 20g (depending on age & body size)
• Low in fat at this time as fat slows absorption and may delay delivery of nutrients and fuel to the muscle

Here are nine examples of carbohydrate + protein snacks:

1. Flavoured milk popper

2. 200g low fat or natural yoghurt

3. Grilled meat and sweet potato

4. 400ml low fat flavoured milk

5. 2 slice bread with slice low fat cheese and ham

6. 220g tin Baked Beans

7. 1 cup wholegrain cereal and light milk

8. Smoothie with skim milk, fruit, low fat yoghurt

9. 95g tin tuna on toast or rice cakes 

Top up carbs with fruit, oat based muesli bars, crackers or bread/sandwiches or sports drinks. The amount of carbohydrate and protein will vary depending on the amount and intensity of training and physical status goals.

20-30 min following activity or as soon as possible, is the most crucial time to replenish protein and carbohydrate to aid muscle recovery. Leaving it longer than this can delay the recovery process, promote further muscle breakdown and slow the body’s ability to build and repair muscle and adequately accumulate fuel stores for the next training session.

When carbohydrate stores are depleted they can take around 20 hours to be replenished, so refuelling will not happen in one meal alone. Continuous repair needs continuous fuel, rather than one large meal, so fuel is ultilised effectively. A snack, as outlined, in the 30min following training can start the recovery process and then be followed up with a healthy balanced meal 1-2 hours later until regular meal patterns are resumed.

If you don’t think you can stomach food this soon after training, try liquids, a smaller amount to build up tolerance or plain foods that are easier to eat such yoghurt tubes, flavoured milk poppers, sports drinks, yoghurt or cheese sandwich as balanced choices to get the recovery process started then continue with another balanced and more complex meal choice at your next meal.

Another protein and carbohydrate meal is just as essential two hours after training has finished to continue the recovery process.

Planning ahead, being organised and preparing and packing food to have with you over the course of the day or competition, including travel, is really important so good food choices are available when the body needs it. If you wait to find, buy or make food its all delaying the recovery process, even if its the ideal recovery food, if it’s too late, it’s not going to give the best results for recovery.

Water, sports drinks and even low fat milk are the best choices for rehydration directly after activity as juice and soft drink can be too sweet or acidic, this can slow the absorption of fluid which slows down rehydration and can delay recovery. Read more on the importance of hydration…

If large amounts of fluid, sodium and electrolytes are lost during activity it can lead to dehydration which has an impact on performance and concentration and can make you feel dizzy, tired and fatigued, then the more dehydrated you are, the less you will feel like drinking.

Drink fluids regularly over the day and use urine colour as a guide; lighter/clear = good hydration; dark yellow = need more fluid.

90,000 Sports nutrition for recovery from Fit Health

Before talking about the role of sports nutrition in the recovery of the body after exercise, I would like to pay a little attention to the fact that many athletes underestimate the role of recovery . Of course, if you take people who are keen on functional training or martial arts, it is obvious that their training rhythm simply does not allow recovery for more than a day, which is catastrophically small by the standards of our body.In these and many other cases, sports supplements will help you to fully reanimate your body after training stress.

The role of sports nutrition

Sports nutrition after hard training can be used for various purposes, depending on what you are striving for. For example, it is important for bodybuilders to build up as dry and high-quality muscle mass as possible, and for weightlifters to gain strength characteristics and so-called strength endurance. Sports nutrition allows athletes to provide their body with most of the nutrients in a timely manner , which not only increases the productivity of training, but also affects the health and well-being of the athlete.How and why this happens, and the main types of sports nutrition for recovery, we will talk further.

Proteins

Protein mixtures are very important for complete recovery, because if your body does not receive the required amount of building materials for muscles (protein and amino acids contained in it) at the right time, then, as a result, it will begin to destroy muscle structures damaged during training.

• Whey protein, especially isolate or hydrolyzate , will restore muscle tissue most quickly.Serum isolates ISO-100 from Dymatize and Nectar from Syntrax are well-proven. Fortified with Glutamine and 4-Hydroxy Isoleucine, Ultimate Nutrition’s ISO Sensation will help control insulin production and therefore gain only lean muscle mass. The Zero Carb Isolate from VPX, completely free from fat and carbohydrates, can easily cope with the same task. Also check out Optimum Nutrition’s Platinum Hydrowhey, which is a hydrolyzate with added BCAA amino acids.
• But do not forget about the night recovery: casein proteins protect well against catabolism within 6-8 hours. The most profitable representative of caseins is Casein Protein under the Pure Protein brand.
• However, you can kill two birds with one stone – supply the body with protein both immediately after training, and prolonged, using a multi-component protein: complex mixtures combine the advantages of both fast proteins and slow ones.
• If you want the tastiest and most convenient sports nutrition for recovery, then take a look at protein bars: protein bars are represented both by the whole lines of sports chocolates from Weider and Power Sistem, and by bars of other brands, because almost every company includes them in its range …

Gainers and carbohydrate mixtures

High-calorie mixtures, in which the main components are proteins and carbohydrates in various ratios (with a focus on high protein or carbohydrate content), contribute not only to muscle growth, but also to the accumulation of energy in tissue cells.

It is especially important for the integrity of the muscles to use a gainer before training or immediately after it during the “anabolic window” – 30 minutes, which is most important for recovery.Here, the best option for price and quality is Pure Protein Multicomponent Gainer (high carbohydrate gainer), but serious athletes still often prefer the “classics”: Serious Mass from Optimum Nutrition (high carbohydrate gainer), BSN True Mass (high protein gainer) or Up Your Mass from MHP (high protein gainer).

During the “anabolic window” it is advisable to use special carbohydrate products: will greatly improve recovery intake of 50-100 grams of medium-difficulty carbohydrates (most carbohydrate complexes, cereals, starchy vegetables, flour products) 30-40 minutes after training.For those who are prone to being overweight, we recommend to consume carbohydrates in smaller quantities and exceptionally complex ones.

Creatine

To replenish the body’s energy reserves, it is necessary to take creatine after training in an average amount of 5 grams. By the way, just after training, creatine is absorbed as well as possible. It will shorten the recovery time on both the mass gain program and the weight loss program, creatine is especially effective after strength training or other short-term intense exercise.In addition, this source for the production of ATP reduces the activity of lactic acid,

Amino acids

The amino acid compounds already extracted from the protein structure will allow you to fill your muscles, damaged during training, with a building component much faster. Moreover, many amino acids are responsible for the recovery processes themselves, stimulating your anabolism. You can choose complex amino acids or individual ones, the most effective of the latter are:

• BCAA .A few grams of amino acids with a branched side structure will reliably protect muscles from decay, and will also stimulate the secretion of anabolic hormones and cell growth processes in general, especially if they contain an increased content of leucine (for example, BCAA 8: 1: 1 from VPLab or BCAA Complex from Scitec Nutrition with an 8: 1: 1 leucine to valine to isoleucine ratio).
• Glutamine . Most of the amino acids in your muscles are glutamine, so there is no need to explain how important it is to supply the body with it.In addition, about 5 grams of glutamine will not only restore muscle tissue, but also activate the secretion of growth hormone.

Vitamins and minerals

You also need vitamins and minerals for full recovery. Moreover, should not underestimate the role of vitamins and minerals (often athletes do not get the maximum result precisely because of this), because they have a huge impact not only on the processes of anabolism, but also on the entire health of the athlete as a whole, being catalysts and necessary participants in almost all metabolic reactions.

The best bet here is:

• vitamins C and E as the best antioxidants are of great importance for the restoration of the body, since after training the level of free radicals increases many times over;
• B vitamins – key for an athlete – protein synthesis, joint health, the absence of injuries and cramps, and much more depend on them;
• magnesium and zinc – the macroelement magnesium is required for the course of ATP processes, and with a deficiency of the microelement zinc, people have problems with testosterone, without a normal level of which there is no point in talking about recovery, so pay attention to ZMA supplements, which include, in addition to zinc and magnesium, and vitamin B6 for better absorption.

In addition, if you feel that there are not enough sources of vitamins and minerals in your diet, include in your diet some general strengthening complex containing the daily norm of vitamins and minerals for an active person, and we recommend serious vitamin and mineral supplements for hard-training athletes. such as Animal Pak from Universal Nutrition.

90,000 3 Best Supplements to Accelerate Recovery

Exercise helps you get stronger and build impressive muscles, but after going to the gym, you inevitably feel tired and sore all over your body.Taking the right supplements can help minimize muscle soreness, speed recovery, and even burn a little extra fat!

We are all familiar with the burning muscle pain that comes after leg day or after a grueling high-intensity interval training session. Good nutrition, healthy sleep, and a well-designed exercise program can help you cope with the dire symptoms of delayed muscle pain syndrome (DOMS).

Below, I’ll share a few supplements that can help you minimize DOMS and increase your workout performance over time! After all, the sooner you recover from exercise, the sooner you can return to normal levels of exercise.

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA)

There’s a reason BCAAs are found in just about every post-workout supplement: They really work! The amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine are important for building muscle and minimizing muscle breakdown.

The goal of strength training is to provoke tension and tearing of muscle fibers so that they can grow and become larger and stronger.However, this process can wreak havoc on the proteins that make up muscle fibers and turn even the simplest actions, such as getting out of bed, into a living hell.

BCAAs are effective in accelerating recovery by helping to reduce delayed muscle pain and shorten the rest time between workouts. A 5 gram serving is a versatile dose of BCAAs that can be taken before, during, after training, or any other time of the day. It is recommended to choose BCAAs with a 2: 1: 1 amino acid ratio (leucine: isoleucine: valine).

Select BCAA in the Fizcult.by catalog: https://fizcult.by/catalog/bcaa/

Fish oil

Fish oil is one of the most versatile supplements on the sports nutrition market. It helps improve overall health in a variety of ways, from promoting heart health to weight control. Fish oil will not disappoint in terms of accelerating recovery.

EPA and DHA, two essential fatty acids found in fish oil, have powerful anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce muscle soreness after exercise. In studies, athletes who took a fish oil supplement reported less pain, less muscle swelling, and greater range of motion, in contrast to subjects who took a placebo instead of fish oil. These improvements are attributed to the ability of fish oil to strengthen cell membranes while helping to reduce oxidative stress associated with intense exercise.

Scientists at the American Heart Association recommend taking 1 gram of fish oil daily to promote cardiovascular health. As a remedy to reduce muscle soreness, fish oil should be taken in a double dose of 2 grams (a combination of EPA and DHA) per day.

Select fish oil in the Fizcult.by catalog: https://fizcult.by/catalog/vitaminy-i-mineraly/tags/omega-3-6-9-rybii-zhir/

L-carnitine L-tartrate

More commonly known as a fat burner, L-Carnitine may also be an important supplement for effective post-workout recovery.L-Carnitine helps optimize muscle recovery by helping to reduce muscle ammonia build-up and increase blood flow during and after exercise.

In one recent study, strength athletes who took 2 grams of L-carnitine daily for 3 weeks experienced significantly lower levels of physical stress markers, less muscle damage, and less muscle soreness after doing moderate-intensity squats.

A follow-up study confirmed this finding, demonstrating that middle-aged men and women who took L-carnitine experienced significantly less pain and muscle damage after performing a multi-rep set of barbell squats.

What could be better than a supplement that has both fat burning properties and the ability to reduce muscle pain?

Select L-Carnitine in the Fizcult catalog.by: https://fizcult.by/catalog/l-karnitin/

Sports nutrition for muscle recovery after training * Sports nutrition for strength

When talking about sports nutrition, many people only mean supplements that directly affect muscle gain. But this is far from the only function of a sports nutrition, because depending on the type of product, it can affect many internal processes of the body. This time we will talk about sports nutrition for muscle recovery after training.After all, as you know, muscles do not grow during exercise, but during rest. And therefore, it is very important to provide your body at this time with all the resources that it needs so much for proper and high-quality recovery.

Post-workout recovery phases

Recovery after intensive training is a very complex physiological process, during which the body seeks to restore resources and damaged cells. If the workouts are carried out correctly, then in this case the muscle tissue is not only restored, but also strengthened and increased in volume.This happens so that the next time the muscles can more adequately perceive the received load.

Hypertrophy is a process that increases the volume of muscle cells. This is a natural reaction – the body strives to adapt to constant stress and adapts the muscles to this. Adaptation is one of the main reasons for the development of life on Earth. Due to it, the body adapts to changing environmental conditions. And training is one of the things that the body gradually adapts to – which is why it is so important to change training programs before you adapt to the stress.

But let’s talk more about the restoration. Initially, the recovery phase is divided into four stages:

Fast recovery phase. It starts immediately after the end of the loads. Its duration is about half an hour. At this time, the body significantly changes metabolism – the primary task is to restore homeostasis and energy reserves – ATP, glycogen and creatine phosphate reserves. In addition, the production of stress hormones stops and the body begins to release anabolic hormones.

Slow recovery phase. As soon as the body has reached equilibrium (homeostasis), the second phase begins. It can be called the most important phase – it is at this moment that protein synthesis is activated, as well as the production of necessary amino acids, enzymes and the restoration of water-electrolyte balance. To repair damaged cells, the body begins to absorb the available nutrients from the digestive system. This period is also called the protein-carbohydrate window – almost all nutrients obtained from food will go to the restoration of body cells.

Supercompensation. This phase begins a few days after training and lasts about five days. It is almost identical to the delayed recovery phase, however, during the supercompensation phase, the body is most prone to an increase in physiological characteristics. Simply put – the next training of a certain muscle group should fall on the supercompensation phase. In this case, you will receive a qualitative increase in musculature, strength and endurance.

Delayed recovery. If during the third phase you did not provide your body with another portion of training, then the fourth phase catches up. It is characterized by bringing the body to a pre-training state. This means that taking too long a break between workouts can slow down your progress.

Sports nutrition for better post-workout recovery

In essence, sports nutrition is not much different from regular food. It is only more concentrated, and different types of additives contain a certain composition of components that are used for a particular purpose.Post-workout muscle recovery sports nutrition is a great way to provide your body with all the nutrients it needs to recover faster and better. In this section, we’ll talk specifically about the most commonly used supplements and their timing.

Sports nutrition for recovery immediately after training

Of course, this product should not be singled out as a separate category, but it must be said about it. Water is the key ingredient in a good recovery.During training, profuse sweating occurs, along with which useful minerals are released from the body. Therefore, it is very important to drink enough water immediately after training in order to restore the water-salt-mineral balance.

• BCAAs (Amino Acids) are the best choice to consume immediately after training. In general, BCAAs can be taken at any time, both before and after training. They have a very strong anabolic effect, helping to heal the resulting microtrauma faster, and providing the body with the necessary building materials.
• Creatine – helps restore creatine phosphate stores in the body. In addition, the amount of free ATP directly depends on this substance, which is also very important for recovery.
• Glutamine is another amino acid essential for athletes. It is found in large quantities in muscle tissue, and its additional use will provide the body not only with building material, but also with an energy resource.

BCAA

Creatine

Glutamine

Sports nutrition for recuperation 20-30 minutes after training

Those supplements that should be used at the end of the load are slightly different from those that will be discussed in this section.Immediately after training, it is important to ensure that nutrients are absorbed quickly and completely. That is why BCAAs, creatine and glutamine are used – they have a very fast absorption rate and begin to nourish the body almost immediately after consumption.

When the slow recovery phase begins, the priorities in the choice of supplements change slightly.

• Protein – Provides essential amino acids, blocks cortisol and stimulates the production of anabolic hormones.In terms of its functions, it differs from BCAA only in the rate of absorption (protein loses in this regard), and in a small range of additional properties. But basically, its purpose is exactly the same – it gives the body the necessary components to restore damaged tissues.
• Gainer (Carbohydrates) – in the period from half an hour to an hour and a half after training, the body tends to use all the incoming resources primarily for recovery, without saving anything in the form of fat reserves. Carbohydrates will help restore depleted energy after exercise.

Protein

Gainer

Sports nutrition for recovery after training at night

Night is the most important time of day when it comes to recovery. At this time, the body synthesizes the maximum amount of a hormone such as somatotropin. But, there is a practice when a portion of growth hormone is additionally taken at night, or some kind of relaxant (with a GH booster). Thus, it is possible to significantly increase anabolism and speed up the healing processes of damaged tissues.

There is one more nuance that needs to be mentioned. As a rule, athletes eat very often – about 5-6 times a day. But the problem is that during a night’s rest, the body is deprived of sources of nutrients for at least eight hours, which can affect anabolism. And for this purpose casein protein is used. It differs from other types of protein in that when it enters the body, it is very slowly absorbed. But it is better to say not slowly, but continuously. By breaking down in small portions in the digestive tract, it provides a prolonged supply of nutrients, and allows you to somehow eat even at night.

Best Products for Overnight Post-Workout Recovery

Now, knowing in detail all the details about the restoration of the body, you will be able to independently choose the sports nutrition that you need. Remember – your main reference point should be precisely the knowledge about the phases of the body’s recovery. By understanding this issue, you will be able to independently navigate which supplements and when to take.

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Sports nutrition for recovery

Competently selected sports nutrition for recovery after training will boost anabolic processes in the body and prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue.Good recovery is required for everyone, regardless of goals, because your well-being and the effectiveness of your training program depend on it. But the recovery stage is especially important for those who want to quickly and efficiently build muscle mass. Muscles do not grow during training, but during rest! Therefore, in bodybuilding so much attention is paid to the athlete’s regimen, his nutrition, sleep and taking special restorative supplements.

Mechanism and rules of body recovery after training.

Good workout + good rest + good nutrition – this is the formula for your inevitable progress. The energy of our body is the constant breakdown and restoration of the energy molecule ATP. The longer and harder you exercise, the faster you deplete your ATP stores, and the more time and nutrients it takes to recover.

Recovery takes place in several stages:

• Fast recovery. It starts as soon as the training ends.The body restores normal heart rate, blood pressure and normalizes the release of hormones.
• As soon as the body has returned to its usual state, a period of delayed recovery begins. The slowed down recovery lasts a day or two. During this period, the water balance returns to normal and amino acids are synthesized.
• Supercompensation and deferred billing. This period begins immediately after the slowed down recovery and lasts about a week. If from the point of view of nutrition and training, you did everything right, then supercompensation occurs and your body fully benefits from training, which means that the muscles increase in volume, you become stronger.If something went wrong, you chose the wrong program, or your body did not have enough energy and special nutrients, then a delayed recovery occurs, that is, the body returns to its previous level without any progress.

To avoid overtraining, be sure to follow a few rules:

• Always take the necessary break between workouts. Depending on genetic predisposition, training intensity and nutritional characteristics, full recovery of ATP requires at least one day, maximum four days.
• Make sure that your workouts do not last more than 1 hour. After this period, there is an increase in cortisol levels and depletion of ATP, which makes further training meaningless.
• Strictly observe the sleep and wakefulness regime. For good recovery, the athlete needs at least 8 hours of sleep.
• Keep track of your calories and protein, carbohydrate and fat balance in your diet.
• You are using special supplements that help to restore muscle and energy balance.

Sports nutrition for recovery: types and times of intake

• Protein. Protein will repair your workout injured muscles, providing them with the building blocks for recovery and growth. But this does not mean that it should be taken only after training, as it may not sound paradoxical, but the exposure processes must be started even before starting the workout by drinking a portion of the protein shake. Then the muscle tissue will be less susceptible to catabolic processes.Time to take: Quick Whey Protein should be drunk before and immediately after training (no more than 40 minutes after finishing your workout). He will provide you with building materials and start the recovery processes in the phase of rapid recovery. A complex multi-component protein, as well as a protein with a medium absorption rate, should be taken several hours after training. Take casein protein at night (so that your muscles receive a constant replenishment of amino acids during sleep).
• Gainer. A gainer is a combination of proteins and carbohydrates in varying proportions. It gives the body energy and due to this, a positive energy balance (calorie surplus) and rapid recovery of ATP are easily achieved. Admission time: there are no strict rules for taking a gainer, it all depends on your initial data and goals. With the help of a gainer, the carbohydrate window is easily closed immediately after training, and energy is replenished before training. Also, the gainer serves as an excellent substitute for a meal (for example, a snack or lunch) when you need to create a calorie surplus.
• BCAA. Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine (BCAAs) are BCAAs that make up 35% of all our muscle fibers. Their use in a purified, almost instantly digestible form is extremely important for the full recovery and subsequent synthesis of muscle tissue. Reception time: before training, during training and after training. Such a gradual intake of BCAA amino acids into the body will allow during the load phase to prevent muscle breakdown, in the phase of rapid and slow recovery to provide building materials for the synthesis of new muscle fibers.
• Creatine. Athletes generally use creatine to increase endurance and improve strength, but creatine is also an excellent post-workout recovery tool. The fact is that after high-intensity training, your muscles are depleted, and creatine, together with carbohydrates and proteins (gainer + protein), will give them the energy they need to grow. Time to take: Take creatine post-workout along with a 3-5 g serving of fast carbs.
• Glutamine. Glutamine is a unique amino acid with many beneficial properties.But the main quality thanks to which glutamine gained wide popularity is the ability to maintain and enhance immunity. With glutamine, your muscles will recover better and reduce pain. In the long term, glutamine will help you avoid overtraining and reduce the incidence of viral illnesses (flu, ODS, etc.). Time to take: Take one to two servings of glutamine (serving size indicated on the package) throughout the day. You can take it alone or mixed with a gainer or protein shake.
• Vitamins and minerals. In order for the body not only to return to its original state after exertion, but also to make a qualitative change in the direction of strength and endurance, it is necessary to have not only macronutrients, but also microelements. An athlete loses many minerals with sweat during training, and an increased metabolism requires large dosages of almost all vitamins. To recover qualitatively, take vitamin and mineral complexes for athletes and isotonic supplements that contain salt.Time of intake: follow the instructions on the package of your vitamin and mineral complex. Isotonic should be drunk during and after training.

Depending on your needs, characteristics and training program, you can also use complex amino acids and special supplements to restore joints and ligaments. Remember that proper recovery is just as important as the training itself, and if you ignore the rules, you risk wasting time. Sports nutrition companies have created recovery products that accelerate progress and keep your body healthy.

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90,000 Post-Workout Recovery

Below you can find a list of supplements that will be useful for bodybuilders.They are essential for full muscle recovery as well as training nutrients.
Those athletes who avoid sports nutrition are making a big mistake. After all, their body is not able to fully surrender in training, and, therefore, a person will not see the corresponding result.

Our recommendations:

1.BCAA

Link: http://sportpower18.ru/catalog/bcaa

This is one of the most important components of sports nutrition.BCAAs are the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine. Taking bcaa helps control weight, maintain tone during exercise, and promotes muscle growth. The bcaa amino acids are nitrogen carriers and promote the metabolism of other amino acids needed for anabolic processes in the muscles. For bodybuilders and other athletes, the bcaa complex is a must. This is because in fact, up to 90% of the absorption of amino acids in the first few hours after a meal is due to bcaa.Since it is the liquid amino acids bcaa that are absorbed most quickly, which means they quickly enter the bloodstream. In addition, scientists have found that the body experiences the greatest loss of bcaa amino acids when fasting or exercising for more than 4 hours. This is because the bca amino acids directly energize the muscles, rather than being broken down in the liver.
As you know, muscles, or rather muscle cells, are protein molecules. They are formed, as already mentioned, due to the metabolism of amino acids. Moreover, almost half of this protein mass is formed precisely due to the synthesis of the amino acids bcaa, namely valine, leucine and isoleucine.Therefore, today we can say with confidence that the lack of the bcaa complex in sports nutrition leads to a loss of muscle mass.
In addition, BCAA stimulate the natural production of growth hormone, therefore, there is no need to get it from the outside. Also, leucine, one of the BCA amino acids, has one of the most important metabolites for athletes (a substance obtained in the metabolic process) – HMB. This substance inhibits the activity of cortisol, a substance that destroys muscle cells during and after exercise.

BCAA 5000 Powder contains a powerful balanced blend of BCAA’s that are building blocks of muscle tissue. BCAAs are applied post-workout to promote nitrogen retention, improve recovery, and directly stimulate muscle growth.
Take BCAA 5000 Powder between meals, 30-45 minutes before training, and / or immediately after training.
Replacement: Multipower – BCAA Powder, Ultimate Nutrition – BCAA Powder 12000, Dymatize – BCAA complex 2200, Dymatize – BCAA Complex 5050, Hardlabz – Bcaa Blast, ON – BCAA 1000 Caps, MHP – BCAA 3300, Power System – BCAA Capsules, SAN – BCAA-Pro 5000.

2. Creatine monohydrate

Link: http://sportpower18.ru/catalog/creatine

sports and, of course, in bodybuilding. Creatine is suitable for sports that require jumping, speeding up or finishing jerks. In the jerk phase, the intensity of the load is so great that during it, creatine phosphate (phosphocreatine) is also used as an energy source.Supplementing athletes with creatine can also benefit when high-intensity exercise alternates with lower-intensity exercise or rest. Team sports such as basketball, football, hockey, as well as martial arts, tennis, athletics and sprint running are also characterized by short explosive muscle contractions followed by short rest or recovery periods.
Apparently, creatine helps maintain a high level of rapid energy supply to the body.It also counteracts the build-up of plasma ammonium, which would otherwise slow down physical activity.
Thanks to the increase in strength, you can work with large weights and the more you put the load on your muscles, after which they begin to grow better.
Creatine is also considered an energetic, after taking it, your endurance increases, you do not get tired and you can make your workouts more intense. It also speeds up the recovery processes of your muscles and body. This drug is taken by bodybuilders and powerlifters and even football players, everyone is happy with its result.Creatine is of two types: powder and liquid in gelatin capsules.
First, forget about coffee while taking creatine! Since caffeine has the ability to destroy creatine, and you will not get the effect of taking it.
Secondly, forget about alcohol, in general, what kind of athlete you are if you are going to drink alcohol during the course of training with creatine.
As it turned out, the more creatine there is in the muscles, the more energetic the athlete will be.
Supplementing the body with creatine is very beneficial when it comes to high-intensity training or strength training.It is extremely effective to take creatine immediately after training, when all cells are depleted and need to be energized. A certain dose of creatine should be taken at this time. This is usually 3-5 grams of creatine.
Creatine is taken together with sugar, sugar serves as a transport system, it is known that it is absorbed thanks to the thyroid hormone insulin, and sugar just quickly causes the release of insulin in the body. You take 5 grams of creatine powder in a glass of water or juice (any other than citrus fruits, grape works well) + 100 grams of sugar, heat it all up and drink.

Optimum Nutrition Creatine Powder is a powerful supplement that significantly increases strength and muscle growth. Monohydrate is currently one of the most optimal forms of creatine. Take it 3-4 g on rest days, stirring it in sweet juice or with protein or gainer. To improve muscle nutrition and accelerate the transport of creatine, you can take arginine (about 2 grams) along with creatine monohydrate.
Replacement: Creatine Monohydrate from Ultimate Nutrition, Creatine Powder from Multipower, and more from this category.

3. Glutamine

Link: http://sportpower18.ru/catalog/Otdelnye

Now glutamine is not just trend # 1, it is a unique amino acid with a wide range of applications. Let’s take a closer look: what is it, why is it needed and how to take it?
Glutamine is the main sport trend of the 21st century. Glutamine is the main building block in protein cells and nucleotides (structural units of DNA and RNA). This amino acid regulates nitrogen levels in our tissues and has a decongestant effect.Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in our body. Glutamine accumulates in muscles, as well as in the lungs, liver, brain and blood plasma. Glutamine accounts for 50-60% of all free amino acids in muscles. That is why we need to constantly supplement our internal reserves.
It took 20 years to prove that trained muscles require large amounts of glutamine. Intense training depletes our glutamine stores by 34-50%. If you are actively exercising, recovering from an injury (operation), then you need to constantly take in a large amount of amino acids, the most important of which for you will be – glutamine.
Depending on the origin, the protein contains 4-8% glutamine. In food, we get glutamine from milk, meat, nuts. If you have low blood levels (hypoglycemia) then glutamine will be actively used by the body as an energy source. Unfortunately, all this leads to depletion of the intracellular amino acid supply. That is, you will need to constantly feed your body with additional amino acids. But in any case, do not look for a way out of the situation in glutamine. Even though this amino acid has the widest range of uses, glutamine is not the only solution to your problems.
Needless to say, the reserves of glutamine in our body are being restored. But if you train 3-5 times a week, then you should think carefully about how to start replenishing your amino acid reserves from alternative sources. Otherwise, you will very soon feel the accumulated fatigue. People call it overtraining.
Feelings of overtraining are common among athletes who often increase the amount of work they do in training. It is also familiar to all fans of intensive training.All this leads to the active use by our body of glutamine reserves. Our body, deprived of glutamine stores, begins to feel the need. All this can lead to a deterioration in the functioning of the immune system. So glutamine in large quantities is necessary not only for muscles, but for the whole body as a whole.
The main reason glutamine has become a must-have dietary supplement is for its immune-boosting effect. If your immune system is weakened, you put your muscles in danger.At any time, you can lose weight, your shape will deteriorate, you will noticeably lose strength. To prevent this from happening, scientists recommend taking glutamine.

Glutamine Powder by Optimum Nutrition
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body, accounting for over 60% of free amino acids in skeletal muscle and more than 20% of the total circulating amino acids. Supplemented with L-Glutamine helps reduce muscle soreness after exercise and promote muscle recovery.
Application Note:
Stir one teaspoon of Glutamine Powder in a glass of water or any other beverage. Use 1-2 servings daily.

Replacement: DYMATIZE – Glutamine, Hardlabz – GAP, PureProtein L-Glutamine.

4. Amino acids

Link: http://sportpower18.ru/catalog/Kompleksnye

So, amino acids. In any sport, and especially in bodybuilding, great importance is attached to them, because it is from amino acids that all proteins in the body consist, and protein is the building material of our muscles.The body uses amino acids for growth, recovery, strengthening, production of hormones, enzymes, antibodies, and so on. That is, almost all processes occurring in our body depend on them. Now it becomes clear why no athlete can do without taking amino acids, especially when he begins to train hard.
Energy source. Amino acids are metabolized in a different way than carbohydrates, so the body can receive much more energy during training if the amino acid pool is full.
Effects of amino acids: Acceleration of protein synthesis. Amino acids stimulate the secretion of the anabolic hormone insulin, and also activate mTOR, two of these mechanisms that can trigger muscle growth. The amino acids themselves are used as building blocks for proteins. Suppression of catabolism. Amino acids have a strong anti-catabolic effect, which is especially necessary after training, as well as during a weight loss or drying cycle. Amino Acids Promote Fat Burning by Expressing Leptin in Adipocytes via mTOR

Action MusclePharm Amino 1:
Amino 1 is an effective remedy for complete recovery from strength training.Its use provides the body with the necessary free-form and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), as well as a set of electrolytes (calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium). This nutritional supplement improves muscle cell hydration, increases endurance levels, promotes muscle growth and promotes rapid recovery.
Amino 1 contains BCAAs – amino acids in a ratio of 3: 1: 2, which ensures sustainable growth of muscle cells. This product helps athletes perform better by delivering nutrients to their muscles, as well as promoting quick recovery.
The cutting-edge technology behind Amino 1 maximizes nutrient absorption at all stages of your workout. Natural coconut powder included in this nutritional supplement provides the body with essential minerals and normalizes electrolyte balance. Coconut water is similar in consistency to the body’s own plasma, known as Natures IV fluid, and is used in the sports world as a source of rehydration.
AMINO 1 has excellent taste and 1 serving is only 5 calories. This product is free of caffeine and sugar and can be used at any time of the day. AMINO 1 has anti-catabolic properties.
The company’s specialists aimed to create a drink that improves mental focus during training. Numerous studies have repeatedly confirmed the positive effect of amino acids on mental clarity, which helps to focus on completing tasks.
Perfectly matched with every sip of Amino 1, your workout performance will only increase.
Application Note:
Mix one serving (1 scoop of AMINO1) with 350 ml of cold water, before, during or after training. On non-training days, consume throughout the day.
Replacement: ON – Superior AMINO 2222 Caps, Universal Nutrition – Amino 2250, ON – Superior AMINO 2222 Tabs, SAN – Intra Fuel, Dymatize – Super Amino Liquid 23000,

5.Protein

Link: http://sportpower18.ru/catalog/protein

Fast protein (whey) – the best choice, Complex or casein – as an auxiliary, for taking before bedtime, Egg protein – has a lower absorption rate and biological value, compared to whey, high cost, Meat protein is very high cost, without superiority in effectiveness, Soy protein is the least effective type of protein for gaining muscle mass.
When gaining muscle mass, the benefits of protein are obvious, namely:
Proteins are the material for the synthesis of contractile proteins, that is, they provide muscle growth.This is especially true during and immediately after training. If, immediately after training, the amino acid material is not introduced into the body to restore the destruction, then a severe catabolic state will develop, therefore, the subsequent regeneration processes will be directed not at muscle growth, but at the reparation of post-catabolic damage.
Protein is the most important energy source in the post-workout period, which is associated with high energy expenditure.
The entry of amino acids into the blood increases the concentration of insulin and growth hormone in the blood, which in turn stimulates the growth of muscles and bone skeleton.
At the same time, amino acids and insulin suppress the secretion of catabolic hormones that destroy muscles, namely cortisol, aldosterone, catecholamines, etc.
Muscle hypertrophy is a collection of many metabolic processes that are regulated and supported by proteins (enzymes, receptors, hormones, etc.).
Protein breakdown products – amino acids, are themselves powerful stimulants of anabolism.
The absorption of proteins by the body requires about 30% more energy than in the case of carbohydrates and fats.In fact, this reduces the calorie content of each gram of protein by half. The body seeks to take energy for the breakdown of protein from a person’s fat depot (a kind of reserve store of energy for unforeseen situations). Consequently, our adipose tissue is broken down 30-40% faster when using protein!
Our body always strives to make reserves. It doesn’t matter to him that the energy “warehouses” hang on our sides. But proteins (and even more so processed protein from sports nutrition) are very quickly processed into the simplest amino acids, and absorbed by the body.Roughly speaking, it is impossible to get fat from protein, and it does not transform into fat.

100% Whey Gold Standard is a fast whey protein, the main supplement for gaining muscle mass. 100% Whey Gold Standard is one of the most effective and optimal in terms of price / quality ratio. Take 1 serving 3-5 times a day between meals, start the morning with this protein. To accurately determine your protein needs, use the expert system – Body Expert. Try to take no more than 1 serving of protein at a time, large amounts will reduce absorption and may cause digestive problems.The optimal single portion is 20-30 g. The maximum single portion is 40 g.
Replacement: ISO-100 from Dymatize, Zero Carb from VPX, Whey Supreme from Ultimate Nutrition, and more from this category.

6. Gainer

Link: http://sportpower18.ru/catalog/gainer

The growing popularity of sports nutrition among athletes leads to the proposal of an increasing number of various supplements. One of these additives is a gainer, which is a protein-carbon mixture.The action of the gainer is aimed at rapid muscle recovery after intense physical exertion that requires high energy consumption. This product is also used as a muscle building aid and is often used in bodybuilding by athletes who have a similar problem.
What is a good gainer? This supplement, properly selected, helps to adjust nutrition, allowing the body to receive the amount of vitamins and minerals that is necessary for intensive sports.The problem for professional athletes is that even with constant sports loads, muscle mass may not increase due to strong overload or accelerated metabolism. That is why the supplement must be chosen based on the characteristics of the body itself, as well as the degree of training intensity.
A good gainer is based on a mixture of carbohydrates and proteins, and the proportion of carbohydrates should be from 50% to 75%, and proteins – from 15% to 50% of the total mass of the product. In addition to proteins and carbohydrates, gainers from different manufacturers can contain minerals, vitamins and a small amount of protein.In addition, additives of unsaturated fats, glutamine and creatine may be present as auxiliary elements in the gainer. It is this combination of vitamins and trace elements that allows you to avoid physical exhaustion during intense exertion and build muscle mass.
Why is it important to take a gainer correctly? A gainer must be selected based on the needs of the body. With a puny and lean physique, the supplement should contain the largest amount of carbohydrates, because it is due to carbohydrates that the body receives additional calories and builds muscle mass.As for proteins, their content in the diet should also be in sufficient quantity.
If you are overweight or have a tendency to be overweight, the gainer should be of a different content. The best solution would be to skip it altogether, or opt for a supplement with the maximum protein content. There should be few carbohydrates in the mixture, because in this case carbohydrates will only act as an auxiliary component. Moreover, their excess can lead to negative consequences on the body, because carbohydrates lead to the accumulation of not muscle, but fat mass.
In addition to choosing a gainer with the right composition, it should still be taken correctly. According to the recommendations, the supplement should be taken immediately after training, thereby avoiding physical exhaustion or closing, in a scientific way, the protein-carbohydrate “window”. The supplement will be able to compensate for the lack of micronutrients that were lost during exercise. Thanks to the action of the gainer, tissues will quickly regenerate, strength and energy reserves will be replenished. If sports training must be extremely intense, the gainer is recommended to be taken before the start of the exercise.
The results of taking the supplement correctly are quite overwhelming. Thanks to the increased calorie intake, muscle mass builds up quite quickly. However, it must be remembered that no supplement can replace a complete diet. Only a balanced diet will help to get all the vitamins and minerals necessary for the body from the products.

Up Your Mass will allow you to replenish the energy deficit after training and will provide a powerful stimulation of muscle growth.Take 1 serving immediately after training. A gainer can be taken in place of your morning protein portion, especially if you don’t have a full breakfast. Consider the protein in the gainer (see product composition) when calculating your daily protein requirement and serving portions.
Replacements: BSN True-Mass, Ultimate Nutrition Muscle Juice, Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass, Dymatize Super MASS Gainer, and more from this category.

7. Vitamin and mineral complex

Link: http: // sportpower18.ru / catalog / vitamin_mineral

Athletes often face the problem of a training plateau (both when gaining muscle mass and when reducing fat), even with proper nutrition and systematic training, and the reason for this may be a lack of vitamins and minerals.
The problem is that the body’s needs are not always met completely from food sources, especially in bodybuilding, where a large amount of high-calorie food is required, which often contains few vitamins and minerals.Bodybuilders simply cannot include enough fruits and other sources of vitamins in their diet, as this will lead to digestive upset. At the same time, the needs of the body for vitamins and minerals in athletes are much higher than in ordinary people. This dictates the need for taking vitamin complexes.
In addition, when playing sports (in particular bodybuilding), the needs of the body change: some vitamins are required by 20% more, others by 100%. That is why, athletes are advised to purchase specialized vitamin and mineral complexes that are developed taking into account the specific needs of the body in a training environment.

Opti-men for men or Opti-women for women – all metabolic reactions, including muscle growth, take place with the participation of vitamins and minerals, so good results are unthinkable without such a supplement. It is optimized for sports, creating the ideal conditions for mass gain.
Replacement: Animal Pak from Universal Nutrition, Activite Sport from MHP, and more from this category.

which will help restore muscles and energy reserves

Protein bars

Form of issue: powders
For what: Protein is often drunk right after training, saying: “Muscle mass, muscle mass!” But without the forgotten carbs, protein powder is almost useless for instant muscle building.Use it just to make up for your overall protein deficiency. The body will find where to attach it, for example, make testosterone out of it.

There are “fast” and “long” proteins. The former are more biologically accessible and instantly provide your body with energy and building materials. The latter release protein gradually, over several hours. It’s easy to tell them apart: any whey is “fast.” Any combination containing casein protein (casein) is “long”.

How to take: “Fast” protein is consumed in the morning (1 serving 20 minutes before breakfast) and immediately after training for fat burning.In general, I am a staunch supporter of a predominantly protein breakfast, this allows you to gently raise blood sugar levels after a night’s sleep and further boost your metabolism. Drink “long” 30-90 minutes after the last meal, at night, so that the body has proteins at hand even in a dream.

Recommend: Of the sports supplements that my clients have come across, for breakfast I recommend VPX’s “fast” Zero Carb. For the night I heartily recommend Infusion from SAN.True, this is more than protein – such foods are called “meal replacement”. It includes different types of protein (which are absorbed at different times and therefore provide your body with nutrition throughout the night), as well as vitamins and dosed amounts of carbohydrates that do not harm the figure.

Form: you will laugh, but these are bars!

For what: Perhaps the most convenient source of protein and? Carbohydrates: no need to stir or drink – tore the package and eat to your health! Use to stifle hunger between meals.

How to take. A couple of high-quality bars consistently discourage food interest for exactly 3 hours, even for such an eternally hungry swallow like me. But the daily rate, according to my observations, is no more than 2-3 bars. If you exceed the dose, you may have problems with appetite!

Recommend: VPX “Zero Impact”.

* “Fast” protein – before breakfast and after training

** “Fast” protein for breakfast, “long” protein – before bedtime

for health use in your diet, regardless of the goals that you are pursuing at a certain point in time.

cardioprotectors They should be taken before training during hot seasons and during endurance training periods. These include the already described L-carnitine, as well as preparations containing potassium and magnesium – substances responsible for the smooth functioning of the heart. For example, potassium and magnesium aspartate.

vitamins and minerals I do not agree with the opinion prevailing among athletes and a number of coaches about the need to take increased doses of vitamins. Therefore, as a trainer, I prefer trivial pharmacy multivitamins in normal dosage.Typically, this is one serving immediately after breakfast. For taking additional, supposedly beneficial to the athlete / pumping vitamins – C, E and B separately – I don’t advocate. There are more than enough multivitamins!

chondroprotectors American coaches have a good saying: “If you don’t go in for sports, you will go to a cardiologist. If you go in for sports, you will get to the orthopedist! ” So that the last part of this wonderful phrase does not touch you, regularly take chondroprotectors – supplements that facilitate the regeneration of cartilage tissue and the restoration of the ligamentous apparatus as a whole.Even if you rarely go to the gym or do not go at all, chondroprotectors should be drunk to prevent diseases of the musculoskeletal system. How often? This information should be in the instructions for use.

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Vitamin C

Vitamin C has a special place in the list of vitamins useful for muscles, since it has a multifaceted effect on the body and is directly involved in the process of muscle building.It is thanks to vitamin C that the body assimilates the protein that enters it, which acts as the main material for the structure of muscle tissue. In addition, vitamin C contributes to the formation of collagen, which strengthens connective tissue and repairs joints that suffer during heavy muscle stress. With a sufficient amount of vitamin C in the body, the production of natural steroid hormones such as testosterone is normalized.

For the muscles to work properly, they need oxygen, which is transported to them along with the blood.Vitamin C speeds up the transport process, therefore, helps the muscles to be enriched with oxygen in a timely manner and in sufficient quantities. It should be mentioned that vitamin C acts as a powerful antioxidant that protects not only the immune system, but also muscles from the effects of free radicals that destroy and weaken muscle tissue. Please note that vitamin C can be synthesized by the body, so you need to monitor its dosage. Natural sources of vitamin C are all citrus fruits, berries, kiwi, cabbage, bell peppers, spinach, broccoli, radishes and onions.

How long does it take to recover from a workout

There are several phases of the muscle recovery process.

1. The first phase begins immediately after the end of the workout and lasts about an hour. At this time, the body especially needs nutrients, which are necessary not only for further muscle growth, but also for replenishing energy reserves, after significant expenditures. Therefore, during this period, it is important to consume food and sports supplements based on proteins (amino acids) and carbohydrates.But this is only a partial recovery.
2. Full muscle recovery can take anywhere from two to five days, and the larger the trained muscles, the longer they recover. For example, small muscle groups, such as biceps, triceps, recover in 1-2 days, medium and large muscles: back, chest, legs, deltas up to 4-5 days. Although the duration of healing as a result of damage to muscle fibers depends on the resulting microtraumas. Also, the recovery process depends on the individual’s metabolic rate.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is used for various purposes. To many people, it is known only as a remedy for stretch marks and other skin imperfections.

There is good news for athletes as well.

Vitamin E is a very powerful antioxidant that helps protect cell integrity. 5

Intensive training creates free radicals in the body, which are toxic byproducts of cellular respiration. The accumulation of these particles in the body impairs performance, muscle growth, recovery and immunity.Vitamin E acts on free radicals and “flushes” them out of the body. The end result is less oxidative stress and less muscle damage.

In addition, vitamin E is being studied as a natural prophylaxis and treatment for carotid atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries due to oxidative stress). 6 Thus, vitamin E is able to support muscle growth and accelerate recovery through its beneficial effects on blood pressure.This allows more nutrients in the blood to flow into the working muscles.

Complex amino acids

Form of issue: capsules, tablets, caplets

Why: I strongly doubt that there are many amino acids in products with such names. Rather, it is the usual “fast” protein, only in a convenient package. On the road or after a long night in ambush under the enemy’s nose, where you can’t get a shaker, this is a good substitute for a protein shake.

How to take: In any training regime, except for hypertrophic, 2-3 tablets 2-3 times a day, as a substitute for protein powders.And in the midst of a long hypertrophic program – 3 tablets twice a day, you can take it with food or a gainer, and you will also drink protein.

Recommend: Hardlabz Aminoz. Just keep in mind that the stomach and intestines of not all people can easily tolerate the “amin” taken on an empty stomach. If this is your case, try consuming them with food.

Post-workout muscle recovery techniques

Separate active and passive muscle recovery.

1. Passive recovery – complete rest and rest from any stress, that is, abstaining from them for 2-3 days or until complete recovery.This method is suitable for all athletes, especially if they have symptoms of overtraining. The only disadvantage of the method, with frequent use, is the lack of adaptation to new loads, the athlete stops developing.
2. Active recovery – implies a complex of active measures, such as: cardio load for 10-20 minutes after training, stretching the muscles to remove lactic acid and toxins, as well as sports massage.

Vitamin D

The main function of vitamin D in the process of muscle growth is to normalize the absorption of phosphorus and calcium, due to which muscle contraction occurs.The duration of strength training, which is the main way to build muscle, depends on the intensity of the contractions.

Thus, the lack of vitamin D in the body significantly slows down the growth of muscle mass. In addition, calcium is the main material that strengthens bone tissue, holding muscles, the weight and volume of which increases with intense physical exertion. Thus, in order to avoid injury and retain the grown muscle tissue, the body needs a sufficient amount of calcium, the absorption of which is much more efficient in combination with vitamin D.To obtain vitamin D, it is necessary to eat fish, preferably fatty varieties, fish oil, liver, eggs and mushrooms. In addition, when the skin is exposed to sunlight, the body is able to synthesize vitamin D on its own, therefore it is recommended to be more often in the fresh air, especially on sunny days.

Gainer

Form of issue: powder

What for: My favorite product! The combination of easily digestible proteins and carbohydrates not only contributes to rapid weight gain, but also provides a hurricane of energy before training, and also significantly accelerates recovery after.

How to take: On training days, 30-45 minutes before training and immediately after. On rest days, 1 serving in the afternoon. The endurance training mode can be used three times a day: before and after training, as well as at night. And never eat a gainer for breakfast! In this case, the mass will grow exclusively on the sides.

Recommend: Take “Myodrive” from SAN.

Things to remember

No creatine with protein will ever correct technical mistakes and will not help with lack of sleep.Also, be aware that no amount of supplements can replace a complete, regular and healthy diet. And do not forget that even harmless and certified products, if used rashly and beyond measure, can cause irreparable damage to health. If you suffer from food allergies, metabolic disorders, diabetes, chronic diseases of the heart, kidneys, liver or gastrointestinal tract, then before taking any sports nutrition, you should definitely consult an adequate, qualified doctor.

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Features of taking vitamins

To get the maximum benefit from vitamins, you need to know the subtleties and peculiarities of their assimilation by the body. There are two groups of vitamins, each of which has a different effect on the body and requires a certain way of consumption. The first group is water-soluble vitamins, which include vitamins of group B and vitamin C. When ingested, these vitamins are instantly absorbed by them in sufficient quantities, and the excess is excreted naturally.However, they are consumed as quickly as they are absorbed. Therefore, the reserves of vitamins of this group should be replenished regularly and in sufficient quantities. The second group of vitamins is fat-soluble. Their peculiarity is that these vitamins have the ability to accumulate in adipose tissues, due to which they do not require such frequent replenishment. It should be noted that, unlike water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins are not excreted from the body in excess, as a result of which an overdose can lead to intoxication.

Let’s take a closer look at the most beneficial vitamins that promote muscle growth, as well as the sources from which they can be obtained.

What physical activity is permissible for muscle recovery after training

The benefits of cardio training after exercise is the acceleration of the elimination of lactic acid from the muscles, that is, waste products, and this significantly speeds up recovery. Cardio should be light without raising the heart rate to the limit. Walking on a treadmill, stepper, orbit track, as well as an exercise bike is suitable.

Stretching allows muscles to return to their normal state, maintaining their elasticity, preventing their stiffness. Tightened and tight muscles are prone to injury, recover and grow more slowly.

The only thing is that such muscles need light stretching, but in no case dynamic and strong stretching, otherwise they can be easily injured, and they will not heal for several months.

BCAA

Release form: tablets, capsules, powder

For what: BCAA are also amino acids, but only three: isoleucine, leucine and valine.According to a number of studies, skeletal muscle contains the most of them. I use BCAAs (and I advise you to do the same) to lose much less muscle during the “fat burning” or endurance period.

How to take: When exercising – 5 capsules before and immediately after training. On rest days, 2 capsules with regular meals.

I recommend: SAN “BCAA pro-125”.

Sports nutrition and vitamins for muscle recovery

• Breakfast: immediately after sleep – sports nutrition (amino acids or protein shake).
• After half an hour: simple complex carbohydrates (cereals: oatmeal, unrefined rice, wheat, corn honey, dried fruits, fruits).
• Snack: fruits or berries with cottage cheese.
• Lunch: Complex carbohydrates (grains rich in fiber) vegetables and herbs, eggs or lean meats.
• Half an hour before workout: Full cycle amino acids.
• Immediately after training: BCAAs.
• After half an hour: gainer or protein shake with banana milk. Or, instead of a sports meal, use carbohydrates (cereals, vegetables, fruits) and proteins (cottage cheese, eggs or meat).
• Dinner: Foods rich in protein (meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs) vegetables with butter.
• Before bed: dairy products, amino acids or casein protein.

During the day, not just after strength training, athletes need more nutrients, vitamins and minerals than untrained people. The rate of assimilation of nutrients from food is much slower than that of sports nutrition and pharmacy dietary supplements, therefore, for a speedy recovery and prevention of catabolism, it is necessary to provide “first aid” as an intake of sports food.

A full-cycle serving should be taken before training or before bed, while BCAAs are required immediately after training and after a night’s sleep. Amino acids not only accelerate muscle recovery and growth, but also prevent breakdown by cortisol, which is produced after exercise and sleep.

Sports nutrition for those who are gaining muscle mass. In addition to essential nutrients, creatine and glutamine accelerate recovery and eliminate waste products.Take supplements immediately after training with BCAAs.

Vitamins and minerals

During intense exercise, athletes need all minerals and vitamins for muscle recovery, especially B vitamins, ascorbic acid, zinc, magnesium. You can take in courses of vitamin and mineral complexes designed specifically for athletes, adhering to the dosages and manufacturer’s instructions.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is undeservedly forgotten in the sports nutrition industry.It is well known for its beneficial effects on eye health, but many of its other effects are often overlooked. Vitamin A is beneficial for athletes as it supports muscle protein synthesis and therefore muscle growth. The levels of this substance in the body decrease as protein synthesis increases. This is because it is used in the breakdown of protein during muscle repair.

If these words do not impress you, you may be convinced by the fact that vitamin A directly affects testosterone, the most powerful anabolic hormone.In a study of 102 adolescents with delayed puberty, vitamin A and iron showed the same benefits as hormone therapy (oxandrolone and testosterone). 1 This suggests that vitamin A deficiency can negatively affect testosterone production in men of all ages.

Finally, vitamin A plays an important role in ensuring the strength of the musculoskeletal system, contributing to the development of bones and the maturation of young cells.

L-carnitine

Release form: tablets, capsules, ampoules

For what: Carnitine facilitates your body’s access to fat reserves. I’m not ready to argue that L-carnitine helps to lose weight, but it actually increases endurance and has a beneficial effect on the health of the cardiovascular system.

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How to take: Take 1 tablet 2 times a day with meals, when you train endurance or strength. And with any type of training, if you feel that your heart is under heavy strain (for example, on a hot summer day).

I recommend “ALCAR 750” from SAN.

Creatine

Product form: powder, tablets, capsules

For what: Creatine is a precursor of creatine phosphate (CP) – one of the main sources of energy for muscle work. CF provides extremely short-term strength work (the first 3-5 repetitions in the bench press, for example). It is generally accepted that taking creatine supplements can increase strength. For some, this is true, however, this additive has no effect on the organisms of others.Try it – suddenly this food is in you.

How to take: 2-3 g once a day, together with a gainer. Just be sure to drink after at least three glasses of plain water. Creatine has an uncomfortable ability to absorb fluid, which can lead to cramping, bloating, and even injury to connective tissue, for which proper hydration is essential.

I recommend Creatine Monohydrate.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D (calciferol) is essential for muscle growth and recovery.Calciferol is unique in that the body requires exposure to direct sunlight to stimulate its production. Of course, we have all heard that vitamin D is important in preventing diseases such as softening of bones in adults and rickets in children, and that many people are deficient in this substance. But how can it affect muscle growth and recovery?

You might be surprised, but vitamin D is the most important of all vitamins when it comes to testosterone production!

Several studies have shown that supplementation with this vitamin, compared to taking a placebo, significantly increases explosive strength in adults after 12 weeks of strength training.2

Vitamin D also plays a key role in protein synthesis, in part due to its effect on testosterone production. Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to increase testosterone by 20% in men with low levels of this anabolic hormone, according to research. 3 In addition, calciferol is important for bone health. Working in conjunction with magnesium and calcium, it supports bone development.

Glutamine

Form of issue: powder, granules, capsules

For what: With heavy physical exertion, the reserves of glutamine in the body are depleted, and this negatively affects immunity and reduces regenerative capacity.Therefore, if you have more than 5 training hours per week, you should take this supplement.

How to take: Dose 2 times a day, in the morning and in the evening 15 minutes before meals – and you will recover normally, it is easier to endure stress and less pain.

I recommend Hardlabz “GAP” Capsules. They are much more convenient than powders.

Vitamin A

The main function of vitamin A, which is important for athletes, is its direct participation in protein synthesis.It is this process that occurs during the formation of new muscle cells, and, consequently, muscle building. In addition, vitamin A significantly accelerates the production of glycogen, which is the source of energy used by the body during periods of intense physical activity. When playing sports, vitamin A must be consumed regularly and in large quantities, since during physical activity its absorption by the body significantly deteriorates, which is why a large amount of this vitamin is removed from it prematurely, and it does not have the desired effect.There are many sources of vitamin A, but the main and most easily available ones are milk, eggs, carrots, tomatoes, apricots, pumpkin, fish, melon, pepper, spinach, parsley, dill and lettuce.

Energy

Form of issue: “jars”, powder

Why: Another favorite product of mine! A high-quality energy drink simultaneously whips up your mood, sports enthusiasm and healthy aggression. During strength training, such a product is of paramount importance. Just keep in mind – these are special sports energy drinks that are sold in special sports nutrition stores!

How to take: Just half a small bottle, drunk 30-45 minutes before training, and you are ready to break any records! However, I do not recommend drinking energy drinks before every workout (maximum 1-2 times a week), and in any case, do not drink more than one per day.

Recommend: “No-Xplode” from BSN, and in liquid, not powder.

What to mix the powders with?

Proteins and gainers can be mixed with ordinary non-mineral and non-carbonated water, freshly squeezed or packaged juice, as well as with milk. For a gainer, the best option is water, in combination with juice or milk, the amount of carbohydrates and calories in the mixture will go off scale. Protein powder will tolerate any of the liquids listed above, except that the milk should be selected for the least fatty.By the way, if your intestines hate milk, you can safely mix the protein on … kefir. But all other powders, especially creatine, can only be mixed with water, and they must be drunk immediately – in liquid form, additives are the least chemically stable.

Set of sports nutrition for recovery from injuries and health promotion

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10.04.2015

Tell Kirill Kolyaskin and Alexey Koshelev
– what sports supplements will be useful for people who are not in the gym
– what supplements are especially needed when doing sports
– types of sports nutrition that have a health-improving effect on the body

Preparations for joints and ligaments
For what: strengthening of ligaments, joints, cartilage.Improves the quality of nails, hair, skin.
Form of issue: powder, capsules, tablets, liquid concentrate
Main ingredients : glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM (MethylSulfonylMethane), collagen, vitamins, minerals, plant extracts
How to use: take one portion at a time food 1 to 3 times a day for a course of 6 months.

You may be interested in the video – About supplements for strengthening joints and ligaments

B itamins
For what: set of muscle mass, accelerated recovery after training, reduction of body fat.They normalize the internal processes of the body and improve the quality of hair, nails, skin.
Subspecies : vitamin complexes (for men, for women), mineral complexes, individual vitamins
Release form: capsules, tablets, liquid concentrate
Directions for use: Take one serving with food.

You may be interested in the video – Complex sports vitamins, fatty acids in iron sports

Omega 3 6 9 (fatty acids) – supplements containing healthy fats that (like vitamins) cannot on their own be produced by our body and we can get them only from outside.
For what: normalization of internal processes and the cardiovascular system, increase in metabolic rate, improve the quality of skin, hair, nails, joints.
Form of issue: capsules, concentrate
Main ingredients: fish oil, linseed oil
How to use: from 1 g to 2 g at one time with food. Take 1 to 3 times a day.

Melatonin (sleep hormone) – naturally formed in humans at night.It is a good natural sleeping pill.
Why: normalization of the day and night regime, improves the quality of sleep, effective for insomnia.
Release form: capsules, tablets
Directions for use: from 1 mg to 10 mg per dose, depending on its own weight and sensitivity to the drug. Take 1 time a day before bedtime, 10-15 minutes.

L-carnitine is a natural, vitamin-like substance that is involved in the transformation of body fat into energy during intense physical and prolonged cardio exercise.