Tagged with 'sports-season'

Keeping up with your exercise regimen is a lot easier when you recover quickly after a workout. For many athletes, reducing muscle damage and soreness is a top priority. There are a number of post-exercise recovery strategies used, but here are some simple tips worth considering.

Tart Cherry Juice

1. Tart cherry juice is rapidly gaining popularity among elite athletes and weekend warriors as a drink that helps speed the recovery process. Antioxidant compounds found in tart cherries called anthocyanins are believed to work by reducing inflammation. Try drinking tart cherry concentrate on workout days for less pain and inflammation.

Tart cherry juice decreased some of the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage following strength training.

What you can do? Drink tart cherry juice within 30 minutes after workouts, or carry some dried tart cherries in your bag. Also try a tart cherry smoothie – blending tart cherry juice or cherry powder and Greek yogurt with frozen tart cherries.

Caffeine

2. Your morning coffee may be doing more than waking you up before an early morning workout. Studies show drinking coffee prior to a workout reduces muscles soreness and fatigue by nearly half. Caffeine affects a system in the brain and spinal cord involved in pain processing, which may be how it reduces pain. This decreased perception of soreness in the days after a strenuous resistance training workout may allow you to increase the number of training sessions in a given time period.

If you don’t have any medical contraindications to caffeine, the recommendation is to drink two cups of coffee prior to a work out. You’ll also take advantage of caffeine’s well-documented ability to boost endurance.

Ice, Ice Baby

3. After exercise, a hot bath may feel really nice, but giving muscles a cold treatment, whether it be an ice bath, an ice bag or an ice treatment known as cryotherapy, after exercise is most beneficial. A hot bath will provide overall relaxation and mild pain relief, but icing actually prevents further muscle damage and speeds healing.  

Arnica Montana

4. Arnica montana is an herbal version of Bengay and is thought to be just as effective as ibuprofen in easing pain. The plant can be applied to the skin in a gel or cream form and can help with swelling and soreness. Arnica is the most well-known and often used of the homeopathic remedies. Arnica montana is used in homeopathy for most types of injuries: bruises, sprains, muscle injuries, and falls. Arnica is used to reduce pain and to speed the healing process.

Plan ahead and these muscle soreness recovery tips don’t take much effort to implement, and will be much worth it!

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

References:

Kuelhl, Kerry S. Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010; 7:17.

Connolly, DAJ. Efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of muscle damage. Br J Sports Med. Aug 2006; 40(8):679-683.

Hausswirth, C. et al. Effects of whole-body cryotherapy vs. far-infrared vs. passive modalities on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in highly-trained runners. PLoS ONE 6(12): e27749.

A serious workout can leave anyone who exercises sore and can even lead to muscle damage. Fortunately, certain antioxidants can be key players in post-exercise recovery.

Exercise Generates Free Radicals

Exercise is associated with so many health benefits, but surprisingly enough there is one undesirable thing about exercise. Exercise increases the production of free radicals, which damage important parts of our body’s cells, such as DNA. Once our cells are damaged, they become dysfunctional.

Antioxidants Combat Free Radicals

Antioxidants are critical for removing these damaging free radicals, but when a surge of free radicals is created during exercise, an imbalance between free radicals and the antioxidants that eliminate them occurs. This disturbance is called oxidative stress.

The body has antioxidant systems located throughout it, and exercise does indeed improve those systems, but not enough to offset the free radical production during exercise.

Even though free radical production during exercise is inevitable, science has investigated whether various antioxidant vitamins and minerals have the potential to improve the situation.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that works as an antioxidant by deactivating the free radicals that commonly travel throughout our cells. While little research supports the notion that increases in vitamin C will improve performance, these studies have shown that increasing vitamin C levels decreases the production of various by-products reflective of free radical production and the damage they create.

Some foods high in vitamin C include oranges, grapefruit, bell peppers, broccoli, strawberries, kale, kiwi, guavas, pineapple, mango, and papaya.

Vitamin E

Like vitamin C, research on vitamin E does not support its ability to increase or improve athletic performance, but it has repeatedly been shown to help minimize damage to cell membranes from free radicals. Any strategy that can enhance the body’s ability to effectively resolve free radical production can potentially serve to assist with recovery from intense and damaging exercise.

Some foods high in vitamin E include almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, apricots, squash, pumpkin, shrimp, and spinach.

Vitamins C and E Together Optimize Recovery

Research has suggested when combining vitamins C and E, their ability to offset the production of free radicals and prevent oxidative stress is even greater than when acting alone inside the cell. While vitamins C and E may do little to improve exercise performance, their ability to help modulate free radical production and oxidative stress make them reasonable considerations for individuals who need to optimize their recovery from exercise.

Exercise does a world of good for both mind and body. Nutrition is a cornerstone for sufficient recovery—adequate calories, carbohydrates, and protein intake are the most important initial considerations. In addition, antioxidants are helpful to reduce free radical damage and optimize the body’s recovery after intense exercise. Including plenty of fruits and vegetables on a regular basis is certainly a great start.

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

References:

Childs A, Jacobs C, Kaminski T, et al. Supplementation with vitamin C and N-acetyl-cysteine increases oxidative stress in humans after an acute muscle injury induced by eccentric exercise. Free Radic Biol Med. 2001;31(6):745–753.

Bryant RJ, Ryder J, Martino P, et al. Effects of vitamin E and C supplementation either alone or in combination on exercise-induced lipid peroxidation in trained cyclists. J Strength Cond Res. 2003;17(4):792-800.

It’s that time of year again…kids all across the country are returning to school, and kids and adults alike are eager and excited to kick off the Fall sports season! It’s such a fun time of year, and you’re never too old to compete.

Unfortunately, with competition comes the risk of injury, and general muscle fatigue and soreness. Let’s prevent the injuries and promote recovery.

September’s Health Buzz will focus on nutrition recommendations for preventing and healing injuries, supporting your joints, reducing inflammation, and fueling your muscles to ensure they recover.

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods