Kevin
I was having a discussion today with one of my friends who weight trains on a regular basis as well as does a few 5 and 10k runs per year. She said she has been using glutamine to help with muscle recovery for awhile now. I was wondering if I should start taking it to help with my own recovery?
Sincerely
Mary (not her real name)
Hi Mary. Thanks for your question.
For about the last decade or so one of the go to supplements to improve muscle recovery has been glutamine. The supplements main claim to fame has been its anti-catabolic effects as well as its ability to rebuild tissue, improve immune response and increase protein synthesis. I know this sounds perfect for anybody involved in regular training. The problem is the studies that showed these benefits were done on people recovering from major trauma (surgery, sever burns, blunt force trauma). Although the workout routine I provided you is intense, you only suffer a very small fraction of trauma that these conditions represent. Unless you are deficient in glutamine (which is very unlikely) or you are recovering from major trauma, I see no reason to take extra glutamine. In this recent study done on healthy young athletes, no significant difference was found between the group that received a massive amount (0.9g/kg) of glutamine and the group that received none.
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| Just 5 more minutes |
In my opinion the best anti-catabolic and recovery supplement anyone can use is simple shut eye. Trying to find a supplement to replace sleep and rest is nothing new and that is not really surprising. There is very little money to be made in telling someone to go to bed earlier. That still does not change the fact that it is true. If you want to get the most from your training efforts, fuel your muscles with whole nutritious food, and try getting an hour or two more sleep per night that you currently do. You will feel better, and you will save some money to boot. Hope this answers your question.
Kevin
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