drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
The Mineral for Chronic Muscle Soreness
by Tessa Gurley
Chronic inflammation will kill you. It's the root cause of just about every disease you can name. But without some acute (not chronic) inflammation, you wouldn't gain an ounce of muscle either. Wounds wouldn't heal, including those "wounds" you inflict on your muscles when training. This is why many experts recommend that you avoid prescription anti-inflammatories and over-the-counter pain pills. They could be inhibiting muscle growth by squashing the healing aspects of inflammation.
So what are we supposed to do here? When it comes to training, we expect a little soreness. That's acute soreness and it fades naturally. However, if you feel like you've been hit by a truck, that's not good. Being too sore for too long sucks for your health, recovery and gains. We need to strike a balance and quell inflammation so it doesn't get out of control. The solution could be as simple as getting more magnesium.
Magnesium is involved in over 300 chemical reactions in the body. It helps breakdown sugars and fats, provides energy to all your cells, and helps you maintain mineral balance. It may also squelch the "bad" inflammation brought on by intense exercise. A recent study wanted to see what effect magnesium had on inflammation in rugby players pre and post competition. They tested the stress markers ACTH and cortisol, as well as the inflammation markers IL-6 and a WBC differential. IL-6 is a protein produced at sites of acute and chronic inflammation. The WBC differential, particularly the ratio between neutrophils and lymphocytes, is a good marker of systemic inflammatory response. The results? Magnesium supplementation resulted in significant decreases in IL-6, as well as the absence of sharp neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio. Simply, magnesium significantly lowered inflammation.
How To Use It: The study used 500 mg divided into two daily doses of 250 mg. But since magnesium also helps you relax and sleep, you could simply take a serving of ZMA® before bed. There's evidence that athletes need more magnesium because stress (and exercise is a stress) causes us to excrete more magnesium.
by Tessa Gurley
Chronic inflammation will kill you. It's the root cause of just about every disease you can name. But without some acute (not chronic) inflammation, you wouldn't gain an ounce of muscle either. Wounds wouldn't heal, including those "wounds" you inflict on your muscles when training. This is why many experts recommend that you avoid prescription anti-inflammatories and over-the-counter pain pills. They could be inhibiting muscle growth by squashing the healing aspects of inflammation.
So what are we supposed to do here? When it comes to training, we expect a little soreness. That's acute soreness and it fades naturally. However, if you feel like you've been hit by a truck, that's not good. Being too sore for too long sucks for your health, recovery and gains. We need to strike a balance and quell inflammation so it doesn't get out of control. The solution could be as simple as getting more magnesium.
Magnesium is involved in over 300 chemical reactions in the body. It helps breakdown sugars and fats, provides energy to all your cells, and helps you maintain mineral balance. It may also squelch the "bad" inflammation brought on by intense exercise. A recent study wanted to see what effect magnesium had on inflammation in rugby players pre and post competition. They tested the stress markers ACTH and cortisol, as well as the inflammation markers IL-6 and a WBC differential. IL-6 is a protein produced at sites of acute and chronic inflammation. The WBC differential, particularly the ratio between neutrophils and lymphocytes, is a good marker of systemic inflammatory response. The results? Magnesium supplementation resulted in significant decreases in IL-6, as well as the absence of sharp neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio. Simply, magnesium significantly lowered inflammation.
How To Use It: The study used 500 mg divided into two daily doses of 250 mg. But since magnesium also helps you relax and sleep, you could simply take a serving of ZMA® before bed. There's evidence that athletes need more magnesium because stress (and exercise is a stress) causes us to excrete more magnesium.
