4 Reasons for Understanding Your MuscleHealth in Preparation for the Draft

It’s that time of year when college football and the NFL collide. As we get ready for the 2017 NFL Draft, athletes are putting their bodies through a rigorous regimen to shave even a tenth of a second off of their 40-yard dash time. Muscle optimization and health are most critical during these times of intense training.

Denver-based MuscleSound, a performance and health technology company that has been collecting data on athletes and patients, understands first-hand the importance of MuscleHealth®, an inside look at the health of your muscles. The company's VP of Sales in Performance & Fitness Mike Valentino says measuring muscle health lets you take action on the areas that require the most attention.

Below are his four reasons why understanding your MuscleHealth is crucial for both professional and recreational athletes:

• Know Your Muscle Fuel (pre- and post-workout). Muscle fuel is primarily made of glycogen, which we get by ingesting carbohydrates. Knowing your muscle fuel can gauge your readiness for exercise, track your recovery, and answer the proverbial athlete’s question of “How much fuel is in my tank?” This is especially important for Pro Day with players doing multiple performance-based drills in a single day.

• Optimize Your Performance. Obviously, nutrition plays a major role in performance. Proper fueling should provide the body with the right mix of macro and micro nutrients, while supporting body mass goals. In addition, timing is everything. What should you be putting into your body pre-workout? What about immediately afterwards? Understanding your MuscleHealth will help you design a nutrition plan that will fuel your muscles for optimal performance.

• Muscle Readiness. Just as Pro Days have become an annual event, so has someone coming up short on their 40 with a pulled hamstring. This could be avoided by knowing how to optimize your muscles at the right time before an explosive exercise—with cutting-edge technologies such as MuscleSound—that help ensure that muscles are fully fueled, balanced, and well rated.

• Speed of Recovery. First up is the three-cone drill. Then the bench at 225 pounds. Then the broad jump, followed by position-specific drills. Scouts and general managers are looking for well-rounded athletes who might be able to contribute at multiple positions. It’s not just about speed. The drills will simultaneously test multiple muscle groups. Being able to quickly recover from one drill and jump into the next is critical. Seconds are precious to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Similarly, properly recovering from injury is essential. Fueling, rest, and timing matter when recovering from strenuous activity, injuries, and medical procedures and measuring your muscle health will let you track how well your muscles are recovering, so you can safely return to play and feel more confident about your recovery.

NFL athletes are bigger and faster than ever thanks to revolutionary gains in training, technology and nutrition. And, with MuscleSound’s ultrasound technology, athletes can now look into the fabric of their muscle, and know based on clear cut data, if their body is ready to perform at its optimal potential, or if they have more work to do.