NSAIDs Interfere with Proper Training

Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs - Motrin, Advil, Alleve and so forth), taken before or after exercise, interfere with the benefits of training for fitness and athletic competition because they delay healing of damaged muscles (British Journal of Sports Medicine, August 2009). You train for sports by taking a hard workout that damages muscles and makes them feel sore. You then take easy, less intense workouts for as long as it takes for the soreness to go away. Only then should you take intense workouts again. Swimmers take hard and easy workouts every day, but athletes in virtually all other sports allow at least 48 hours between intense workouts.

Biopsies done the day after a hard workout show bleeding into the muscle fibers and disruption of the Z-bands that hold muscle fibers together. Injured muscles release healing prostaglandins that cause collagen to be laid down in muscle fibers to make them larger and stronger. They also cause pain. NSAIDs block the training effect by blocking healing prostaglandins, thus delaying recovery and collagen production. They prevent bones, muscles, tendon and ligaments from thickening and becoming stronger.

Athletes taking NSAIDs during competition are at increased risk for bleeding into their kidneys, and for intestinal bacteria to enter their bloodstreams (Brain, Behavior and Immunity, November 2006). An estimated 60 percent of athletes competing in triathlons and other endurance events take NSAIDs because they think that it will block the pain of competition. NSAIDs have not been shown to block the pain and fatigue of competing in athletic events that require endurance.

Ordinary aspirin delays muscle healing by blocking many of the same healing prostaglandins that are blocked by NSAIDs. Aspirin also increases risk for
bleeding if you should have an accident.