Do you sometimes feel your intensity and/or energy levels are going down? Your diet is good, you drink enough water, all other things seams to be perfect but for some reason you lack energy you had just recently. Symptoms of weakness and tiredness are very disturbing but worse of all, very much destructive for all building muscle mass attempts we may have. Good news here! Vitamin C is the answer. Muscle weakness is a common symptom of vitamin C deficiency.

Research showed valuable data. Functions of ascorbic acid indicate that any strength athlete needs to be consuming more than the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) because it has several functions that are important for building strength and muscle mass. Vitamin C is needed for maintaining the strength of tendons and ligaments but also it is essential for the adrenaline synthesis (the hormone crucial for intense training).

Physical training increases oxidative damage to cells in muscle tissue in our body. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that reduces the amount of oxidative damage caused by exercise. Proper amount of vitamin C ensures a lower release of cortisol. Why this cortisol thing is important? Being a catabolic hormone it does serve in other ways but its presence in the muscles promote excessive breakdown of muscle tissue. Therefore, lower secretion of this hormone should provide faster recovery and better performance. But here is a problem: vitamin C is not of the stable structure and it can not be stored it in our bodies. Therefore we need sufficient amounts of vitamin C everyday. You may know that RDA for vitamin C is 60mg/day. However, recent studies in people that are not athletes suggest that a good intake is more likely to be around 200mg/day. And if you saw ours (or any other good) nutrition calculator you already know it is not too difficult to arrange. 8-ounce glass of orange juice will provide you with around 100mgs of vitamin C.

But it is very difficult to know the right amount your body will need. I must say it wouldn't hurt to supplement with an additional 250-500mgs a couple of times a day particularly if you are already feeling the "down phase" symptoms. I always take an extra 500mg dose with breakfast and before I train just to be sure. To conclude, vitamin C isn't advertised and glorified as so many "big" supplement labels. Smart and complete exercise - diet program contains perfect balance of all important elements for muscular development like Vitamin C. Fresh sources of the vitamin C like orange juice or lemonade are best in the sense. Adding extra vitamin C by supplementing your diet for most of us is necessary but not so effective without complete approach.