Two strategies (one behavioural and one nutritional) to implement before exercise for improved performance.
You may have heard heard of red light/near infrared red light therapy which requires you to buy a very expensive device (or pay for an expensive ‘recovery session’ at a recovery centre). However, red light is found in sunlight too, so you can gain the same benefits (and more) by just getting out and enjoying some sun.
They work by penetrating your skin and stimulating your mitochondria (the powerhouse of all of your cells). If this powerhouse is stimulated, then everything will run a little better (eg. more energy created).
There have been numerous studies (mostly on animals but some on humans) on light therapy’s ability to improve various health markers and help ease many disorders like diabetes, cancer, allergies, chronic fatigue, CV diseases and so on.
The two areas I’d like to focus on are its effects on exercise performance and pain:
If there are improvements in any pain you’re experiencing from injuries/general issues and there’s evidence that you could see some improvements in your performance, red/near-infrared light therapy could be a worthwhile strategy to use before your workouts.
Other than the cost of a device or treatment session, you may get even more benefit from sunlight because:
• There is enough of this specific wavelength (red/near-infrared) of light present in sunlight.
• Your full body is exposed (rather than a single body part) which could lead to a greater response.
• You get the other wavelengths of light which have their own health and fitness-enhancing benefits eg. UV radiation = Vit D production, nitric oxide release, immune-enhancing, body-clock regulating, mood enhancing, and blood pressure lowering! and Far-Infrared radiation = benefits on depressive symptoms, creation of blood vessels, wound healing, ability for blood to circulate etc.
(1)
For improved performance and less pain during your training session, red/near-infrared light therapy could be a useful tool! For even more benefit (and less cost) consider just getting 10-15 minutes of sun exposure.
Beetroot and leafy greens (eg rocket, kale, spinach) are some examples of vegetables that are rich sources of nitrates.
Nitrates are converted to nitric oxide in your mouth and GI tract.
Other than all of the important roles nitric oxide plays in your health (eg. heart health benefits), when it comes to your exercise performance, it can help your muscle contractions, energy creation, blood flow, how much oxygen you can take in and use and more. (3)
A review by Domínguez et al., (2018) outlined the following benefits of beetroot juice supplementation (full of nitrates) for your performance:
• Faster phosphocreatine resynthesis. This is the main energy source for high-intensity exercise. This may result in a few more reps, quicker recovery or being able to continue for that little bit longer.
• Improved muscular power output (from improved muscle efficiency and contractile capacity).
• Improved indicators of muscular fatigue (You may not get fatigued as quickly or may have a better turnaround from workout to workout)
(4)
Don’t care about your performance that much? As mentioned above, nitric oxide still has heart health benefits (like a reduction in blood pressure), it can help with general muscular energy creation and help you perform daily activities better thanks to its ability to help with muscular power.
Making sure you’re regularly eating these nitrate-rich veggies is a great way to ensure you have a high nitrate intake which will lead to these benefits. There’s evidence that your muscles are able to store these nitrates (3), which is why I believe it’s beneficial to simply increase your consumption over the long term. There’s also the additional benefit of getting all the other good stuff from veggies ("Are Fruit And Vegetables Really That Important?").
**If you’re worried about the high oxalate content of these veggies, this is where fermented variations shine. If you can’t find fermented variations, see the alternative (citrulline supplementation).
• 310-527mg improves exercise efficiency, while more than 527mg is probably necessary for improved efficiency and performance. The vegetables mentioned above (rocket, kale, spinach, beetroot) have about 250mg of nitrate per 100g of produce (5). So, having a juice with 200g of this produce would give you the benefits.
• You could also have a mixture of ‘high’ (100-<250mg nitrate per 100g of fresh produce) to ‘very high’ (more than 250mg of nitrate per 100g of fresh produce) nitrate containing vegetables. They include “celeriac, Chinese cabbage, endive, fennel, kohlrabi, leek, parsley (‘high’) and celery, cress, chervil, lettuce, red beetroot, spinach, rocket (‘very high’)” (8)
• Beetroot powder has higher levels of nitrates – 1,600mg per 100g (6). So, about 35g of beetroot powder would give you the performance-enhancing effects.
• A supplement called ‘Citrulline’ is an effective supplement that also has similar nitric oxide enhancing effects (and the resulting exercise/performance benefits).
• It also works in a number of other ways to assist with performance (like its ability to help reduce muscle soreness and fatigue) (7)
• If you want to see whether it helps, try 6-8g of citrulline malate about an hour before you exercise!
If you want the performance (and health) enhancing benefits of more nitric oxide, I’d place an emphasis on including nitrate rich foods in your diet regularly. If you don’t want to consume all of those vegetables, a supplement like citrulline malate may also benefit your performance.
If you’re looking to gain an extra edge on your exercise performance (and health), sitting outside in the sun and drinking or eating a nitrate rich juice/meal (eg. beetroot and dark leafy greens) prior to your training session may help! As an alternative, you could use a red light therapy device and supplement with Citrulline Malate.
Food choices that can drive your fitness and health outcomes beyond their calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein content.
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How including both aerobic training and strength training improves different areas of your health and fitness (and how to go about it).
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Why everyone should consider supplementing with 'Creatine'.
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