Introduction
Several factors contribute to sport success, and diet is the basic component. The athlete’s diet requirements depend on numerous aspects such as the sport, environment, practical issues, and the sportsperson’s goals. An athlete utilizes various dietary strategies for performance improvement, exploiting glycogen stores as an integral approach for several. The use of carbohydrates during sporting activity sustains high starch oxidation levels, positively affects the central nervous system, and prevents hypoglycemia (Beck et al., 2015). Therefore, diet is recognized as a dynamic constituent of optimum performance in sports, with the training and skills of sports diet advancing swiftly. A variety of dietary strategies is essential in improving sports performance. It is probable that including numerous strategies such as optimizing intakes of fluids, macronutrients, and micronutrients is of more benefit than using one isolated strategy (Beck et al., 2015). The use of supplements is also essential in improving performance, provided they are appropriately used. This paper provides an overview of sports articles on nutrition and recovery.
Recovery after undertaking vigorous exercise entails several processes affected by the quantity and timing of consumption of the essential nutrients. In some circumstances, such as during protein synthesis, the recovery’s incentive is strongest soon after exercising, and the absence of nutritional support can minimize the overall response to exercise (Burke & Mujika, 2014). In other circumstances, there is no significant recovery until nutrients are provided, and when the speed of the recovery process is slow such as when there is glycogen synthesis and there is less time between exercise periods, the postponement in the provision of nutrients may cause a significant reduction in the arrival to optimum function for the consequent period. Cause of action for post-exercise that improves protein synthesis, refueling, and rehydration should be given. However, it must be modified to each period and the objectives of the sportsperson. There is a possibility of future research identifying the same guidelines for other procedures of recovery, including inflammatory, immune response, and antioxidant (Burke & Mujika, 2014). The captivating awareness that adaptation to a workout stimulus and renewal of optimum function corresponds with different procedures can also cause a diverse group of nutrition practices to encourage a better way of training.
Team Sportsperson face several challenges concerning recovery. Through inadequate prospects to get better amongst competitions, together with hectic programs, sportspersons must be slow in their recovery schedule. Carbohydrates, protein, and fluids are usually recognized as a vital components of the progression of recovery (Ranchordas et al., 2017). Particular supplements and micronutrients can also be essential in athlete recovery related to meditating inflammation and immune function. Vitamin D and C are possibly crucial complements to sustain recovery (Heaton et al., 2017). Moreover, nutrients such as bromelain and calcium can also have a substantial benefit and the quantity to give benefits greatly exceeds what a person consumes through food.
Taking antioxidants through food in the food gives sportsperson anti-inflammatory advantages, although restricting the harmful influence of additional antioxidant consumption on exercise adaptations. The overall diet taken during the day, combined with few supplements, is essential in supporting the sportsperson’s recovery objectives during the competitive period (Heaton et al., 2017). The athlete should continuously look for proficient information before using dietary plans to advance recovery.
Numerous factors function as a foundation to boost training adaptation and improve sportsperson performance. These factors include taking a balanced diet, prudent training, and having enough rest. Sports drinks, caffeine, starch, and protein are nutritional supplements that improve energy availability and provide energy (Kerksick et al., 2018). Sports nutritionists and dietarians should be updated on the present study concerning the role of nutrition in exercising to provide adequate, accurate, and honest information to the sportsperson. Besides, the professionals should participate actively in sports nutrition research, write journals, and disseminate findings to them (Kerksick et al., 2018). The organizations supplying nutritional supplements should develop scientifically based products and market the outcome of the research for athletes to make informed decisions.
There are some disadvantages related to dietary supplements and sports foods. They include the risk of labeled content – the content listed may not all be considered safe (Peeling et al., 2019). In several countries, the supplements’ testing is not done before the product is presented to the market-leading to the inclusion of toxic substances to cause health complications. Another risk is undeclared content. Some supplements have health hazard components such as animal feces, molds, and glass. The implications may be identified on the labels; however, the sportsperson may not be aware of the confusing technical names (Peeling et al., 2019). Finally, non-content related risks, where the focus should be on sportsperson product marketing’s moral challenges and the impact of those approaches on encouraging excessive supplement use, mainly on young athletes. The sportsperson should take note of the adverse effects of supplements and work towards restricting their usage.
The growing sports activity demands the sportsperson to emphasize the advantages of nutritional recovery concerning performance and minimize the dangers of injury. Specific dietary should be used soon after a competitive sporting and vigorous training session (Ziegenfuss et al., 2015). The athletes may use some nutritional supplements; however, they should be cautious while using them. Present hands-on matters are available in exclusive surroundings and should be responded to accomplish nutritional achievements.
Therefore, the research question that guides this investigation is: how do they use of supplements and dietary strategies help in improving recovery and performance in sports?
Methods
The preferred methods selected for this investigation are systematic reviews. The search strategy used involves reviewing articles that investigate dietary and supplements use and their impact on recovery and performance. The review investigates peer-reviewed articles using key terms grouped to enhance the search process. The search process placed a limit on articles to ensure that no article older than 5 years old was used in this investigation. The key terms were searched not only within the article and the title but also in the abstract to determine their usage throughout the peer-reviewed article. The terms used included “recovery”, “sports”, “muscle damage”, “injury”, “inflammation”, “diet”, “supplements”, “protein”, “team sports”, and “exercise-induced injury”. The search only focused on articles that used English in their publication. Finally, the references found in these articles were used to determine other relevant articles that would enhance the investigation.
Selection and Inclusion Criteria
The selection, inclusion, and exclusion criteria used focused on several aspects that would benefit this investigation. The articles included in the study had to meet certain criteria. The criteria include the study of healthy adults who did not smoke and were classified as amateur athletes, semi-professional athletes, and professional athletes. The articles did not investigate those who used performance-enhancing medications and supplements. The articles also focused on athletes who trained weekly and had one match every week. The articles included also focused on those sportspersons who had a baseline dietary protein consumption.
Exclusion Criteria
The investigation excluded articles that involved animals. It also excluded articles that focused on younger people and those who did not play sports athletically. It also excluded articles that focused on smokers and also those who used unclear dietary protocol or unclear supplement protocol thus, involving some form of manipulation. The study also excluded articles that were not fully accessible. It also excluded articles that used questionnaires as their primary method of investigation. It also excluded articles that did not focus on any form of organized training or performance or even simulated play.
Results
The results of this study indicate that dietary strategies and supplements play an important role in ensuring professional, semi-professional, and amateur sportspersons experience effective recovery upon any muscle damage, injury, or inflammation induced by exercising, training, practice, or even actual play (Cintineo et al., 2018). The articles present information on the significance of following the Recommended Dietary Allowance for healthy persons (Ziegenfuss et al., 2015). The evidence further shows that intakes of protein also must range between 1.4 to 1.6 Kg/grams per day (Poulios et al., 2019). Research also shows that another contributing factor to a quick recovery is achieved through persons focusing on optimizing training adaptation actively as a means of meeting this protein supplements threshold consumed. The study provided information that the sales of protein powder sales in the United States in 2015 alone were valued at $4.7 billion (Poulios et al., 2019). Importantly, this was second to the valuation of sports drinks in the market. As a result, it is clear that the number of protein supplements frequently consumed by professional, semi-professional, amateur sportspersons meet the threshold. The investigation shows that the popularity of using protein supplements comes from the claims associated with its benefits. For instance, research shows that protein supplements are acclaimed to increase muscle mass. It is also acclaimed to increase fat loss and improve performance (Poulios et al., 2019). Moreover, protein supplements have been acclaimed to improve recovery markers.
Numerous systematic reviews, reviews, and meta-analyses have focused on quantifying and clarifying these claims. However, all of them have attained mixed outcomes. Nonetheless, the reason behind this is the complicated efforts involved in the study population itself (Cintineo et al., 2018). The fact that these studies include untrained and trained persons. The studies also include obese, overweight, and healthy normal-weight persons. Others also include individuals with state diseases, impaired movement, and those injured also hampers the efforts in determining the substantial aspect of the claims made concerning the use of protein supplements (Poulios et al., 2019). Moreover, these reviews and systematic reviews, and meta-analyses have majorly focused on the impact of protein supplements on muscle protein synthesis. They have also focused on matters concerning body composition and hypertrophy as well as results that primarily focus on resistance training (Poulios et al., 2019). As a result, these studies have given secondary consideration to factors such as recovery and performance based on the influence of protein supplements (Cintineo et al., 2018). Notably, these are significant areas that would particularly interest athletic persons or athletes.
Further, research indicates that recovery and performance outcomes and factors such as physiological adaptations come uniquely based on the primary training modality employed. For example, research shows that anaerobic training involves high-intensity movements in short bouts that intersperse with recovery periods longer than other forms of training. Notably, the research emphasizes that interval training and resistance training are among the most popular methods used by professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes. Other researchers point out that endurance training and aerobic training involve oxidative phosphorylation in its primary exercise bouts that last anywhere from several minutes to even hours (Cintineo et al., 2018). The investigation results show that while aerobic training has received much consideration with regards to protein supplements, endurance training has received little to no consideration in current systematic reviews, reviews, and meta-analyses (Poulios et al., 2019). No research has been done with regards to resistance or endurance training and the effects that protein supplements may have on recovery and improvement (Cintineo et al., 2018). Other factors that have not been studied include the protein supplementation effect on physiological responses induced by exercise (Poulios et al., 2019). Therefore, the investigation shows that applying protein supplementation for endurance and resistance training has potential increases in improving recovery and performance in professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes.
The results of the study also revealed that protein supplementation is integral to resistance training. Several researchers’ comprehensive reviews have helped identify several main problems that relate to healthy individuals who exercise and training regularly taking protein supplements (Poulios et al., 2019). One of the most noteworthy things was the significance of taking proteins during as well as around the practice session that the individuals engaged in as a means to improve performance and recovery. Researches note that these factors appear dependently based on the total intake an individual has of proteins. These factors also depend on energy deficit and whether it is present or absent in a person. Moreover, research indicates that the effects of proteins post-training increase the free fat mass of a person based on the person’s daily consumption of adequate calories and a minimum protein daily intake (Cintineo et al., 2018). Nonetheless, the researchers do not find any benefits added regarding the immediate consumption of protein supplements post-training on muscular strength. However, some researchers suggest that an individual’s hypertrophy and strength are added when consuming protein supplements after resistance training (Poulios et al., 2019). The researchers determined that this increase may be higher in those who have previously had extensive resistance training experiences than those who do not have it. Therefore, this implies that the extent of using protein supplements and dietary strategies is more effective in those with experience (Poulios et al., 2019). Further, research also shows that protein supplements, unlike dietary strategies, are dependent on age.
Besides, the results also indicated that individuals who have a caloric deficit and train on resistance training need to intake more protein supplements as well as have more proteins in their dietary strategies as a means of offsetting any potential losses they may have on their lean body mass (Ziegenfuss et al., 2015). Additionally, their protein intake daily must be optimal for these individuals and must range from 2.3 grams or kg to 3.1 grams or kg daily (Poulios et al., 2019). Despite this recommendation to individuals to increase their total intake of calories from protein supplements and dietary strategies, it is critical to note that it might result in the necessary decline of energy that the individual intakes from carbohydrates and fat (Cintineo et al., 2018). This is because proteins seem to have more special traits than these two food categories (Poulios et al., 2019). Moreover, unlike fats and carbohydrates, research has shown that an increase in proteins may not negatively affect the individual who trains, especially on their body composition. Research also shows that healthy older adults also need to increase their daily intake of proteins either in supplements or their dietary strategies than younger individuals who may not need to overfeed on proteins (Ziegenfuss et al., 2015). Furthermore, the results indicate that older adults must also increase their protein intake because failure to do so will decrease their energy intake. The researchers provide insight that the protein’s ability to increase muscle hypertrophy plays a crucial role in attenuating sarcopenia and leading to subsequent maintenance of muscle power and strength and increases.
Discussion
Importantly, research has proved useful in demonstrating that dietary strategies play a crucial role in recovery and performance improvement. For instance, research indicates that ingesting protein based on mil helps attenuate the damaged eccentric resistance protocol and thus strengthens the ability an individual has to recover and increases their ability to sprint in a bout that ranges from 24 hours to 72 hours. Research indicates that protein facilitates fast muscle recovery, especially after an intense isotonic workout bout. Moreover, it does so after caloric replacement. Researchers identify the comparison of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins regarding recovery periods in professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes. The research provides insight that unlike carbohydrates and fat, increases in protein intake in these individuals is significant in increasing performance and recovery in a bout that ranges from 10 hours to 24 hours depending on the type of training that individuals undertake. Research indicates that the most engaged in training is total body resistance based on protocol and assessments of acute performances post-training. For instance, those professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes who consume protein supplements experience increased strength and power on acute anaerobic compared to those who do not. Moreover, the rate of recovery these individuals experience is higher than those who consume carbohydrate drinks as a means of increasing their improvement and recovery rate (Poulios et al., 2019). The particular notability involved in these professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes who use protein supplements in the provided range and protocol regularly can engage in sports that require explosiveness and high intensity.
Furthermore, research shows that increases in protein intake either in supplements or dietary strategies improve the professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes’ adaptation to regular and acute exercises and pieces of training (Ziegenfuss et al., 2015). Further, the researchers note that protein quality plays a central role in recovery and improved performance in these individuals, especially those who engage in explosive and high-intensity sports (Poulios et al., 2019). Moreover, research shows that muscles’ growth and increases in recovery are based on leucine, which they explain is a branch of the amino acid chain. Notably, this is important for professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes as it helps increase their recovery processes while also increasing their adaptive processes based on different exercise bouts. This indicates that protein supplements and dietary strategies help provide favorable results in professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes, especially those who ingest particular wholesome proteins, for instance, proteins based on milk (Poulios et al., 2019). Nonetheless, this study raises questions concerning the possible use of other protein sources and their effect on contents such as leucine, among others. Ultimately, the quality of protein source the trainees use is integral in promoting fast recovery and performance increases.
Overview
This research has significantly helped increase understanding of the application of protein supplements and dietary strategies, especially in different types of training among professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes (Ziegenfuss et al., 2015). The knowledge this research presents is that increases in protein intake help improve performance and recovery bouts in periods of 10 o 24 hours and 24 hours to 72 hours, depending on the training the individuals undertake. Therefore, this study implies that there needs to be more research done on endurance training as little research exists in this area despite the potential benefits that this area has to athletes and athletic individuals (Cintineo et al., 2018). Notably, the steps taken involve investigating the effects of protein supplements and dietary strategies in endurance training (Cintineo et al., 2018). Consequently, the limitation of this research is the time involved in investigating the research topic. More time would have helped in yielding intense investigations that would have further contributed to this topic’s development.
Conclusion
In sum, this report has contributed to the understanding of the potential benefits that increases in daily protein intake have in professionals, semi-professionals, and amateur athletes concerning their ability to recover and perform well in highly intensive and explosive sports. Notably, protein increases also need to be based on quality protein sources such as milk-based proteins. Finally, this research establishes the need for resistance training coupled with dietary strategies that focus more on quality proteins rather than fats and carbohydrates and also the application of protein supplementation.