Collagen for Athletes: The 5 Benefits You NEED to Know

Athletes are constantly pushing their bodies to the limits and put a lot of demand on their bones, muscles, and joints. Injuries are, unfortunately, very common for athletes these days, and the question of how they can reduce the risk of injury or boost their recovery is often asked. Any kind of injury, both big and small, can have devastating impacts on athletes and their performance. To perform and progress at training and sporting events, it is important for athletes to recover fully to have no risk of injury. This is where collagen for athletes comes into play.

What is Collagen? 

Collagen, the same stuff that is popular for skin care remedies, can do wonders for athletes. Besides skincare, throwing a scoop of collagen into your morning breakfast smoothie can boost your results from training. Up to 10% of muscle mass is made of collagen. There is one fact that many people are unaware of, and that is, collagen is actually a protein.

For some reason, many people associate collagen as its own category of supplements, yet it still falls under protein. 

It is not a complete protein as it lacks the nine essential amino acids. However, collagen for athletes can be quite beneficial to help boost workout performance and results. To keep athletes injury-free, a daily dose of 5g-15g of collagen is recommended. This can be done as a standalone or even mixed in with other protein sources if you wish.

The Benefits of Collagen for Athletes 

Whether you are an athlete or an avid gym-goer, collagen is one of the best and most effective recovery proteins that play a vital role in helping to repair and build tendons, ligaments, muscles, and cartilage that are overstretched during workouts or training. Being one of the most critical components for our body's structural support, it consists of 90% of our connective tissue – tendons, ligaments, joints, and fascia. 

Let's dig deeper and learn a little more about the benefits of collagen for athletes and why you should consider using it.

1. Collagen Helps to Improve and Repair Joint Health 

One of the most essential benefits of collagen for athletes is that it pertains to joint health. Collagen peptides can reduce pain and inflammation due to the degeneration of cartilage as well as joint damage. Studies link the collagen peptides to how healthy your ligaments and tendons are. Being that collagen comes from the tendons and ligaments of animals, it can be used for the synthesis of our body's tendons and ligaments once the peptides are digested and absorbed.

Related Article: Stiff Joint? Here Are 3 Nutritional Strategies to Help

Some research mentions that 10-15g of collagen for athletes along with some vitamin C (around 50mg or the amount found in an orange) during workouts can double the collagen production in the joints.

2. Improve Muscle Mass 

Collagen is a vital component of our muscles. Muscle mass tends to decrease as we age due to a decrease in collagen as well as testosterone. Research has proven that collagen supplements can reverse this aging issue in people diagnosed with sarcopenia, which is an age-related cause for muscle loss.

The study was based on older men with muscle loss, but the process discovered that the benefit applies to everyone, irrespective of age. The research discovered that men who combined exercise with post-workout collagen supplementation built more muscle mass than those who exercised and received a placebo. Collagen plays quite an active role when it comes to building lean muscle mass. 

Another reason why collagen helps with muscle is that it has amino acids like glycine and arginine, which are important blocks for creatine. There are many studies that prove how creatine can help build strength, muscle mass, and improve overall athletic performance.

If you want to focus on building and preserving muscle mass during an athletic season where some athletes discover they are losing muscle mass, it may be wise to implement collagen for athletes.

3. Collagen Supports Connective Tissue and Prevents Injury 

As all connective tissue and muscle need collagen, hydrolyzed collagen can defend our body against injuries. As collagen levels decrease, ligaments and tendons start to become stiffer, putting an athlete at risk for sports injuries. This is why people who are over 30 years of age are more inclined towards knee injuries, shoulder issues, and even herniated discs.

While there are many factors behind the injuries, collagen levels play a big part in the prevention process. Hence, one study found that increasing collagen levels in connective tissue is essential for athletes to prevent injuries. Other studies suggest that collagen helps your body heal from injuries, preventing scar tissue from building up.

4. Ideal Source of Protein and Essential Amino Acids (EAAs)

Collagen for athletes is an ideal post-workout protein powder supplement as it has a high amino acid content that supports our body's protein needs both pre- and post-workout. Besides that, collagen protein powder contains 18 amino acids and eight of the nine essential amino acids that our body cannot produce and must be consumed through dietary sources.

5. Collagen Improves Athletic Performance

Muscle contraction during a workout depends on creatine, which is a molecule made of three amino acids – arginine, methionine, and glycine. Collagen has 20% glycine and 8% arginine, and it helps support the synthesis of creatine in our body. It also can improve athletic performance during short bursts of muscle contraction. 

According to a study, 1g of arginine and ornithine for five weeks can improve strength by stimulating growth hormone release.

The Highest Quality Collage for Athletes 

Leave it to Evogen Nutrition to launch a product that combines several aspects of proper nutrition and recovery into one product. Evogen Nutrition Collagen Plus Hydration is a premium grass-fed peptide formula to help maximize skin vitality, joint and muscle tissue health, and help rehydrate and rejuvenate the body following intense bouts of exercise or athletic performance.

This specific collagen supplement uses only the highest-quality type I and type III grass-fed collagen peptides that can easily be digested and absorbed by the body to help provide you with the best results possible.

Evogen Nutrition Collagen Plus Hydration utilizes coconut water extract for hydration benefits, but it doesn't simply end there. Hany Rambod wanted to make sure athletes get the most from every single ingredient found in Collagen Plus Hydration and included a key patented ingredient known as Aquamin^®. Aquamin^® contains marine algae natural minerals (72 trace minerals in all) and works synergistically with coconut water to keep your body hydrated while also protecting joints and muscles.

If you are serious about keeping your body healthy and maximizing your athletic performance, supplementing with collagen for athletes through the use of Evogen Nutrition Collagen Plus Hydration is a MUST!