If you are considering becoming a personal trainer, congratulations! This rapidly growing industry relies on knowledgeable experts who have the drive to help others find the inner strength needed to make big changes and transform their lifestyles. Gaining your fitness trainer certification is one way to ensure that you have the tools and skills needed to begin helping others change for the better. The Fitness Trainer Academy is proud to be Texas’ go-to source for the best personal trainer certification in the industry, offering a hands-on curriculum that provides all of the necessities for a rewarding career. From property body alignments to sports nutrition courses in Houston, our team offers comprehensive education to help you thrive.
We’re passionate about performance sports nutrition, and we’re here to share our excitement with you over the course of our 10-week personal trainer program. The nutrition that we fuel our bodies with actually plays a major role in physical performance, which is why today’s blog will focus on the importance of a well-known chemical compound called sodium bicarbonate. When done, be sure to reach out to the Fitness Trainer Academy to see how we can help you excel in this fantastic industry!
Avoiding Acidic Buildups
Your exercise routine can play a major role in the pH of your blood. The human body tends to be slightly more alkaline, with a range of different pH levels for different purposes. While your body works hard to retain a pH level around 7.35, activities such as heavy exercise can upset the delicate balance of ions. In the simplest terms, your body’s pH level relies on several factors to keep this balance under control, including:
- Your lungs’ ability to remove carbon dioxide
- The chemical reactions in your blood
- Your kidney’s ability to dispose of ammonia through urine
When the body becomes acidic, medical concerns such as acidosis can occur. It’s important to take the correct actions in order to minimize any long-term dangers. While hazardous, regular interventions are often all that is needed to regain the proper pH level in your body.
What Causes pH Problems?
If you have ever experienced a bout of dizziness and nausea after an intense workout, you were probably dealing with acidic buildups in the body. The acidity of your blood can be to blame, as your body works to balance out the disruption of ions in the body.
To begin, it’s important to know that your body produces hydrogen ions (H+) while breaking down carbohydrates for energy. This process centers around your muscles’ ability to combine pyruvate with the H+ ions to create lactic acid, which preps the ions for transport through the bloodstream. When the lactic acid is transported away, the muscles are then clear to continue working. However, in cases where oxygen is limited, the body will be unable to clear out these acidic buildups, disrupting your ability to utilize carbohydrates for energy. Pushing your body beyond this point will begin to make your body more acidic, creating issues that range from headaches and nausea to muscle pain and failure.
Avoiding Acidic Problems
Our bodies are equipped to handle and remove lactic acid very effectively in small amounts. When overburdened, a range of issues can occur, including damages to red and white blood cells, poor hormone regulation, as well as other issues. A buffer is needed to create a balance for this acidity, and that’s where NaHCO3 comes in. Also known as sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, this structure is present in the body to offset the acidity as a base. Many people are excited to learn that baking soda can help them to achieve a better blood balance while working out, but be careful! As a base product, sodium bicarbonate can make the pH level raise too high in the body, causing issues ranging from diarrhea to painful ulcers.
Baking soda will help to act as a buffer, offsetting the side effects of acidic blood. While it is true that higher levels of sodium bicarbonate in your blood will better assist your body in handling buildups of lactic acid, this process is much more complex than people realize. Proper planning and training are needed in order to minimize the problems during a very intense workout session, and our personal trainer courses are here to help you succeed!
Introducing proper sports nutrition into your diet can play a major role in how you perform as an athlete, an outdoor enthusiast, or as an individual looking to improve their general fitness. Next time, we’ll continue on this topic by discussing a few ways that you can work to create a better defence to acidosis for better long-term results. The Fitness Trainer Academy is proud to offer a wide range of personal training and sports nutrition courses in Houston to supply Texas students with all of the information needed to hit the ground running in this fast-paced industry. Our comprehensive approach to fitness and health gives people the ability to gain hands-on training in a job where you get paid to help people take control of their fitness. Contact us today to learn more!