Thread: Help! Cramps!

Do you foam roll or stretch? I roll tight muscles before I workout and I go through a nice dynamic stretching mobility warm up. After I workout, I stretch.

Try Taurine

Can Taurine Help Your Workouts?

Slow-twitch muscles have higher levels of taurine than fast-twitch muscles. That's likely because slow- twitch fibers have a greater oxidative capacity, and taurine has antioxidative properties. Studies show that the body loses the greatest amount of its taurine after intense anaerobic exercise, such as weight training.

Experiments done with rats demonstrate that taurine increases exercise capacity, especially in older anima1s. Another study found that taking taurine may help protect against exercise-induced muscle injuries. The authors of that study observed that taurine supplementation reversed certain types of functional deficits in skeletal muscle. Our results suggest that taurine supplementation may facilitate exercise performance and reduce some limited aspects of muscle injury caused by exercise."

A later study that used human subjects confirmed the protective effects of taurine during exercise. Because of the increased oxygen intake that occurs, exercise also ups the production of dangerous free radicals, and rampant free-radical release can damage DNA in cells, leading to mutations that may cause cancer and other diseases. In this study, however, giving men supplemental taurine before exercise significantly prevented DNA strand breakage, an effect attributed to taurine's antioxidative properties. In addition, the subjects who took taurine also showed increased VO2- max, an indicator of increased endurance, increased time to exercise exhaustion and increased maximal workload. That effect could come from taurine's role in increasing the pumping power of the heart and improving the electrical and contractile properties of skeletal muscle.

In muscle, taurine stabilizes cell membranes, including the sarcolemma, the membrane that surrounds muscle fibers. By controlling calcium entry into muscle, it promotes muscle contraction as well. Taurine's effect on electrolyte functions in muscle may also explain why it helps prevent severe muscle cramps. One theory suggests that exercise-induced loss of sodium and calcium may precipitate such cramps. By stabilizing those minerals during exercise, taurine may help prevent postworkout muscle cramps. The transport of taurine into muscle is promoted by sodium and chloride and decreased bylactate and beta-alanine.

A recent study found that taurine content in fast-twitch muscle significantly decreased during extended exercise sessions and noted that it enhances the enzymes in muscle that regulate energy production and fat oxidation. flurine also stimulates cyclic AM1I which leads to a greater release of catecholamines, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine. The latter two substances activate the enzyme hormone-sensitive lipase in fat cells, which leads to the release of fat for use as energy during exercise.

There is still some more interesting data about taurine @ Taurine Amino Acid: The Nonessential Amino Supercharged for Body Building