COLLAGEN IN SPORTS (PART 2)

Let's continue with the second part for your sporty recovery. What are the most important factors for optimizing this? Here are the essential areas to consider :

Sleep

Sleep is when the body repairs and replenishes itself. More specifically, during deep sleep, the body produces human growth hormone (HGH), which is used to repair damaged tissue. Athletic recovery is all about repairing and replenishing . Therefore, it is important that you get enough sleep during recovery periods.

This means that sleep should be an important part of any exercise recovery routine. The average adult needs about eight hours of sleep a night. If you're having trouble getting a good night's rest, you should develop a routine based on principles of sleep hygiene.

Relaxation

Another important factor in sports recreation is relaxation. Intense exercise is essentially a form of physical stress that causes inflammation in various parts of the body. Using relaxation techniques can help reduce this inflammation, thereby allowing you to recover faster. There are many things that can be relaxing, from a visit to the spa to a nice massage , sitting in the garden with a good book or a hot bath with pleasant aromas and soothing music.

Sports nutrition: collagen peptides

Sports nutrition is the idea that nutrients from diet and supplements can help the body recover faster, increase performance, strength and fitness, and reduce the risk of injury. Professional athletes already understand the value of sports nutrition, and many of them incorporate it into their training and recovery strategies. It is well known that protein is an essential nutrient for muscle building . A special type of protein supplement are collagen peptides , which are becoming an essential part of sports recovery . In a clinical study conducted (Tom Clifford et al., 2019), collagen peptides were tested . The results were very promising. Participants who took 20g of collagen peptides daily had 20% less muscle soreness after intense exercise and showed improved performance. “The key finding of this study is that collagen peptide supplementation accelerated recovery of countermovement jumping performance and tended to reduce muscle soreness after a series of muscle-damaging exercises. 9-day collagen peptide supplementation may help accelerate muscle function recovery and relieve muscle soreness after strenuous exercise. Overall, collagen peptides appear to help reduce recovery time, which allows all types of active people to get the most out of their exercise and training.