Why Your Post-Workout Should Have Vitamin D

Most people don’t think about vitamins when they’re picking a post-workout supplement. They think of the big things like creatine, BCAAs and protein. If you thought that’s all you really need to get the results you want, you’re wrong…and missing out big time on some results-making Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is so ‘common’ it’s not heralded as the muscle building hero it should be.

In fact, without Vitamin D, your muscles couldn’t even MOVE. Whaaat?

Yeah, D just got a whollllle lot more interesting, didn’t it?

Let’s get the D-eets on the D, shall we?

Muscles Need Vitamin D to Move

You might think Vitamin D is good for bones, but its first ‘good’ for muscles. Why? Well, muscles need it to contract. You literally need it to move. Your nerves also use it to send messages throughout the body and Vitamin D supports your immune system.

D is crucial to muscle development and growth. It maintains the function of your type 2 muscle fibers. If you suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency, you can experience muscle loss and loss of strength.

D works quite ingeniously in the body.

How Vitamin D Works

D has receptors called VDR. Receptors are sites that act like Velcro paddles that catch tennis balls. They attract and catch vitamin D. VDRs are mostly present in muscle cells.

So once you consume it, it goes to the liver and is converted into a hormonal form of D. That form is attracted to the VDR which then takes D and places it in cells to be used.

After proteins transport VDRs with Vitamin D into the nucleus, muscle protein synthesis is triggered.

Vitamin D also increases the calcium processing, muscle cell multiplication and muscle building.

So, why is this such a big deal to have in your post-workout? Because of the way your body reacts to training.

Vitamin D and Recovery

The body responds to training the same way it responds to stress or trauma. This is because during training, muscle protein break down occurs. This is a catabolic process. In order to achieve an anabolic state, your body must have a greater rate of protein synthesis than protein breakdown.

If you lack the nutrients to increase muscle protein synthesis, your body stays in a catabolic state and you miss the opportunity to build muscle.

D reduces a component called myostatin. Myostatin inhibits muscle protein synthesis. As such, it increases muscle protein synthesis through this reduction as well as through its binding to VDRs and triggering protein synthesis in cells.

It works synergistically with BCAAs, protein and/or amino acids because during protein synthesis, proteins will be needed. If you are deficient, you’ve wasted Vitamin D’s efforts to block muscle breakdown. Therefore, having it as part of your post-workout is crucial to building muscle and getting results.

Get a Post-Workout with Vitamin D and Get Results

So, in summary Vitamin D:

• Builds muscle
• Is needed for muscles to move
• Triggers protein synthesis
• Reduces catabolic processes
• Works synergistically with protein/amino acids/BCAAs

Now, the only question you should have is—where do I find a post-training supplement with Vitamin D? We got that answer for you too. Go here. You’re welcome.