Nutrition is crucial when it comes to muscle recovery. Although your food supplies most of the nutrition you need, adding supplements can help you recover faster and reduce exercise-related soreness. Let’s look at some of the best muscle recovery supplements to help you get the most out of your workouts.
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8 Muscle Recovery Supplements to Stay Active for Your Next Workout
Repairing muscle and tissue, eliminating body wastes, and lowering inflammation is part of the recovery process. Following a proper post-workout recovery process is vital to staying healthy and active. Here are the eight muscle recovery supplements to take after exercise.
Protein
Protein is, without a doubt, an essential substance for muscle recovery. It provides your muscles with the building blocks they need to grow and prevents muscle damage, especially when consumed after an exercise. According to research, protein supplementation may promote muscle growth and enhance muscle strength if resistance training duration, frequency, and volume are adequate.
Magnesium
Magnesium helps muscle recovery by allowing muscles to relax. According to research, magnesium supplementation at sufficient levels enhanced muscle soreness recovery after strenuous exercise. In contrast, if you are deficient in magnesium, you’re more likely to get muscle cramps since magnesium helps maintain healthy muscle contractions.
Curcumin
Curcumin is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant component found in turmeric. It relieves pain and swelling when applied over damaged muscles or taken orally. Several studies have reported that curcumin supplementation reduces delayed onset muscle soreness after exercise. You can aim for up to 1500 mg of curcumin daily in 2 to 3 portions for the best benefits.
Omega-3
Omega-3 can enhance the recovery of muscular performance and reduce soreness after workouts. According to a 7-week study involving 32 college-aged resistance-trained males, omega-3 in the form of fish oil supplementation reduced perceived muscle soreness. The primary finding showed that 2400 mg/day of fish oil effectively delayed perceived muscle soreness.
BCAA’s
Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are a group of three essential amino acids: valine, leucine, and isoleucine. They are well-known for increasing muscle growth and enhancing exercise performance. According to a study including 24 non-weight-trained males, BCAA supplementation can reduce muscle soreness from eccentric exercise. BCAAs are essential because your body cannot produce them. Therefore, it is necessary to take BCAAs supplements in addition to your diet.
L-glutamine
Glutamine is an amino acid that helps muscles recover faster by taking in carbohydrates more easily after workouts. It also stimulates growth hormone production, helping the body build new muscle mass. According to a study including 16 participants, L-glutamine supplementation reduced muscle soreness and recovered muscle strength after eccentric exercise over a 72-hour recovery period.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
CoQ10 is a nutrient naturally produced in the human body. As an antioxidant, it helps athletes prevent muscle strain by controlling inflammatory pathways during and after an exercise. Several studies showed that CoQ10 supplementation (60–100 mg/day for 4–8 weeks) increases exercise performance and post-workout recovery in both trained and untrained individuals.
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Probiotics
Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that naturally live in your body. They help maintain a healthy digestive and immune system and enhance protein absorption. If your digestion isn’t working correctly, you won’t be able to recover as quickly, reducing muscle and tissue regeneration and causing additional inflammation.
A study consisting of 29 recreationally-trained males showed that probiotic supplementation in combination with protein reduced muscle damage, improved recovery, and maintained physical performance after damaging exercise.
Now you know the best supplements for muscle recovery. Although you should not use supplements to replace whole and organic meals, supplements play a vital role in muscle recovery, thus significantly enhancing sports performance.
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