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| Each sporting discipline requires a physical commitment involving both the muscular and cardiovascular systems. Depending on the nature and duration of the performance, the human body activates a series of mechanisms that mobilise and use different resources. Carbohydrates, lipids and protein provide the energy necessary for maintaining vital functions during rest and physical activity. |
Moreover, the human body is also able to regulate its temperature, by using two main heat dispersion mechanisms: sweating (loss of liquids and minerals) and radiation (emission of heat) |
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The body produces heat when the muscles are working and, in order to disperse this heat efficiently, it produces sweat, thus avoiding dangerous rises in body temperature and maintaining athletic performance within optimal values. If the body is deprived of water, it tends to dehydrate rapidly, leading to a sharp fall-off in performance, cramps, a sensation of fatigue, and some health risk. A loss of water equivalent to 5% of the body’s total water content produces a 30% reduction in athletic performance with a high risk of cramps. Those engaged in sport therefore have to take drinks both before and during physical activity, to avoid the risk of dangerous water loss.
In addition to the loss of water, other factors play a decisive role in performance. The body consumes glucosides, minerals and some amino acids, and a shortfall in these during performance can seriously compromise the sporting result. Sporting performance can also by notably compromised by a reduction in the concentration of blood glucose and/or muscle glycogen. The greater the duration of and physical effort required by the sport, the greater will be the energy demand before, during and after the performance.The body has available ample lipid energy resources to cope with its normal metabolic needs and also for the more strenuous sporting disciplines. |
If a normal, well-trained physique is correctly nourished, the protein reserves are generally sufficient for the energy required during the performance. However, if the body’s glucosides are depleted, when carbohydrates reserves are used up, the muscles tissue suffers a serious protein catabolism effect. The glucoside energy reserves therefore play a decisive role in the outcome of the activity and the onset of a sense of fatigue is closely linked to glucoside levels in the blood and muscles. When the glycaemia level falls to below the normal physiological limit (5mmol/l), the performance is rapidly compromised. Adequate glucose replenishment is capable of guaranteeing a readily-available energy reserve for the central nervous system and for the muscles. This then translates into prolonged duration of physical strength, improvement in the mental ability to concentrate and in neuro-muscular coordination, delayed onset of the symptoms of physical and mental fatigue. In some cases, it is also important to administer amino acids, making it possible to buffer the energy demand in extremely physically strenuous situations, thus reducing the catabolic affect on the muscles and attenuating the feelings of fatigue. |
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One aspect of these processes, identified as of major importance by experience and translated into appreciable scientific results, is the need to restore lost water, together with electrolytes and glucosides in adequate proportions. Supplementing these substances, both before and during performance, can make a real difference to the sporting outcome. Preparations for sportsmen and women must contain the essential electrolytes [Sodium (Na) - Potassium (K) - Chlorine (Cl) - Magnesium (Mg)] in the correct proportions and quantities.
Moreover, in order to avoid rapid depletion of blood glucose and muscle glycogen, it is advisable to add a mixture of carbohydrates with different absorption rates, in order to cover the athlete for the period of time necessary to complete the performance.
Sports beverages can be divided into three groups: Hypertonic (>300mOsm/l) - Isotonic(=300mOsm/l) - Hypotonic(<300mOsm/l). The osmolarity (Osm), represents the unit of measurement that gives the osmotic pressure applied by a fluid compared to a reference fluid. The osmolarity measurement gives us information relating to the gastric evacuation speed and to the effort required by the body to absorb a solution. The properties of the components determine the energy power, the insulin response, the re-hydration capacity and the gastric evacuation speed. The ideal sports drink for an athlete during performance must have a reasonable energy power, it must generate a reasonable insulin response, it must have a high re-hydrating capacity and a high-speed gastric evacuation and intestinal absorption rate. |
Athletes must not forget to take drinks during their performance, but they must also remember that the volume of liquid ingested has a major effect on the speed of gastric evacuation, and therefore they must follow the rules carefully: 100-200 ml every 15-20min during the activity and not more than 8-900ml/hr). Very strenuous physical exercise requiring specific and constant training often requires supplements designed to improve the athletic response. However, not all supplements are the same. It is often necessary for the substances to be consumed by the body to be associated with metabolic co-factors in order to be absorbed and metabolised in the most efficient way. In come cases, it is possible to exploit the carrier effect, in others it is possible to use substances in competition with each other, in yet other cases standardised plant extracts or trace elements can be combined, or different absorption speeds can be exploited. A profound knowledge of the body’s biochemistry makes it possible to create supplements that work efficiently and are really capable of beneficial effects on performance.
Only after careful study of the balance of the various elements, guided by tests carried out on athletes, in order to achieve an in-depth knowledge of nutritional dynamics and without stinting on the cost of the raw materials used, can excellent results be obtained for sporting performance.
Ethic Sport: track sports supplements, running and athletics supplements to maximise strength and endurance during sporting performance, whether competing against others or yourself. Consult the product technical information sheets for our products to identify the right supplement for running and other athletic activities. |
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