The Importance of Magnesium in Sports Performance
Magnesium can help improve your sports performance and recovery. Whether you’re an elite sportsperson or an occasional gym goer, transdermal magnesium supplementation can help you train harder, perform better and recover faster. See here why absorption of magnesium through the skin can be superior to oral absorption.
Magnesium plays a fundamental role in muscle contraction, skeletal strength, joint flexibility and energy production, helping to sustain the high oxygen consumption necessary for athletic performance. Magnesium also has a role in muscle and joint recovery.
Muscles and Cramps
A well-adjusted magnesium and calcium balance is indispensable for healthy muscle function. Whereas calcium is responsible for muscle tension, magnesium is in charge of muscle relaxation. It controls the transmission of impulses from nerves to muscles, ensures that the continued inflow of calcium is prevented and that the nerve excitability is lowered once again – which leads to the desired relaxation. If there is magnesium deficiency, there is excessive calcium in the muscle and it can no longer fully relax. This causes painful cramps especially during sleep when magnesium level drops.
Skeletal strength and Joint flexibility
In the skeleton, magnesium is an essential factor in bone health helping with calcium absorption. It contributes to improved joint flexibility by supporting bone, cartilage, ligament, fascia and muscle health.
Energy
Even a slight magnesium deficiency leads to reduced energy production in our cell power plants (the mitochondria) and can contribute to non-specific tiredness and fatigue that cannot always be directly associated with magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is in charge of numerous important functions in our body. It activates about 600 enzymes in our body. It makes sure that hormones like insulin are stored and released. It is involved in the production of nerve messengers like serotonin, and protects our cardiac muscle from stress.
Magnesium helps move blood sugar into your muscles and dispose of lactic acid, which can build up in muscles during exercise and cause pain.
Injury Prevention
Low magnesium intake is linked to chronic inflammation in the musculoskeletal system -making people more prone to injury. Relieving symptoms of muscle tension and and joint stiffness with magnesium supplementation can allow return to peak performance to occur faster.
Heart
In addition, arrhythmia, palpitations, and high blood pressure can be related to magnesium deficiency – because the heart is, a muscle that depends on a regulated tension and relaxation as well as on a normal electrolyte concentration.
Who is particularly at risk for magnesium deficiency?
Sports people not only strain their muscles but also sweat profusely – and the need for magnesium increases sharply. Magnesium helps them with musculoskeletal resilience and regeneration. See also why are we lacking magnesium?
Magnesium is one of most important minerals for sports nutrition but is often overlooked. Most of the isotonic sport drinks contain little magnesium but too much sugar which further depletes magnesium. Since the body does not have many spare resources for digestion while exercising, supplementation with magnesium oil should be a key part of any exercise regime
Beverages, oral supplements or transdermal oil containing magnesium should be taken in the regeneration phase for optimal effect.
