Age creeps into us all. Slight sprains become pains, and maintaining muscle mass while holding your belly at bay becomes a war of attrition against time. But the battle isn’t over yet, and adding these three supplements to your diet – as long as you continue to eat right, exercise-wise, and have good quality sleep – can give your body a better chance of staying healthy—shape longer.
Glucosamine To Make You Stronger
Glucosamine is an amino acid and an essential component of cartilage, which is the substance that absorbs shock in the joints when you run, lift weights, or perform plyometric exercises such as box jumps. As we age, cartilage begins to lose the elasticity that protects the joints and thus becomes less effective at doing its job. Taking glucosamine, usually contained in shellfish, can strengthen cartilage by stimulating cells to produce proteoglycans, improving joint function and mobility. Aim for three daily doses of 500 mg.
Glutamine To Gain Muscle Mass Faster
Studies claim glutamine is an amino acid that minimizes muscle tissue breakdown during intense exercise and improves muscle synthesis, which is the assimilation of the proteins you eat into new tissues. Having adequate glutamine levels has also been linked to improved brain and gut health. You should already be getting enough of this compound from your diet, but it may be worth taking a supplement if you are stressed or exercising more than usual.
Vegetable Supplements For Better Overall Health
Make sure you eat as many servings of fresh vegetables as possible each day – then try adding a vegetable supplement to fill in any nutritional gaps you may have missed. Most powders contain multiple servings of vegetables and other highly beneficial compounds you may hate eating in their natural forms (think algae and herbs). You can drink it straight or mix it into a smoothie or breakfast smoothie.
When Is It Necessary To Take Supplements?
Even in ambitious recreational sports, there is only a need for dietary supplements in exceptional cases. Usually, athletes can cover their daily requirement of nutrients with a balanced, varied, and seasonal diet. First, a distinction must be made between leisure and competitive sports. There is a well-known definition of when you belong to which group. I do up to 300 hours of training a year as a recreational athlete. Here, for example, special dietary supplements such as BCAAs and glutamine are not relevant since you can very well cover the required amount of the corresponding amino acids with your diet.”
Three hundred hours of training per year corresponds to almost six hours per week. Even hobby athletes with a lot of training time still fall into this lower category. The health expert also advises: “After 45 minutes of exercise, it is advisable to take in one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight in the fitness area. With two hours of training a day, three times a week, it is also mandatory to have the micronutrients zinc, iron, vitamins A, D, and B complex checked regularly by a doctor to supplement them with targeted nutrition if necessary to meet the individual needs with the help of dietary supplements.
Taking protein shakes after training to increase performance and regeneration is elementary for me. Proteins don’t always have anything to do with muscle building. It’s also simply about maintaining the muscles, which is why I recommend it to everyone involved in any sport. However, optimizing nutrition should always have priority over supplementation. If an adequate, varied diet is ensured, there is no reason for athletes with higher energy expenditure to take food supplements.
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