Sports performance supplements -
For years, I was a huge fan of BCAAs as an alternative to sports drinks and thought they had a benefit for central fatigue, but the reality was that early research on most supplements is promising and makes it easy for coaches and athletes to want them to work. Nearly jaded, it is very hard for me to support most supplements as they never seem to hold up to the hype that comes with them.
Now for the list. I mostly include nutrients that are possible to get from eating well, but not in realistic amounts. For example, you would have to eat pounds of mushrooms to get the large dose of vitamin D you need, and eating enough fish or another food source high in omega-3s is just not something most athletes can stick to.
Some products provide shots or liquid options, like oils and probiotics, so do what you can to minimize the pills. My most-loved supplement is vitamin D, as I have seen it literally save athletes in the NFL who constantly struggled with muscle pulls and similar.
While any training program can protect against injuries to hamstrings and ACLs, not taking vitamin D is like skipping leg day. The research on contact and non-contact injuries and vitamin D is too strong to ignore, and major studies done by the Giants, Steelers, and NFL Combine are enough for anyone in sport to say vitamin D is a game changer.
I prefer to think about vitamin D as a muscle hormone instead of a bone support supplement. While coaches in most collision sports like rugby and football are worried about fractures, for some reason muscle performance excites athletes far more than bone health.
Athletes with darker pigment levels need to take more vitamin D on average, especially if they live in northern climates and spend most of their time indoors.
Trying to get enough sun as an athlete is futile, since the world is now an indoor world and modern competition schedules force athletes to become athletic vampires. Sleeping during the day because of night games and travel robs the modern professional athlete of leisure time in the sun, and taking a vitamin D supplement is now mandatory for anyone I work with.
Fish oils and other sources of omega-3s seemed to have lost momentum 10 years ago, then the company Brain Armor and the research on concussions really revitalized interest.
Omega-3s were something I felt were important, but the research was very light on evidence. Use of the Omega Index, a blood test to evaluate consumption or compliance of omega-3s, is also growing with nutritionists wanting to ensure athletes are, in fact, taking their supplement.
There are other emerging benefits with omega-3 research, like reaction time and vision, and down the road we will see how much impact there is in sport.
The biggest mystery to me in sport is why caffeine seems to be forgotten all the time. Also, caffeine is not just a great stimulant—like creatine below, it should be considered a brain nutrient. Coffee also creates a dilemma for those wanting a boost when stacking supplements, as the use of a beetroot product is negated when consumed with caffeine.
Therefore, those using beetroot products with caffeine are wasting their money. I prefer vasodilators for relaxation benefits after heavy training as they match parasympathetic activities rather than acting as boosting agents.
While most athletes can get enough protein from whole food sources, powders are convenient. Additionally, a good protein powder, even a pricey option, is still inexpensive compared to fresh meat sources.
The portability of protein powders also makes them indispensable for athletes with rough schedules or recreational athletes who are pressed for time. The only reason I own blenders is to mix proteins, as powder extracts are great for those who need more calories from trying to grow in size and practice long hours.
A modern football player in college may train twice a day, and fueling those workouts can be a challenge. Other protein powders exist, but if you have a shake two to three times a week during peak periods, that should not create food allergies as reported in the early s.
In the late s, creatine was all the rage, and then over time, like most tried-and-true supplements, it was replaced—in this case, by newer options such as tart cherry juice. Creatine is safe, effective, and very inexpensive, on average. Some speed and power athletes feel that water weight is an issue, and I agree.
We use creatine during early training periods and get off it during the late spring and early summer. We have never had a cramping issue with creatine and, in fact, the research is supportive that it may actually reduce cramps.
While HOTSHOT may be a better supplement for cramping it still needs research , I find that fatigue is more of a variable than nutrition with cramping. It will never be a maximal strength product, but it adds a few extra gallons to the gas tank.
Still, doing more work and a higher quality of work will add up at the end of a season, so creatine is one of these staples that any speed and power athletes should consider, especially if they want to add muscle mass.
A mucosal test for magnesium exists, but the burden of testing that, as well as the research on magnesium being part of so many functions of the body, means supplementing makes the most sense.
Most athletes think zinc is more important, but to me, magnesium seems to be more important due to the influence it has on hormones and muscle performance. Some forms of magnesium may create a little problem with loose stools, so taking it twice a day in smaller doses is a good step.
Most athletes will see ZMA available and simply take that instead of a pure magnesium option, and if that is more accessible because of NSF accreditation, that is fine. Every female endurance athlete should take an iron supplement at least as an insurance policy, and even if you supplement, variables like gut health and inflammation may be a wild card.
Iron supplements are not exciting, but if you are low on iron, your ability to transport oxygen is impaired. One suggestion I have is to take iron with a banana and vitamin-C-rich drink. I tend to have athletes drink watermelon juice with their iron pills because one serving is enough to help with absorption, and refreshing enough that they want to drink it.
One of the most fascinating lessons I learned using probiotics with athletes is that they are catalysts for other supplements like iron.
Many athletes have poor gut health , and when absorption is impaired, it compromises the entire system. One athlete of mine struggled for years to get enough iron in his body, but only after probiotic supplementation did he restore his ferritin.
Athletes who travel should consider a probiotic as the first line of defense—more than vitamin C. The amount of vitamin C you get from a really fresh diet is enough to be healthy, as we now know the body naturally creates antioxidants internally to manage stress, and eating a really well-rounded diet and drinking the right fruit beverages will fill in the gaps.
The only herb on the list is an ancient remedy, called an adaptogen due to its ability to help users cope with stress. I am not a big fan of herbs, since they can get athletes off of a food mindset and into the world of potions and magic elixirs.
Ashwagandha is one of the supplements I caved on because I had a few athletes in pro sport that finished a season strong statistically, but needed a break mentally and physically.
We supplemented with a sport product that had small amounts of ashwagandha and literally had to triple the dose to match what the scientific literature used. The result was that a few weeks later they all were all notably fresher, happier, and sleeping like teenagers.
A few months afterwards, every one of them hit records in their offseason training, even though some of their ages were approaching the other side of In the next few years, I expect an NSF adaptogen product that is affordable and has an efficacy supported by research.
Last, but not least, is the most talked-about supplement in the last year, for good reason. Gelatin has promise with joint repair, and most of the sports medicine and sports performance market is rushing to it as a savior for tendon injuries.
Keith Barr, an expert on molecular science, has been promoting gelatin recently and some skepticism exists as to how much it can really do for athletes. I am a little cautious, as tendons are more about total nutrients than gelatin and vitamin C.
What is great about gelatin is that you can add juices to it and, while most of the nutrients are lost in the mix, some athletes have found that tart cherry and other health juices make great-tasting desserts.
Again, the supplement is a little early in my opinion, and we need more studies to be really sure it does the trick. This list will likely be the same for next year unless something shows up on one or two of the supplements above that proves that they are not worth including.
Anything you suggest your athletes take, or if you are an athlete and take supplements, make sure they are certified safe. The problem is not that bad with this supplement list, as they are mostly nutrients, and the likelihood that there will be a banned substance found in vitamin D or magnesium is super low.
Most of the issues we see with contamination are athletes not knowing what is on a label, rather than what is not listed on the label causing a problem.
The supplement industry is improving, but it still has a long way to go. In the meantime, several companies are committed to helping athletes and have been doing a great job with their products for years. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes.
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Carl Valle has coached for twenty years and has expertise in the speed and power events, along with experience in endurance monitoring. He is a freelance consultant for human performance companies interested in innovation and design. In addition to sport, he is a supporter of environmental protection as well as the arts.
I enjoyed reading this excellent and informative article. might I add that in addition to the benefits of omega 3 is that of being anti inflammatory and really soothes those aching muscles. I really enjoyed reading this article, as I was sitting in Vons Suplement department looking for something to give me strength, special in the morning.
I am so tired all the time like a lazy person. I do have diabetes,and faty liver problem Is there anything out there that you recommend for me. Trust us, you don't want to fall short on energy when you're jumping over fire pits or climbing up foot walls!
Even if mud runs aren't your thing, creatine has been shown to improve performance on the playing field, as well. Research has demonstrated improvements in power output, muscular endurance, and sprint performance in sports like soccer, hockey, rugby, and football.
Looking to shave seconds off your 5K time or improve the accuracy of your passes on the soccer field? Yes, caffeine has been suggested to help you do those things! Caffeine is a well-documented ergogenic aid in performance research, and its use in sports dates all the way back to the s.
Most of us consume caffeine because of its ability to increase alertness how else are we going to make it through a work day? Whether you like to spend your weekends on the rugby field or trying to set PRs in the gym, current research supports the benefits of caffeine in sports and high-intensity intermittent exercise.
Because many fitness activities are played outdoors in the heat and humidity or in poorly ventilated gyms, maintaining proper hydration status is critical for optimal performance. If you're limited to water breaks, make sure to consume ounces of fluid hours prior to your activity, and another 8 ounces right before you start play.
After competition, begin rehydrating immediately, aiming to get in another ounces of fluids for every pound of bodyweight you lost via sweat. It's mile five of the Tough Mudder and you still have ditches to hurdle, ladders to climb, and walls to scale.
When pride and bragging rights between you and your buddies are at stake, you need all the help you can get! Enter beta-alanine. During high-intensity activity, your body accumulates hydrogen ions, causing a drop in your pH level, ultimately resulting in fatigue. Beta-alanine supplementation has been shown to increase intramuscular carnosine content, thereby increasing the body's ability to buffer hydrogen ions and delay fatigue.
Beta-alanine supplementation can help improve your exercise performance and training volume, which will ultimately help solidify your right to gloat for another year.
Physical activity puts stress on your body, and that stress increases the longer, harder, or more frequently you engage in fitness. Recovery, then, becomes more critical as your training increases, and protein is essential for recovery. Keep in mind that protein is rarely used as an energy substrate i.
However it's still essential for the repair, construction, and maintenance of muscle mass. Consuming protein after a tough workout will not only increase protein synthesis rates, but will help you recover faster so that you're ready to dominate your next event! Fish oil is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are key players in the recovery process.
EPA and DHA—two essential fatty acids found in fish oils—may support a healthy inflammation response after exercise.
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