If you are a keen athlete or bodybuilder, its crucial that you understand the benefits and effects of Vitamin D supplementation.
What Will I Learn
5 Ways How How Vitamin D Makes You A Better Athlete
If you are a keen athlete or bodybuilder, its crucial that you understand the benefits and effects of Vitamin D supplementation.
It provides numerous health benefits that include promoting stronger teeth and bones, it also helps to safeguard us against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, strokes as well as conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
But its health benefits do not stop there, it has also been shown to help boost athletic performance too.
I have taken a good hard look at Vitamin D and its effects, and in this article I set out 5 easy in that it can help boost your athleticism and performance.
What Is Vitamin D
Vitamin D can be found in two types – Vitamin D2 (AKA Ergocalciferol) and The more potent and biologically active Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)
Although it is called and classed as a vitamin, D3 is also considered to be a steroid hormone because of the way it supports sex hormones including Testosterone.
It is fat soluble and is commonly referred to as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ due to the fact that we get the majority of it naturally from exposure to the sun.
Vitamin D3 is essential in the body to ensure that we maintain healthy levels of calcium, strengthening our bones and teeth. It has also been shown to offer a protective effect against certain cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even some cancers.
Science has also proven that this crucial nutrient can help support athletes performance levels too. The problem is that for many athletes, they are quite simply not getting enough Vitamin D3 to benefit from its boosting effects.
Aside from the sun, Vitamin D can also be obtained in small amounts from certain foods, including oily fish and dairy products. but generally the levels obtained from our diet are nowhere near enough.
A study review paper in 2015 looked at over 2300 athletes and it was found that over half of them were actually deficient in Vitamin D3.
These figures are shocking and proves the need for a greater understanding and the need for supplementation in order to safeguard against ling term illness, as well as boost performance.
Here Are 5 Reason Why Athletes In Particular Can Benefit From Vitamin D3 Supplementation
#1. Reduced Muscle Stiffness And Soreness
A key factor on our ability to train consistently and regularly is the aches and soreness thatw e can get after working out or training. DOMS – delayed onset of muscle soreness is the natural metabolic side effect of microscopic muscle damage and inflammation caused by the tears in our muscle fibres.
Lasting around 24-48 hours after a workout, we have all felt the results of DOMS – our muscles feeling tight and sore after pushing ourselves the day before.
Clinical studies have show that taking Vitamin D3 can speed up our natural recovery times, allowing us to get back to training quicker and ultimately see better results without risking further injury.
One particular study followed a group of athletes who were each given 4000iu of Vitamin D3 per day over a period of 4 weeks. After the test period, they were tasked with working out to a level to produce DOMS.
Post workout, the group taking the Vitamin D3 saw a 50% increase in recovery speed.
#2. Improved Focus and Mental Attitude
Athletes who are successful, are not only physically fit, they also have good cognitive ability too
Problem solving, attention and focus are all crucial to being successful in whatever sport you take part in. In competitions especially, you need to have the physical AND mental edge to beat your opponents.
With key vitamin D receptors being in the brain, its clear that deficiencies could reduce its abilities to process information needed for optimum performance. One study found that reduced levels of Vitamin D were linked to reduced ability in 2 out of 4 cognitive tests.
A further study found that when a group of older men were tested and then separated into those with normal and low amounts of vitamin D, the group with reduced Vitamin D levels showed reduced performance in various cognitive tests and mental tasks.
#3. Boosts Testosterone
As the most crucial of all our hormones, testosterone is key to our strength, muscularity, levels of body fat and of course our sex drive.
Its been believed for a long time that Vitamin D3 helps to promote testosterone levels, it certainly can help reduce the risk of metabolic illnesses, but recent studies are now showing that it can boost athletic performance too.
Reduced testosterone levels in athletes can be a sign of overtraining. As a key precursor to testosterone, Vitamin D3 improves the way that testosterone binds to our cells, reducing the effects of burn out or fatigue.
This is absolutely essential to Athletes and bodybuilders, any reduction in testosterone means reduced strength, muscularity and poor fitness.
#4. Improves Our Immune System
Another role that Vitamin D3 plays is in the maintenance of our immune cells, receptors in our white blood cells help them fight bacteria and disease.
This link is quite clear, especially when you realise that the most likely time the for us all to get colds and other diseases is during the winter months – the time of year the we all get less sunlight.
Large study involving 1900 people had their vitamin D levels recorded over 6 years . It was discovered that those with lower levels of Vitamin D were more likely to develop colds, and upper respiratory tract infections. Oddly enough, this was very common in athletes.
In Finland, 800 military recruits were followed over 6 months. It was discovered that those with higher levels of Vitamin D had fewer sick days and were able to exercise more frequently too with better fitness levels.
#5. Increased Endurance Levels
To succeed at your chosen sport you need endurance, a tired athlete does not perform at their best, so any boost to your fitness levels will help provide an advantage over your competitors.
A test that looks at endurance is called a VO2max test, it measures the amount of oxygen that an athlete can use at any given time. High levels generally means better endurance.
A key study held in 2014 looked at a group of elite rowers, there were given high dose of Vitamin D3 to check its effects on their overall fitness.
The study showed that the athletes using the extra Vitamin D3 performed far better in the VO2max test.
A similar study showed that Vitamin D3 reduced inflammation and increased power output in a group of healthy adults after taking Out D for 35 days.
Why Athletes Should Take Vitamin D Conclusion
Vitamin D3 is well known for its ability to help boost bone strength and protect us from metabolic disease and cardiovascular problems.
It has been shown in clinical studies that it can also help boost testosterone production, athleticism, and reduce recovery times after periods of intense exercise.
Its crucial that as an athlete, we ensure that our testosterone levels are optimised, this involves eating a good diet, getting sufficient exposure to sunlight were ever possible and also supplementing with a good natural supplement that contains powerful amounts of Vitamin D3.
