Experiencing an injury when exercising or training can be frustrating, painful and sometimes potentially serious. We speak with Michael Lawler, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Exercise Physiologist from Eat Me Nutrition to learn about the role of nutrition in post-injury recovery.
What are some of the more common injuries people may experience from exercise/sport? How can people avoid getting injured?
Overloading. One of the biggest injury risks is taking on too much too soon when people get back into exercise after a period of time off.
We are often so keen to get back into it or to kick start a healthy lifestyle program and we don’t give ourselves enough recovery/rest time.
Nerve supple and muscles adapt more quickly than tendons and ligaments so often 3-4 weeks into the new health kick we end up straining a ligament or tendon.
To avoid this start your exercise program more slowly and aim for every other day for the first few weeks and no more than five training sessions a week with two rest days once you are further into your training program.
Listen to your body and if you feel like you need an extra day to rest your aching muscles then do so without feeling guilty.
How long does it take to recover from muscle soreness and soft tissue trauma and how can nutrition speed up recovery? Are there certain nutrients that can reduce inflammation and support post-exercise recovery?
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a phenomenon that often happens the day after exercise and may last up to 4 days depending on a range of factors.
During this time your muscles are recovering, and the pain and stiffness is your body telling you to enjoy lower-intensity movement and stretch.
The best thing nutritionally to reduce the severity and duration of DOMS is to make sure you are well-nourished before you exercise and that you get sufficient carbohydrates and protein immediately after exercise.
Beyond that having a diet high in vegetables and fruit can help to further provide the micronutrients required to stem inflammation.
Curcumin (a derivative of turmeric) and fish oil are also powerful antioxidants that may have some benefit in recovery from exercise.
Magnesium can help to alleviate tight muscles and works in a huge range of reactions throughout the body.
Speaking of vitamin/mineral supplements can you tell us more about how they can help prevent and aid the recovery from injuries?
Magnesium is probably the key player here in terms of the recovery turnaround and what you will personally notice.
Magnesium has hundreds of roles in the body acting as a catalyst for many reactions of homeostasis.
Of particular note, it is found to be very useful in reducing the tension in tight muscles and reducing nervous system agitation also.
Calcium is a mineral that is primarily found in our bones but also is involved in cardiovascular function and contractile forces of our muscles also.
After exercise calcium may be useful for helping us to lay down stronger bones.
Vitamin D helps with neurotransmission and subsequently helps to fight depression.
Maintaining healthy Vitamin D levels may help you to reduce the inflammatory effects of intense physical workouts and has been shown to help increase the strength of peak muscular force after such workouts.
What are the key things that a pharmacy assistant needs to know when recommending vitamin and mineral supplements, and other nutrition products to aid in injury/post-exercise recovery?
I think it is really important to make sure the right supplements are used for the right training type/individual circumstances.
Potentially the individual is already supplementing with these nutrients in a daily multivitamin but is not using these supplements at the right time.
Immediately after we exercise our body has a significantly increased capacity to absorb nutrients from our digestive tract so supplementing immediately after exercise can be a great way to make the supplements someone is already on work better.
At which point should pharmacy assistants be referring to a dietitian?
Any time that a pharmacy assistant is asked more specific nutrition questions by a customer such as “what should I be eating” or “are bananas good for recovery?” is a fantastic opportunity to refer to a professional that has made it their career focus to know these answers inside and out.
Dietitians often rely on pharmacy assistants to advise on the best brand or best mode of supplementation for clients and it’s great to see when pharmacy assistants rely on dietitians for advice on balancing the oral diet for an individual.
