Science-Backed Sweat: Improve your Exercise Performance

Improving exercise performance is not only important for athletes and fitness enthusiasts but also for promoting healthy aging and longevity. Science-based approaches, including nutritional and supplement strategies, can help optimize exercise routines to achieve these goals. Here, we will explore the key nutritional and supplement approaches that have been scientifically shown to improve exercise performance, and in turn promote longevity and healthy aging.

Nutritional Approaches:

Fasted training:

Training in a fasted state (at least eight hours) is one of the most effective ways to improve exercise performance. There are two primary reasons for this. Firstly, training in a fasted state forces your cells to become accustomed to using both carbohydrates and fat as fuel. This process is called metabolic flexibility, which is the ability of cells to switch between using carbohydrates and fats as a source of fuel. This metabolic flexibility can improve endurance, and as a result, improve exercise performance.
Secondly, training in a fasted state usually means that there will be more growth hormone available to help promote muscle growth and recovery. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that plays a significant role in promoting muscle growth and repair.

Delayed post-workout nutrition:

Waiting for about 1-1.5 hours after training before consuming post-workout calories, such as shakes or meals, is another nutritional approach that can improve exercise performance. Waiting this amount of time allows for all of the cellular adaptations described above to take effect. Consuming post-workout calories too soon can interfere with these adaptations and potentially hinder future exercise performance.

Supplement Approaches:

Pre-workout supplements:

Creatine: Creatine is a popular pre-workout supplement that is commonly used to enhance exercise performance. Creatine helps muscle performance by increasing the amount of creatine phosphate in muscle cells, which is a high-energy molecule that fuels muscle contraction. This increased availability of creatine phosphate can improve muscle strength, power, and endurance, leading to enhanced exercise performance. A common misconception is that creatine is a supplement only used by men, but women might actually benefit even more so because they have naturally lower creatine stores.

Ketone Esters: Ketone esters are a type of supplement that contains ketones, which are molecules produced by the liver during periods of low carbohydrate availability. Ketones can be used as an alternative fuel source for the brain and muscles, particularly during prolonged exercise. Ketone esters have been shown to facilitate post-workout recovery by reducing inflammation, improving energy metabolism, and promoting muscle protein synthesis.

L-Theanine: L-theanine is an amino acid that is commonly found in tea leaves. L-theanine has been shown to promote immune system balance and better recovery after exercise. This is because it can modulate the activity of immune cells, reducing inflammation and oxidative stress that can result from intense exercise.

Collage: Collagen is a structural protein that is found in skin, bones, and connective tissues. Collagen supplements have been shown to promote recovery after exercise by reducing joint pain and inflammation, promoting muscle growth and repair, and improving bone density.

In conclusion, there are several science-based approaches to improve exercise performance through nutritional and supplement strategies. Nutritional approaches such as training in a fasted state and waiting before consuming post-workout calories in parallel with pre-workout supplements can greatly improve the overall athletic performance.