Make a Run for It! Max 21 Fitness Explains the 2 Vitamins All Runners Need

If running is part of your daily regimen (like lots of us Max 21 Fitness fanatics), then there are a couple of vitamins you may want to incorporate into your daily routine: Vitamin C and Vitamin E.

In a recent study, nine runners popped 500 mg of vitamin C and 100 IU of vitamin E a day for 2 weeks, then ran a 5-mile time trial in a hot, humid, and ozone-polluted chamber.

Compared to another trial where the runners took placebo pills, the vitamins increased concentrations of antioxidants in the runners’ blood before and after their race.

Why is this important? Runners who experienced the greatest boost in antioxidant concentrations clocked the biggest time improvements, explains study co-author Geraint Florida-James, Ph.D., of Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.

Exercising in a polluted environment creates additional oxidative stress in the body, which can cause the body to churn out inflammation-causing compounds, Florida-James explains.

But antioxidants can mop op those free radicals, reducing oxidative stress and putting the kibosh on airway inflammation (inflammation can injure the lungs and cause them to become less efficient during your runs.)

Florida-James’ advice to Max 21 Fitness gurus (and other runners as well!)is this: Regularly down plenty of vitamin C and E from a healthy diet. Rich sources include broccoli, spinach, citrus fruits, tomatoes, kiwi, sweet potatoes, and mango. And if it's two weeks prior to competing in a hot, humid, and polluted place, down daily supplements containing 500 mg of Vitamin C and 100 IU of Vitamin E.

For more helpful workout and nutrition tips, or to download your own copy of the Max 21 Fitness Fat Burning Routine check out: www.max21fitness.com.

Here's to a healthy week of running!
--The Max 21 Fitness Team




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