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foxybluesky · 6 years ago

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Does Caffeine Affect Muscle Growth?

Caffeine is one of the most popular stimulants in the world. A majority of people drink it in a beverage form, such as coffee, tea or energy drinks. Caffeine creates a state of mental alertness and readiness that may enhance your workout performance. This effect may slightly improve your workout performance and muscle growth, but research into the topic is not conclusive.

Central Nervous System

The primary effect that caffeine has is on your central nervous system. The drug increases the firing of your neurons and triggers your pituitary gland to release adrenaline. American Council on Exercise sports nutritionist Fabio Comana states that reputable studies have shown this stimulating effect to improve endurance exercise performance. By allowing you to perform an exercise for longer periods of time and a sustained intensity level, caffeine may aid in muscle growth.

Fatty Acid Release

A second mechanism through which caffeine may enhance your muscle growth is through the release of fatty acids into your bloodstream. In a review of energy beverages presented in 2010 in the "Mayo Clinic Proceedings," Dr. John Higgins and colleagues noted that your muscles will use fatty acids as an energy source before the stored glycogen in your muscles. Preserving your muscle glycogen may help you exercise for longer periods of time without reaching muscle exhaustion.

Short Term Exercise

Though caffeine may aid your workout performance in moderate intensity exercise over a long period of time, short-term, high-intensity exercise may not derive any benefits from caffeine consumption. This is because the primary energy source for short-term, high-intensity exercise like powerlifting is adenosine triphosphate or ATP. Released fatty acids from caffeine consumption do not serve as a replacement for ATP during this type of exercise. (1) How does caffeine affect endurance? When you exercise, your body uses glycogen, a type of sugar that you get from food, for energy. But once those stores are depleted at the end of a long workout, you may feel tired or sluggish—signs that you have “hit the wall.” Caffeine slows the depletion of glycogen by encouraging the body to use more fat as fuel, which helps to conserve energy over long periods of time. (2) For this reason, sports that deplete a lot of glycogen, specifically endurance events, benefit the most from caffeine consumption. Activities lasting longer than an hour with sustained efforts, such as running, cycling, and cross-country skiing, all benefit from caffeine supplementation by allowing athletes to increase their endurance, accuracy, and speed. Conversely, caffeine provides no tangible benefits for strength and power activities, such as weight-lifting. How does caffeine affect cognitive function?

Since caffeine enters almost all bodily tissues, it affects your nervous system and your brain. Caffeine acts as a stimulant and wakes you up, which means that when you consume it, you will feel more alert and react faster. Drinking caffeine prior to physical exertion might actually help reduce the perception of pain. According to a study published by the department of kinesiology at the University of Illinois, people who drank caffeine experienced less anxiety associated with strenuous exercise, which may account for their lower perception of pain. For example, if you’ve ever felt your muscles burn during intense exercise, consuming caffeine before you start your workout may dull this sensation. (3) How does caffeine affect hydration? To maintain peak performance, you have to stay hydrated. Water regulates your body temperature, lubricates your joints, and transports nutrients throughout your body. Staying hydrated is particularly important during exercise because you lose water through sweat. The longer and more intensely you work out, the more necessary it becomes to get fluid into your body. When you don’t replenish your fluids, it becomes harder for your heart to circulate blood. A decrease in blood and plasma volume can contribute to muscle cramps, dizziness, fatigue, heat stroke, and heat exhaustion. We’ve all heard the warning that caffeine has a diuretic effect and dehydrates you. However, research shows that this widely-held assumption is actually not true unless you consume a large amount of caffeine. Caffeine does not dehydrate you unless you drink more than 500-600 milligrams (the equivalent of 5-7 cups of coffee) per day. Below this level, your body does not lose any more fluid than the beverage itself provides. For comparison, an 8-ounce cup of coffee has about 100 milligrams of caffeine, and an energy drink can have as much as 242 milligrams per serving (though caffeine content varies between energy drink varieties). While caffeine may cause a little more fluid to be excreted as urine in a 24-hour period when compared to plain water, this effect is fairly mild and does not affect hydration. For anyone who loves coffee, the good news is that caffeinated beverages actually provide a sufficient amount of fluid for rehydration, even among people who exercise regularly in hot, humid conditions. Although caffeine does not appear to have a significant impact on hydration, it can have other effects on your kidneys. One particular study has shown that caffeine can cause increased excretion of sodium from your body, but this usually does not cause problems in normal, healthy adults. However, the salt balance in your body can affect certain medications, so talk to your doctor if you have any questions about any medications that you are taking. What’s more, individuals who aren’t used to caffeine may experience symptoms after consuming what is typically considered a moderate dose (4 Here are 8 side effects of too much caffeine.

1. Anxiety Caffeine is known to increase alertness. It works by blocking the effects of adenosine, a brain chemical that makes you feel tired. At the same time, it triggers the release of adrenaline, the “fight-or-flight” hormone associated with increased energy (8). However, at higher doses, these effects may become more pronounced, leading to anxiety and nervousness. In fact, caffeine-induced anxiety disorder is one of four caffeine-related syndromes listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association. Extremely high daily intakes of 1,000 mg or more per day have been reported to cause nervousness, jitteriness and similar symptoms in most people, whereas even a moderate intake may lead to similar effects in caffeine-sensitive individuals. Additionally, modest doses have been shown to cause rapid breathing and increase stress levels when consumed in one sitting. One study in 25 healthy men found that those who ingested approximately 300 mg of caffeine experienced more than double the stress of those who took a placebo. Interestingly, stress levels were similar between regular and less frequent caffeine consumers, suggesting the compound may have the same effect on stress levels regardless of whether you drink it habitually Nevertheless, these results are preliminary. Coffee’s caffeine content is highly variable. For reference, a large (“grande”) coffee at Starbucks contains about 330 mg of caffeine. If you notice that you often feel nervous or jittery, it might be a good idea to look at your caffeine intake and cut it back. SUMMARY: Although low-to-moderate doses of caffeine can increase alertness, larger amounts may lead to anxiety or edginess. Monitor your own response in order to determine how much you can tolerate. 2. Insomnia

Caffeine’s ability to help people stay awake is one of its most prized qualities. On the other hand, too much caffeine can make it difficult to get enough restorative sleep. Studies have found that higher caffeine intake appears to increase the amount of time it takes to fall asleep. It may also decrease total sleeping time, especially in the elderly. By contrast, low or moderate amounts of caffeine don’t seem to affect sleep very much in people considered “good sleepers,” or even those with self-reported insomnia. You may not realize that too much caffeine is interfering with your sleep if you underestimate the amount of caffeine you’re taking in. Although coffee and tea are the most concentrated sources of caffeine, it is also found in soda, cocoa, energy drinks and several types of medication. For example, an energy shot may contain up to 350 mg of caffeine, while some energy drinks provide as much as a whopping 500 mg per can. Importantly, the amount of caffeine you can consume without affecting your sleep will depend on your genetics and other factors. In addition, caffeine consumed later in the day may interfere with sleep because its effects can take several hours to wear off. Research has shown that while caffeine remains in your system for an average of five hours, the time period may range from one and a half hours to nine hours, depending on the individual. (4) One study investigated how the timing of caffeine ingestion affects sleep. Researchers gave 12 healthy adults 400 mg of caffeine either six hours before bedtime, three hours before bedtime or immediately prior to bedtime. Both the time it took all three groups to fall asleep and the time they spent awake at night increased significantly. These results suggest that it’s important to pay attention to both the amount and timing of caffeine to optimize your sleep. SUMMARY: Caffeine can help you stay awake during the day, but it may negatively impact your sleep quality and quantity. Cut off your caffeine consumption by the early afternoon to avoid sleeping problems. 3. Digestive Issues

Many people find that a morning cup of coffee helps get their bowels moving. Coffee’s laxative effect has been attributed to the release of gastrin, a hormone the stomach produces that speeds up activity in the colon. What’s more, decaffeinated coffee has been shown to produce a similar response However, caffeine itself also seems to stimulate bowel movements by increasing peristalsis, the contractions that move food through your digestive tract Given this effect, it’s not surprising that large doses of caffeine may lead to loose stools or even diarrhea in some people. Although for many years coffee was believed to cause stomach ulcers, a large study of more than 8,000 people didn’t find any link between the two On the other hand, some studies suggest that caffeinated beverages may worsen gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in some people. This seems to be especially true of coffee. In a small study, when five healthy adults drank caffeinated water, they experienced a relaxation of the muscle that keeps stomach contents from moving up into the throat — the hallmark of GERD. Since coffee can have major effects on digestive function, you may want to cut back on the amount you drink or switch to tea if you experience any issues. SUMMARY:Although small to moderate amounts of coffee can improve gut motility, larger dosages may lead to loose stools or GERD. Reducing your coffee intake or switching to tea may be beneficial. 4. Addiction

Despite all of caffeine’s health benefits, there’s no denying that it may become habit-forming. A detailed review suggests that although caffeine triggers certain brain chemicals similar to the way cocaine and amphetamines do, it does not cause classic addiction the way these drugs do However, it may lead to psychological or physical dependency, especially at high dosages. In one study, 16 people who typically consumed high, moderate or no caffeine took part in a word test after going without caffeine overnight. Only high caffeine users showed a bias for caffeine-related words and had strong caffeine cravings. Additionally, the frequency of caffeine intake seems to play a role in dependency. In another study, 213 caffeine users completed questionnaires after going 16 hours without consuming it. Daily users had greater increases in headaches, fatigue and other withdrawal symptoms than non-daily users Even though the compound does not seem to cause true addiction, if you regularly drink a lot of coffee or other caffeinated beverages, there’s a very good chance you may become dependent on its effects. SUMMARY: Going without caffeine for several hours may lead to psychological or physical withdrawal symptoms in those who consume large amounts on a daily basis. 5. High Blood Pressure

Overall, caffeine doesn’t seem to increase the risk of heart disease or stroke in most people. However, it has been shown to raise blood pressure in several studies due to its stimulatory effect on the nervous system Elevated blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke because it may damage arteries over time, restricting the flow of blood to your heart and brain. Fortunately, caffeine’s effect on blood pressure seems to be temporary. Also, it seems to have the strongest impact on people who aren’t used to consuming it. High caffeine intake has also been shown to raise blood pressure during exercise in healthy people, as well as in those with mildly elevated blood pressure. Therefore, paying attention to the dosage and timing of caffeine is important, especially if you already have high blood pressure. SUMMARY: Caffeine seems to raise blood pressure when consumed at high doses or prior to exercise, as well as in people who rarely consume it. But this effect may only be temporary, so it’s best to monitor your response. 6. Rapid Heart Rate

The stimulatory effects of high caffeine intake may cause your heart to beat faster. It may also lead to altered heartbeat rhythm, called atrial fibrillation, which has been reported in young people who consumed energy drinks containing extremely high doses of caffeine. In one case study, a woman who took a massive dose of caffeine powder and tablets in an attempted suicide developed a very rapid heart rate, kidney failure and other serious health issues. However, this effect doesn’t seem to occur in everyone. Indeed, even some people with heart problems may be able to tolerate large amounts of caffeine without any adverse effects. In one controlled study, when 51 heart failure patients consumed 100 mg of caffeine per hour for five hours, their heart rates and rhythms remained normal Regardless of the mixed study results, if you notice any changes in your heart rate or rhythm after drinking caffeinated beverages, consider decreasing your intake. SUMMARY: Large doses of caffeine may increase heart rate or rhythm in some people. These effects appear to vary greatly from person to person. If you feel them, consider reducing your intake. 7. Fatigue

Coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages are known to boost energy levels. However, they can also have the opposite effect by leading to rebound fatigue after the caffeine leaves your system. One review of 41 studies found that although caffeinated energy drinks increased alertness and improved mood for several hours, participants were often more tired than usual the following day Of course, if you continue to drink lots of caffeine throughout the day, you can avoid the rebound effect. On the other hand, this may affect your ability to sleep. To maximize caffeine’s benefits on energy and avoid rebound fatigue, consume it in moderate rather than high doses. SUMMARY:Although caffeine provides energy, it can indirectly lead to fatigue when its effects wear off. Aim for moderate caffeine intake to help minimize rebound fatigue. 8. Frequent Urination and Urgency

Increased urination is a common side effect of high caffeine intake due to the compound’s stimulatory effects on the bladder. You may have noticed that you need to urinate frequently when you drink more coffee or tea than usual. Most research looking at the compound’s effects on urinary frequency has focused on older people and those with overactive bladders or incontinence In one study, 12 young to middle-aged people with overactive bladders who consumed 2 mg of caffeine per pound (4.5 mg per kilogram) of body weight daily experienced significant increases in urinary frequency and urgency For someone weighing 150 pounds (68 kg), this would equate to about 300 mg of caffeine per day. In addition, high intake may increase the likelihood of developing incontinence in people with healthy bladders. One large study looked at the effects of high caffeine intake on incontinence in more than 65,000 women without incontinence. Those who consumed more than 450 mg daily had a significantly increased risk of incontinence, compared to those who consumed less than 150 mg per day. If you drink a lot of caffeinated beverages and feel that your urination is more frequent or urgent than it should be, it may be a good idea to cut back on your intake to see if your symptoms improve. SUMMARY: High caffeine intake has been linked to increased urinary frequency and urgency in several studies. Reducing your intake may improve these symptoms. The Bottom Line Light-to-moderate caffeine intake seems to provide impressive health benefits in many people. On the other hand, very high dosages may lead to side effects that interfere with day-to-day living and might even cause serious health issues. Although responses vary from person to person, the effects of high intake demonstrate that more isn’t necessarily better. To get the benefits of caffeine without undesirable effects, conduct an honest assessment of your sleep, energy levels and other factors that might be affected, and reduce your intake if needed. Read the full article

#Caffeine #Drinks #Foods #HeathyEating #Junks #Nutrition

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gabriellakirtonblog · 6 years ago

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Five Basic Exercise Principles Every Good Personal Trainer Must Know

I’ve seen a lot of trainers come and go. Some looked like Marvel superheroes. Others had the charisma of a self-help guru. But almost all of them lacked legitimate scientific knowledge.

Many of them were objectively very good at training themselves. But someone who’s training another person should be able to answer basic questions about how the human body uses energy. Or why and how the body changes in response to exercise. Or how the stress a client encounters outside the gym can affect their performance in your training sessions.

It’s not just for you and your clients. A trainer without a basic understanding of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and the psychological underpinnings of his clients’ behavior diminishes the entire fitness industry.

If you didn’t learn these things in school, or when you got your personal training certifications, don’t feel bad about yourself. Lots of very good personal trainers don’t have degrees in exercise science, and some don’t have college degrees at all.

But just because you have a reason for not knowing these things doesn’t mean you have an excuse for not learning them.

Here are five key concepts every trainer needs to understand, and too many don’t.

READ ALSO: The Best Personal Training Certifications in the United States

1. Energy systems: What they are, and how to train them

2. Force vectors: Why they matter

3. SAID principle: The crucial link between actions and adaptations

4. Stress: How it affects your clients in and out of the gym

5. Psychology: What your clients don’t say can make or break your program

Final thoughts

1. Energy systems: What they are, and how to train them

Fitness pros talk a lot about energy systems. Unfortunately, most of it is either overstated or altogether wrong.

Every human has access to three distinct energy pathways. Which means every client, from the 80-year-old grandmother to the 16-year-old soccer player, is using all three systems during your workouts.

They work as a sliding spectrum, based on the immediate need to produce force and overcome a challenge. In one way, it’s like your body is shifting gears—lower gears and higher RPMs when it needs to quickly reach top speed, higher gears and lower RPMs to hit a sustainable pace.

But it’s not a perfect comparison. A car can only be in one gear at a time, while your body sometimes needs to use multiple energy systems simultaneously.

Aerobic system

Aerobic means “with oxygen,” which is why it’s also referred to as the oxidative energy system.

Because it’s your body’s default system, you use it all day, every day, whether you think about it or not. If you’re breathing, and not doing anything more strenuous than sleeping, sitting, or walking around, you’re using oxygen to tap into fat, your body’s near-boundless energy supply, along with carbohydrate.

How much of each you burn at any given moment depends on what you’re doing; what you ate and when you ate it; your overall health; your fitness level; and a bunch of other factors.

To train it, you generally need at least 20 minutes of exercise at a steady pace, although short bursts of higher-intensity exercise can also increase your VO2 max, the standard measure of aerobic fitness.

Phosphagen system (ATP-CP)

This is the first of your two anaerobic energy systems. It uses creatine phosphate (CP) to release adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for quick bursts of power or speed. Because your muscles store very little ATP and CP, these all-out efforts are limited to perhaps 10 seconds. After that, you have to slow down to allow your muscles to replenish their phosphagens.

You train this system the way you use it: with relatively short bouts of near-maximal effort. Remember that “maximal” is relative to your client’s strength and conditioning level. One client’s max is another’s warm-up.

Anaerobic glycolysis

Glycolysis is a fantastically complex process with a relatively simple outcome: use glucose for energy. It gets the glucose from your blood along with the glycogen stored in your muscles and liver.

We use anaerobic glycolysis for much of what we do in the gym—anything that takes more than 10 seconds and creates an oxygen deficit by the end. You also use it at the beginning of lower-intensity activities, before your breathing stabilizes and you can use your aerobic energy system, and at the end when you’re going into a finishing kick.

Theoretically, a trained athlete can use this system for as long as two minutes, but for your clients, it might be as little as 30 seconds before they’ll be gasping for breath and need to stop. As soon as their breathing returns to normal, they’ll return to using the aerobic system.

With a combination of strength and interval training, your clients’ improved conditioning will allow them to perform longer and more challenging sets and intervals, and to recover faster in between.

READ ALSO: Metabolic Conditioning: Don’t Say It Unless You Know What It Is

2. Force vectors: Why they matter

Movement always takes place against some form of resistance. You start with gravity, inertia, and the weight of your body, and then add whatever external load you want to move or manipulate. Whether that load is a pencil or a barbell, your muscles need to generate some amount of force to complete the task.

The strategy your body uses depends on the load and the force vector. For example, if you lift your arm out to your side, you don’t give it much thought. Your arm doesn’t weigh much, and it takes little effort to move it around. You can do it all day.

But if do the same thing with a weight in your hand, the strategy changes. From your feet to your neck, different muscles engage to stabilize your body while you lift the weight.

Make the weight heavier, and what does your body do? You don’t just contract the same muscles harder. You change the force vector by bending your elbow to shorten the axis of movement and shifting your torso to keep your body stabilized.

If the weight’s even heavier, you may not be able to lift it out to the side at all. But if you lie down on a bench, with your back fully supported, you could easily lift the same weight over your chest. You have the leverage provided by the bench and the mechanical advantage of lifting the weight directly over your center of gravity.

The type of resistance matters too. You can use cables, bands, and suspension trainers to not only change the force vector, but also to manipulate how the body interprets the movement. You can even add vectors by using two forms of resistance simultaneously—squatting with a band around the knees, for example.

READ ALSO: How to Change a Workout on the Fly in a Crowded Gym

3. SAID principle: The crucial link between actions and adaptations

Your body doesn’t change because you think it would be a lot cooler if it did. It changes when you consistently challenge it to get better at whatever you’re training it to do.

In other words, it makes specific adaptations to imposed demands, or SAID.

SAID can be negative and positive. If you spend long hours slumped on the couch in front of the TV, your body will adapt to sitting on your couch. Your posture will worsen, key muscles will shorten or lengthen, you’ll lose strength and mobility, contractile tissues will atrophy, and you’ll almost certainly decrease your cardiovascular output.

On the other hand, if you run several days a week, gradually and progressively increasing the speed and distance of your runs, your body will adapt to running. Your VO2 max and stroke volume will improve, you’ll increase capillary density, and your resting heart rate will decline. Your lower-body muscle fibers will remodel themselves to become more endurance-oriented, and your bones will thicken to make them more resilient to repetitive impact. You’ll also get better at running, with more efficient form that requires less effort on each stride.

A good personal trainer understands that every part of a client’s program should impose demands that lead to adaptations specific to the client’s goals. There should be a reason to do everything in the program, and a reason not to do something else.

READ ALSO: The Myth of Fat-Burning Workouts

4. Stress: How it affects your clients in and out of the gym

“Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older.” — Hans Selye

Hans Selye was a mid-20th-century endocrinologist who coined the word “stress” as a way to describe the body’s reaction to the illnesses, injuries, and other things that grind it down. He called it the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) in a paper published in 1936.

Interestingly, he later regretted using the word “stress” instead of something more descriptive, like “strain.” This is how he tried to clear up the confusion he’d created: “Stress, in addition to being itself, was also the cause of itself, and the result of itself.”

Got that?

As Selye observed, stress comes in all forms, and can have a positive or negative impact. The modern world is filled with big and small stressors—your commute to work, the client who canceled, that argument you had with your spouse. All of them matter, creating a cumulative challenge to your health and well-being.

Exercise is also a type of stress. Most of the time it’s a positive experience, known as eustress, but with too much intensity or volume and too little recovery, it can become distress. The negative effects of exercise are compounded by problems at work or home, poor sleep, suboptimal nutrition (too much or too little or the wrong kinds of food), or excess alcohol or caffeine.

That’s why a client who has her lifestyle dialed in can push herself hard and still see improvements, while for another, even a modest training program can leave him exhausted and frustrated. The stressors in his life ensured that any workouts could leave him effectively overtrained.

The best coaches know to vary the intensities of each client’s workload to account for the stress the client carries into the gym. They can scale it down on days when a client is tired, tense, or unfocused. They can also scale up on days when the stars align, and it’s possible to chase progress.

You need to have enough empathy for your clients to identify when working out harder won’t help them achieve their goals. It’s possible that the biggest benefits will come from improving their sleep, eating more fruits and vegetables and less junk food, cutting back on stimulants and alcohol, or simply taking a short vacation to relax and recalibrate.

READ ALSO: The Big Rocks of Personal Training

5. Psychology: What your clients don’t say can make or break your program

If you want to master the “personal” part of personal training, you have to understand your clients. What motivates them? Can you read their emotional state well enough to see when they’re uncharacteristically driven or drained?

Let’s say you add something new to the program, and the client doesn’t like it. Some will tell you, but many won’t. (And those who speak up are often the ones who complain about everything.) Too many trainers will miss the client’s nonverbal signals and assume they just need a little more motivation. (“The fat won’t burn itself!”) Or, worse, they’ll read the negative body language as a character defect. (“Dig deep and suck it up!”)

Most clients will do what you tell them, however begrudgingly, but will also resent you for it.

Conversely, if you notice the client’s resistance, and ask what’s going on, you may discover the client has a good reason for not wanting to do it. An older client might feel intimidated by meatheads lifting (and then dropping) heavy weights nearby. A heavier client might not want to do a hip hinge that exposes her backside to scrutiny. A middle-aged guy might balk at doing an exercise that would expose his lack of strength or coordination.

Good trainers don’t just provide answers. They ask questions. They pay attention to what the client doesn’t say. And over time, they earn their clients’ trust. With trust comes respect, with respect comes loyalty, and with loyalty come good results for the client and financial security for the trainer.

It all starts with understanding how a client’s psychology can affect their workout, and how their workout can contribute to or take away from their overall happiness.

READ ALSO: How to Make Sure You Aren’t One of the Bad Trainers Ruining Our Profession

Final thoughts

The job of a personal trainer is straightforward: Help your clients achieve outstanding results without risking their health or safety.

But the process is infinitely complex. You owe it to yourself and your clients to understand the science that supports your program and the nutrition and lifestyle advice you offer. You need to understand the reasons for your client’s progress or lack thereof.

No trainer can ever know it all, but every trainer should at least know the basics. Without that knowledge, and a lifelong desire to build on it, you can never truly succeed as a fitness professional.

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adamkemp-blog1 · 6 years ago

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Fatigue is not just “being tired,” it is a general lack of energy and motivation which inhibits your ability to perform daily tasks. Without the right supplements for energy, you might feel fatigued every single day.

There are numerous causes of fatigue, and chronic/pervasive fatigue may require the attention of a medical doctor.

In some instances, however, fatigue is simply due to poor habits that can be easily changed.

Along with changes in your diet and daily routine, certain stimulant-free supplements for energy can easily have a significant impact on increasing your enthusiasm for working out or simply getting through your day.

When you are sure that your fatigue is not the result of a medical condition and that making other changes in your habits are not working to combat your chronic fatigue, then it may be the right time to look at certain energy boosting supplements.

I am a lover of bulletproof coffee as much as anyone else, but supplements which do not contain caffeine are often even better for increasing energy on a daily basis. Caffeine is incredible, but it can wear down your adrenal system and increase chronic fatigue in some situations. Even drinking green tea before a workout stimulates your body a bit, which can be too much for some people.

However, using a couple of the best supplements for energy and fighting chronic fatigue can make a bigger difference than you could have ever imagined!

Keep reading below to learn more:

Who Needs the Best Supplements for Energy & Why?

A dietary supplement is a product which is intended for ingestion and contains specific ingredients that have the supposed benefit of adding nutritional value to (supplement) your diet. It could be one or a combination of the following substances:

Amino Acid

Vitamin

A mineral

A concentrate, constituent, metabolite or an extract

Dietary supplements can be found in different forms such as:

Capsules

Tablets

Liquids

Soft gels

Powders or gel caps.

While some supplements can help you get adequate dietary intake that is needed by your body, others may help to reduce the risk of disease, or any number of other benefits.

A supplement for energy contains all of these attributes but is specifically aimed at improving your energy levels.

Makes sense, right?

What are the Leading Causes of Fatigue & How Can Energy Supplements Help?

Fatigue could be a result of any many different factors. Below, I have listed a few of the main factors which can cause fatigue or drops in energy levels.

Dehydration

Athletes in particular need to be aware of this. The slightest drop in proper hydration of your body may hinder your performance by up to 10 percent since water is necessary for energy and cellular function.

When playing sports, you must be careful to drink enough water and also replenish your electrolytes.

This is vital! Instead of drinking an energy boosting supplement which contains caffeine, drink a stimulant free supplement for energy instead!

However, you shouldn’t be afraid of drinking caffeine for energy too. Personally, I believe caffeine contributes to dehydration and fuel if used too much, and science supports my theory as well. However, research also indicates that if you use caffeine in moderation, you shouldn’t have any issues. According to a study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism,

“tolerance to caffeine reduces the likelihood that a detrimental fluid-electrolyte imbalance will occur. The scientific literature suggests that athletes and recreational enthusiasts will not incur detrimental fluid-electrolyte imbalances if they consume CB in moderation and eat a typical U.S. diet.”

If you are a person who naturally sweats a lot or has a low tolerance to caffeine, using stimulant-free energy supplements is a great alternative to fight chronic fatigue!

Sickness

Your body requires downtime to recuperate from an unhealthy state fully, which is why sickness can cause fatigue easily.

To fight disease or sickness, your body must work additionally on battling what is inside. This causes decreased energy levels overall.

After you have finished battling an illness, using natural supplements for energy is an excellent way to get your body up and running as soon as possible!

Insufficient Sleep

When you do not have sufficient sleep, you will feel fatigued. Sleeping for at least 8 hours gives your body the chance to repair from any previously incurred damage.

Supplements such as CBD oil (for example, the products from Infinite CBD), melatonin and GABA can improve your sleep if you have nightly troubles.

There are also other natural nighttime sleep aids which can help you sleep better.

Poor Nutrition

Poor nutrition could mean that you are not eating enough food, but it could also mean that you are overeating or eating poor quality food.

You will not have sufficient energy necessary for a workout if you have not eaten near the time which you are required to perform. Proper nutrition is essential to provide you with energy, as well as for the growth and/or loss of body fat.

Your body requires sufficient macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in combination with micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins for every single process in your body.

Overtraining

According to a study published in the journal Sports Medicine,

“Overtraining is an imbalance between training and recovery. Short term overtraining or ‘over-reaching’ is reversible within days to weeks. Fatigue accompanied by a number of physical and psychological symptoms in the athlete is an indication of ‘stateness’ or ‘overtraining syndrome’. Staleness is a dysfunction of the neuroendocrine system, localised at hypothalamic level. Staleness may occur when physical and emotional stress exceeds the individual coping capacity.”

Fatigue can be caused due to overtraining, which could lead to poor nutrition and insufficient rest. By overtraining, you are not allowing your body to rest and recuperate, and more training could have a negative impact.

However, I personally believe that overtraining is not as often the cause of fatigue as people make it out to be.

If you improve on all the other factors which cause fatigue, overtraining is far less likely to occur.

The 7 Best Supplements for Energy

If you would like to try a dietary supplement to improve your muscle recovery and help increase the amount of energy you have for training, these seven supplements are excellent choices for you!

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo Biloba has been known for its powerful antioxidant activity and for improving blood flow in the body for hundreds of years. A review which was done by the Neurobiology Laboratory for Brain Aging and Mental Health in Switzerland suggests that it enhances mitochondrial respiration, and improves ATP (cellular energy) production in brain cells.

The result of this is that it normalizes metabolic activity at the cellular level, protects cells, and promotes overall health and longevity.

Ginkgo Biloba is proven to increase the rate at which your body accomplishes daily processes, improving its functionality on a cellular level! NOW Foods has possibly the most consistent supplements on the market and excellent prices for products such as this!

If you would like to try Ginkgo Biloba, my favorite product is:

NOW Supplements Ginkgo Biloba

CoQ10

Every cell in your body contains CoQ10, and some organs such as the kidneys, heart, and liver have a higher concentration. Coenzyme Q10 plays a crucial role in the process of cellular creation.

Even though every cell in the body contains it, a deficiency can occur and is somewhat of a common cause of decreasing energy levels in the body.

As an electron transfer molecule in cellular metabolism, it neutralizes free radicals and reduces its availability to assist in the creation of energy. One primary symptom of CoQ10 deficiency is fatigue, while other symptoms may include stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, and a blood sugar imbalance.

According to a study published in Neuro Endocrinology Letters,

“results show that lowered levels of CoQ10 play a role in the pathophysiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and that symptoms, such as fatigue, and autonomic and neurocognitive symptoms may be caused by CoQ10 depletion.”

If you would like to try Coq10, my suggestion is:

NOW Foods CoQ10

Ginseng

Ginseng is a well-known herb that acts as an adaptogen, supporting the body’s natural response to anxiety, stress, and physical exertion. Recently, a double-blind placebo-controlled study tested the effect of Siberian ginseng with patients that are suffering from idiopathic chronic fatigue.

The researchers discovered that patients taking ginseng witnessed a significantly greater improvement in their cognitive function, and experienced lower levels of toxins and free radicals in their blood when compared with the control group.

Generally, the patients also experienced an increase in their energy levels.

Although there are multiple forms of ginseng, I have had the most success with Siberian Ginseng. However, I have also used Panax Ginseng supplements in the past as well.

If you would like to try Siberian Ginseng, I suggest you try:

Gaia Herbs Siberian Ginseng

Vitamin B12

Every cell that is found in the human body requires vitamin B12 for energy metabolism.

The entire cellular energy creation (which is known as the Citric Acid cycle or Kreb’s cycle) depends on it. However, the human body cannot create vitamin B12 on its own, and the best natural sources of vitamin B12 are foods such as red meat, dairy, clams, and mussels.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, it can be challenging to find a proper amount of this vitamin on a daily basis.

Vitamin B12 supplementation is safe, and there are no side effects, and upper dietary limits do not exist. All Vitamin B supplements are water soluble and excreted through your urine or sweat if they are in overabundance.

VeganSafe B12 is an excellent liquid Vitamin B12 supplement because it contains adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin, two excellent sources of Vitamin B12.

Instead of a supplement, you could try the Vitamin Vape– a vapeable version of Vitamin B12!

For conventional Vitamin B-12, my product suggestion is:

Garden of Life Vitamin B Complex

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine Monohydrate enhances your phosphate system and boosts Adenosine Triphosphate stores. Creatine helps to increase speed, power, strength and the size of your muscles. Consistently taking creatine will boost the energy within your muscles daily, allowing you to train harder and longer.

To use creatine properly, I suggest taking 5 grams of creatine per day for 6-8 weeks.

Although you can find creatine monohydrate at nearly any health store, my favorite is:

Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Monohydrate

Beta Alanine

The non-essential amino acid ‘beta alanine’ reduces lactic acid build-up in your muscles, and combats fatigue, which is why it is one of the best supplements for weight loss and muscle gain.

It is believed that beta-alanine achieves this by working together with the amino acid L-Histidine to form dipeptide carnosine, which per experts can lower the build-up of lactic acid in the muscle and lead to increased anaerobic capacity.

According to a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition,

“Beta Alanine (BA) supplementation, by improving intracellular pH control, improves muscle endurance in the elderly. This, we believe, could have importance in the prevention of falls, and the maintenance of health and independent living in elderly men and women.”

If you are struggling with chronic fatigue and find it difficult to get to the gym each day, taking beta-alanine is a clinically studied way of reducing your symptoms. To take beta alanine, the best option is to take ~3.5 grams per day in 3-4 separate doses.

Be prepared for the “beta-alanine tingles” though! They aren’t dangerous, but you will notice them at first and they are annoying! However, the product is effective enough that it is worth it to feel an annoying tingling sensation for 5-10 minutes.

If you want to try a beta-alanine supplement, my suggestion is:

NOW Foods Beta-Alanine Capsules

Citrulline Malate

Citrulline malate has been proven to increase the amount of work you can accomplish each training session, as well as helping you build a massive “pump.” The pump is useful for increasing circulation overall, and helping to move nutrients to the muscles being worked!

Although you can take citrulline before or after your training sessions, I prefer to take citrulline malate before bed because I believe it helps my muscles recover more.

If you would like to try citrulline malate, my favorite product is:

PrimaForce Citrulline Malate Powder

Concluding Thoughts | Using the Best Supplements for Energy

Supplements can be a great way to increase your energy levels before working out when appropriately utilized in combination with a consistent diet and rest pattern.

Supplements are only meant to support the nutrients you get from the food that you eat, and are not intended to serve as a replacement.

Considering this fact, all the supplements listed above can effectively aid you in being more energized and focused on each of your workouts!

The post The 7 Best Supplements for Energy & Battling Chronic Fatigue appeared first on Adam Kemp Fitness.

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foxybluesky · 6 years ago

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Does Caffeine Affect Muscle Growth?