Per an athlete it is crucial to find the key to continuously improve their performance:: Whether it's to give your best during a workout, win a competition or simply be able to push yourself beyond your limits, it is important to understand the mechanisms to reach the “next level”.

The correct management of the workload on our body must necessarily consider the volume, intensity and frequency of training, but also and above all the recovery times : although it is the training phase that guarantees and creates the stimulus for improvement, it is during rest. that all the adaptation mechanisms necessary for improvement take place. It is for this reason that recovery planning is at least as important as training planning. So be careful not to overdo it, to avoid falling into that phase known as “ overtraining syndrome", Which is accompanied by chronic fatigue, difficulty in falling asleep, lack of appetite and lack of results, and which risks presenting itself when we do not allow ourselves the right rest and the right breaks.

When the athlete trains at high intensity, a temporary fatigue starts in the body that slowly leads to a reduction in performance: if you learn to recover and eat properly, you can benefit from the mechanism known as supercompensation , a process of reactions physiological to training or to the training period that results in the achievement of a physical potential, which improves our performance in terms of both strength and performance.

So what does it take to achieve our optimal performance?

Certainly adequate training , a healthy and balanced diet and the right natural integration .

The training routine should be set according to individual goals and training plan to improve agility, flexibility, balance or strength to help you perform your sport at its best by carefully planning active and passive rests. Instead, let's see in detail how every athlete should feed himself in order to increase his performance.

Foods that improve sports performance

Training is not enough: it is essential to rest, but it is equally essential to learn to eat correctly . It is difficult to define a "diet" to improve performance in general, because each athlete has unique characteristics and therefore needs a personalized meal plan. However, we can provide common guidelines, useful to direct towards the most functional choices to guarantee our body everything it needs.

Let's start by saying that it is essential to organize the frequency of meals : in fact, optimal performance cannot take place either on a full stomach or after a period of fasting . It is therefore necessary to pay attention to the digestion times, which are different for each macronutrient.

Choosing to consume complex carbohydrates and not simple sugars in the last meal before training (2-3 hours) can help us not to incur in glycemic drops, because they are digested more slowly and guarantee a constant release of energy over time. Ok, then, to whole grains such as rice or spelt and also to legumes. On the other hand, if you need to recharge your energy just before training (because maybe several hours have passed since the main meal) you could consume a banana or a source of simple carbohydrates: it will help you prevent a possible decline in performance.

In general, a healthy diet for the athlete should always prefer vegetables , fruit , extra virgin olive oil , high biological value Protein such as lean meats , fish , eggs , yogurt and even legumes (which provide Protein but also a good amount of carbohydrates). Therefore very important:

  • Carbohydrates - provide 50% of the energy we need. The right amounts improve performance but also strength.
  • Fats - essential because after about an hour of performance they become the body's favorite source of energy.
  • Protein - guarantee muscle building but also recovery and fight against catabolism. Establishing the protein requirement is essential to support the training routine and obtain maximum results.
  • Vitamins and minerals - vitamins are necessary for energy, and they participate as cofactors in many enzymatic reactions in our body. Minerals are used to maintain the hydro-salt balance and ensure muscle contraction, which cannot occur in their absence.
  • Water - last but essential. Its role in the body is central, as well as in sports practice. Without proper hydration, we absolutely cannot expect to face competitions or training at the best of our form.

After understanding how to set up our diet, we learn to recognize the natural compounds and active ingredients capable of giving a real " boost " to performance.

Natural and phytoextracted compounds for sports support

The needs may be different, but in general they can be summarized in 4 points: fighting both physical and mental fatigue , increasing the state of alertness and concentration , guaranteeing reactivity to stimuli and improving our energy .

There are several active ingredients and plant extracts that nature makes available to us to enhance our performance. Below we list those with the best supporting scientific evidence.

  • Caffeine - the benefits of its use are mainly related to long-lasting and high intensity sports. It is an alkaloid with an ergogenic effect, so powerful that it is banned by WADA, if in too high concentrations, before a competition. It allows adrenaline to rise, to increase heart rate and cardiac output, stimulates the central nervous system by improving reflexes and instead decreasing the feeling of fatigue. When microencapsulated, in new generation supplements, it allows a prolonged release of the active ingredient, the effects of which last up to 3 hours.
  • Guarana - whose active ingredient is guaranine, analogue of caffeine, which allows to obtain the same results on performance and reactivity. Improve energy levels and fatigue resistance.
  • Tyrosine - is the precursor for the synthesis of important neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine and adrenaline. It is therefore essential for the adaptation to intense and sudden psychophysical stress, and adaptogenic properties are attributed to it, useful for raising our attention threshold.
  • Taurine - acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, increasing muscle strength and improving the functionality of the cardiovascular system. It is a strong stimulant, capable of optimizing both physical and mental performance and making us feel more vigorous and energetic.
  • Pycnogenol - extracted from the maritime pine, is able to stimulate circulation by increasing vasodilation and also stimulate the production of nitric oxide (NO), improving the blood flow to the muscles, helping the body to achieve maximum performance and shorten the time recovery.
  • Montmorency black cherry extract - with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action, which allows you to rest more effectively and quickly heal from muscle and joint pain. It also promotes the oxygenation of the muscles, the nourishment and the removal of nitrogenous waste generated by physical exercise.
  • Citicoline - normal precursor of acetylcholine and therefore one of the most important neurotransmitters in our brain, helps regulate the transmissions between neurons and neural health. It involves an increase in the levels of norepinephrine which intervenes in the control of the flight or fight reaction triggered in stressful situations.
  • Glycerol - thanks to its ergogenic and osmotic properties, it is mainly used in endurance sports as a remedy for dehydration and performance improvement.
  • Alpinia galanga - is a plant traditionally used in natural medicine that is used as an antioxidant and stimulant on the nervous system. It also appears to stimulate cognitive abilities, and the combination with caffeine improves sustained attention at 3 hours.
  • Magnesium - essential metal in the biochemistry of nucleic acids and all cells. ATP (energy) is also normally found in chelated form with a magnesium ion; it decreases the formation of lactic acid and coordinates the body's thermo-regulation. Its presence also guarantees a reduction in the frequency of onset of cramps.
  • Vitamin C - important for everyone, therefore also for athletes, is a very popular natural antioxidant. In the body it performs multiple functions, including that of reducing oxidative stress following muscular effort or training.

Alphazer's choice

To better support athletes, Alphazer's R&D team has decided to develop various products to support performance and give a real boost to performance :

  • Enerspeed - liquid pre-workout, ready to drink, based on Guarana (caffeine), Tyrosine, Taurine and Glucuronolactone, with the addition of B vitamins and vitamin C.
  • Enerboost - based on gradual release microencapsulated caffeine and galangal dry extract., Indicated for prolonged training (triathlon, cycling, running, rugby, cross-country skiing, combat sports).
  • Guarana Liquid - with guarana, caffeine, magnesium and vitamins B and C, in a practical format in ampoules to drink.

Sport without doping

Obviously, in the common sporting practice it is good that athletes never adopt illegal and dangerous practices , despite the desire to improve their performance. In this sense, supplements help us to optimize performance and recovery : used intelligently and in the dosages indicated by the ministerial entities, they do not involve doping. Sport is respect and loyalty , and wanting to improve never justifies shortcuts, even dangerous for our health: we always choose to support ourselves with intelligence and strategy.

Even if not everyone can win the Olympics, each of us can reach the maximum of their sporting performance by following training, nutrition and integration programs built on scientific and proven criteria.

 

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