Isn't it helpful to take vitamin D? Weight training increases "antioxidant" capacity even better
Which is better, strength training or vitamin D? Research shows that antioxidants depend on exercise
As sports and fitness and nutritional supplements become more and more popular, which one of supplementing more “vitamin D” or doing more weight training can better enhance men’s antioxidant capacity? According to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, even simple elastic weight training can significantly benefit antioxidant activity indicators in the blood. However, increasing vitamin D supplementation during strength training does not help reduce oxidative inflammation.
The research team divided 40 healthy men into 3 control groups and 1 experimental group. Group 2 took 50,000 units of vitamin D3 every two weeks, and collected 10cc of blood from the subjects before and after exercise to measure total antioxidants. index (TAC), as well as various indicators of antioxidant enzymes in the body, including the activities of SOD, GPX, and CK, and also measures the lipid oxidation index MDA (malondialdehyde), which is most related to oxidation reactions.
The results showed that although vitamin D3 supplementation had a positive effect on reducing oxidative stress, people who used weight training with simple equipment such as elastic bands had greater improvements and were more effective. In addition, it can also be found that the body fat percentage of the more elastic weight training group has decreased after a period of training. Excess adipose tissue is one of the reasons for increasing oxidative stress, producing reactive oxygen species, and causing inflammation in the body.
In addition, studies have also found that for people who practice elastic weight training, even if they supplement vitamin D3, the synergistic effect of the two is low. Only elastic weight training had a positive effect on changes in the total antioxidant index TAC, and it also reduced the concentration of MDA - indicating less lipid oxidation in the body.
According to the research results, it can be observed that weight training or resistance training has a unique and irreplaceable effect on reducing inflammation in the body and improving the antioxidant mechanism.
It’s not best to do strength training every day! The 6 major muscle groups should be trained 2-3 times a week
How to arrange enough weight training in daily life to be most beneficial to health? According to the strength training guidelines of “The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research”, Harvard Medical School proposes several indicators suitable for ordinary people and even the elderly. The six main muscle groups of the body - chest, back, arms, shoulders, thighs, and calves. Multi-joint training movements should be practiced twice, and multi-joint exercises can help increase muscle mass faster for those with poor physical fitness.
If you are older and more physically fit, your weight goal should be set at 70%-85% of your maximum weight. The maximum weight refers to the heaviest weight that you can “only do once.” If you are not physically fit enough, you can reduce the weight of weight training but it is best to do more than 10 exercises. Each set of exercises is most helpful with 6-12 reps. It is recommended to start with light to moderate resistance training, starting with 10 sets of each exercise, and gradually increase the weight or resistance until each set of movements is performed 6-8 times.
Between each set of exercises, you should rest for 30 seconds to 2 minutes to help muscles recover. More importantly, more frequent weight training does not mean better results. Exercise 2-3 times a week is most helpful for muscle growth and muscle strength increase. Generally, bodybuilders or those with poor physical fitness can start from weekly exercises. Start exercising in 2 days.
Finally, if you still find no changes in your muscles after practicing weight training for 8 weeks, it means that the training intensity is insufficient. You can increase the training weight or frequency to reduce the body’s adaptation to training and help break through the obstacles to muscle growth.
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