Joints are the most vulnerable parts of an athlete's body. To reduce the risk of injury, warm up well and use special medications. Every athlete understands that joints can be easily injured. To reduce the risk of injury, it is important to warm up well at the beginning of each session. You can also use special drugs - chondroprotectors. However, their use by athletes often does not bring the desired result. Today we will figure out how to properly use chondroprotectors in bodybuilding.
What are chondroprotectors?
Chondroprotectors are medications whose task is to accelerate regeneration processes, as well as reduce the rate of degeneration of cartilage tissues.
All drugs in this group are made on the basis of natural ingredients. Most often, chondroprotectors include chondroitin sulfate or glucosamine sulfate. The cartilage tissue contains a large amount of these substances, and their additional intake leads to the strengthening of the cartilage.
Classification of chondroprotectors
To date, a fairly large number of these medicines are produced. The most popular among them is khonsurid. It is also a natural substance derived from the cartilage of cattle. Also, preparations are made in the form of creams and ointments, which include chondroitin sulfate and dimethyl sulfoxide.
They practically have no differences in properties and differ mainly only in price. In addition, drugs in this group are prescribed for the treatment of diseases such as arthrosis and osteochondrosis. It should be understood that when the cartilage tissue is completely destroyed, the chondroprotectors will be powerless to help.
A few words should also be said about preparations made from animal bone marrow. The most popular representative of this group is rumalon. It is very effective in the treatment of joint diseases.
There is also a group of drugs based on glucosamine. Joint cartilage also contains this substance. It should be noted that the secretion of glucosamine is strongly inhibited by external factors. This cannot but affect the performance of the joints.
Special sports supplements containing several active ingredients are now being produced. Unfortunately, their effectiveness is not as high as advertised.
Do I need to use chondroprotectors in bodybuilding?
Scientists have found that the strength of an athlete largely depends on the state of his ligamentous-articular apparatus. This fact played a leading role in the popularization of chondroprotectors among athletes. At the same time, it should be said that not in every case they can be effective.
Of course, under the influence of high physical exertion, the joints are subjected to severe stress. For this reason, many athletes have persistent joint problems. However, it is also impossible to reduce working weights, and as a result, they fall into a vicious circle. In this case, prevention of the ligamentous-articular apparatus is necessary. When using chondroprotectors, you can increase the performance of your joints by no more than 25 percent. True, there are exceptions, which we will talk about a little later. You must remember that short-term use of chondroprotectors will not give the desired result.
In order for the body to get used to exogenous substances, and you get the desired result, the drugs must be used for at least four months. Also, medications will not be able to help you with an injury. They should be considered only as a means of prevention. Serious injuries and diseases of the joints today cannot be cured even with the help of surgical intervention. It is clear that pills and ointments will also be powerless here.
In principle, to protect your ligamentous-articular apparatus, you do not need to use chondroprotectors in bodybuilding. Much more effective is the performance of exercises in full accordance with the technique, as well as the performance of warm-up exercises.
When is it necessary to take chondroprotectors in bodybuilding?
There are athletes who should use drugs in this group. Now we are talking about athletes taking anabolic steroids. Steroids lead to positive changes in hormonal levels, but do not affect the joints and ligaments. In this case, the physical characteristics increase only due to the improvement of the energy system, the central nervous system and an increase in the concentration of androgens.
At the same time, the ligaments and joints continue to be in their previous state. It is no secret that when using AAS, strength indicators increase significantly and an athlete can work with large weights. But the whole problem is that the joints are not ready for such a load. If you train naturally, not only will your muscles grow, but your joints will also develop. This does not happen with steroids.
The drastic increase in load significantly increases the chances of injury. Professionals know about this and it is for this reason that chondroprotectors are so popular in bodybuilding. Now we will not say that the use of steroids at the amateur level is at least unjustified and can lead to serious disorders in the body. It is up to each athlete to decide whether to use the AAS. If you are not a chemist, you can do without steroids. But when it was decided to use anabolic steroids, then you need chondroprotectors.
It is necessary to take drugs in accordance with the instructions attached to them. There are no significant differences in dosage for athletes. The only thing that I would like to remind once again is that they must be taken for a long time, namely, at least four months. They will also not help you treat your injuries and should only be considered from a prevention perspective.
The results of studies of chondroprotectors can be found in this video:
