Are Your Antioxidants Working For You During (& After) Your Workout?

Working out is a great way to relieve stress from the day. But exercise itself is a stressor. And although it is intentional stress to get stronger, run faster, or think more clearly (the list of benefits really goes on), it still produces free radicals in the body. 

People who are incredibly active—like athletes—are at risk for short-term oxidative stress (aka when there's an imbalance of free radicals to antioxidants in the body). A reasonable solution is to up a person's antioxidant intake. But—and here's where it gets convoluted—some of this damage or stress from exercise is what helps muscles actually grow back stronger, and some people are actually hesitant of getting too much of certain antioxidants1 as they could interfere with the positive physiological adaptations of exercise. 

For those familiar with exercise science, this finding won't come as much of a surprise.

Lifting, pulling, or pushing heavy objects damages muscles and promotes inflammation. It's the repair and recovery processes that are triggered afterward that promote muscle growth. If you strength train regularly, your body begins to adapt and recover faster after workouts and require more force or time under tension. 

Vitamin C, in particular, has garnered the most controversy in the sports world over the years. That's because some studies have found that vitamin C at high supplemental doses of 1 gram or more per day may hinder beneficial training adaptations3. However, the general consensus is that vitamin C from whole-food sources can help reduce oxidative stress without negatively impacting training and a large meta-analysis showed that vitamin C supplements do help reduce muscle damage after exercise4. 

Intense exercise can cause muscle damage, and without the proper recovery plan, it can set you back in the weight room or on the leaderboard, increase your risk of injury and possibly increase your risk of chronic inflammation5 in the future. Eating an antioxidant-rich diet and supplementing for additional support can help you get the most out of your fitness routine. But most importantly, being physically active is overwhelmingly known to help prevent oxidative stress 6and its related conditions (like heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease). Well-trained athletes actually have a more robust internal antioxidant system than less active individuals.