Only the rested Dark knight rises, but..

After every hard training session your muscles undergo a lot of microscopic-tears and your bones endure several microscopic-fractures. That is exactly why it feels so painful the day later or so. So it takes not more than just common sense to understand that your body needs rest to recover. Tearing up the already torn muscles will lead to injury. Tear yourself down a little, break yourself down a little, rest yourself a little, so you can grow stronger a little everyday! But ideally, it takes a little more than just rest to recover faster. 

By now, the role played by protein in muscle growth and  calcium + Vitamin D3 in bone development is enough spoken, let us talk about the other important micronutrients we need to prioritise, that can aid in muscle health, performance and recovery.

1.     Water: Dehydration can damage muscles fibres and  delays recovery. Adequate water intake is critical.  Your kidneys need enough water to flush out uric acid and other toxic materials thru through urine. Not enough water can actually crystallise uric acid and deposits it in your joints making them painful. Google the word - gout. 

2. Calcium: Our muscles get their work done by contracting and relaxing. Calcium is mainly talked about its importance in bone health but, calcium in the muscle is responsible for the whole contraction process. With low calcium levels in the muscles, you feel week and fatigued, unable to push through a heavy workout.

3. Magnesium: Magnesium plays a role of a muscle relaxant by helping them in relaxing after a contraction. Magnesium will keep the muscles loose and flexible, avoiding muscle cramps and fatigue. Magnesium is called as the calcium blocker as it does the opposite of what calcium does. Magnesium also lessens the lactic acid concentration in the muscles. If you cramp pretty often, your magnesium levels may be too low. Magnesium Sulphate(Epsom salt) is used in pain relief as it helps relaxing the muscles and aids recovery. 

4. Potassium: Potassium is essential for transmitting electrical impulses from nerves to muscles, that is, if your muscles wants to do as your brains commands, you need potassium. It regulates the fluid levels inside the cell. Right potassium levels will ensure smooth muscular coordination. Low levels of potassium will create impairment and numbness. Potassium levels are very important for the smooth functioning of the cardiac contraction - In simple words, your heart needs potassium. 

5. Sodium plays a very essential role in muscular contraction by regulating fluid and electrolyte levels outside the cell. It also directly influences muscle contraction by conducting electrical impulses, contracts and relaxes the muscles. Both Sodium and Potassium works together like an onshore and offshore counterpart. Sodium maintains the electrolyte levels outside the cell while potassium maintains the fluid levels inside the cell. 

          Sodium requirements of our body is very less. It isn’t the mineral that you have to look for, it generally finds you! The amount of salts we add in our daily consumption is actually way higher that we actually need. High sodium levels increases blood pressure. We need way more potassium than we need sodium. High sodium and low potassium can lead to cardiac failure and Heart attack, possibly death. Have you seen ‘Low sodium’ tags in packed foods ? That is because we don’t need as much sodium as we consume. Next time in a race, when you think about plunging a piece of orange in salt and gulp it, ask yourself - do you really need it ? Consider sipping a cup of enerzol(any electrolyte), it will provide whatever you need and nothing more. 

Electrolyte Balance: 

The right levels of these nutrients are also important. Both Higher or lower levels of these minerals creates imbalances in muscle contraction, creates cramps, muscle spasm, muscle weakness and delays the recovery process.

Bottom line:

This article only stresses the importance of these minerals in your diet and just cutting processed sugar in your diet should be the least of your worries. Make your own research and arrive at a balanced diet that includes all these nutrients in your food. Alternatively you can also consult a doctor or a certified dietician to understand your dietary requirements. Fruits and vegetables are packed with these minerals; If you are someone who avoids banana and oranges so you won’t catch a cold - let the gods be merciful on you.

Article by Elvis Yesurajah.