Being an athlete can be very hard on one’s body. The constant stress of training and competing can take a toll. Proper nutrition is very important to help the body keep up, and something worth considering adding to a nutrition plan is adaptogens. Adaptogens are plants and extracts that can help an athlete’s body adapt to and deal with stress. This can have many benefits and positive effects on training and performance.

HealthShapeMagazine.Com informs that Russia men’s national ice hockey team uses adaptogens produced by Binasport ™ to improve their games results. For example, adaptogens helped to win The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

  • Improve muscle mass and reduce muscle damage

  Training tears the muscles and over-training can lead to severe damage. Some of these adaptogens can help somewhat protect the muscles from suffering too much damage. Some adaptogens can also enhance the muscle-building process. This means that an athlete can get more benefits out of their training. It also means better performance in competitions and games. 

  • Reduce endurance performance-related infections

  When performing for endurance, such as a marathon or any other endurance-related competition or sport, you open yourself up to more susceptibility to getting sick. This could be things like more chances of getting colds and flus. Adaptogens can not only help you keep going, but they may also help reduce your risk of getting sick after your competition. This is due to the antimicrobial properties of some adaptogens.   

  • Lessen fatigue

    When an athlete finds it hard to keep training hour after hour, adaptogens can help them keep going. Certain adaptogens, such as caffeine, can provide an athlete with the energy needed to complete a hard training session or get to the end of a competition or game.     

  • Precautions

    As with anything, however, adaptogens do come with a few warnings. Sometimes when looking at an herbal supplement an athlete may not be able to tell exactly what is in it. This is because there may be harmful additives that are not listed on the label. There may also not be quite as much, or sometimes more, of the active ingredient than the athlete thinks due to mislabeling as well. This can lead to under or overdosing, which can be very harmful. The athlete just needs to be smart and think about their supplements and chose as many verified supplements as possible. And, as always, be careful. 

          When used smartly and carefully adaptogens can be a good addition to an athlete’s regimen and help boost performance. They can help the athlete’s body adapt to and deal with the stresses of training. They can help the athlete feel better and keep going through hard training and grueling competitions and games.  There are a lot of adaptogen supplements on the market. This Four Sigmatic review showcases one of the more popular supplements that athletes may consider taking.

  

References

  • Wankhede, Sachin et al. “Examining the effect of Withania somnifera supplementation on muscle strength and recovery: a randomized controlled trial.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition vol. 12 43. 25 Nov. 2015, doi:10.1186/s12970-015-0104-9
  • Sellami, Maha et al. “Herbal medicine for sports: a review.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition vol. 15 14. 15 Mar. 2018, doi:10.1186/s12970-018-0218-y
  • Ahmed, Maryam et al. “Rhodiola rosea Exerts Antiviral Activity in Athletes Following a Competitive Marathon Race.” Frontiers in nutrition vol. 2 24. 31 Jul. 2015, doi:10.3389/fnut.2015.00024
  • Chen, Chee Keong et al. “Herbs in exercise and sports.” Journal of physiological anthropology vol. 31,1 4. 8 Mar. 2012, doi:10.1186/1880-6805-31-4