Do You Take Adequate Vitamin D ? Its Important For Bodybuilding

In India it has been seen that a large number of amateur body builders do some common mistakes.One of them is,to build new muscle tissue and strength they give special attention to their workout regime,supplements and a good diet plan that help them getting strong muscle.But if u are asked that have you ever been thought about how many vitamin D you are consuming and what is the importance of it in bodybuilding.90-95% among you will say no,am I right?

Intro: You may be surprised to hear that vitamin D is completely different from most other vitamins.It’s actually a hormone,a steroid hormone which is produced out of Cholesterol when human skin is exposed to the sun.For this reason it is also known as “Sunshine” vitamin.Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin than can be also found in some natural diet food.

However,now a days Sun exposure is inadequate in many areas,the bodybuilders have to necessarily get more of it from their diet and supplements.Though,unfortunately only a handful of foods contain significant amount of this vitamin.So deficiency is very much common.
There are two main forms of vitamin D found in the natural diet.They are

• Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)
• Vitamin D2  (ergocalciferol)

Of this two,for bodybuilding we should be more interested in D3 (cholecalciferol),because it is more effective than the other.

Actually after going through two conversion steps vitamin D becomes active.First it is converted to calcidiol in the liver,which is the storage form of it in the body.Then it is again converted to calcitriol in the kidneys,which is the active steroid  hormone form of vitamin D.

Mode Of Action:   Calcitriol travels around the body through blood and bind with the Vitamin D Receptors (VDR) into the cell nuclei.Then they turn the genes on or off,leading to changes in the cells like other steroid hormone works.Vitamin D affects the cells related to bone health by telling the cells in the gut to absorb more calcium and phosphorus.

Importance in Body Building: Vitamin D regulates neuromuscular functioning by penetrating to the nervous and neuromuscular system and impacts protein synthesis.Some studies have shown that people with serum vitamin D level of 12 ng/ml have decreased strength,muscle loss and weakness.And those with vitamin D receptor polymorphism have alterations in muscle functioning.

Vitamin D may lead to fatty-muscle.Deficiency of vitamin D may cause Fat infiltration in muscle tissue.And thereby affect strength and power,and can impair physical functioning.

Recently some studies reported that vitamin D plays a great role in human immune health.It affects some aspects of immunity including the development of some auto-immune diseases.The symptoms of those auto-immune disease may lead to alteration in Insulin regulation and feeling fatigued.Many of the symptoms sometime can make you feel downright crummy.And if you feel bad in the gym during training your whole workout may suffer.

Vitamin D is also important for bone health and as well as muscle health.Vitamin D promotes Calcium absorption and helps maintain calcium concentration in the blood and as well as mineralization of bone.Bone pulls on muscle to make it stronger.If you want strong muscle you better have strong bones and vice versa.

Sources of Vitamin D:   The main source of vitamin D is “Sunshine”.Vitamin D can be produced out of cholesterol in the skin,when it is exposed to the Sun.The Ultra Violet B rays from the Sun provide the energy needed for the reaction to occur.

Keep in mind that if you decide to get it from the Sun,just make sure to never ever burn.Sunshine is healthy but sunburn can cause premature aging and raise the risk of skin cancer.

Some food in your daily diet can provide a significant amount of vitamin D.They are Salmon,Tuna,Cod Liver Oil,Beef liver,Whole egg.

The recommended daily dose is 800 I.U for elderly.But as the bodybuilders are not like an average man so they need more of it to maintain the vitamin D blood level.According to the Institute Of Medicine the safe upper limit is 4000 I.U or 100 micrograms.

As I know that readers of indianbodybuilding.co.in are very well trained bodybuilders and well known trainers.But it has been seen that a lot of Indian bodybuilders and trainers are missing out on vitamin D.If your diet does not contain at least 4 servings of vitamin D reached foods every single day,your muscle building plan may hamper.

Even bodybuilders having multivitamin with 100% of the daily value for vitamin D are coming up short.Vitamin D is a simple fix to many health issues including decreased strength and power.