Why it's a bad idea to take advil

Any athlete that works out will tell you that they are occasionally sore or have dealt with some kind of injury. Many athletes will in turn look for a quick fix to those ailments. That remedy tends to be ibuprofen, or any other NSAID(Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory-Drug).

I mean, lets be real, who wants to do mobility work every night, use compression methods, take time off, get adequate sleep, take fish oil, get a massage, stretch, eat a low inflammatory diet(Paleo), make sure they are drinking enough water, or take ice baths to heal themselves? Hmmm, sounds like a lot of work compared to popping a pill, and I’ll agree to that. But, taking ibuprofen doesn’t come without a cost.

David Nieman  sought out to research the stress response in runners. He followed their blood work and found that these runners were actually supplying their own stress, in accordance to running. This stress came in the form of ibuprofen. He found that the runners who had taken ibuprofen before and during the race had much higher inflammation and other markers of high immune system response than the non-ibuprofen takers. So, taking the ibuprofen did absolutely nothing for lowering the inflammatory process.

In the group of runners who took the ibuprofen, Nieman also found that they showed mild kidney impairment and low level endotoxemia. What is endotoxemia you may ask? It is a condition in which bacteria leaks from your colon into your own bloodstream. Yikes!

In the same article linked above, other researchers found that NSAIDs(ibuprofen, etc.) actually slowed the healing process of injured tissues. These unhealed body tissues happened to be muscles, tendons, ligaments and even bones. The very building blocks of ones self. After training, your body recognizes these broken down muscles and seeks to repair them. When ibuprofen inhibits this ability to find and heal tissues, you are left with tissues that can’t adapt. Which means weaker tissues overall. It is crucial to let your body recover from training stress, so that you can come back stronger and ready to take on future athletic endeavors.

Take care of yourself, it will allow you to train harder in the gym and put you closer to accomplishing your goals.
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