If you are a bodybuilder, you most likely know that this combination of zinc, magnesium and a small dose of vitamin B6, known as ZMA, builds muscle strength.
Yet, there are more reasons to rejoice over the benefits of ZMA.
But before we begin our discussion on the ZMA supplement benefits, it is important to know the flip side of not taking the ZMA dose, especially when you are spending time in the gym to get the cut abs or improve muscle mass.
You don’t want to get any inch closer to decrease performance, right? Read on, as we try and find answers for you, on why and consequentially how, ZMA benefits us during the gruelling workouts.
So, Why is ZMA important for us?
Individuals with a deficiency of zinc and magnesium, which is a result of excessive sweating during strenuous workouts, run the risk of low immunity or lowering performance.
Magnesium is a part of 300 metabolic reactions, which makes it important for strong immunity, muscle contractions and a strong nervous system. Vitamin B6 converts protein into energy.
Since we already know how all these three minerals deliver high powered performance, it is interesting to note, what they can do when packaged together, isn’t it.
Benefits of ZMA Supplement
1) ZMA benefits include improved immunity system
This ZMA benefit is directly linked to the Zinc merit of reducing oxidative stress and inflammation of the body.
ZMA supplement benefit for men should include 30 mg of zinc and for women, it should be 20 mg of zinc. Around 500 mg of magnesium and 10 mg of B6 for men and 6 mg of B6 for women should make-up for a good ZMA supplement.
If you wish to avoid illness, reduce muscle wasting and suppression of immunity, you need benefits of ZMA in your gym diet.
2) ZMA improves anabolic hormone levels
The Z.M.A combination is now a scientifically proven technique to improve your sleep quality and therefore, improve post workout recovery.
By enabling you to rest better, ZMA improves the anabolic hormone levels and muscles strengths for gym-goers who regularly do strength training. Anabolic hormones are build-up hormones which increase protein synthesis, increase muscle size and growth.
Other than steroids, there are some natural ways to increase anabolic hormones. This includes an average sleep of 7-9 hours, indulging in stress-reduction therapies and doing regular exercising.
Thus, this benefit of ZMA attached to increase in anabolic levels is based on the single fact that if you sleep better, you improve your endurance level and workout performance consequently.
3) ZMA benefit includes recovery of Zinc losses
During heavy workouts, a considerable loss of zinc occurs due to heavy sweating. There is no other way of replacing this mineral loss other than taking a high portion of zinc.
Unlike iron or other minerals, the human body has no reserved storage for zinc and since our body needs zinc for creating new cells, processing carbs, fats and protein after a hard workout, it is essential to replenish it on priority.
ZMA has a good ratio of zinc content in it and therefore, it aids your zinc recovery after the loss.
4) ZMA increases concentration of thyroid hormones
The thyroid is important for improving metabolic rate, which in turn, is important for regulating your muscle growth, helping it grow faster. Besides stimulating the metabolism, thyroid hormone also oversees energy production in each cell of the body. Maintaining a good thyroid amount means improved endurance to exercise.
ZMA benefits, through increased Zinc and Magnesium concentration, ensure that your thyroid hormones are in good action, thus helping you build muscle mass and burning body fat faster because of improved metabolic rate.
5) ZMA improves testosterone levels
Testosterone is a part of hormone group called androgens. From a fitness perspective, it is important as it encourages the growth of lean muscle mass in male adults. It does so by stimulating protein synthesis in the body.
During resistance workouts, testosterone plays a key role in reducing muscle trauma and stimulating protein synthesis. It binds itself to the muscle cells receptors and pushes the bio chemical signal into more action, resulting in an increase in protein production.
Testosterone is also linked to the growth hormone which is released during workouts. It too results in an increase in protein production. All this action during exercising means improved muscular strength and size and better recovery post rigorous workouts.
Conclusion
After reading through the ZMA benefits, it is likely you may ask, why not take zinc or magnesium dose separate, or why do I need the ZMA supplement benefits? It is an obvious question which sprung into my mind too.
We all know that these three minerals can be sourced from a variety of food. Having said that, supplements are always meant for people, who train regularly and rigorously. During the gym hours, we lose a lot of vitamins and minerals, through sweating and muscle contractions. It naturally affects our regular body mechanisms and this is the time, we need supplements to bring our body back into a normal course of action.
To answer the first part of the question, regarding the ZMA supplement benefits, this natural mineral supplement is powerhouse performance delivered. Zinc is for boosting immunity and muscles; magnesium is good for metabolism, muscles and inducing sound sleep; and B6 is to boost energy.
So, rather than prioritising your supplement schedule one-by-one, why not optimise your health by reaping the ZMA benefits?
