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Tagged with 'nutrition'

Repair - Muscle Recharge

"take your recovery to the next level" one drink. Infinit Possibilities

Why all the fuss with Recovery?

Endurance athletes push their bodies to the limit, depleting essential nutrients during intense training sessions and races. The key is optimising recovery, which lays in a well rounded approach that goes beyond mere hydration. 

Endurance exercise places tremendous stress on the body, depleting energy stores and breaking down muscle tissue if not fueling adequately throughout, and surrounding training sessions. Proper nutrition is vital to optimise post training recovery. Dietary carbohydrates and protein are the most important macronutrients for endurance athletes, working to nourish, rebuild and replenish what the body has depleted over the last few hours. 

 

Infinit Nutrition REPAIR serves as exactly this - the perfect post workout drink formulated with a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. This combination of proteins, including the fast absorbing whey, and slower absorbing casein and soy proteins, allows for maximum recovery duration. These proteins supply the body with vital nutrition in a time released fashion for the full utilisation of the post workout anabolic window. The carbohydrates, amino acids and electrolytes in Repair additionally come together to give your body exactly what it needs to rehydrate and prepare for the next session. 

 

Carbohydrates for Recovery:

Firstly, we want to replenish glycogen stores - the body's primary energy source. 

 

To preform at your best it is well known that athletes must ensure that their carbohydrate stores are optimised before, during AND after exercise. This is where REPAIR comes into play. The rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis is shown to be at its greatest 1 hour post exercise. Studies have shown that ingesting carbohydrates immediately after exercise results in approximatly 45% greater rate of glycogen resynthesis over the following 2 hours compared to delaying your intake by 2 hours. This ultimatly translates into a greater net synthesis over a 4 hour recovery period, which can be even more important if you're following up with another session later on in the day.

Repair has been formulated not only to make your nutrition stragety as easy as possible, but to also give your body exactly what it needs to optimise your recovery and thus performance. 300 calories, 15g of protein, 59g of carbohydrates and 250mg of electrolytes mixed in with water or milk to get ahead of your nutrition. Whether you struggle to work up an appetite after training, need something quick on the way to work, or want to get ahead of your recovery - Repair is for you. 

 

Protein for Recovery:

Proteins are made of amino acids, which are the building blocks that help you grow and maintain your body’s tissues. Humans are not able to synthesize (or produce internally) certain amino acids, so they need to be consumed through food. These amino acids that need to come from dietary sources are called essential amino acids. This inability to produce essential amino acids is why the consumption of an adequate amount of high quality protein is vital for your health, epecially as athletes. 

 

It is recommended that average adults get a minimum of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Athletes, on the other hand, should consume higher amounts due to increased needs for muscle repair and training adaptations. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for athletes; depending on training intensity. If you're not consuming enough protein, your body may be giving you different signs that you need to eat more of it. Some of these include: decreased muscle growth or strength, getting sick more often, hunger, fatigue, unhealthy hair, skin, and nails, neurological disruptions, and swelling.

Another sign can be through muscle soreness, some hate it and others love it. Often we think this means more progress "no pain, no gain — Right?" But if you’re suddenly noticing that your body feels more sore than usual, or if you’re experiencing excessive muscle soreness it could be a sign your body is unable to repair and recover itself properly.

 

Exercise-induced muscle soreness results from microtears. Stress from exercise that is put on the muscles disrupts its normal function. As the muscle is damaged during exercise it can feel painful, the soreness then kicks in after exercise as the body responds to the breakdown. Soreness can be a result of change in exercise, a new form of movement, or poor nutrition. This is a necessary part of the adaptive response that comes from exercise. Activity & the physical stress of training breaks down the body (catabolism) in order for it to rebuild and recover (anabolism) ensuring that it can be better prepared for that stress next time.

This is where Protein and amino acids are essential, giving your body exactly what it needs to proper induce muscle recovery.

 

Electrolytes for Recovery

INFINIT’s exclusive blend of electrolytes is made up of four salts that match your sweat rate. This is primarily sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Our electrolytes are the most readily absorbable forms and are super important for your hydration. The electrolytes you take in throughout your training puts you in the best position to restore fluid balance, support hydration, and aid in the recovery of depleted energy stores.

 

 

Why Repair?

The combination of carbohydrates, protein, amino acids, and electrolytes creates an ideal enviornment for improved nutrient absorption. Nutrient absorption playing a pivitol role in maximising the benefits of a recovery drink. To explain, carbohydrates trigger the release of insulin, a hormone that not only helps in the uptake of glucose by the cells for energy but also facilitiates the absorption of amino acids by muscle tissues. The coordinated response is crucial for replenishing energy stores and initiating the muscle repair process. Not only does this highlight the importance of carbohydrates and amino acids but also protein and carbohydrates. 

 

Electrolytes also play a dual role in enhancing nutritient absorption. For example, sodium helps to facilitate the absorption of glucose and amino acids in the intestines, contributing to overall nutritent uptake. By incorporating a balanced combination of these key componets in a recovery drink like REPAIR, athletes can capitilise on the combination of these nutrients all in one drink. Ultimately, if you want to get the most of your training, recovering adequatly and replenishing the body is vital. The athlete who optimises their post exercise nutrition will be in the best position to maintain or enhance their performance during their next session and beyond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nutrition to Support Recovery from Endurance Exercise: Optim... : Current Sports Medicine Reports (lww.com)

 

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What is Beta Alanine

Beta-Alanine at a glance:

∞ INFINIT offers 725mg per serving as an optional “Extra” for Custom Formulas.
∞ Recommended initial dose of 6g/day for two weeks, then 4g daily as a “maintenance” dose.
∞ Oral ingestion of 4–6 g beta-alanine/day during 4–10 weeks increases carnosine concentrations by 40–80%.
∞ Doses larger than 800 mg (10 mg/kg body weight) can provoke moderate-to-severe paresthesia symptoms.


 

Beta-alanine is a hot topic in nutrition for exercise performance. Beta-alanine acts as a “muscle buffering agent” within the cells of muscle tissue. It is a naturally occurring amino acid that many athletes take in order to increase their muscles ability to delay fatigue and recover quicker from exercise. But how does it work?

Cyclists racing around a turn

Beta Alanine works by playing a huge part in creating a product called carnosine, this is a dipeptide that functions as an acid buffer as well as a calcium regulator in muscle tissue. This is particularly important in exercise as when the intensity increases, your body moves from an aerobic (using oxygen) to anaerobic (without oxygen) process. Anaerobic processes produce a large amount of hydrogen, creating what's called an acidic environment. This buffering function of carnosine in muscle tissue helps alleviate the acidosis within the muscle, thus combatting fatigue during exercise and enhancing your ability to recover.


Carnosine is also thought to play a role in calcium availability. Calcium is an electrolyte found in our mixes that is crucial to muscle contraction. A recent study supports that there is an increase in calcium sensitivity when more carnosine is present, meaning that the muscle is able to contract more readily. Not only this but, carnosine has been shown to have antioxidant properties. These functions all contributing to carnosine’s ability to maintain and improve homeostasis within the muscle which is vital to your performance.


So why is beta-alanine ingestion so important in the production of carnosine? Well, it’s because beta-alanine is the “rate-limiting” factor in carnosine production. What this means is that the amount of carnosine available to the muscle tissue is dependent on how much beta-alanine is present and available to be used. 


While there are some mixed reviews on the effectiveness of B-alanine supplementation, it’s important to understand the types of exercise it has been shown to be of the most benefit. The best results are noticed in high-intensity activities and sports, including endurance events that involve a sprint to the finish such as cycling.


The most common side effect of B-alanine supplementation includes paresthesia, aka 'the tingles'. The cause of this is attributed to pressure on peripheral nerves. To avoid these sensory side effects, divide the daily dose into multiple ingestion times during the day or use specific time-release capsules. 


More research is needed to establish clear guidelines about the optimal supplementation dose, but current findings support that benefits of beta-alanine on exercise performance do exist. Future research should also focus on improving our understanding on the vast differences in storage capacity among individual athletes, as well as the effects of co-ingesting beta-alanine with creatine and sodium bicarbonate to examine how these ergogenic aids may alter exercise performance and recovery.

 


 

Sources
Blancquaert, L., Everaert, I., & Derave, W. (2014, December 18). Beta-alanine supplementation, muscle carnosine and exercise performance. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 18(1).
De Salles Painelli V, Saunders B, Sale C, et al. Influence of training status on high intensity intermittent performance in response to b-alanine supplementation. Amino Acids 2014; 46:1207–1215.
Dunford, M., & Doyle, J. A. (2008). Nutrition for Sport and Exercise (Second ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Kendall, K., PhD, & Hyde, P., BS. (2015). Beta-Alanine Supplementation and Exercise Performance. Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition: Pulse, 34(1), winter 2015, 1-5.
Seher, C., MS, RD (2012, July) Beta-Alanine Supplements — Evidence Shows This Amino Acid Boosts Athletic Performance. Today’s Dietitian, 14 (7), July 2012.

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