Are you looking to improve your post-workout recovery? Do you want to reduce muscle inflammation and soreness, resulting in improved mobility, comfortable movement, and superior athletic performance?
If so, you are in the right place. Today I will talk about joint supplements and their significant role in benefiting your training recovery.
Joint supplements can up your game regardless if you are a professional athlete or an average fitness enthusiast. They enhance your physical performance, improve athletic longevity, speed up healing, reduce the risk of an injury, and provide other benefits.
But how exactly can joint supplements aid your training recovery? What do studies say about their safety and effectiveness? How to choose the right joint supplement for your training goals? Read on to find out detailed answers to these questions, and more.
Benefits of Joint Supplements for Training Recovery
Joint supplements have many benefits, but the three main ones in the context of training are:
1. They Reduce Inflammation & Soreness
One important role of a high-quality joint supplement is to relieve inflammation. It does this through joint health ingredients, the most effective of which for this purpose are omega-3s, curcumin, and Boswellia Serrata.
These ingredients, as I will discuss further below, inhibit not only inflammation in your joints, improving movement and protecting from long-term damage. They also reduce inflammation in muscles, which consequently lowers muscle soreness, ultimately resulting in you being able to return to training sooner.
2. They Protect from Excessive Muscle and Joint Damage
Supplement ingredients such as MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) and collagen provide building blocks for repairing and strengthening your connective tissues, thereby reducing the risk of overuse or injury. They also contribute to a reduction in pain and inflammation.1
Hard training can be stressful on your joints and muscles. Regular supplementation of the previously mentioned ingredients may protect your body from excessive damage.
3. They Improve Recovery Times
Consistent supplementation of compounds like glucosamine, chondroitin, and type-II collagen may help repair your cartilage and connective tissues, resulting in faster training recovery.
By promoting joint healing and strength, and by reducing damage from intense training, these supplements can reduce the downtime between your workouts. This leads to notable improvements in your performance in the long run.
4. They Promote Athletic Longevity
Here at SiR we are proponents of discipline and consistent training. However, exercising hard day in and day out can also wear out your body over time.
Why do some athletes stay on top for decades, while others retire early? There are, of course, many factors at play, but one recurring reason is injury or loss of performance—including speed, agility, and mobility.2
This is where sports supplements like glucosamine and others can make a difference. By providing your body with the compounds needed for protecting from, repairing, and reversing damage, joint supplements have the potential to add years to your athletic longevity.
Best Joint Supplements for Post-Workout Recovery
One of the most important criteria for athletes investing into joint supplements is that they must be natural. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the best studied natural joint health compounds.
1. Curcumin
Curcumin is the golden yellow pigment of turmeric, the Indian spice. It turns out, beyond giving turmeric its color, curcumin is also responsible for its many health benefits. This includes improved training recovery, which curcumin achieves by:
- Reducing inflammation. Curcumin inhibits pro-inflammatory molecules that can damage your joints and muscles.3 It also acts as an antioxidant as well as boosts your body’s native antioxidants to prevent cellular damage. In doing so, curcumin helps to protect your body and accelerate post-exercise recovery.
If buying a standalone curcumin supplement, make sure it is high quality and contains a black pepper extract, or it is bound to fat. This is because curcumin by itself has very poor absorption, but when you combine it with black pepper or coat it with a specific type of fat in capsule, its bioavailability increases dramatically.
2. Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are another group of potent anti-inflammatory compounds. They can significantly reduce joint discomfort, including stiffness.4 This, by extension, improves your mobility and range of motion during exercise.
The best way to take omega-3s is daily. Make sure you opt for a high-quality 3rd party tested brand, to ensure it contains minimal mercury and other toxins. The omega-3 I prefer is sourced from algae which is grown in controlled environment, ensuring quality, purity, and consistency in EPA and DHA content.
3. Type-II Collagen
Type-II collagen promotes cartilage health and reduces joint discomfort after training. It is effective for diminishing symptoms of arthritis.5 If you have knee pain or are recovering from an injury, you might find collagen supplements to be particularly effective.
It is generally taken in powder form as the optimal dosage for training recovery tends to be in grams.
4. Boswellia Serrata
Boswellia Serrata is also known as Indian Frankincense. It has properties which block inflammatory proteins in your body such as NF-kB, which can slow down training recovery.
By lowering inflammation, Boswellia can help you train better, recover faster, and experience less discomfort in your joints and muscles. 6
Research also shows Boswellia is anti-cancer and has other potential health benefits which make it valuable regardless of your health and wellness goals.7
5. Glucosamine
Glucosamine is one of the most popular recovery supplements, not just among athletes but also with those who want to ensure healthy, pain-free movement later in life.
It may help to protect and rebuild cartilage, rubbery and flexible tissue that cushions your joints, absorbs shocks and impacts, and works in tandem with synovial fluid which lubricates your joints for smooth movement. 8
All of these factors are affected when you exercise regularly. Taking glucosamine can help you maintain consistent training regimens.
6. Chondroitin
Chondroitin is, much like glucosamine, a compound naturally found in our body. It helps your joint to retain water.9 This enhances protection, comfort, and overall health of the joint in the long run.
Chondroitin and glucosamine are often taken together because of their purported synergistic effects;
- Joint pain reduction
- Improved connective tissue motility
- Enhanced joint protection and repair
7. Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid is a compound found naturally in your body. It is found in particularly high amounts in your skin, eyes, and joint tissue.
HA has a unique role of influencing synovial fluid that lubricates your joints. This, in turn, improves mobility and reduces discomfort during and after your workouts.10
Joint Supplements Aiding Gym Recovery Processes
How important are joint supplements as a training recovery aid? The answer depends on the type of exercise you do the most.
If you are a professional swimmer, then perhaps joint supplements will not give you much of a performance benefit, although they are still helpful for muscle recovery.
However, in the case of gym training where you lift heavy weights, joint supplements can make a notable difference in your athletic function. They can promote:
- Comfort during exercise
- Optimal range of movement, which is vital for getting the most out of exercises
- Muscle and joint resistance to injury
- Enhanced healing of muscle tissue for less downtime between training sessions
Doing squats and other heavy compound lifts puts a massive load on your knees and leg joints. If you are not careful, this can wear your joints down, leading to chronic pain, stiffness, and inability to train like you used to.
With proper training routine and the addition of joint supplements, your gym recovery benefits in two ways:
- Preventatively. Joint supplements assist in strengthening your cartilage and connective tissues, making your muscles, joints, and bones more resilient to long-term wear and tear.
- Improved post-training adaptation. By mitigating inflammation and cellular damage, joint supplements may help you get back “on your feet” quicker between training sessions, encouraging your to adapt and grow stronger.
Effectiveness of Joint Supplements on Muscle Recovery
In this section, I look at the evidence of different joint supplements benefiting training recovery, athletic function, and physical performance.
1. Turmeric Improves Markers of Recovery in Elite Male Football Players
In this 2023 study, researchers looked at the potential benefits of turmeric (the spice which contains curcumin) on performance and markers of muscle recovery in 24 elite male footballers.
Professional football is extremely straining on the body. This study should give us a good insight into whether turmeric can help mitigate some of the damage.
The participants were split into two groups: the group receiving 60ml of a turmeric drink twice per day, and a control group who did not.
Following 8 competitive matches, the researchers performed various tests to determine the level of these footballer’s muscle soreness, inflammatory markers, and performance markers.
The result? They found that footballers who took curcumin-containing turmeric drink saw a decrease in C-reactive protein, a marker for systemic inflammation, along with reduced soreness.
2. Collagen Peptides Improve Muscle Recovery
In a 2023 study published in Frontiers in Nutrition, researchers looked into effects of collagen peptides on muscle recovery. 55 mostly inactive men were split into two groups:
- A group of people taking 15g collagen peptides taken daily for 12 weeks
- Placebo group
At the same time, these men went through a resistance and endurance exercise program 3 times per week for 12 weeks.
The study wanted to see any potential effects of collagen peptides on muscle strength, development speed, jump height, and soreness after exercise-induced muscle damage.
What they found was significant improvements in muscle recovery and performance but no positive changes in muscle soreness and body composition.
The study concluded that collagen peptides may support muscular adaptations (a.k.a, recovery and strength building) when combined with strength training.
3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Post-Exercise Inflammation and Soreness
In a 2011 study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, researchers looked into effects of omega-3s on post-exercise soreness and inflammation.
They gave healthy adults 3,000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids per day for 7 days, which led to a decrease in signs of inflammation, including soreness and swelling, compared to when they did not take the supplement.
These findings led the authors to suggest that omega-3s may reduce signs of post-exercise muscle damage such as soreness and inflammation, potentially improving recovery times and training adaptation.
How Joint Supplements Help in Training Recovery
There are several ways in which joint supplements aid in training recovery:
- Enhancing cartilage repair and growth.
- Physical training that puts a strain on your joints can wear down cartilage over time. Ingredients such as glucosamine and chondroitin supply building blocks for your cartilage to be protected and strengthened, serving as a post-training recovery aid.
- Diminishing inflammation.
- Constant hard exercise may lead to joint and muscle inflammation. Ingredients like omega-3s and curcumin help to mitigate this inflammation, reducing your pain and stiffness in the process.
- Stimulating joint lubrication.
- Ingredients such as Hyaluronic acid support the production of synovial fluid, which nourishes and lubricates your joints. This facilitates pain-free movement and smoother recovery from training.
- Connective tissue maintenance.
- Type-II collagen and collagen peptides may assist in strengthening and supporting your connective tissues, including ligaments and tendons. This, in turn, supports joint stability and reduces injury risk.
- Relieving muscle soreness.
- MSM is a joint supplement shown to reduce muscle tenderness and pain after exercise, allowing you to shorten downtime between training session.
- Supporting joint flexibility and longevity.
- As someone who trains regularly, you want to protect your body to maintain activity and pain-free movement later in life. Ingredients such as Boswellia Serrata contribute to overall joint health, improving flexibility and aiding in recovery processes to ensure your joints remain functional over the long term.
- Filling in nutritional gaps.
- An often overlooked benefit of some joint supplements, such as vitamin D, is that they support nutritional deficiencies, which ensures your body has all the building blocks needed to fully recover and protect itself from daily wear and tear.
Role of Joint Supplements in Athletic Recovery
Needless to say, joint supplements are only a piece of the puzzle when it comes to training recovery. Whether you are a competitive athlete or just a recreational gym goer, you are aware of the importance of lifestyle on your physical performance.
Three key aspects are:
- Nutrition.
- Hydration.
- Rest.
Once you have your bases covered, this is where joint supplements come in. There are certain ways in which nutraceuticals can give you a competitive edge if you are an athlete. Three main ones include:
- Promoting Faster Recovery Times
Joint supplements work through different bio-pathways, including blocking proteins and enzymes such as NF-kB and COX-2, which are directly involved in inflammatory processes. By blocking them, joint supplements help your body heal from intense workouts faster.
- Combating Oxidative Stress
Oxidative stress is process which denotes an imbalance in free radicals and antioxidants in your body, leading to cell damage, aging, inflammation, and various diseases. Although training is healthy for your body’s antioxidant defenses, constant hard exercise can elevate oxidative stress.
As such, it is important to take measures to reduce oxidative stress as much as possible to prolong your athletic longevity and reduce the risk of excess inflammation. One of these measures might include taking joint supplements such as ginger and curcumin, both of which are powerful antioxidants.
- Providing Nutritional Support
Anti-inflammatory nutrients such as selenium can play a pivotal role in helping your body recover from working out.11 Other compounds like collagen give your body what it needs to repair damaged tissues.
In combination, joint health ingredients ensure you are topped up on compounds that assist in protecting peak athletic function.
Understanding Joint Supplements Usage for Workout Recovery
Effectively using joint supplements means knowing how they work, when to take them, how to take them, how much to take, and what to expect.
Here are some fundamental guidelines to follow.
Timing and Dosage
- Post workout. Cosuming certain supplements, such as collagen, might work best when taken after the workout, when your body needs building blocks to repair the damage. Others, like curcumin and omega-3s work any time, but optimal timing might be, again, after a workout when looking to reduce the inflammatory response.
- Consistent use. Some supplements, such as glucosamine and chondroitin, should be taken consistently for months in order to accumulate the benefits, regardless of the time of the day you take them.
Stacking joint supplements
Omega-3s alone can do a lot for your muscle and joint recovery, but combining it with other proven joint health ingredients such as curcumin, hyaluronic acid, selenium, and vitamin D will provide a broader range of benefits.
Some supplements may even work better together than when taken in isolation, with the classic example being glucosamine and chondroitin.
Just make sure to stick to dosage recommendations on the product label. Going over the recommended amount increases the risk of side effects.
Training Recovery Improvements With Joint Supplements
- Amino Acid and Collagen Repair
Supplements containing amino acids and collagen provide elements that build, repair, and strengthen your muscles and connective tissues. This helps to cuts down the recovery time between your training sessions.
- Selenium and Ginger Anti- Inflammatory Support
Selenium and ginger are both sometimes used in joint supplements for their ability to reduce inflammation and pain associated with joint strain from hard exercise. This allows you to exercise harder, for longer without experiencing discomfort afterwards.
- Hyaluronic Acid Enhancing Shock Absorption
Runners in particular may have issues with their joints and training recovery from repetitively hitting the ground. If you run on concrete or asphalt, this can especially wear down your joints over time. In this case, I would look for supplements like hyaluronic acid. It stimulates synovial fluid which is involved in cushioning your joints and absorbing shocks.
Impact of Joint Supplements on Sports Recovery
Joint supplements can be an effective training recovery aid for various sports and athletic endeavors;
- Football
Football is a sport with a high impact on joints. Tackles and rapid changes of direction can put a lot of stress on joints. Effective recovery is one of key factors determining longevity in this sport. Joint supplements such as glucosamine and chondroitin can help with this by aiding cartilage repair and mitigating joint pain.
- Rugby
Rugby is a sport not lacking in physical contact, and, unfortunately, joint injuries. Omega-3 fatty acids and MSM are two supplements helpful for accelerating recovery from sprains and bruises.
- Basketball
If you are a basketball player, you are well aware that constant jumping and quick movements put massive pressure on your knees and ankles. In this case, I recommend going with Hyaluronic acid and type-II collagen, which aid joint lubrication and impact absorption for bolstered knee-joint resilience.
- Tennis
Tennis is a sport replete with repetitive swinging and sudden shifts in direction which wear on elbows and wrist joints. Curcumin and Boswellia Serrata are some of the most potent anti-inflammatory supplements that can reduce the risk of tennis elbow—also known as lateral epicondylitis.
- Swimming
Swimming is not typically linked to joint stress, but in those who swim often or professionally, frequent strokes can indeed lead to shoulder issues. Omega-3s can help here by improving shoulder flexibility and reducing inflammation associated with joint overuse.
- Endurance Running and Sprinting
The continuous impact over long distances can wear down your hips and knees. As for sprinting, explosive starts and fast-speed running can put a massive strain on your leg muscles, bones, and joints.
In both cases of endurance running and sprinting, glucosamine and chondroitin are two basic supplements here that you can combine with MSM, collagen, and Boswellia for cushioning and protecting these joints from long-term damage. In addition, collagen and MSM may help enhance fast-twitch muscle recovery and protect from sprains and strains.
- Boxing
Boxing causes upper body strain which involves wrists, shoulders, and elbows. Antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids may accelerate recovery and alleviate joint pain.
Why Joint Supplements Are Crucial for Training Recovery
To recap, joint supplements are an important training recovery aid for three key reasons:
- They help to protect joints from the wear and tear of intense exercise.
- They reduce inflammation and pain while improving mobility.
- They assist in repairing cartilage and connective tissues for quicker recovery after a competition or training session.
Ingredients such as omega-3s, glucosamine, MSM, Boswellia Serrata, and chondroitin are all shown to be effective at promoting athletic recovery in various ways. However, for best results, consider combining them.
The bottom line is this: whether you are an athlete engaged in high-impact sports or an endurance runner, joint supplements can help you perform better, recover faster, and protect your connective tissues from inevitable strains of intense physical activity.
References
- Butawan M, Benjamin RL, Bloomer RJ. Methylsulfonylmethane: Applications and Safety of a Novel Dietary Supplement. Nutrients. 2017 Mar 16;9(3):290. doi: 10.3390/nu9030290. PMID: 28300758; PMCID: PMC5372953. ↩︎
- Furie K, Park AL, Wong SE. Mental Health and Involuntary Retirement from Sports Post-Musculoskeletal Injury in Adult Athletes: a Systematic Review. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2023 May;16(5):211-219. doi: 10.1007/s12178-023-09830-6. Epub 2023 Apr 4. PMID: 37014610; PMCID: PMC10188780. ↩︎
- Kou H, Huang L, Jin M, He Q, Zhang R, Ma J. Effect of curcumin on rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Immunol. 2023 May 31;14:1121655. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1121655. PMID: 37325651; PMCID: PMC10264675. ↩︎
- Kostoglou-Athanassiou I, Athanassiou L, Athanassiou P. The Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Rheumatoid Arthritis. Mediterr J Rheumatol. 2020 Jun 30;31(2):190-194. doi: 10.31138/mjr.31.2.190. PMID: 32676556; PMCID: PMC7362115. ↩︎
- Crowley DC, Lau FC, Sharma P, Evans M, Guthrie N, Bagchi M, Bagchi D, Dey DK, Raychaudhuri SP. Safety and efficacy of undenatured type II collagen in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a clinical trial. Int J Med Sci. 2009 Oct 9;6(6):312-21. doi: 10.7150/ijms.6.312. PMID: 19847319; PMCID: PMC2764342. ↩︎
- Siddiqui MZ. Boswellia serrata, a potential antiinflammatory agent: an overview. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2011 May;73(3):255-61. doi: 10.4103/0250-474X.93507. PMID: 22457547; PMCID: PMC3309643. ↩︎
- Trivedi VL, Soni R, Dhyani P, Sati P, Tejada S, Sureda A, Setzer WN, Faizal Abdull Razis A, Modu B, Butnariu M, Sharifi-Rad J. Anti-cancer properties of boswellic acids: mechanism of action as anti-cancerous agent. Front Pharmacol. 2023 Aug 3;14:1187181. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1187181. PMID: 37601048; PMCID: PMC10434769. ↩︎
- Williams C, Ampat G. Glucosamine Sulfate. [Updated 2023 Jul 22]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. ↩︎
- Bunnell NM, Weatherton L. Case report: Treatment of joint supplement toxicity resulting in acidemia, hyperglycemia, electrolyte derangements, and multiple organ dysfunction. Front Vet Sci. 2023 Jun 29;10:1141978. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1141978. PMID: 37456965; PMCID: PMC10347412. ↩︎
- Vincent HK, Percival SS, Conrad BP, Seay AN, Montero C, Vincent KR. Hyaluronic Acid (HA) Viscosupplementation on Synovial Fluid Inflammation in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Study. Open Orthop J. 2013 Sep 20;7:378-84. doi: 10.2174/1874325001307010378. PMID: 24093052; PMCID: PMC3788189. ↩︎
- Fernández-Lázaro D, Fernandez-Lazaro CI, Mielgo-Ayuso J, Navascués LJ, Córdova Martínez A, Seco-Calvo J. The Role of Selenium Mineral Trace Element in Exercise: Antioxidant Defense System, Muscle Performance, Hormone Response, and Athletic Performance. A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2020 Jun 16;12(6):1790. doi: 10.3390/nu12061790. PMID: 32560188; PMCID: PMC7353379. ↩︎
Leave a Reply