I've been working out everyday lately. My friend tells me to take an anti-inflammatory 3 times a day...?

Question

should i take it? he says it will help my muscles heal and what not. he is one of those kids that loves protien shakes, which i have tried to avoid. should i take one of those too?

Answer 1

You don't need to take an antiinflammatory. You don't need to take a protein shake, either.

An anti-inflammatory is meant to, guess what, reduce inflammation. Which means that it will do you good when you have inflammation, and when you have that you will know it. It does not speed healing.

He has confused damage to a muscle with the microtears that occur to and in it when it is exercised. Those microtears are not inflammation, and your body's repair system will heal them without inflammation.

Inflammation is your body's response to a damage serious enough to need the heat and extra blood (and white cells) to repair it. Excercise is not that kind of damage, which is why you are not inflamed after exercise unless you've "broken" something like a tendon. No pain, no need for an anti-inflammatory. You're wasting your money and you could be putting the lining of your stomach at risk. Anti-inflammatories are hard enough on your stomach that they almost always have to be taken with food to buffer the effect on your gastric lining. Tylenol is not that hard on your stomach, but then Tylenol is not an anti-inflammatory, either.

What's the purpose of a protein shake? To give you protein? What's that stuff in your food, then? You only need about 60 grams of protein a day. Actually, the number is 10% of your calories should be protein, and you get far more than that in the meat you eat. Add bread (which has protein in it) and beans (which have a lot of protein in them), and rice, and peanuts (or any nut), and you can see that you're adding a lot of protein to your diet, ,more, in fact, than you can use, even with your workouts. If you eat more protein than you can use, guess what happens to it? The same thing that happens to everything that you eat that your body can't use: it is turned into triglycerides and stored as fat. 60 grams is not very much.

Protein shakes are only needed if you're not eating enough protein, and I can assure you, that if you are an American, you are getting enough protein.

Vitamins are needed only if you are not getting enough vitamins, and we Americans are hardly ever vitmin-deficient.

I have tried the protein shakes and smoothies, as have many of my friends, and they do not do anything for your performance or your strength. There is no scientific evidence that they do, either.

Keep working out, keep eating right--that menas a lot of vegetables and fruit (by the way, did you know that the calcium that you will find in most protein shakes, for they tend to have a lot of whey in them, supports prostate cancer tumors? It's an interesting connection that medical journals have been recognizing only recently), eat the protein that you need and no more, and enjoy yourself. What you're doing is good for you.

Answer 2

If you take large amounts of anti-inflammatories (as in 3 times a day) you are going to end up with an ulcer.

All the pros say working out everyday isn't good. You need to rest the muscle groups. You're heading for an injury this way.

Nothing wrong with a good protein shake if it tastes good. Protein is needed to repair muscles after workouts.

Answer 3

Taking an anti-inflammatory 3 times/day when you aren't even having pain is just crazy. If you want your muscles to heal, take a day off between that muscle group. Some people will work the upper body one day and lower body the next. Or some people work the left side of their body one day and the right side the next. That way you are still working out every day, but you are giving you muscles time to heal between workouts. Anti inflammatories are great when you need them, but they can rot out your gut and that would suck!

Answer 4

Take a naproxen once daily or as needed for pain. More than that rots the lining of the stomach. Yeah I would go with the protein shake. It will help build up the muscle.

Also are you working the same muscle groups daily? That is not a good idea as muscles need a day to repair and BUILD. You will see better growth that way. So, as an example, Back/Chest/Neck/Arms one day, then Abs/Butt/Legs the next day. Alternate back and forth.

Don't forget cardio EVERY DAY.

Answer 5

The protein shake would be ok but unless you are having that much muscle aches and pains I would not take the anti-inflammatory. It is not a good idea to abuse pain medicine for no real good reason.

Answer 6

U should work out every other day to benefit the body and not get burned otu.
If u are sore, a motrin will help your muscles.
But inflammatories have bad side effects on the stomach, make sure u take a pepcid ac under the pill.

Answer 7

Why would you avoid a protein shake? They taste good and add healthy clean protein to your diet.

As for the anti-I's, you could take them. I wouldn't unless you're in pain. They can be hard on the lining of your stomach...

Answer 8

Lay off the anti-inflammatories unless you have severe pain. Too many side effects to eat like candy. If any type steroid is in the protein shake, lay off that, too.

Answer 9

I personally recommend all natural Physique Workout Maximizer Supplement. It contains Bio-Build to give you the nutrients you need to rapidly recover and repair muscle tissue. With 18 vitamins and minerals and essential amino acids, it gives your muscles a healthy recovery and helps you avoid post-workout pain.

Hope this is useful and feel free to contact me with questions.

Answer 10

Yes, it can hurt! That and consider that you have never used those muscles before. Have you ever ran a lot and had your legs cramp for days? Your muscles can start doing that when you have sex a lot. Tell him it hurts and have him back off a bit