|
Supplementation
provides a means of adding essential ingredients, available in ordinary
foods, to your diet at the right point in the day to maximise the success
of your training program. Furthermore, supplementation also enables you to
take ingredients that may have beneficial effects taken in large enough
quantities that would not be possible to achieve in your solid food diet.
Listed below
are the areas that supplementation may help you with, along with a link to
available products that provide these benefits:
|
| 1. |
Macro
Nutrients |
|
Your
body requires protein to build and repair the body, carbohydrates for
energy and essential fats as a building material. What's more, these need
to be taken in 6 or more meals per day and in specific ratio's after a
workout.
|
|
Protein
can be found in: |
 |
1.
Pure protein powders, containing very little fats or carbohydrates,
enabling you to supplement your diet with protein, whilst keeping calories
very low, often desirable during dieting. |
|
2.
Meal replacement products, containing about the same amounts of
carbohydrates and protein, used by many as a way of increasing protein
intake with a moderate calorie level. Used by many as one of the days
meals as a convenience meal. |
 |
3.
Weight gaining products can be used as high calorie meal replacements, or
as additional meals. They can be used by people looking to gain weight or
by people who struggle to eat their 6 meals a day.
|
|
Carbohydrates
can be found in: |
|
1.
Weight gain products can be used as high calorie meal replacements, or as
additional meals. They can be used by people looking to gain weight or by
people who struggle to eat their 6 meals a day. |
|
2.
Pure carbohydrate powders, either as simple glucose polymer drinks, or as
more complex carbohydrates. These are used for energy, or to keep calorie
levels high in those who struggle to maintain or gain weight. They are
also often used as a recovery drink or a pre workout drink.
|
|
Fats
can be found in: |
|
1.
Essential fatty acid tablets or liquids can help provide building
material. EFA's are hard to obtain through modern diets and are
responsible for many areas of health as well as being critical in the
building and repair of muscles.
|
| 2. |
Micro
Nutrients |
|
Your
body requires vitamins and minerals for every chemical action in your
body. They are essential for energy production, building and repair. As an
athlete your needs are significantly higher than an inactive person, and
most studies show that nearly all athletes are deficient in one or more
essential vitamins or minerals, and are thus making less progress than
they should.
|
|
1.
Vitamins are found in the foods we eat, but are easily destroyed by modern
processing processes.
|
|
2.
Similarly, minerals are found in very small quantities in the foods we
eat, but are also removed by modern food processing processes.
|
| 3. |
Recovery
Agents |
|
After
training, the body is heavily in a catabolic state, meaning muscle is
being lost. This process can most rapidly be turned around by consuming
simple carbohydrates or a combination of carbohydrate and protein mixes.
These fall into the following categories:
|
|
1.
Carbohydrate powders that are based around glucose or glucose polymers
should be taken within a few minutes after completing training. These are
the usual choice of endurance athletes, or people who need to restore
energy levels quickly.
|
|
2.
Specialist recovery drinks will usually contain simple carbohydrates and
some rapidly absorbed choice of protein. They may also contain some
electrolyte minerals and vitamins helpful for better utilisation of the
product.
|
|
3.
High calorie meal replacements, or weight gains, are ideal for people who
want to get adequate levels of protein, but also want the high level of
carbohydrates that can speed recovery.
|
|
4.
Those trying to keep protein levels high, whilst keeping carbohydrates
low, such as those dieting, may prefer to select a meal replacement. This
may take a little longer to support recovery.
|
| 4. |
Energy
Supplements |
|
The
main source of energy for both endurance and strength sports is
carbohydrates. These are found in grain, cereal, pulses, beans, fruits and
vegetables. However, for most weight trainers and other athletes, it is
unlikely that you will eat the right foods before training and especially
during training. Liquid carbohydrates provide an ideal solution.
|
|
1.
For energy loading substantially prior to training, it is generally better
to aim for complex carbohydrates, whilst for energy immediately before and
during exercise it is better to aim for simple carbohydrates. If you are
training for 90 minutes or over, taking a carb drink during training has
been shown to increase performance.
|
|
2.
Creatine has been shown to be a significant aid in short term performance,
ie where bursts of effort of 30 seconds or so are important. eg weight
training, sprinting, football, rugby, boxing, martial arts etc.
|
| 5. |
Hormonal
Boosters |
|
Hormones
are messenger chemicals in the body that tell cells to perform certain
actions. Whilst there are many hormones, there are some associated with
muscle tissue breakdown, and others linked to building muscle tissue.
There are others that act on fat storage.
|
|
1.
Testosterone is a 'male' hormone which acts on muscle cells and instructs
them to take in protein to build more muscle tissue. Testosterone booster
supplements come in two main types, herbal products that act on the body's
own glands to elevate testosterone, and hormone metabolites, which the
body converts to a hormone directly.
|
|
2.
Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is a compound that supports the action of insulin,
a powerful hormone that is responsible for storage of carbohydrates,
protein and even fats. ALA can be a helpful ingredient when following a
high calorie diet.
|
| 6. |
Fat
Loss Supplements |
|
The
two areas to focus on when dieting. First is to look at products that
encourage you to burn more calories. Secondly are products that support
muscle growth whilst reducing the total number of calories being eaten.
|
|
1.
Thermogenic agents increase the rate at which your body burns calories.
These products often contain herbs that stimulate cyclic AMP.
|
|
2.
There are a range of amino acids that, with other ingredients, may help
you burn more calories during exercise.
|
|
3.
Protein powders provide a method of obtaining protein with virtually no
fats or carbohydrates. This can support very low carb diets, such as the
Aitkins diet.
|
|
4.
Meal Replacement Powders (MRP's) provide high levels of protein in a low
carbohydrate and very low fat meal. Protein has been shown to provide a
feeling of being full, which results in people choosing to eat fewer
calories, without feeling that they are starving themselves.
|
| 7. |
Health
and Immune System Supplements |
|
A
study of athletes found that one of the biggest barriers to progress was
injury and illness, obviously if your ill, you can't train with sufficient
intensity, and if you don't do that you may as well stay at home.
Supplements can help in a variety of ways from possibly reducing the
chance of illness to possibly even reverse damage done by some ailments.
|
|
1.
Vitamins and minerals are depleted by exercise, and modern diets don't
always fulfill optimum levels.
|
|
2. Glucosomine, Chondritin and MSM have all been shown to possibly have
beneficial effects on joint and tendon injuries as well as being helpful
in joint damage prevention.
|
|
3.
Glutamine is an amino acid that has been shown to support the immune
system.
|
| 8. |
Muscle
and Cell Volumisation |
|
Certain
ingredients have been shown to enhance muscle storage of either water,
carbohydrate or both. By increasing the amount's held in the muscle cell,
the cell will perform optimally, thus being able to repair and build
faster. Also, increased volume provides a mechanical leverage advantage
allowing the muscle to exert a greater force.
|
|
1.
Creatine is the first choice for cell volumisation. It acts primarily by
drawing water into the muscle cell which will improve contractile
strength. Also creatine is essential in the regeneration of ATP, the
muscles energy source, allowing for the muscle to exert maximum force for
a longer period of time.
|
|
2.
Glutamine is an amino acid that is stripped from muscle tissue during
training to provide the formation of BCAA (branched-chain amino acids).
Supplemental glutamine can reverse this process and is known to be a key
aspect in recovery. It also plays a key role in supporting the immune
system. |
