Wellness
These Supplements For Muscle Recovery Are Popular For A Reason
Bonus: They’re all $25 and under.
Whether you’re a runner, a lifter, or a crosstraining superstar, working your bod hard on a regular basis means muscle recovery should be on your mind. Allow me to get nerdy for sec: When you work out, your muscle fibers develop small tears. As they heal, they become stronger, so you can lift heavier, run faster, or just sweat longer without getting tired. Yay, science!
But the thing is, if you’re not doing all of the things to help your body recover (like sleeping, stretching, resting, and eating properly), it’s a lot harder to make that muscle magic happen, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
And while getting enough sleep and prioritizing active recovery like foam rolling, stretching, walking, and yoga between sweat sessions are pretty self-explanatory, making sure you’re eating the right stuff is a bit more complicated. That’s where supplements for muscle recovery, like the ones from iHerb, come in to save the day.
What you need to eat and when you need to eat it depends on your level of activity, but generally, experts recommend consuming both carbs (like apples, bananas, or toast) and protein (peanut butter, cheese, nuts and seeds) after working out to help rebuild muscle and restore their energy supply. And while that’s a great start, adding supplements to your routine can also help fight inflammation as well as boost muscle, tendon, and bone repair. Here, five of the most loved supplements and why they’re awesome.
1
Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) or valine, leucine, and isoleucine, if you wanna get fancy about it, are super important in helping your body make protein, and you can only get them from food (or supplements, like this powder from Sierra Fit). What makes these so special is that they don’t have to be processed by your liver before getting to work. Research suggests these babies can help rebuild muscle and reduce fatigue. Plus, this mix contains electrolytes like salt and potassium, which are a big deal in helping you rehydrate after sweating buckets.
2
If you’re not in love with a flavored drink mix or hauling a canister of powder around with you, these capsules will be your jam. Pop two of these with your post-workout snack, and you’ll reap all those BCAA bennies without having to chug.
Oh, and about that post-workout snack: Be sure yours contains at least 50 grams of carbs. That’s because, when paired with protein sources like these BCAA-packed capsules, those carbohydrates can reduce muscle breakdown, per the National Academy of Sports Medicine. So those munchies might include a sliced banana on toast, a couple of granola bars, or oatmeal with fruit. Yurm!
3
You know her, you love her. Whey is a protein-rich dairy-based supplement that’s a classic for a reason. A meta-analysis of studies investigating the efficacy of whey supplements on muscle repair found that, indeed, it appears that whey can help temporarily restore muscles to their full glory. And even though more research needs to be done to prove this theory, there’s no reason you couldn’t do some experimenting of your own with this chocolatey recipe. What’s more, a study from the Journal of Medicinal Food suggests that whey also boosts your body’s production of an antioxidant found in white blood cells, a key part of your immune system. You love to see it.
4
ICYMI, creatine is a substance made in small doses by your bod and is also found in red meat and seafood. In a nutshell, this guy helps restore ATP, a molecule used to store energy for later. So, yeah, it makes sense that fans love it for its energy-boosting effects. Two meta-analyses of all randomized controlled trials from the journal Sports Medicine found that creatine supplementation improves upper- and lower-body strength regardless of when they took it. More fun facts: Studies suggest that creatine can help rowers row faster, jumpers jump higher, and soccer players, uh, soccer harder, according to the National Institutes of Health.
5
Fans of the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet can have a tough time finding supplements and snacks that suit their dietary needs, but this chocolate shake mix is low in sugar and contains fat from coconut oil and medium-chain triglycerides to keep you covered while also providing that super-effective whey protein we already talked about. Also, if you’re currently on the keto diet, you probably know that keto constipation is very much a thing, hence the probiotic, prebiotic blend in this mix. And while more research needs to be done to prove the connection between probiotics and improved movement, if you will, some animal studies suggest it could help.
