Athlete, fitness enthusiast, gym fanatic — whatever you like to call yourself. If you’re passionate about your fitness and health and you haven’t been taking advantage of vitamin IV therapy, you’re missing out.
The truth is, to be really meet your fitness goals, you have to begin from within. Literally. Your body is designed to perform a certain way and under certain conditions. It’s impossible to expect your athletic performance to break barriers and improve without giving your body the tools that it needs. That’s why so many athletes have begun using IV therapy, otherwise known as vitamin infusion. Slow down, it’s not as scary as it sounds.
What is Vitamin IV Therapy?
Vitamin therapy is a simple treatment that delivers specific vitamins and minerals directly to the bloodstream, bypassing the digestion system and guaranteeing that the body can use the nutrients it is given. There are many uses for IV therapy including boosting the immune system, detoxifying the body, sharpening mental focus, and post-workout muscle recovery.
Depending on your goal, a vitamin therapy practitioner may choose certain combinations of nutrients to provide during treatment. A treatment usually takes less than an hour and can be done in-office. Patients usually report feeling results quickly, which is another reason it’s particularly effective for those looking for an addition to their fitness routine.
Why IV Therapy Works for Athletes
Whether we like to admit it or not, training puts a strain on our bodies. Often, when you progress to more advanced forms of workout, this strain is exaggerated as more demand is being placed on your muscles. To counteract this, your body needs the right combination of macro and micro-nutrients.
Unfortunately, the typical diet usually covers the macro-nutrients fine, but can’t resupply the micro-nutrients quickly enough to prevent muscle soreness and fatigue. The older we get, the harder it becomes to recover from this level of strain as well. Our bodies need more of the right nutrients in order to bounce back the way they did when we were younger. Therefore, most vitamin infusion therapies focus on the specific nutrients needed to reach a certain goal such as physical fitness or mental fatigue.
In terms of vitamin therapy for athletes, the focus is mainly on replenishing electrolytes and specific nutrients whose deficiencies lead to muscle soreness and fatigue.
The pin-pointing of these micronutrients means that athletes who use IV therapy typically experience:
A boosted metabolism
Faster recovery time
Less sore or achy muscles
And fewer muscle cramps
These physical results are all a result of what IV therapy does internally to the body such as:
Promoting better energy consumption
Improving cellular repair
Replenishing electrolyte levels
And decreasing oxidative stress
The Science Behind Vitamin Therapy
To understand how IV vitamins promote post-workout recovery, you must first understand the science behind why it works. Essentially, when you are working out, you are putting your body under stress so that it begins to burn energy. It’s how your body gets this energy that is what leads to soreness and muscle fatigue. Remember that when you exercise, your body often loses macro- and micro-nutrients. It’s the micronutrients that are essential to creating the energy needed to perform properly.
Your body typically produces energy in the form of a chemical that is known as adenosine triphosphate, or ATP for short. ATP can be produced in two ways: with or without the help of oxygen. If your body is working anaerobically, meaning without the help of oxidation, then your body is producing lactate and two units of ATP per cycle. While this process is quick, it is not sustainable for the body to produce energy this way. As lactic acid builds in the body, the muscles will start to burn which does contribute to soreness later on. This is common during exercise because there is often not enough oxygen and micronutrients to support the second part of energy production.
The other way your body creates energy is aerobically through something known as the Krebs cycle. This is the body’s preferred way of creating energy. As athletes build more stamina, it is easier for the body to deliver oxygen to cells to ignite this cycle. However, micronutrients such as glutathione, Vitamin B, and magnesium are essential to this process. The more you work out, the less of these nutrients your body has on reserve without the thoughtful replenishing from the body.
That’s where vitamin therapy comes in. The focus of IV therapy, in part, is to restock the nutrients necessary for your body before and after workouts. Additionally, vitamin infusion helps keep electrolyte levels high so that athletes can more effectively hydrate and recover from intense workouts.
How to Get Started with Performance Hydration
If you believe that vitamin IV therapy may be your answer to post-workout recovery, then it’s time to set up a consultation with a trained practitioner. Liquivida is a leader in IV therapy with several Wellness Centers throughout the country.
Once you set up a free consultation, you will be able to discuss your health and fitness goals and develop a treatment plan. Then, you will be able to quickly begin vitamin infusions to help you reach goals specific to your fitness routine.