Gelatin and Connective Tissue Repair

A large amount of our training is centred around strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, less time on connective tissue such as ligaments, tendons, bone and cartilage. However, a large number of injuries experienced by endurance athletes are experienced in connective tissue. This blog will focus on tendons.

Tendons are comprised of strong, fibrous collagen tissue (collagen is the main structural protein of connective tissue) and are responsible for attaching muscle to bone. They have a poorer blood supply when compared with muscle fibres. Thus, healing time is frequently longer.

Treatment for damaged tendons will vary depending on your symptoms and individual injury profile. A reactive tendon will react & require a different treatment compared with a degenerative tendon.

A common thread amongst both types of tendon injury is the need to strengthen the tendon via eccentric exercises. This means the tendon & connecting muscle will be stretched through normal range. This causes the muscle to respond by resynthesizing new collagen. This process typically peaks after about 10 minutes.

Research conducted partly in California and Australian Institute of Sport found that supplementing gelatin, alongside with vitamin C amplifies the effects of exercise (read repair & regeneration of tissue) on the targeted tissue.

Collagen and gelatin are very similar products, with the same amino acid profile (building blocks of protein) but different chemical structure.

It is important to note, “just eating gelatin, without doing exercises to help new collagen fibers grow in the right orientation, probably won’t help” Keith Barr

The study’s suggestion is to take 15 grams of prepared food-grade gelatin with roughly 200 milligrams of vitamin C between 30 and 60 minutes before each workout. The workouts should not exceed ten minutes, and should be at least six hours before or after other exercise. For injury prevention, aim for two to three sessions per week. For rehab after an acute injury, start as soon as possible (with a reduced load if necessary) and do up to three mini workouts per day, separated by six hours”.

GPC Squad are proudly supported by Gelatin Australia who have a great product on the market – Peptipro Collagen Hydrolysate Beef Gelatin.