How To Improve Your Recovery From Workouts by Joan Kent, PhD

How To Improve Your Recovery From Workouts
By Joan Kent, PhD

Have your legs ever felt not-quite-recovered enough for the day’s training? Do you ever look for quick ways to bring your legs back to their full capacity? Have you tried ice, massage, cross-training, stretching, acupressure, acupuncture – just so you can work out hard again?

This post is about glutamine and how it helps recovery.

Glutamine is an amino acid. In 7th grade bio, we learned that amino acids are “the building blocks of protein.” So amino acids are what proteins are made of, and glutamine is one of the most abundant aminos in the body.

Glutamine is released when muscles contract. A long, hard workout can deplete glutamine by 25% to 30% or more.

And Why Should You Care About That?

Glutamine is a fuel. Muscles and immune cells use it. The immune system “oversees” recovery of all types: illness, injury, surgery, and exercise.

Glutamine is also fuel for cells that line the GI tract. Those cells guard against microorganisms that cause disease.

In addition, glutamine promotes the creation of glycogen. That’s extremely important after a workout, so you can train well the next day.

So for both optimal health and optimal recovery, glutamine needs to be replaced following physical training.

What’s the Best Way To Get Some?

The easiest way to replace glutamine is by selecting the right foods.

Because glutamine is an amino acid, many protein foods contain it. Examples of glutamine-containing proteins are: beef, fish, chicken, shrimp, pork, eggs, egg whites, yogurt (with 18-20g of protein per serving), ricotta cheese, and cottage cheese.

Some vegetables also contain glutamine: Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, kale, parsley, spinach, cabbage and others. Raw vegetables replace glutamine better than cooked.

Glutamine can also be found in fruits: apples, apricots, avocado, bananas, cantaloupe, dates, figs, grapefruit, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, persimmon, pineapple, and strawberries.

This long fruit list doesn’t contradict my previous recommendations to keep sugars to a minimum, including fructose, the sugar in fruit. I suggest limiting fruit servings to one or two per day. And to help with glutamine replacement, choose your fruits from the above list.

Other foods that contain glutamine are: beans, soy, peanuts and other legumes, wheat, barley, beets, corn, and nuts (small amount).

What If Foods Aren’t Helping?

Maybe you’ve been working out hard enough to feel that you’re not recovering fully – even with the above foods in your training diet. In that case, you might want to try a glutamine supplement.

I’m most familiar with glutamine powder, but it’s also sold in tablet form. If you use a supplement, try taking 1 heaping teaspoon (5 grams, the usual recommended dosage) after your workout, and maybe again before bed. Mix the powder into about an ounce of water and drink it, then drink a full glass of fresh water. Glutamine powder has worked well for me.

(Always check with your doctor to be sure that this, or any supplement, is okay for you to use.)

One of the benefits of taking glutamine before bed is that it can trigger a release of human growth hormone. HGH is a complex topic, but it has been shown to have immune benefits and also to aid in cell and muscle recovery.

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If you would like help with fueling to get the most from your workouts, I specialize in nutrition for training that doesn’t rely on all the junk that’s out there. Please visit Coaching on the home page and request a Food Breakthrough Session. Find out how much better you can perform — and how great you can feel during and after your workouts.