A Natural Guide To Enhancing Athletic Performance, Part I

Athletes are always striving to be performing at a high level. You might be meticulous in thinking about what they are eating and consuming, but how conscious are you of what’s going on internally?  It’s pretty critical to keep in mind the energy processes that are happening inside your body so you can keep performing at your best.

It Starts With The Cellular Respiration Process

Cellular respiration is a cycle that breaks down fats, carbs, and simple sugars to make energy from the foods you consume. The progressive process also produces metabolites, which have several functions including converting energy. Since the cycle is occurring at all times, is there something athletes can do to tap into this process? That way, they can hit their peak energy levels when they desire.

Your Electrolytes and Their Relationship To Energy

Electrolytes in your body are at work keeping the electrical neutrality in your cells at the right levels. It’s critical to maintain electrical neutrality in your cells, and that’s where electrolytes come into play. They generate and conduct energy in the muscles and nerves to maintain this neutral balance.

Common electrolytes include calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. They help your body’s homeostasis — at an even balance. Otherwise, you can become fatigued or develop  other health issues.

How are electrolytes formed? If essential minerals dissolve in water or other fluid, they create electrolytes. Then the body forms negative or positive ions for metabolic processes. That’s why getting fluids from the optimal source will help boost your energy to perform at its highest performance as an athlete. To garner the most benefits from electrolytes, you should understand how they play a role in the mitochondria’s ATP production.

Mitochondria’s Importance In Athletics

You probably remember from a biology class at some point that the mitochondria are called the cell’s powerhouse. That’s because the mitochondria produce and stores chemical energy in molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The product of ATP is crucial for digestion, muscle contraction, cellular mobility, and the cell’s energy. Likewise, your body needs energy conversions for healthy bones, tendons, muscles, and ligaments. As electrolytes penetrate the mitochondria to produce ATP, they give you energy. Since your body must replenish ATP constantly, you can help this process and optimize your performance levels.

Your metabolism affects all chemical reactions, beginning at the cellular level in the mitochondria. You can restock mitochondria with key nutrients and electrolytes. Training consistently with proper rest and recovery is essential. Pair that with a balanced diet, and you will increase the number of mitochondria in your skeletal muscle. The more mitochondrial density you have, the more you can push yourself. You can also have better-structured mitochondria. All of this equally promotes better overall health.

You can boost your energy by directly increasing your mitochondrial content, through exercises like endurance and strength training as well as high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Although each sport follows specific workout regimens, you may be able to mix different training programs.

Particular genes may have more natural athletic abilities with endurance sports. More research needs to be conducted about this theory to determine if it is related to the mitochondrial phenotypes that reveal individual traits. Even if genes affect your abilities, a regular workout program with consistent high-level training can help increase lean muscle and boost athletic performance.

Eat More Vitamins And Minerals With Iron, Glutamine, Antioxidants, and BCAAs

Consume iron to decrease lactate concentration while you exercise. Iron will also increase your oxygen intake. Glutamine helps with energy production and metabolism, and this mineral has nitrogen, which is essential for biochemical responses. Eat foods with branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) such as eggs, fish, and quinoa, because the mitochondria will metabolize them in your skeletal muscle to provide you with more energy during exercise.

Having a peak performance means you need enough antioxidants as well, which are in foods with vitamin C and vitamin E. You need antioxidants to reduce free radicals and the damage they can cause to your muscles. With too many free radicals, you will experience soreness, inflammation, and muscle fatigue. Thus, eating antioxidants is essential.

You may also want to consider eating carbon-driven nutrients with polyelectrolytes if you want to boost your energy levels at the right time for peak performances. When you mix these specialized carbons with water, they create electricity with charged particles. The molecules will convert energy from being dormant to available, which is vital for the cellular respiration process. These polyelectrolytes will boost metabolites so you don’t have to use that ATP stock to make more ATP.