Supplements for Muscle Recovery

To reach your fitness goals, you have to push beyond your preconceived limits. You have to run that extra mile or squeeze out that extra rep. What hinders most people from reaching their goals is the pain they feel days after that intense workout. Recovery is the most important factor in your workout. This is the essential period to feed your damaged body with key nutrients, allowing your body to grow and excel. Your body depends on it.

Food for thought (or Growth): Carbs, protein and antioxidants

Carbohydrates as glycogen are stored within the body your first source of fuel.

Muscle fibers break down when overworked. Protein acts as the glue to mend torn muscle fibers.

Antioxidants are free radical scavengers. Free radicals form when the body is under great stress and destroy your body's cells.

James Madison University conducted a study that included 14 male cyclists who either drank a carbohydrate-only beverage or a carbohydrate, protein and antioxidant beverage every 15 minutes of exercise. The riders preformed one ride at 70 percent VO2 peak and 80 percent VO2 peak 24 hours later. Muscle fatigue and damage was studied. Results concluded that there was no change in fatigue, but there was increased muscle soreness in the carbohydrate drink group. The combination drink slowed down muscle damage, which would allow you to bounce back quickly.

Arm your muscles with Muscle Armor

Muscle Armor is a specialized amino acid supplement sold by EAS and manufactured by Abbot Laboratories. This supplement is comprised of arginine, glutamine, taurine and a leucine metabolite HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate). The University of Connecticut conducted a study to determine the effectiveness of this specific amino acid combination. Seventeen health men received either Muscle Armor or a placebo for 12 weeks while undergoing resistance training. Every two weeks, blood was drawn and muscle power was measured. Both groups gained lean body mass, strength and power. However, the Muscle Armor group responded significantly more then the placebo group. The Muscle Armor group saw an increase of resting and exercise-induced testosterone and growth hormone concentrations. Post-exercise cortisol was decrease, which is a stress hormone that can lead to weight gain. Muscle damage also decreased. However, the blend of amino acids were not disclosed because of proprietary information.

Chocolate milk

At the Northumbria University, England, two commercially available sports drinks were put up against chocolate milk. The study was done to examine the drinks on endurance performance after a glycogen-depleting exercise. Three trials were performed on male cyclists: glycogen-depleting trail, a four hour recovery period, and a cycle to exhaustion at 70 percent power. Two hours into the recovery period, the cyclist drank either the chocolate milk, a fluid replacement drink or a carbohydrate replacement drink. Cyclists who drank the chocolate milk cycled 51 percent and 43 percent longer after drinking the chocolate milk. It was concluded that chocolate milk is an effective recovery aid during prolonged endurance exercise. The casein protein will help rebuild muscle fibers while the simple carbohydrates help rebuild depleted glycogen stores.

Herbal aid for recovery

Ginseng is an herbal remedy used by the Chinese for centuries. The National College of Physical Education and Sports in Taiwan investigated if American ginseng could improve endurance exercise performance. Two groups of college students received either American ginseng or a placebo for four weeks for a treadmill exercise. The speed of the treadmill would increase until the subject would reach their 80 percent VO2 max. A four-week washout period followed, then the students would take the opposite supplement for another four weeks. The same treadmill exercise was performed. It was found that American ginseng did not improve VO2 max but did reduce plasma creatine kinase. Creatine kinase is present when the muscle cell is damaged, thus the ginseng helps preserve the skeletal muscle cells during intense exercise. If there is less muscle damage, there could be a more rapid recovery.

Considerations

Supplements can be helpful, but they are not intended for everyone. Contact your health-care provider before you start any supplementation.

References

• Kraemer, WJ. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Effects of amino acids supplement on physiological adaptations to resistance training. 2009 May; 41(5):1111-21.
• Ramano-Ely, BC. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Effect of an isocaloric carbohydrate-protein-antioxidant drink on cycling performance. 2006 Sept.; 38(9):1608-16.
• Thomas, K. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.Improved endurance capacity following chocolate milk consumption compared with 2 commercially available sport drinks. 2009 Feb.; 34(1):78-82.