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Supplements For Muscle Recovery


diehli

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Doing a search online it looks like Glutamine is the best (or most readily available) muscle recovery supplement, but I'm wondering what y'all's experience is.

I don't want anything that has speed in it (no ephedra-based stuff as my heart goes wacky), but I do want something that'll keep me going through 5 days a week hard workout, match on Saturday, and heavy labor (i.e. digging with a pick-axe) on Sunday.

Something that also helps in burning fat would be welcomed with open arms.

John T.? Flex? Bueller?

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I am with you on the ephedra-based stuff, I would have to lay down to watch the room spin also

What is you mean by muscle recovery, from an injury, or just daily task? ,not that there would be much difference if any in the type of supplement

High protein muscle supplements are made by so many manufactures today, preference will vary like ford, and Chevy, but I prefer the cheap “nature made” brand found in wally world, if I had the bucks I would go to gnc, and use metrx

You will have several people splitting hairs over types of amino acids, and proteins, but anything is better than nothing, the actual amounts, and differences are not worth fighting over

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You might want to try some Endurox R4. When I first got into cycling a few years ago the day-after pain in my legs was awful. So, being the reserch nut I am, I came across this Endurox stuff and gave it a try. Night and day difference in how I felt. There are cyclists who swear by the stuff. And, I gotta tell ya, I don't plan riding on days back-to-back without it.

I used it at .5 serving (b/c it doesn't taste all that good straight) and mixed in a little bit of fruit juice to make it a bit more palatable. More or less it is a 4:1 mix of carbs and protein with a bunch of vitamins.

YMMV

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300 -

After my workouts I was starving. My gym had a excelent restraunt too. I would eat my share of chicken and veggies. Basically the same thing. Protein and carbs. My trainer wasn't much of an eater, so he would drink his calories. Not me, I take eating over popping some pills.

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If you aren't already solid with your water, sleep, and MACRO nutrients (protein, carbs, fats, vitimins and minerals), ...then taking a supplement for "insert desired effect here" will be like scrubbing a floor with a toothbrush.

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Good solid proteins, carbs and recovery specific nutrients will be your best bet.

If you wait about 30-40 minutes after your workout, you can reap some additional metabolic effects of the workout.

So, for a meal intake, if you want a supplement/meal replacement, I can highly recommend the EAS Myoplex shakes. I took the Deluxe for the extra protein and CLA, but there is a point where your body will not process foods with protein levels over 45g +/-. I cut it with EAS Betagen HP. A little pricey, but the added Creatine and HMB really help with the muscle recovery and prevent lactic acid build up/burn.

Now, from the perspective the military, drink lots of water (not to exceed 12 quarts per day) and eat three balanced meals. Make sure you're not starving yourself, so ensure that you're getting the right number of calories, fats, proteins and carbs per day. EAS's website has a great computer that will calculate this for you based upon your height, weight and fitness goals.

Hope that helps.

God Bless our military,

SPC Richard A. White

C-Co, 232nd Med Bn

3rd PLT (Wolverines!)

Fort Sam Houston, TX (Home of the Combat Medic! Hooah!!!)

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Gorilla,

Glutamine is nothing more than an amino acid so you can take as much as you want w/o any side effects. Glutamine specificaly helps by keeping your body in the "anabolic" mode (growing) and out of the "catabolic" mode(body uses muscle for fuel due to cortizone relased during lifting and other things). That's why it's considered a "revcovery" supplement. Some say that glutamine works better than creatine. I have found that to be the case for me somewhat. The only two supps I take are glutamine and creatine.

Glutamine is best taken in three or four 10 gram servings on the days you lift with 10 og the grams right after a workout and 10 right before going to bed. I only take about 10 grams take on my off days.

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You might want to try some Endurox R4.  When I first got into cycling a few years ago the day-after pain in my legs was awful.  So, being the reserch nut I am, I came across this Endurox stuff and gave it a try.  Night and day difference in how I felt.  There are cyclists who swear by the stuff.  And, I gotta tell ya, I don't plan riding on days back-to-back without it.

I used it at .5 serving (b/c it doesn't taste all that good straight) and mixed in a little bit of fruit juice to make it a bit more palatable.  More or less it is a 4:1 mix of carbs and protein with a bunch of vitamins.

YMMV

I might try that if I get into stuff where I'm burning tons of fuel over an extended period of time (like, for example, cycling ;) ), but my diet is pretty good when it comes to balancing things out. The main concern for me is that back-to-back days at the gym leave things sore for more than a day afterwards. Compounded lactic acid build-up seems to be the culprit.

If you aren't already solid with your water, sleep, and MACRO nutrients (protein, carbs, fats, vitimins and minerals), ...then taking a supplement for "insert desired effect here" will be like scrubbing a floor with a toothbrush.

H20 is pretty much the only thing I drink (I'll splurge with a Sprite or Lemonade once every couple weeks... then there's the occasional Red Bull or Rockstar when I'm totally burned... and the occasional night of drinking...)—probably at ~130oz on a slow day to ~200-240 on days when I'm out and about. Sleep is good... even better with workouts. The diet can be improved (whose can't?), but is generally pretty good. Need to include more fruits.

Good solid proteins, carbs and recovery specific nutrients will be your best bet.

If you wait about 30-40 minutes after your workout, you can reap some additional metabolic effects of the workout.

So, for a meal intake, if you want a supplement/meal replacement, I can highly recommend the EAS Myoplex shakes.  I took the Deluxe for the extra protein and CLA, but there is a point where your body will not process foods with protein levels over 45g +/-.  I cut it with EAS Betagen HP.  A little pricey, but the added Creatine and HMB really help with the muscle recovery and prevent lactic acid build up/burn.

Now, from the perspective the military, drink lots of water (not to exceed 12 quarts per day) and eat three balanced meals.  Make sure you're not starving yourself, so ensure that you're getting the right number of calories, fats, proteins and carbs per day.  EAS's website has a great computer that will calculate this for you based upon your height, weight and fitness goals.

Thanks, Rich. Diet-wise, I'm in decent shape. I might have to give Betagen a shot. Interesting calculator... it wants me to take in a good deal more than I currently am. :o;)

Glutamine is nothing more than an amino acid so you can take as much as you want w/o any side effects.  Glutamine specificaly helps by keeping your body in the "anabolic" mode (growing) and out of the "catabolic" mode(body uses muscle for fuel due to cortizone relased during lifting and other things).  That's why it's considered a "revcovery" supplement.  Some say that glutamine works better than creatine.  I have found that to be the case for me somewhat.  The only two supps I take are glutamine and creatine.

Glutamine is best taken in three or four 10 gram servings on the days you lift with 10 og the grams right after a workout and 10 right before going to bed.  I only take about 10 grams take on my off days.

Awesome, John! That's what I wanted to hear/read. It looks like it (besides the carbs, protein, and other vits) is what's in the Endurox that BD recommended. Methinks that I'll go with the glutamine, creatine, and HMB... maybe try out Betagen HP.

Thanks all!

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It's being reported that glutamine taken w/ protein powder isn't as effective as taken by itself as it has to compete with other nutrients during body absorption. Therefore on the days I workout I take glutamine separate. Also you would have to take a LOT of servings of protein powder to get into the 30-40 grams of glutamine range.

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I know the calculator is kind of weird. I couldn't believe it either when I decided to take the leap of faith (after confirming it with a few sports nutritionists and kinesiologists) and couldn't believe the benefit.

Further, my military training so far has shown that I can eat tons of food and still drop weight with moderate exercise.

Food wise. My general rule is one carb per protein and then a slice of pie at dinner! :D

Good luck and hope the progress goes well.

SPC Richard A. White

C-Co, 232nd Med Bn

3rd PLT (Wolverines!)

Fort Sam Houston, TX (Home of the Combat Medic! Hooah!!!)

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  • 3 months later...

I'm the last guy who would claim to be an expert on this, but I made a habit for a while of having a "muscle milk" shake for breakfast, and sometimes when it got late as dinner too.

Check out www.vigorousliving.com they're like 40% off GNC.

And I know the ads always say it but it really does taste like a milkshake. Hell I can even reccommend flavors if you get serious about it.

Now I need to get back into the gym. Travel and new GF have made me lazy.

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Cytomax When I was riding 7 days a week I used the Cytomx all of the time. Weekend rides were the biggest and I'd hit the sushi bar on Sat night. The fish made the biggest difference in muscle recovery over anything else that I tried.

Beats The BurnTM: Cytomax's patented alpha L-PolylactateTM buffers lactic acid production in your muscles, reducing the "burn" during intense training and minimizing post-exercise muscle soreness.

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  • 9 months later...
Good solid proteins, carbs and recovery specific nutrients will be your best bet.

So, for a meal intake, if you want a supplement/meal replacement, I can highly recommend the EAS Myoplex shakes.

Beyond the basics of water, good rest, and other nutrients - I agree the high protein meal replacement/supplements are good stuff. The Myoplex product is really good - I've found that the METRX is better for me personally and you get what you pay for with these products. I've never found taking the 'cheap' route to be effective with supplements.

YMMV of course -

Good luck

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Good solid proteins, carbs and recovery specific nutrients will be your best bet.

So, for a meal intake, if you want a supplement/meal replacement, I can highly recommend the EAS Myoplex shakes.

Beyond the basics of water, good rest, and other nutrients - I agree the high protein meal replacement/supplements are good stuff. The Myoplex product is really good - I've found that the METRX is better for me personally and you get what you pay for with these products. I've never found taking the 'cheap' route to be effective with supplements.

YMMV of course -

Good luck

Ditto. It's not to say that the bargain ones don't work, but with MET-Rx and EAS, you know you're getting quality.

In recent months, I've completely flipped my diet and supplement intake and have seen incredible results in the way of fat loss and not only muscle retention, but lean muscle development.

I've been accused of calorie starving, but physical fitness performance and just looking and feeling better let me know I've found more of my caloric "balance" than being in any kind of deficit. It's kind of complex to describe, but Cullen, if I see you at a match at Norco/SWPL, I'll grab you there and outline it.

Too, I'll be at US3GN and if you're there (I'm pretty sure you will) I'll go over it with you.

Later,

Rich

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Sorry for posting so late, dunno how I missed this, as weight training is my other major past-time. I'm into bodybuilding, though not competing (yet =)

5 days a week hard workout, match on Saturday, and heavy labor (i.e. digging with a pick-axe) on Sunday.

Whoa. Did I get you correctly? 5 days per week at the gym? And heavy labor on a rest-day? I strongly recommend against this. What are your goals? Gaining muscle mass, strength, stamina? Whatever the goal, I'm pretty sure you'll get there faster and with less risk if you lose two workouts per week, or even one. Most excercise routines that have 4+ workouts per week are made by people who use gear (anabolic steroids, growth hormone etc). As such, they fit very few 'natural' weight lifters. The muscles simply don't have time to recover and grow if stimulated continuously. A really old saying, but it still rings true: You grow outside the gym, not in it.

It's difficult to give advice as I know very little about you or your goals. As to your question, what many have said, a good diet and adequate rest are by far more important than any specific supplement. They count for maybe 90% of recovery. For the remaining 10%, I'd say the most important ones would be magnesium, vitamin C and glutamine. Vitamin E wouldn't be a bad idea either. All of the above are best taken before going to sleep.

I'll gladly give some advice and share my experiences in weight training if you want to. I've gone down the sometimes difficult 'trial and error' -road, and have since begun to inform people of my errors so that they may avoid them. But hey, for all I know, you've been doing this longer than I have =D

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  • 1 year later...

^^^I don't think he's working the same muscle groups 5 days a week. He probably does what most lifters do - different groups on different days. Legs on Monday, Back on tuesday, abs on wednesday, chest on thursday, etc. Gives each muscle group a week to recover.

Creatine is not going to help with muscle recovery; its primary use is to boost ATP regeneration in muscle during exercise. Physiologically speaking your muscle cells can only perform about a 10-15% increase in creatine-based ADP phosphorylation, so that's what creatine supplements will give you. Creatine essentially makes your muscles run well for a little longer, enabling you to get that one extra rep or that extra 5 lbs of weight. Simply adding creatine without increasing your workout load will not improve your physique other than the water weight your muscles will retain thanks to hypertonicity.

Also, I remain unconvinced that Glutamine supplements in large amounts are the way to go. You can stay in "anabolic mode" 24 hrs a day, but if you have none of the other 19 amino acids available in bulk, your body will not build muscle fibers. Pop a little glutamine if it makes you feel better, but balanced protein supplements IMO are far better for jacking up those "musskels." :)

CQ

Edited by Conqueror
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  • 11 years later...

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