It’s 2020! The New Year, New Me spirit is starting to wane and we have crept into February without even realising!
But that hasn’t stopped you feeling invigorated to keep your new workout routine. In fact, wow, you have been working out hard and are making incredible strides at the gym!
But, in between workouts you are feeling really sore and achy. It seems like the muscle soreness is sticking around longer than you really want. The bath and Epsom salts does make a difference, but isn’t the most time efficient way to soothe those muscles! And then, we realise workouts seem even harder sometimes, simply due to the soreness.
Research shows that Turmeric, a natural anti-inflammatory†, may help you get back to the gym faster.
The Importance of Recovery
Over training and physical overexertion can potentially damage muscles.
This risk can be increased whilst weight training, in particular, because it causes microscopic tears to occur.
This is something, not even I knew before finding the right supplements to work alongside my gym routine, but did you know that muscles grow and gain strength by repairing the tears over and over again. Painful…right!
So, while the muscles are damaged from the exercise, you tend to experience swelling, pain, and poor performance. This is an inflammatory reaction from a hard workout that usually lasts between three and five days, making day to day activities quite challenging!
I’m sure you’ve been there!
Allowing your body the time it needs to recover is crucial to preserving and preventing muscle loss. And how long is this time? Well, the recovery process is the time where the body adapts to exercise and deals with the inflammation and replenishes itself from the workout. A common misconception in weight training is that strength gains are made during your workout, when in fact, muscle building and strength gains are made during restful recovery.4
Not only will taking a day-off help you continue to progress with your fitness goals, but a quality diet and proper supplementation can help as well.
Turmeric for recovery
Turmeric has been evaluated in several research studies and found to be very beneficial for speeding up workout recovery!
Why? Well, in a study in the FASEB Journal in 2017, it evaluated the impact of curcumin on exercise-induced muscle damage, oxidative stress, and inflammation.
Researchers measured multiple inflammatory markers and reported muscle soreness before, immediately after, and at set intervals after exercise. The forty nine subjects were given either 50 mg curcuminoids (the active ingredient in turmeric), 200 mg curcuminoids, or a placebo for eight weeks. Those who received the highest dosage reported significantly less pain and muscle damage post-workout. Both groups that received the curcuminoids had lower inflammation markers after exercise.1
Another 2017 study in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine evaluated the impact of a combination supplement that contained curcumin and piperine on the post-exercise recovery of ten professional rugby players. Subjects were given the supplement or a placebo forty-eight hours before and after the training session. Performance, muscle damage, and soreness were measured. Those who received the curcumin demonstrated significantly improved exercise performance and less muscle damage compared to the placebo group.2
Further research is needed to determine optimal dosages and how best to take turmeric for exercise recovery. But early findings suggests that taking a turmeric supplement may help get you back in the gym faster.
Well, there’s a reason we have gone on about Turmeric, it’s because we offer it as a supplement!
Our Turmeric Curcumin with 15mg of black pepper extract is formulated with BioPerine to boost bioavailability by over 2000%, making it better than consuming turmeric capsules alone. BioPerine comes from Black Pepper Extract, also known as Piperine. Now the best part is, it helps control inflammation in the body, ideal for helping inflammatory conditions such as joint & back pain.
Turmeric is known for being a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and as discussed, supplements in this case can be the best way to compliment a healthy and active lifestyle!
Remember, New Year, New You? Well, we care about you, and what’s on the inside!
Turmeric Curcumin Capsules with Bioperine
† May help reduce temporary inflammation associated with physical overexertion.
References:
- The FASEB Journal 2017 31:1_supplement, lb766-lb766.
- J Sports Sci Med. 2017;16(1):147–153.
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 2007 292:6, R2168-R2173.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4836564/.