Have you ever thought about the changes your body goes through during a marathon? Well, they are huge!
Apparently, time is accelerated inside your body; your blood is running through your veins and arteries like the fastest Ferrari in the world. So, completing an Ironman will have a negative impact on your body and health. But don´t worry! Here you will find useful tips that will help you recover completely.
In other words; your body undergoes, in around 12 hours of extreme exertion, the same stress you would normally see after “two decades of aging”. Luckily, you can restore these “years” in a few weeks.
Let’s take a deeper look to understand how racing an Ironman affects your body. This will give you a better appreciation for the accomplishment of crossing an Ironman finish line.
Facing the Ironman
The race begins affecting your body since the starting sound of the horn. By thinking and anticipating what is about to happen (i.e. the Ironman race you are about to being), your blood flow increases as well as your oxygen consumption and the release of hormones.
Then, when you face the specific challenges like swimming, cycling and running, the biochemistry in your body changes in response to the physical activity. Plus, your body also experiences temperature regulation, dehydration, fuel/energy supply and usage, muscle damage, changes in nutrition absorption/processing and brain fatigue. It doesn’t get more stressful than that!!
Hot Days
Cycling and running during a hot day will make your muscles release energy in the form of heat waste. And if it accumulated in your muscles, it would eventually cause serious tissue damage.
But your body is wise enough to prevent this heat from accumulating. You might be thinking that it’s perspiration right? And, yes, sweating is one of the body’s protective mechanisms, however, the most effective protection of all is to merely regulate your exercise intensity. The more you slow down, the less heat your muscles produce.
Unfortunately, this self-protective mechanism has been known to fail because your brain can become too hot to function properly during exercise in hot environments. When this happens, the central nervous system begins to malfunction, and the athlete becomes dizzy, disoriented and uncoordinated, and may collapse. An excellent way to prevent this is consuming Eload Hydration Formula before and during the Ironman race. You will replace the fluid and electrolytes you lose per liter per hour, avoiding heat-related complications.
Burning Calories
Most Ironman competitors burn more than 6,000 calories between the start and finish lines. Calories come from fat stored in adipose tissue and within muscle tissue, generally in the form of carbohydrates which give you the energy you need to face all the challenges of the race.
The balance of fuels shifts over the course of the day, reducing the amount needed drastically by the end of the race. If these stored calories fall too low, your competition is done, your energy disappears! To avoid hitting the wall and complete the Ironman successfully, you should try Eload Energy Gel. It will give you that boost of energy you need to complete the Ironman race.
Sweat, Sweat and more Sweat
The most visible effect of Ironman racing on the body is the production of sweat which is the vital cooling mechanism for the body. The more you sweat, the more your blood volume shrinks. The more your blood volume shrinks, the less heat your circulation can carry away from the working muscles.
In a typical warm, or hot, Ironman, triathletes will sweat over one liter of fluid per hour on the bike and during the run. That adds up to more than 20 pounds of fluid loss for many athletes! If some of these fluids are not replaced, triathletes would not be able to complete Ironman events nearly as fast as they do. By consuming supplements for hydration you can replace the lost fluids and so make it to the end of the race. Give it a try, and you will see why it is recommended by professional athletes.
Almost There
If you already have some experience in completing an Ironman, you know that the last miles are quite overwhelming. Mixed feelings of happiness and tiredness affect your whole body; you are making the last effort to lift your feet from the ground to finally accomplish what you set out to achieve.
This lifting is so heavy that you might feel you are not going to make it. Your muscles are fatigued, and you have lost a lot of energy while facing the Ironman challenges. It seems that the closer you get to the finish line, the harder it becomes to pry your feet off the road.
Even your brain may become tired by the end of an Ironman race. It might run low on critical energy and accumulates increasing levels of metabolites that interfere with its proper functioning, resulting in feelings of discomfort, loss of will to continue, fractured thinking, declining mood and reduced ability to fire the motor neurons that activate the muscles.
Recovery Time
After an Ironman, your body will need some time to recover from the stress it suffered while racing. It might take you around three weeks to be fully recovered due to your immune system having been overwhelmed by the stress of endurance racing. To experience a full and complete recovery you may want to try, Eload Recovery Formula which will provide all the nutrients your body needs to repair and restore your body.
A good recovery formula is the secret of many a successful triathletes, ultra-runners and marathon runners. You should be using one to support your body.
Participating in an Ironman race is not an easy task, you will have to be ready physically as well as mentally. Eload products can accompany you throughout the training process and during the race. From your preparation days to the end of the race, our sport supplements can be customized to help you support your body and reach your expected goals. Give them a try!
Afterwards, not only your body will recover successfully, but it will be healthier and stronger because you will feel empowered provided by the challenge you completed plus your body will have recovered nutrients, fluid and electrolytes lost during your physical activities. Enjoy your race today, you will be great tomorrow!
