Recovery supplements
One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of your training regime will be recovery. Most people seem to assume that the body just does this automatically and perhaps are not aware that what is taken out of the body during training will need to be replaced. Whilst a balanced diet certainly plays its part, the process of digestion and absorption of vital nutrients can be a lengthy one. It is also true that training at a peak level places demands upon the body's nutrient requirements that a normal diet may not be able to address.
Why use recovery supplements?
Training at a peak level requires things of your body above and beyond what daily life takes out of it. Depending on what your training goals are, big concerns might be loss of muscle mass, body salts, and other nutritionally specific requirements. Whilst a healthy diet will put much of this back eventually, you may want to continue training and put simply require quicker results. You will also find that supplements are easier to metabolize and digest, so they don't lock up the kind of time preparing a whole meal and digesting it can take. Obviously they should not replace proper meals, but should be taken in conjunction with balanced nutrition.
Taking recovery supplements
Any athlete who trains hard will know that the human body requires certain nutrients in order to replace what's lost when you train. Scientific research has now led the way in developing delivery systems for getting exactly what the body needs to the parts that need it, as quickly as possible. It is not a replacement for sound nutrition, and that is an area you need to develop in conjunction with an industry professional, but used as an additional weapon in your training armoury you will wonder how you ever did without.
What are some recovery supplements that I can use?
There are a great many recovery supplements on the market, but what you should be looking for is a proven name brand that uses state of the art scientific research to devise their products. Here are some you may want to consider:
Musashi WPI (Whey Protein Isolate)
A protein developed for people who have some lactose sensitivity and is designed to help feed hungry muscles after a powerful workout. Lactose can be more of an issue than many realize. If you're doing a lot of training and trying to stack on muscle, you may simply be having far too much dairy. WPI delivers all the protein you could need, without the problem of overloading lactose.
Musashi 92
A protein blend has some of the attributes of WPI in that it is low fat and carbohydrate and also low impact for those who are limiting lactose, but it is boosted with branch chain amino acids, soy protein isolate and a variety of release phases so that your body continues to derive benefit over a longer period of time.
Musashi Bulk
This is designed for those lean body hard gainers and contains proteins and amino acids designed to help stack on muscle, even for adolescents. It is a great supplement if you're serious about adding muscle but find conventional supplements are not giving you the results you want.
Musashi ZMA+
This contains a precise blend of Zinc, Magnesium, Manganese and Vitamin B6 to assist with recovery from power and strength training. This combination works synergistically for optimum recovery for those undergoing power training.