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Maintaining sufficient stores of needed nutrients at the cellular level enables your body to respond to the demand for speed. Muscles can contract more powerfully to provide explosiveness. Nerve impulses reach muscle more quickly to direct the body through agility moves. The mitochondria in the cells manufacture the additional energy necessary for quick “first step” action, whether playing in a pickup basketball game or diving for a shot as a soccer goalie. Muscles gain the ability to maintain speed longer during the anaerobic activity of sustained running or cycling, allowing you to spring on the track or pass other cyclists on the triathalon course.
As it is for most of the body’s systems, nitric oxide is a critical element in producing athletic speed. NO controls the vascular tree that directs blood flow to the areas of the body screaming for oxygen and nutrients during a sprint or other speed-based activity. By controlling the dilation of blood vessels, NO also regulates blood pressure as the body changes position, such as in a 50-meter swim or a hurdles race. This helps to maintain blood flow to the brain and other critical areas of function that are affected by dynamic movements of the body.
When a runner, or other speed athlete, engages the anaerobic system and the mitochondrial energy sources that power muscles during the fast movements of a sprint or cycling race, Nitric Oxide optimized the transport of glucose to working muscles. By allowing blood to flow more freely, NO enables critical systems to receive energy, shed heat, and get the oxygen they desperately need.
Sufficient levels of NO are therefore critical for optimal speed, and, as they cannot come from exercise if the athlete lacks the energy, oxygen, or circulatory volume to engage in intense work, NO promotion must come from diet and supplements. Proper supplementation is the key to unlocking the potential of NO, which, in turn, unlocks the maximum energy contained in the food you consume and the oxygen you breathe.
Nutrients for Speed
Because intense speed training and competition so readily deplete the body of key nutrients, athletes who desire peak performance should not limit their nutritional intake to dietary sources alone.
There are several nutrients that have been shown to be beneficial for the sprinter, runner, or other type of athlete seeking to increase speed.
Antioxidants
As part of natural mitochondrial respiration, the process by which chemical reactions produce fuel for our cells, various types of free radicals form in the tissues. Exercise amplifies this effect while depleting the body’s supplies of antioxidants. Antioxidants are the body’s main defense against the cell-damaging properties of these molecules, which is why the foundation of antioxidant intake must be a widely varied diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables.
Creatine
Creatine is one of the primary fuels for the kind of short-term muscle use that occurs during sprints, speed skating, and other intense, speed-based sporting activities. Unfortunately, natural creatine levels in the body decline with age, leaving athletes with less quick-release energy for short-burst, high-intensity workouts or competitions. Added to the natural decline in fast-twitch muscle fiber and stride length that also come with the passage of time, its easy to see why speed-based athletes tend to lose their ability to remain competitive at high levels sooner than endurance athletes do.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Speed workouts damage muscles, resulting in inflammation and soreness. By minimizing this tissue inflammation, a a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids can both reduce post-workout pain and reduce the risk of injury. Consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids has also been shown to speed up the body’s basal metabolic rate, aiding in fat loss and the maintenance of lean body mass – an obvious competitive advantage for runners.
Arginine
Supplementing with arginine optimizes the ability of the endothelium, the lining of the blood vessels, to produce nitric oxide, the powerful gas that relaxes and expands vessel walls to allow for greater circulatory volume. Consuming sufficient arginine through supplements improves NO production and blood flow, allowing the muscles, tissues, and organs used during all phases of competitive running to perform more efficiently and recover more quickly
Article by Dr Myers
Learn more about supplementation for athletic performance by ordering the book written by Nobel Laureate in Medicine Dr. Louis Ignarro and Naturopathic Physician Dr. Andrew Myers Health Is Wealth: Performance Nutrition for the Competitive Edge
Read about the new Nitric Oxide and Creatine Supplement and existing Niteworks Supplement
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