Endurance sports can involve anything from high intensity running, swimming and cycling, as well as summer sports. If you’re training for a marathon, a long-distance cycle or just trying to push your body to its limits, it’s important to protect your body from injury and fatigue.
Whilst a balanced diet should provide you with all you need, adding some nutrients and supplements to your diet can help to support your training. Here are the best supplements for endurance athletes.
What supplements are the best for endurance athletes?
Endurance athletics can put a lot of extra strain onto the body, involving repeated isotonic contractions of large skeletal muscle groups. Some of the best supplements for endurance athletes are those which offer support for energy and bone health.
Turmeric
Turmeric contains an active ingredient called curcumin, and has been used for many years in traditional medicine. It contains many anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Curcumin can help with joint support and balancing inflammation, which are all crucial in supporting endurance athleticism. Because of this, turmeric is one of the best recovery supplements for endurance athletes.
Antioxidants
Intense exercise, such as endurance athletics, can increase the production of free radicals in the body. Free radical damage can be minimised by adequate levels of antioxidants in the body; the term ‘antioxidants’ applies to a wide range of different compounds, and they can be found in abundance in healthy, antioxidant-rich foods like fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a necessary vitamin in the support of bone health. So, when performing any sort of high intensity exercise like endurance athletics, it’s crucial to make sure your bones are healthy enough to withstand these workouts. Vitamin D can be obtained naturally from sunlight, but this can be limited during the winter months, so adding this as a supplement is a great way to make sure your levels stay as they should.
Omega-3
Omega 3 fatty acids are essential in the support of heart, joint and cognitive health, making it a great nutritional supplement for endurance athletes. Omega-3 can be found naturally in oily fish, but this can be difficult to obtain through your diet – particularly if you are vegetarian or vegan, so consider adding a supplement to your diet.
Probiotics
Keeping your GI tract healthy is crucial for high-intensity exercise, and probiotics will help to support microbial imbalance, making them one of our best supplements for endurance athletes.
Glutamine
Glutamine is that most abundant amino acid in the body, but intense physical activity can drain your natural stores. Adding some extra glutamine to your diet can help to prevent this from happening, making it one of the best recovery supplements for endurance athletes.