Off-season is always an unwinder and performance enhancer for runners. While keeping your body conditioned and oiled, it is important not to overtax your joints and muscles. Hence, yoga is fast becoming a recovery routine for mental and physical rejuvenation. Some have even woven yoga into their weekly routine, to improve muscle flexibility and metabolism.

 

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Pre-Workouts- Fruits Can Be Good Option

Author: Mark Twain

Making use of pre-workouts is a highly needed thing in today's time as it helps perform the user better at the workout centers. There are various pre workout foods and supplements that are being used nowadays and are proving to be very much effective as well. USPlabs Jack3d is one of the very much popular and powerful pre-workout supplement. It helps the users perform better at the workout centers.



Other than supplements there are many other foods as well that are equally effective and powerful and do not provide any kind of side-effects to the user as well. One choice can be of making use of various foods including banana. It is well known that banana contains sugar and it is misunderstood among people that the sugar will increase fat. The fact says that the sugar in banana is a very much digestible type of carbohydrate so shouldn't be considered harmful.




Banana helps maintain the muscle and nerve system of human body properly because it is packed with potassium. Having supplement will allow the body storing the nutrients for a longer time so the users will be able to go through intense workout. Other than banana having grapes, peaches, pineapples, and apples can also be effective so these can be opted as well. From the whole it can be said that making use of pre-workout is good, and these can be selected from various options available.

Nutrition is significant for pre workout for muscle building. Supplements ensure proficient muscle development, no doubt. There are a number of supplements available in the market; however only selected few come up to their claims. If you are previously involved in passionate workout agenda, you should first and primary know the benefits of workout supplements. Well, these offer you with endurance and strength and assist you during very tiring workout schedule without compromising your fitness and safety.



If you exercise to build lean muscles, trainer ensures you get the maximum advantage out of the workout program. Even though many of you might consider that workout with natural supplement will be best in the long run, but none of you will disagree with the fact that supplements help get better results in less time. There are numerous supplement brands like usp jack3d supplement available to decide from that have diverse formulation and ingredient combinations. Recognize what ingredient is necessary for pre-workout time and what is essential after the workout session. This will assist you to choose a supplement in a better way.



You should be very cautious when choosing the product. Most of the brands claim but not succeed to hold up their claims with real examples. When selecting a pre workout supplement, it is significant you visit the legal website of the company and examine the feedbacks from previous users. Direct and individual experiences are the best examples that can assist you to decide whether that supplement is appropriate for you and your body or not. It is very vital to you to understand your body and its necessities before you buy any pre workout supplement.

Vitamin D May Enhance Muscle Recovery after a Workout

Author: Kevin a

Almost all of us know what it’s like to have sore, aching muscles after resuming a workout regimen or engaging in strenuous physical activity.  Some consumers respond by taking a pain reliever or what are known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). But the potentially serious side effects of NSAIDs have led some of these individuals to explore herbal ingredients like boswellin, white willow bark, curcumin, maritime pine bark and omega-3 fatty acids that are scientifically proven to reduce pain and work against inflammation in the body. 1-2

But when it comes to sore and achy muscles after a high-intensity activity, a new study points to Vitamin D as a potentially key nutrient for helping muscles recover quickly.

Why does muscle soreness take place?

Scientists don’t know for sure why muscles feel sore 8 to 24 hours after a workout or strenuous activity. Some believe that straining the muscles causes microscopic tears in the connective tissues and muscle. These tiny tears eventually produce inflammation resulting in pain in the form of stiffness and soreness. This is the body healing itself and the most remarkable outcome is that these muscles become more resilient than before. The next time you exercise, these muscles are not as likely to tear as easily.



Vitamin D May Help Muscle Recovery after an Intense Workout

Researchers at Kyung Hee University and Taenueng National Training Center of Korean Olympic Committee in South Korea subjected lab animals to high-intensity exercise. They noticed an increase in well-known bio-markers of muscle tissue damage, namely the enzymes creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Lab animals that received Vitamin D supplementation showed a weakening of these bio-markers.3

The lab animals were divided into 3 groups. The first group enjoyed a sedentary lifestyle; the second group was put on a rigorous exercise plan. In addition to exercise, the third group was given Vitamin D supplementation (1000 IUs/kg bodyweight). After 8 weeks, the lab animals that engaged in high-intensity exercises without Vitamin D supplementation showed increased activity of CK and LDH. This activity decreased, along with other bio-markers of inflammation, when the lab animals were given Vitamin D supplementation.

Researchers also demonstrated that the protein expression of Vitamin D Receptors (VDRs) increased in lab animals that engaged in high-intensity exercise and given Vitamin D supplementation. The team of scientists concluded, “Vitamin D may play a pivotal role in exercise-induced muscle damage and inflammation through (modulations involving the) VDR.”

 More Benefits of Vitamin D

Up until the last decade, all that we knew about Vitamin D was related to bone health. However, recent research shows that Vitamin D is a hormone required for the regulation of many physiological functions. Vitamin D has shown strong, protective effects against many bone diseases, muscle weakness, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and several internal cancers. Studies show that optimal levels of Vitamin D should be maintained from fetal development to old age.4 While optimal levels are required for all age groups, more recent surveys show that Vitamin D insufficiency is much more than expected. According to a Harvard Publication, approximately 1 billion people across the globe have inadequate levels of Vitamin D. Even in industrialized countries, doctors are seeing a resurgence of rickets and other bone-weakening diseases.5



Offer your Customers Vitamin D Supplements for Overall Health and Muscle Recovery

As a supplement business owner looking to meet the health needs of those consumers in the market for a high-quality Vitamin D product, you’ll want to partner with reputable nutritional supplement manufacturers who complete all of their manufacturing in a GMP Certified facility and have the ability to provide you with an array of in-house services like label design, packaging, order fulfillment and drop shipping.  Popular delivery methods for Vitamin D supplements that address muscle soreness include capsules, tablets and powders, so be sure to decide which one your customers will prefer prior to speaking with a supplement manufacturer.

References:
1.       Gastrointestinal side-effects of traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and new formulations. Aliment PharmacolTher. 2004 Jul;20Suppl2:48-58.PMID: 15335413. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15335413
2.       Natural Anti-Inflammatory Agents for Pain Relief, Surgical Neurology International, 2010; 1: 80. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3011108/
3.       Vitamin D3 supplementation modulates inflammatory responses from the muscle damage induced by high-intensity exercise in SD rats, Volume 63, Issue 1, July 2013, Pages 27–35, Cytokine, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043466613001373
4.       Benefits and requirements of vitamin D for optimal health: a review, Altern Med Rev. 2005 Jun;10(2):94-111.PMID: 15989379. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15989379
5.       Vitamin D and Health, Harvard School of Public Health,http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-d/


 

For most amateur athletes and leisure runners, the goal of training really is to infuse enjoyment and effectiveness into each session. While it is really easy to start any session of training, it does not necessarily ends with a really effective or enjoyable routine everytime.

Some runners sacrifice the enjoyment factor for pursuing tenacious effectiveness. Others neglect effective training in search of leisurely enjoyment in running. Both are detrimental to your wish to keep running as a long term enjoyable fitness regime.

Often a times, the key to enjoyable and yet effective training lies in the management of Intensity and Duration. In this post, we will attempt to introduce to you 2 types of training that possesses different characteristics in Intensity and Duration.

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training

This form of training is characterised by short duration and high intensity. The focus is on pushing your body to the limits each and every time you hit the roads. Due to the 100% running effort required for HIIT, you would find yourself tanking in a very short period of time. This may range from as short as 2 minutes to 15 minutes, depending on your current state of fitness.

The advice for beginning your first HIIT training is to listen to your body and stop when you experience any pain, breathlessness or fatigue that is beyond your normal threshold in training.

HIIT is highly effective within short periods of time. Care has to be exercised so that you are not over zealous in your goals. Focus should be on regulating the frequency such that you give your body ample day(s) to recover to 100% again before the next session.

Some general guidelines for injury-free HIIT

a) Begin with a shorter distance like 100 metres and build up in progressive 50 metres steps
b) Choose a flat, straight and familiar route
c) Always have your stopwatch with you and track your duration
d) Stop at the first instance of any pain, breathlessness or fatigue that is beyond normal threshold
e) Get used to a distance for a few trainings before you try to push beyond your existing limit

LISS or Low Intensity Steady State

This form of training is characterised by long duration and low intensity. The focus is on letting your body go for longer periods every time you hit the roads at a comfortable and steady pace. Due to the relatively low running effort required for LISS, the challenge is to push the limits of duration that you can maintain in that steady pace. This may range from as short as 30 minutes to a few hours, depending on your current state of fitness.

The advice for beginning your first LISS training is to find out what is your 50% pace or the running effort that you can sustain comfortably while still enjoying the scenary or humming a song. Sounds like a breeze does it?

LISS is backburner kind of training that only reaps results with perseverance and regularity. Care has to be exercised so that you are not over zealous in your goals. Focus should be on increasing the duration in a progressive manner with sufficient sessions to acclimatise your body to the existing duration before stepping up the duration.

Some general guidelines for injury-free LISS

a) Begin with a shorter duration like 30 minutes and build up in progressive 30 minutes steps only after you have done each duration for at least 4 sessions.
b) Choose a flat and straight route. You may wish to have a variety of routes such as a loop route and other longer routes with nice scenary to break the monotony as you eventually progress to long duration.
c) Always have your stopwatch with you and track your duration
d) Stop at the first instance of any pain or fatigue, especially arising from prolonged impact on joints.
e) Focus on duration and a steady pace, not speed or distance covered.

Watch the video below for some interesting pointers on HIIT and LISS trainings. Run on!

Just as training is crucial for good performance in any sport, recovery is also pivotal to guarantee sustainable levels of optimal performance.

A few trustable wise practices can be your dependable aide to improving your body's recovery.

First on the list is stretching. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of stretching as an integral part of training in any physical exercise. After intense contraction during activity, muscles are left in an excited and tight state, which causes exhaustion and the pain sometimes experienced. To help recovery of the muscles, stretching them would assist in bringing the muscles back to a stretched and relaxed stage and is more favorable for speedy recovery.

Ice bath is a way to cool the excessive heat from those overworked muscles. Soaking the affected area for 5 to 10 minutes can do wonders for instant gratification from training by easing tensed and throbbing muscle tissues. For easier application, you can apply an ice pack to specific areas like the calf, quadriceps, hamstrings or joints. Ice pack application can be longer up to 15 or 20 minutes.

An alternative is to employ a hot/cold contrast bath. This takes effect by immersing the affected area of your body in hot water for 2 minutes, then switching to cold water for 2 minutes. This cycle is repeated for at least 3 times to encourage muscle relaxation.

For those who are willing to spend more money and time, a visit to a sport medicine centre would be a bonus. A sports massage there can soothe the specific muscles and provide added boost to the recovery process. With the professional attention, you can also ensure that specific joints are not strained from inappropriate stretching. Increasingly, amateur athletes would probably go for sports massage after a major race, as part of recuperative theraphy (and a reward as well!).

Of course we do not neglect the importance of healing from within. The intake of plenty of fluids and balanced nutrition is crucial after trainings / races. Typically, consumption of water and fluids must be sufficient beyond the point of thirst within 30 minutes of the end of your exercise. Subsequently, you should try to drink at least 250ml every hour until your urine is colourless (as opposed to yellow). In terms of nutrition, you should maintain adequate complex carbohydrates intake (e.g. staples like pasta, rice, noodles, bread, cereals, potatoes etc) within 2h post-race/training. This is because our body requires energy to remove the lactic acid built up during intense exercise, which causes muscular fatigue. The body also needs a steady intake of these carbohydrates to replenish the glycogen stores used up during your training. Be sure to maintain a balanced and healthy diet as your body needs all the nutrients it can get to come back stronger!

Sufficient rest and sleep is vital. With all the previous steps done, all the body needs now is to put those into work when you sleep. Many of the recovery still happens when you sleep. Worn out cells are repaired. New cells are produced. Metabolites are regenerated. Wastes and toxins generated during exercise are removed. Levels of body substances are returned to the optimal levels.