Health Supplements – The Firepower for Marathon Training & Beyond – Part 3
Glutamine:
Glutamine is also an amino acid that is produced in abundance in the body and is integrated with the brain, liver, lungs, adipose tissues and the skeletal muscle – which denotes it’s pretty much present in all important body functionaries. It serves as the fuel for the body’s immunity against diseases and sickness. Inadequate stores of glutamine may lead to illness, hence it’s important to maintain normal glutamine levels at all times.
How Glutamine Helps Marathoners?
Exhaustive exercises and long runs can reduce glutamine stores in the body. Consuming glutamine after an extensive workout session can help replenish this amino acid thereby enhancing rehydration and endurance. It also promotes a healthy digestive system aids in muscle growth and quick recovery.
Caffeine
There are so many pre-workout supplements in the market, but nothing beats caffeine! It is almost an instant energy booster and hence it’s popularly taken first up in the morning. Irrespective of whether it is in the form of steaming hot coffee or the aromatic tea, the modern human runs on caffeine! No surprises that it has made it to this list.
How Caffeine Helps Marathoners?
The performance enhancing benefits that caffeine offers is one good enough reason for marathoners to rely on this wonder stimulant. Apart from the obvious energy boost it provides, there are many other benefits that caffeine offers for runners.
- Promotes better tolerance to warmer conditions
- Facilitates better neuromuscular coordination thereby maximises running speed over long distances
- Enhances the body’s ability to burn fat and use it as a fuel source
- Bolsters mental alertness and acts as a mood-enhancer
Creatine
Produced mainly by the liver, pancreas and kidneys, creatine is an organic compound made of three amino acids glycine, L-methionine & L-arginine. Creatine aids in delivering vital energy to the brain and muscles thereby increasing muscle stores of creatine phosphate. This is a much needed source of energy for high-intensity workouts like weight-lifting and endurance training. Creatine phosphate maximises the gains in power and strength that result from power and strength training and hence has been on the popular charts for athletes for a while now.
How Creatine Helps Marathoners?
Being a protein source, creatine is adept at providing short bursts of energy whenever and wherever required. This directly boosts endurance levels and thereby enhances athletic performance. Apart from these popular benefits, consuming creatine can be advantageous for marathoners for the following reasons…
- Gets rid of muscle soreness – bid adieu to inflammation
- Provides energy – you never run out of fuel!
- Promotes muscle growth, especially in the legs
- Boosts efficiency especially during interval training thereby enhancing endurance levels
- Increases speed – makes you a notch faster
- Betters lung and heart health by allowing longer aerobic activity
- Helps maintain athletic performances under hotter conditions where precipitation and humidity levels are high
To be continued…
Jayanth Murali is based at Chennai, India. One fine day, he decided to substitute smoking with running. Now an avid runner, he has never looked back since then. He has done a bunch of marathons and half marathons over the years. When he is not working, he is usually running or helping people discover the endorphins of endurance.
