Nutrition Pugalistica The Basics: Giving the body what the body needs by Amit S.Katz May 28, 2011

All living beings, from a single cell organism through to humans, require 4 basic substances in order to live, and they are;

1.Oxygen
2.Water
3.Fuel
4.Minerals

The first three are pretty easy for humans to obtain from even the most negligent of lifestyle, you have merely to breathe, drink a glass of municipal water and eat a 50 cent Duncan donut to accomplish this.

The quality of life may be lacking from such an approach to ones existence, but exist you will none the less.

For humans, minerals are the very foundation of life, without them we would not be able to sustain proper skeletal structure, blood, brain function and a whole host of biological functions.

The one biological function, you the boxer will need probably more than anything in the heat of battle is muscle function.

All the will in the world will not keep a jab pumping or fast footwork happening without adequate minerals, let alone your heart muscle meeting the bodies increased athletic needs.
When it is time for our muscles to perform, exchanges of minerals occur in muscle tissue, allowing signals from the brain to control muscle function.

When we are mineral deficient, not only do we not perform fast enough but our endurance suffers, we feel weaker and can not sustain athletic performance.

Minerals are so important, that a deficiency will mean the difference between an athlete who is and has put in the work in training and one that has not.

But it is not merely good enough to put out during training and on fight night, an athlete must be able to obtain proper rest after a workout in order to recover.

Recovery means longevity, everyone from the athlete to the twice a week casual jogger, wants to be able to continue to engage in their favorite physical activity, for as long as they can.

If we do not recover from the activity we have engaged in, our sleep suffers, our bodies feel the pain of over exertion, our immune systems may become compromised, our joints will creak and pretty soon that love of boxing seems like a chore.

I do not have enough toes on my feet and fingers on my hands, to count the amount of times I’ve heard athletes say they do not like to train, or what a pain it is to get up at 6am for their 5 mile morning run etc, etc…

Part of this is indeed due to the monotony of training, but a good chunk of this discontent is due to a lack of essential recovery.

Minerals allow muscles to relax and recover, in fact, if the minerals were there during training, recovery would have been much easier and less stressful on the body.

Imagine if you will, being able to put in a workout in which your muscles meet your training demands, followed by perfect rest and then the next day like a dream, there is minimal pain and you are ready to do it all over again, coach says jump and your body says “how high?”
But it doesn’t end there, your muscles seldom betray you by cramping up when you need them.

It is you who are fresh and ready for the next round while your opponent looks a little less eager to meet you for battle when that bell rings. Yes!!! Minerals have all this to offer you.

I am constantly asked for that next nutritional performance substance or the big performance secret no one knows about, the one that can get an athlete to the next level or allow them to do what others can not.

I hate to tell you this folks, without minerals there is no next level.

In fact, most athletes are so deficient that once they use a mineral combination as part of their daily routine, the next level is achieved.

And yet, this is what I consider the absolute basics.

So, what minerals should you use and can’t you get your muscle recovery from products such as Gatorade?

There is a huge industry dedicated to marketing sports drinks.

These products claim they will put in to your body that which you have lost during training.
Unless you are some type of alien with a metabolism and personal chemistry that runs on red dye 5 or yellow dye 6, then sports drinks will meet that claim.

Our bodies don’t run on food coloring, do not need high fructose corn syrup or preservatives, and let’s not even get into the nutritional deficiency and in particular the mineral deficiency these products posses.

They are the quintessential definition of junk food.

What you need is a good mix of minerals providing the body with the minerals it needs in large doses as well as the ones need in only trace quantities.

The one product meeting all of these requirements is Electrolyte Stamina by Trace Minerals Research.

This is a superior mineral product and regular use will give you everything you need.  3 tablets before and 3 after a workout will be do the trick.

If you are prone to profuse sweating then you may need 3 more before bed.