Those who train regularly, is angry, especially about a muscle injury: It is then for days or even weeks at a time from the battle – and it must, of course, dispense with the usual Workout.
A must-have for times of closed-end fitness studios during the Corona pandemic, many give up their beloved weight training with heavy Weights.
Because the body will no longer be required so much, such a forced break, with the inevitable result that you lose muscle mass.
Help against unwanted muscle breakdown, a well-known dietary Supplement: Omega-3 creates, according to a study.
Different effects after you stop training
The researchers found a positive effect of Omega-3 on the Muscle maintenance.
They shared a small sample of 20 healthy young women into two groups: One group took a daily 5-gram dose of Omega-3 Supplements, the control group took the same amount of sunflower oil pill.
After the participants had of the Supplements taken four weeks, was fixed for each one of your legs for two weeks with a knee brace. During these two weeks, the women are not trained and only allowed to perform normal physical activities, like running.
So the researchers wanted to adjust exactly how the body would behave, if one has an injury that limits the movement and the Training on ice-cream places.
According to this so-called immobilization phase, the participants alternated in a two-week recovery period back to your normal activity level.
As the researchers measured subsequently, for each Subject, the muscle mass, they discovered that the Omega-3 Supplement had reduced the breakdown of muscle: The Supplement slowed the speed in which the muscles were reduced during the immobilization phase.
The muscle mass was reduced in the case of persons, who supplied the sunflower Supplement income, up to the end of the study, at six per cent, while the researchers with participants, the Omega-3-increased fatty acids, no significant changes in the muscle mass.
The Omega-3 group had also the feeling that your muscle volume until the end of the study has fully recovered, while the control group noted according to its own data losses.
Omega-3 helps, apparently, in the case of muscle building
The observed effect of the Compounds could be due to the according to study author Chris McGlory to the fact that Omega-3 fatty acids increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis. This means that Omega-3 helps in the production of proteins, which in turn will help the body build muscle and maintain it.
Unfortunately, the research is still not in agreement about what amount of Omega-3 fatty acids needed to support muscle recovery in the best possible way.
The researchers, however, during training breaks to take an Omega-3 Supplement or just eat more Omega – 3 containing foods, for example salmon, walnuts, Chia seeds or flax seeds.
The fatty acid is generally only a potential aid in the muscle regeneration, but also for the heart, lung, and joint health essential. Omega-3 could also strengthen the immune system.
Sources
- Chris McGlory, Stefan H. M. Gorissen, Michael Kamal, Ravninder Bahniwal, Amy J. Hector, Steven K. Baker, Adrian Chabowski, Stuart M. Phillips (2019): Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation attenuates skeletal muscle disuse atrophy during two weeks of unilateral leg immobilization in healthy young women, published online: https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201801857RRR
Judith Kerstgens
*The contribution of “training pause: This nutrient stops the muscle breakdown” will be released by FitForFun. Contact with the executives here.