Ibuprofen as regular training supplement?

[ebe9]

Didn't find anything related to my question yet so I thought I would ask.

Anyone ever include ibuprofen (Advil) as part of your regular training supplementation? Any adverse effects or concerns in your experience?

I'm 27 and a half, not too old but I'm not 19 anymore and I am legitimately feeling the need lengthen the recovery period from training. At this age I'm feeling now when things hurt it hurts for longer. Because of that I've had to compromise the frequency and length of training. I just can't stand to buck up and train through the soreness anymore. But I'll never stop training entirely.

The soreness isn't so much lactic acid build up, it's more a holistic soreness. It's in my muscles and joints, aches everywhere, hard to move. At work my students wonder why I grunt all the time and it's because it hurts to even move around lol.

I do boxing three times a week and weights and other cardio the other days, five to six times a week. At this point I'll just limit to training five times a week. I'm not looking to compete, just train hard and spar sometimes with the (younger) guys.

I'm looking to make Ibuprofen as part of my regular supplementation. I'll take no more than 200mg a day when I need it, which may be at least three times a week.

Anyway thanks in advance for any input.

 

[obroin]

I used to take a pretty heavy ibuprofen dosage during swim training trips and double days to get over soreness. I think it adversely affected my ability to recover. Killing the inflammation response shuts down the bodies natural pathways to recover.

 

[shunyata]

Don't drink alcohol with it, so don't take it all the time i you like to have a beer after training. That will severely aggravate the tendency for the drug to damage the stomach.

 

[Seriously-Dead]

Maybe you should, oh I don't know, focus at least some of your training around rehab for a while? Take a month or two to just recover (this doesn't mean take a month off). You aren't competing and aren't relying on your training for an income, so get your head out of your ass and actually take care of yourself. You aren't a kid anymore, and you sure as shit won't heal like one, so stop behaving like one.

 

[Tug]

i take ibuprofen if i am hungover or have a particular ailment but still feel good enough to train otherwise. painkillers should not be a regular thing unless prescribed by a doctor.

to help i would recommend stretching morning and evening outside of training, and experiment with tiger balm and other liniments on sore areas

 

[scottm]

I avoid otc anti inflammatory as studies have shown they inhibit training adaptions (i.e. prevent the gainz).
Ditto on Seriously Deads sentiment. More time with flexibility. mobility, foam rolling etc.

 

[Codger]

You don't wanna be taking a drug every day if you can avoid it, which you can.

If you think you're aching now, wait for another 15-20 years mate. Believe me, I bet I feel more beat up than you after hard training. What are you going to take then?

Leave the drugs for when you actually have an injury and manage yourself better for normal sporting aches.

 

[Pathogenic]

Maybe you should, oh I don't know, focus at least some of your training around rehab for a while? Take a month or two to just recover (this doesn't mean take a month off). You aren't competing and aren't relying on your training for an income, so get your head out of your ass and actually take care of yourself. You aren't a kid anymore, and you sure as shit won't heal like one, so stop behaving like one.

Dat tough love tho.

Seriously, TS? You're not 18 anymore, and you certainly aren't old enough to be taking NSAIDs every day. You technically haven't even entered your prime yet. It's great to want to train all the time, and I do respect that, but you have to be smart about your recovery.

Alternatively, you may be forced to find a friendly doctor who is fast and loose with hormone prescriptions...

 

[apizur**]

I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm also 27 and when I bumped up to 6 days a week I have so little energy I hardly even think about sex anymore. I just don't have the energy (Give me two days off thou, and watch out)... but I know my formula for managing this much output. I NEED 9 hours of sleep a night or I suffer. I NEED to stay on top of my diet or my productivity and recovery suffers. If I can do this right (which I'm hardly perfect with), I can train at a semi-professional level like this, and work both jobs, and have a g/f, and live a life... and when I finally climb on top of this (no pun intended) workload, I'm gonna add some more.

tl;dr? I've found that sleep and diet can never be perfect enough, and there's always more you can get with those two in your pocket.

 

[gspieler]

I'm with those advocating not turning to chronic use of NSAID's as an integral part of your recovery plan. You're in your 20's now, meaning you're going to have to increase your use as your capacity to recover declines. And with the negative health effects known to be associated with NSAID's, seems unwise to embrace it unless out of neccesity.

As far as things that may help in your recovery problem, I'd adivse reconsidering your workout programming, e.g. perhaps more low-intensity days, reducing overall workload, or trying some sort of periodized approach that would allow for periods of recovery while still enabling you to acheive your training objectives.

In terms of treating symptoms, e.g. excessive soreness and chronic fatigue, the best things I've found are(no surprise here) sleep and plenty of calories, particularly from nutrient-dense sources. I've also had some degree of symptom alleivement from a good stretching routine and foam rolling. Another thing you might look into supplement-wise is turmeric. It's an anti-inflammatory, that has actually been shown to have similar anti-inlfammatory effects as Ibuprofen, but is also non-toxic, and provides a slew of other helath benefits. Hope any of this helps.

 

[ebe9]

Thanks for the replies. A lot of great advice on both my attitude and outlook on recovery and some practical tips from gspieler.

You guys are right about not making it a regular part of supplementation. That's mainly why I thought I would ask. Upon reading your comments I'm very much reflecting now on my training goals including more attention than ever before on my recovery. Maybe I was hopeful that of be able to use ibuprofen regularly since the recovery aspect often times tends to take a backseat with me. Not smart at all, I know this.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

I used to take a pretty heavy ibuprofen dosage during swim training trips and double days to get over soreness. I think it adversely affected my ability to recover. Killing the inflammation response shuts down the bodies natural pathways to recover.

This. NSAID's affect recovery negatively

 

[rocketskates]

I've noticed as I am pushing 30 as well that things take longer to heal.
I usually just put a little tiger balm on it and take a hot bath. Seems to help a lot, but I'm more of a homeopathic type healer myself.

 

[kpoz12]

You aren't competing and aren't relying on your training for an income, so get your head out of your ass and actually take care of yourself. You aren't a kid anymore, and you sure as shit won't heal like one, so stop behaving like one.

#JoeRoganTalkWithShaubITT

 

[IrishFighterLA]

Well all you ibuprofen junkies will be glad to know a recent study suggests that ibuprofen may add 12 years to your life...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/19/ibuprofen-longer-life_n_6354856.html

 

[ebe9]

^Sweet

 

[Oblivian]

I feel pretty much the opposite of most in here. First off, I don't think taking 200 mg around 3-5 times a week is a big deal. Second, if training is something you really enjoy and the Advil makes your life full of soreness manageable, why not? Soreness is just a sacrifice you are going to deal with to get better at what you enjoy doing. The fact that you are sore does not mean you are injured or doing great harm to your body. I can't get behind the people that think soreness, aches, pains, etc. are a reason to stop doing something. Blue collar workers deal with this on a daily basis and push through. Anyone who puts in a lot of years to an athletic task and improving to a high level will deal with it. I think a shitload of people hold themselves back at improving at something with the justification of "well I don't want to push it too hard because I want to remain healthy" when they are really just not wanting to put in the work and sacrifice.

 

[gspieler]

I feel pretty much the opposite of most in here. First off, I don't think taking 200 mg around 3-5 times a week is a big deal. Second, if training is something you really enjoy and the Advil makes your life full of soreness manageable, why not? Soreness is just a sacrifice you are going to deal with to get better at what you enjoy doing. The fact that you are sore does not mean you are injured or doing great harm to your body. I can't get behind the people that think soreness, aches, pains, etc. are a reason to stop doing something. Blue collar workers deal with this on a daily basis and push through. Anyone who puts in a lot of years to an athletic task and improving to a high level will deal with it. I think a shitload of people hold themselves back at improving at something with the justification of "well I don't want to push it too hard because I want to remain healthy" when they are really just not wanting to put in the work and sacrifice.

I see your point, but I disagree for a several reasons:

1. If' he's already resorting to supplemental NSAID's for recovery in his 20's, he will most def have to increase his dosage in his 30's/40's as his capacity to recover decreases continually.
2. NSAID's, as others have mentioned, disrupt the natural phyiological mechanisms that facilitate recovery. As such, if(when) he ever comes off them as a supplement, he may have an even reduced capacity to recover from chronic use of them(similar to lower T production in former-juicers).
3. NSAID's are widely known to be associated with several negative health outcomes, e.g. ulcers, kidney failure, etc. No need to risk that for an extra high-intensity day each week.
4. Most of his recovery could likely be solved by slight alterations in his programming, i.e. mainulating intensity and workload to allow for adequate recovery.
5. There are less-toxic, supplemental alternative he could try, eg.g turmeric, fish oil, etc.

Having said all that, I don't believe NSAID use is inherently bad; just that it should used judiciously, and when a neccessity. I am, however, curious about that study that linked Ibuprofen use with longevtiy. Will have to look into.

 

[Oblivian]

I see your point, but I disagree for a several reasons:

1. If' he's already resorting to supplemental NSAID's for recovery in his 20's, he will most def have to increase his dosage in his 30's/40's as his capacity to recover decreases continually.
2. NSAID's, as others have mentioned, disrupt the natural phyiological mechanisms that facilitate recovery. As such, if(when) he ever comes off them as a supplement, he may have an even reduced capacity to recover from chronic use of them(similar to lower T production in former-juicers).
3. NSAID's are widely known to be associated with several negative health outcomes, e.g. ulcers, kidney failure, etc. No need to risk that for an extra high-intensity day each week.
4. Most of his recovery could likely be solved by slight alterations in his programming, i.e. mainulating intensity and workload to allow for adequate recovery.
5. There are less-toxic, supplemental alternative he could try, eg.g turmeric, fish oil, etc.

Having said all that, I don't believe NSAID use is inherently bad; just that it should used judiciously, and when a neccessity. I am, however, curious about that study that linked Ibuprofen use with longevtiy. Will have to look into.

Sorry, but I'm not seeing a major risk with 3+ days of 200 mg of Ibuprofen use. Athletes such as marathon runners would lol at these "you better watch out" comments. Sure, he can alter intensity to prevent this, or he can also push through it and build up a work capacity. People always pussyfoot around training by saying they are "overtrained" and programming in "deload weeks". They don't want to "fry their CNS" and they want to "remain healthy" etc. Most of these people make shit for gains and think they are being "healthy", but really they just aren't pushing themselves enough to achieve adaptations leading to gains.

Sorry to go on a rant, but I think people worrying about 200 mg use of Ibuprofen a couple times a week for a guy who is going to be sparring with younger guys can't see the forest through the trees.

 

[gspieler]

Sorry, but I'm not seeing a major risk with 3+ days of 200 mg of Ibuprofen use. Athletes such as marathon runners would lol at these "you better watch out" comments. Sure, he can alter intensity to prevent this, or he can also push through it and build up a work capacity. People always pussyfoot around training by saying they are "overtrained" and programming in "deload weeks". They don't want to "fry their CNS" and they want to "remain healthy" etc. Most of these people make shit for gains and think they are being "healthy", but really they just aren't pushing themselves enough to achieve adaptations leading to gains.

Sorry to go on a rant, but I think people worrying about 200 mg use of Ibuprofen a couple times a week for a guy who is going to be sparring with younger guys can't see the forest through the trees.

A rant, indeed. And as I mentioned, using NSAID's isn't inherently bad, but would not make it an integral part of my supplementation unless is was actually neccessary. But to each his own.