Prepare your body for rugby: which supplements can boost strength and recovery?

It goes without saying that rugby is an intense impact sport and demands high levels of physical fitness. If you’re on the lookout for ways in which you can get fitter and stronger to boost your game, you might want to consider health supplements, vitamins and minerals. This can help to strengthen bones, build muscle, prevent injury, and aid recovery.

Nutrition, of course, shouldn’t be underestimated, so check out these supplements that can enhance your rugby performance:

Magnesium

Rugby can easily damage your bones and joints, meaning it’s key to strengthen them. The human skeleton is made up of 206 bones, with over 200 connecting joints too, and exercise can place enormous stress on our bodies. Therefore, it’s important to consider the nutrients that can fortify them — particularly if you’re building muscle.

Magnesium can work as the ideal nutrient to ingest when you are aiming to build muscle. A key note to consider, though, is to make sure you get the hydroxide acetate and carbonate forms of magnesium, as they can be best absorbed by your body to help you lift and press greater weights more quickly.

Omega 3

Many foods have high sources of omega 3, such as oily fish. However, taking an omega 3 nutrient is an easy way to get this nutrient into your body. The best thing about omega 3 is that it safeguards you from injury and increases your rates of recovery. When you’re lifting heavy weights, your tissues can become inflamed and painful. Ingesting an omega 3 supplement can both prevent and alleviate strain injuries by keeping your joints and tissues well lubricated and reducing any inflammation. Another benefit of omega 3 is that it can boost your body’s energy supply for a longer, harder and more effective session. Daily supplementation with a high-quality fish oil, such as Bio-Fish Oil, is recommended for most athletes.

Vitamin D

One of the top nutrients to help you bone health is calcium. is one of the best nutrients for good bone health. But, did you know that your body can actually start drawing calcium out of your bones if you aren’t getting enough vitamin D? Weak bones are dangerous, particularly if playing a high-impact sport like rugby.

Vitamin D3 can also help. If you’re building muscle at the gym, give yourself a hand and speed up the process by taking this nutrient every day. Research has also shown that vitamin D deficiencies are associated with muscle weakness and up to 50% of adults in the UK are thought to be deficient in it due to lack of sun.

MSM and silica

It’s awful to suffer a pulled or strained muscle in a match. To protect them and prevent an injury that could see you out of action for weeks, your body needs MSM and silica. MSM is a naturally occurring sulphur found in fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, while silica is plant-based and found in foods like unrefined cereals and rice. However, the easiest way to get these into your body is via supplements, as these nutrients are readily lost from foods during food processing.

Of course, injuries are extremely common in the sport, so to help your nerves and joints recover, consider MSM and silica. According to a study carried out by the UCLA School of Medicine, 58% of athletes taking MSM for an injury reported a recovery compared to only 33% from a placebo group.

Vitamin C

In rugby, it’s important that you have a built and toned body. A muscle-boosting antioxidant, vitamin C is essential for maintaining healthy connective tissue across the body’s cartilage and tendons. If you’ve ever damaged these, you’ll know how long you have to rest before you can pick you your fitness regime again.

There’s also a chance to reduce how much cortisol is in your body, too. If you didn’t already know, cortisol is a rugby players nightmare, as it:

Reduces muscle recovery post work-out.
Meddles with the transportation of nutrients to muscles.
Breaks down muscle to use for energy.
Boosts the storing of fat around the abdomen.

Vitamin C can aid your recovery from strained muscles quicker so that you can return to training at an earlier date.

Iron

Of course, every player has the aim to complete a full match. If you can feel yourself flagging before the end, maybe you need to consider taking iron supplements. This nutrient is responsible for transporting oxygen to your cells and removing carbon dioxide, so how well you recover between sets relies on how efficient your aerobics system is. Taking iron supplements is also an effective way of avoiding the development of ‘sports anaemia’ — which is a condition that causes fatigue during training. So, packing a dose of iron into your diet will help energise your work-out and prevent you from becoming exhausted mid-session.

Coenzyme Q10

Are you looking to really push yourself at your next training session? Every cell in the human body needs a vitamin-like substance called coenzyme Q10 to produce energy. Some can be found in food but most is produced naturally by us. However, the challenge is that our natural Q10 levels decline from our mid-twenties onwards. If you’re into resistance training, this means that a coenzyme Q10 deficiency can leave your muscles feeling tired and weak, increasing your chances of injury. Taking a Q10 supplement offers the potential to boost your energy levels and push you to the next level of your work-out regime.

Vitamin E

It’s vital that your muscles have blood reaching them when you are required to exert yourself in a game. To help, try vitamin E. This nutrient helps blood flow around the body, delivering red blood cells where they’re needed to help you with each muscle contraction. If you take vitamin E, you give your body a better chance to recover from tissue damage — this nutrient is also commonly used by medical professionals to help people with arthritis and cramp. Also, vitamin E is an antioxidant, which means it boosts muscle mass by reducing the amount of harmful free radicals in your system that tampers with tissue growth.

Prepare your body for the fixtures ahead by looking into utilising these top supplements for rugby players.