It’s National Physical Therapy Month, so if you have a pain or mobility issue that needs some attention, #ChoosePT!  Show your physical therapist that you care about your body by giving it what it needs: collagen, antioxidants, and natural nitrates.

How To Prevent Injuries With Collagen

Recovery might be the least glamorous and most neglected aspect of a training regimen. You hear about the latest high-impact workout, the diet trends that go up and down, the gear to help you perform your best, but nobody really wants to hear about how they should be taking a break and resting.

Have you ever been concerned about that creaky joint or you’ve just been waiting for the next time your injure that same spot? Even when you think an injury might be close at hand, it’s easy to neglect the recovery that your body needs.  Nobody wants to admit when it’s time to take it easy, but everyone would benefit from a bit of R&R, wouldn’t you say?

We’re not trying to say that there’s a shortcut to preventing injuries. There is, however, clinical research that points to the positive role of supplementing with collagen peptides for injury prevention.

You have issues with your joints and tendons. Your body needs the building blocks to make collagen most efficiently. Why not bridge the gap, manage your pain, improve your mobility, and supplement with a collagen hydrolysate?

Collagen peptides not only support muscle growth and joint cartilage, but they also strengthen your connective tissues and promote flexibility. Because of these traits, they are perfect for supporting your performance and rejuvenation, they can reduce the risk of injuries, and they may accelerate the recovery process and prevent damage in the first place.

It’s hard to justify giving your body the time and nourishment needed to fully recover when things aren’t so bad and you need to up your game right now. But if you’ve ever been injured, you know that feeling of wishing you had tried harder to keep up your health. Resync is a tasty, easy, day-to-day routine that can help you live your best.

We’ll explain how to optimize your recovery so that you can get back to doing what you do to get fit and stay healthy, ASAP. The highest-level athletes understand how to optimize their recovery cycles, do you?

Studies on Collagen for Reducing Pain and Improving Mobility

Taking a hint from decades of research on treating osteoarthritis [Garcia-Coronado et al., 2019], and a history of use in speeding surgical recovery [Gans et al 1977], athletics researchers are increasingly certain that collagen peptides can be used to treat and prevent connective tissue injuries in active people. 

Collagen may rank with other proteins in optimizing body composition, but collagen leaves other proteins in the dust when it comes to helping people get their game back after an injury.  We’ll cover five studies that all confirm the beneficial effects that collagen can have on joint pain and mobility. 

[1]

Professor Dr. Elmar Wienecke was one of the first scientists to systematically identify the nutrition-related factors that hold athletes of all levels back.  He examined amino acid profiles over a long period of time in more than 1500 athletes, including professionals in different sports and people who just want to have fun on the weekend. 

At baseline, many of the people he saw had significant nutritional deficits, especially insufficient levels of protein building blocks: amino acids. After seeing this trend, Wienecke’s team taught the athletes how to adjust their diets in accordance with national nutrition guidelines in order to supply an appropriate level of amino acids.

However despite following a protein-enriched diet, a large number of the people his team saw continued to complain of discomfort in their tendons, muscles, and connective tissues. A group was then selected to receive a personalized arginine, branch-chain amino acid, vitamin, and mineral-enriched collagen peptide supplement. Another group of active individuals just continued their personalized diet plan.

The results? Yes, amino acid levels in those who received the fortified collagen rose to their optimum levels. 

At the same time, recovery and regeneration improved after training.

Most importantly, connective tissue discomfort in the joints, tendons and ligaments was significantly lower (see figure below). 

Fortified Collagen Peptides Decrease Pain and Discomfort Among All Levels of Athletes  

The number of athletes at all performance levels who feel pain and discomfort decreases substantially after consuming enough protein in their diets and taking a collagen peptide supplement fortified with arginine and branch-chain amino acids. 

This study was not the most rigorous, but it points the way to the real-world application of using collagen for activity-related pain. It took years of supplementation with targeted nutrition一not simply supplementing with everything under the sun一to optimize the people Dr. Wienecke worked with, but the results show that nutrition is a key component in reducing pain.

The rest of the studies we’ll look at are the highest quality studies that scientists can do.  The people in the studies were randomly chosen, the participants nor the scientists knew who was getting the supplement beforehand, and the effects of collagen were tested against a placebo.  You can’t gett better validation than that!

[2]

In a study of student athletes at Penn State with long-standing joint pain, taking 10 grams of collagen hydrolysate every day for 6 months led to an approximate 10% reduction in perceived joint pain while walking and while standing. When a doctor was doing the pain evaluation, the results were even more impressive with the collagen supplemented group averaging a 14% to 17% decrease in pain [Clark et al., 2008].

[3]

For athletes who have had chronic joint pain, the issues are often triggered by an initial injury.  In a sample of athletes with this kind of chronic ankle instability, 5 grams per day for 6 months resulted in more than 20% increase in foot and ankle stability metrics [Dressler et al., 2018].

[4]

A study of 139 athletes at the University of Freiburg showed that just 5 grams of collagen every day for 3 months also led to significant improvements.  Athletes whose knee pain was triggered during physical activity felt a 38% decrease in their pain during activity when taking collagen hydrolysate. Sports-related symptoms diminished significantly and ice packs, messages and pain gels were used less frequently. This lower dose didn’t result in significant pain reduction at rest, which suggests that you have to take more collagen for longer to get the full benefits [Zdzieblik et al., 2019].

[5]

The last study we’ll cover tested the lowest effective dose of collagen peptides.  At only 2.5 grams of collagen hydrolysate per day for 6 months, patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy (an overuse condition in the heel) saw smaller benefits.  Even at this low dose, runners saw a 12% to 18% improvement in their symptoms and many more were able to return to running after supplementing [Praet et al., 2019].

Takeaways From The Research

The benefits of taking a collagen supplement are so clear that the International Olympic Committee pointed to hydrolyzed collagen peptides as a beneficial sports supplement with enough data to back them up. 

Based on an in-depth review of the scientific literature, the International Olympic Committee suggests that hydrolyzed collagen may increase collagen production and decrease joint pain [Maughan et al., 2018].

What’s the key takeaway? Research done with hundreds of active individuals shows that supplementing with 2.5 to 10 grams of hydrolyzed collagen every day for 3 to 6 months can decrease joint pain during activity by 10% to 38% and improve mobility by up to 20%.

The conclusions from these international efforts are that Resync’s collagen helps accelerate recovery from muscle damage after exercise. Since collagen is a key component of muscles and joints, these results show a dramatic pain-killing and anti-inflammatory effect. Across the spectrum of uses from improving mobility to reducing pain, the clinical research supports using collagen regularly. 

The research backs up our motto: “An under recovered athlete becomes an injured athlete™”, so stop falling to your weaknesses and try Resync to rise to your potential.

Want to know how else a collagen supplement can help you reach your goals?  Stay tuned for our next blog on the topic, How To Enhance Your Performance and Optimize your Recovery with Resync Your Joints - Collagen Blend.

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While some companies try to sell their stuff with clickbait and fake news, we make sure you have the research that backs up our claims. We believe that if you have the right information, you’ll be empowered to make the best decision for yourself. That’s why we break down the complex science of nutrition and supplements into practical takeaways you can incorporate into your life today. 

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Works Cited

Clark, Kristine L., et al. “24-Week Study on the Use of Collagen Hydrolysate as a Dietary Supplement in Athletes with Activity-Related Joint Pain.” Current Medical Research and Opinion, vol. 24, no. 5, May 2008, pp. 1485–96. doi:10.1185/030079908X291967.

Dressler, Patrick, et al. “Improvement of Functional Ankle Properties Following Supplementation with Specific Collagen Peptides in Athletes with Chronic Ankle Instability.” Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, vol. 17, no. 2, May 2018, pp. 298–304.

Gans, Arnold M., et al. Method of Providing High-Protein Nutrition by the Oral Administration of a Predigested Protein Composition. US4042688A, 16 Aug. 1977, https://patents.google.com/patent/US4042688A/en.

García-Coronado, Juan Mario, et al. “Effect of Collagen Supplementation on Osteoarthritis Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials.” International Orthopaedics, vol. 43, no. 3, Mar. 2019, pp. 531–38. Springer Link, doi:10.1007/s00264-018-4211-5.

Maughan, Ronald J., et al. “IOC Consensus Statement: Dietary Supplements and the High-Performance Athlete.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 52, no. 7, Apr. 2018, pp. 439–55. bjsm.bmj.com, doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-099027.

Praet, Stephan F. E., et al. “Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with Calf-Strengthening Exercises Enhances Function and Reduces Pain in Achilles Tendinopathy Patients.” Nutrients, vol. 11, no. 1, Jan. 2019, p. 76. www.mdpi.com, doi:10.3390/nu11010076.

Wienecke, Elmar. Performance Explosion in Sports. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, 2011. 

Zdzieblik, Denise, Steffen Oesser, Albert Gollhofer, et al. “Improvement of Activity-Related Knee Joint Discomfort Following Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, vol. 42, no. 6, June 2019, pp. 588–95. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.1139/apnm-2016-0390.