THIS MONTH'S COACHING PANEL
ROB HOBSON
Antioxidant supplements – yay or nay?
Rob is a registered nutritionist, consultant, writer and published author.
ANDREW SHEAFF
Swim-breathing pointers
Andrew is a swim coach at the University of Virginia, the reigning NCAA champions.
NIK COOK
Hill-descent fear
Nik's a writer, coach and athlete based in the Peak District who specialises in endurance and adventure sports.
ANDY BLOW
Stitch prevention
Andy the brains behind nutrition experts, Precision Hydration. He also has top-10s in Ironman and Xterra events to his name.
ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTS – YAY OR NAY?
Q Should athletes avoid antioxidant supplements? Abbey Collier
A Long periods of intense exercise have been shown to promote oxidative stress, which is referred to as ‘exercise induced oxidative stress’. This is more likely to occur among endurance athletes given the time spent exercising at a high intensity and causes damage to muscle fibres and accelerates muscle fatigue.
To offset this damage some athletes may assume a benefit to boosting their intake of antioxidants using high-strength supplements, but this can prove counterproductive.
Free radicals (ROS) are continually produced in muscles both at rest and during exercise. These chemicals modulate processes such as the regulation of blood flow, muscle force production and muscle adaptation. The
