Oxidative stress isn't something your average person thinks about on a day to day basis. Eating a relatively balanced diet, moving regularly, and proper management of medical conditions keeps oxidative stress in balance and you would never give it a second thought (or even know what it was in the first place).

But for endurance athletes, oxidative stress should be front of mind. If not managed, it can cause some serious damage to your performance and long-term health.

But what even is oxidative stress? What are the causes? How is it harmful and how can it be managed?

That is what we will address in this article with a focus on endurance athletes.

What is Oxidative Stress

Understanding oxidative stress starts with understanding the balance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body.

Free radicals

Free radicals are atoms and molecules within the body that are unstable due to the number of electrons in their outer shell. Its unstable nature causes it to steal electrons from other molecules where possible, and that can cause real damage which we will talk about later.

You can think of free radicals as a nasty kid on the playground who will steal other kids' toys with every chance they get.

Harvard Health Publishing says:

"While free radicals are damaging by their very nature, they are an inescapable part of life. The body generates free radicals in response to environmental insults, such as tobacco smoke, ultraviolet rays, and air pollution, but they are also a natural byproduct of normal processes in cells."

The last part is most important endurance athletes. Free radicals are a natural byproduct of processes within cells, and when you need to push your body during training or a race, you will naturally speed up the processes in your cells that then produce more free radicals.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are atoms and molecules that help free radicals become stable. Antioxidants are able to give up electrons and make free radicals satisfied without becoming unstable themselves. That way, free radicals are no longer able to do harm.

Antioxidants are the nice kid on the playground with plenty of toys to go around.

Antioxidants come in many forms including:

• Vitamin A, C, and E
• Flavonoids
• Polyphenols
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• Manganese, Selenium, and Zinc
• Beta-Carotene
• And more

Here are some foods that contain these antioxidant vitamins, minerals, and other compounds.

Balance between free radicals and antioxidants

Oxidative stress occurs when there is an over abundance of free radicals compared to antioxidants in the body.

This imbalance can either be caused by an over production of free radicals or an under consumption of antioxidants. In the case of endurance athletics, this imbalance is primarily caused by an over production of free radicals.

Though your body has natural defenses to process free radicals, antioxidants are a crucial part of that defensive line. So as antioxidants get used up neutralizing free radicals, there are less resources within the body to prevent the issues that free radicals cause.

But what issues do free radicals and oxidative stress even cause?

Harm Caused by Oxidative Stress

First, it is important to note that oxidative stress isn't universally bad. Mild to moderate oxidative stress brought on by exercise can help fight disease and infection, and it helps train the body to properly deal with free radicals.

However, when in a more severe or chronic form, oxidative stress can do some real harm to your body by damaging proteins, cell walls, and DNA.

This oxidative damage can lead to:

• Diabetes
• Inflammatory diseases
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's)

But of particular relevance to endurance athletes is that the damage caused to cells by oxidative stress can lead to chronically high levels of inflammation.

Chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation poses serious risks to endurance athletes whose performance hinges on muscle recovery, joint health, and overall athletic prowess. This type of inflammation, a persistent and often low-grade immune response, can severely impede an athlete's recovery process.

Unlike acute inflammation, which is a natural and beneficial part of muscle recovery and repair after intense exercise if tightly regulated, chronic inflammation can lead to ongoing muscle soreness and fatigue. This hinders muscle repair and growth, crucial for endurance athletes who rely on muscle efficiency and stamina. Furthermore, chronic inflammation can exacerbate muscle breakdown, reducing an athlete's ability to maintain and build muscular strength and endurance over time.

Moreover, chronic inflammation significantly affects joint health, a key concern for endurance athletes. Persistent inflammation in the joints can lead to stiffness, pain, and reduced mobility, directly impacting an athlete's performance and ability to train effectively. Over time, this can lead to degenerative joint conditions like osteoarthritis, which can be debilitating for athletes.

How Endurance Athletes Can Manage Oxidative Stress

Though there is no way to prevent the production of free radicals, there are ways endurance athletes can lessen the effects of oxidative stress.

Proper diet

Managing oxidative stress always starts with eating a wide range of foods rich in antioxidants.

Eat foods rich in Vitamins A, C, and E, including berries, citrus fruits, nuts, seeds, and leafy greens. Make sure you are getting your Omega-3 fatty acids with fish and walnuts. Additionally, incorporating foods rich in polyphenols like dark chocolate, green tea, and red wine (in moderation) can be beneficial.

Eating these foods consistently, especially before and after exercise, will reduce the oxidative load.

A balanced diet of these foods is the most effective way to get antioxidants. However, if this is too difficult for your situation or you feel you need more, there are supplements available as well. We will talk more about this in a future article.

Avoid training with bad air quality

Poor air quality has a much larger effect on human health than most people realize. Endurance athletes, in particular, need to pay attention to the air quality index and avoid aerobic exercise on yellow and red days.

PM 2.5 and other particulates in the air have been shown to increase the production of free radicals in humans, thus leading to greater inflammation and longer recovery times. There are a whole host of other detrimental effects poor air quality has on workout recovery.

Given the world we live in, poor air is going to be hard to avoid many days. At the very least, be wise and reduce your output when surrounded with low quality air.

You can ask Siri what the air quality index is outside or check on the AirNow website.

Sleep and hydration

Like everything else within the world of health, proper sleep and hydration are crucial to help regulate oxidative stress. Water especially helps flush out toxins and helps your body in its natural processes to get rid of free radicals

Red light therapy

Last but not least, red light therapy can help reduce oxidative stress.

Studies have found that red light therapy right before endurance running increased the time to exhaustion significantly compared to a control group. This may be due in part to red light's ability to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.

Red light is also effective after training. Red light can stimulate the mitochondria in your cells to help with all processes, including muscle recovery, inflammation reduction, and clearing up free radicals.

Read our complete guide to the befits of red light therapy.

Conclusion

Oxidative stress is caused by an over abundance of free radicals compared to antioxidants in the body. This can lead chronic inflammation, amongst other things, that can can be detrimental for endurance athletes.

But there are ways to combat it. Through proper diet, avoiding low quality air, getting adequate sleep and hydration, as well as red light therapy, you can manage the effects and perform at your best.

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