Recovery Food | Nutrients for fatigue recovery and muscle repair

Diet and Nutrition for Peak Condition (Part I)

In order to perform better, you need to keep your body in good condition. In sports, the words "condition" and "conditioning" are often used, but have you ever thought about what these words mean?

"Condition" is exactly what it sounds like: a state at a given time. Condition changes daily, influenced by training content, diet, nutrition, mental state, and more. "Conditioning" means preparing the body and mind to achieve higher performance and better results in sports. In other words, it is no exaggeration to say that "best performance" can be achieved through conditioning.

In this content, we will learn how diet and nutrition relate to various types of conditioning. Then, we will think about the conditioning that we need and incorporate it into our lives.

Muscle fatigue recovery and nutrition

When you do hard exercise, your muscles become fatigued. If you play sports, you probably experience the feeling of "muscle fatigue" all the time, but do you understand what it means?

Muscle fatigue leads to decreased performance

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Muscle fatigue can be said to be a state of decreased muscle strength and muscle power caused by physical activity. There are various causes of muscle fatigue, but from a sports nutrition perspective, possible causes include delayed recovery of muscle proteins, energy deficiency (glycogen depletion), and dehydration. Therefore, quickly recovering from muscle fatigue is important for improving and maintaining performance.

The main cause of fatigue – muscle glycogen depletion

Exercise consumes a lot of glycogen in the muscles, reducing the amount stored. If this state continues for a long time, you will feel tired. Many people have experienced coming home tired after club activities, going to bed without eating dinner, and feeling heavy in the morning despite having had a good night's sleep.

To restore glycogen, carbohydrates and protein are required.

Protein, carbohydrates, and fluids required for recovery

Recover glycogen by consuming carbohydrates

This fatigue is caused by going to bed without restoring depleted muscle glycogen (without replenishing carbohydrates at dinner). Therefore, it is important to replenish sufficient amounts of carbohydrates to quickly restore glycogen. In addition, it is said that a meal aimed at restoring glycogen after exercise is more efficient if it contains sufficient carbohydrates and protein.

Eat enough protein to rebuild your muscles

Protein intake helps restore muscles

Taking protein (amino acids) after exercise not only builds muscle, but also promotes the recovery of damaged muscles. For example, there are research studies showing that taking amino acids is effective against muscle pain (delayed onset muscle soreness) after intense training. To recover muscles made of protein, it is necessary to supply a sufficient amount of protein. Supplying a sufficient amount of protein can increase muscle protein synthesis.

A leucine-rich essential amino acid mix that promotes muscle recovery

Muscle conditioning is essential for maintaining performance during exercise and for rapid recovery after exercise. Among the essential amino acids, leucine acts as a "switch" for muscle protein production and plays an important role in maintaining muscles in ideal condition.

This essential amino acid mix, which contains a high amount of leucine, is expected to provide many benefits, including reducing muscle damage, promoting recovery, and preventing muscle loss.
Here's a detailed summary of how to use amino acids to improve performance.

If your body is depleted of energy after training and there is a long time until your next meal, the percentage of muscle protein used as an energy source will increase. To prevent this, it is a good idea to have a snack after training that contains carbohydrates and protein, such as rice balls, sandwiches, fish sausages, yogurt, and bananas.

Alanine and proline-containing carbohydrate mix that increases carbohydrate intake efficiency

Carbohydrate deficiency is common during exercise, and a decrease in stamina towards the end of endurance sports is a major issue. Regular carbohydrate supplementation alone may not provide enough energy.

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. has focused on the amino acids alanine and proline, which increase the efficiency of carbohydrate utilization. We will introduce in detail how the Alanine and Proline Carbohydrate Mix stores carbohydrates as glycogen and maintains performance.

Hydration and muscle conditioning

One factor that is often overlooked in reducing muscle condition is hydration. While people are conscious of replenishing energy and protein, they may not pay enough attention to fluid intake and become dehydrated. A large amount of water is stored within muscles, and is used to circulate various substances. Therefore, if the amount of water in muscles decreases due to insufficient fluid intake or dehydration, the circulation of substances will be impeded, making it difficult to move the muscles.

If you feel like your muscles are tired even though you're eating well and resting, you should suspect dehydration. Dehydration can occur even outside of practice, so if you are conscious of drinking fluids on a daily basis, you can maintain sufficient body hydration. If you don't sweat a lot during practice, drinking water or tea frequently instead of sports drinks is sufficient. Drink plenty of fluids to keep your muscles hydrated.

Recover your muscles for optimal performance!

Muscle conditioning is important for performing at your best. By reviewing your meals, snacks, and fluid intake, you can promote muscle recovery after practice and prepare for a good performance the next day.

*Click here for tips on muscle recovery after exercise

<Supervisor>Shota Sasaki

Shota Sasaki
Lecturer, Department of Health and Nutrition, Faculty of Human Sciences, Hokkaido Bunkyo University.
After completing her doctoral studies in applied life science at the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University (2011), she obtained her doctorate (academic), and worked as an assistant professor at Obihiro Otani Junior College before assuming her current position in 2019. She is a certified sports nutritionist and registered dietitian. She is also the editor of "Nutrition for Skiers" in the monthly magazine Ski Graphic.

To date, she has provided nutritional support primarily to junior and female athletes involved in speed skating and ice hockey. Currently, she is providing nutritional support to students aiming to become registered dietitians, as well as high school baseball and track and field athletes. Although still in the early stages of development, she is also working on a research project to find nutritional intake methods specific to sports played in cold environments. She aims to be a bridge between research in the field of sports nutrition and the field itself.