Got a limitless budget to blow on supplements? Yeah, neither do we. That’s why it’s important to identify which supplements are absolute necessities for your specific training goals. You can’t just take what everyone else is taking and expect to see Olympia-worthy results. Looking to get lean? A bottle of xyz fat burners from the pharmacy ain’t gonna cut it. Is strength your focus? Then why, in the name of Arnold, aren’t you taking creatine? Are you training at high intensities day in and day out? Have you checked out beta alanine? Consider what you are training for before you consider what you’re training with.Not all supps are created equal. When you know what your goals are and what certain supplements do, you can then identify the proper pairing(s). Some supplements have broad applications, sure, but most have very specific benefits.Get an up close look at four of the most widely used supplements on the market to start producing better results in the gym and in the mirror.
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Creatine
What It Is: Creatine is naturally produced by the body in small amounts and is an essential compound in the body’s phosphagen system — the energy system that the body uses to fuel high-intensity exercise and explosive movements. Creatine is the gold standard of sports supplements – it builds muscle, increases strength and exercise capacity, and it is safe. Who Should Use It: Anyone wanting to improve high intensity exercise performance (such as sprinting), muscular power, muscular strength, and lean body mass. Simply stated, this is the best supplement for building muscle and strength. Also, creatine is very effective for delaying fatigue during intense exercise. Creatine is would not be beneficial for those individuals whose main exercise program involves running, cycling, or other aerobic type activities. Dosing: For most individuals, a typical creatine supplementation regimen involves a loading dose of 20-25 grams per day for 5 days, followed by a maintenance dose of 2 grams per day. This type of dosing strategy saturates the skeletal muscles with creatine and ensures that intramuscular creatine levels stay elevated over time. Shop for creatine at the M&F store
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Caffeine
What It Is: A central nervous system stimulant with effects that are similar to (yet weaker than) those associated with amphetamines. It is one of the few supplements that may have performance benefits for both anaerobic and aerobic athletes. In addition, caffeine is a reliable metabolic rate booster. Who Should Use It: Caffeine is a great supplement for lowering the perception of effort during exercise bouts. What this means is that it makes hard, grueling exercise seem easier. Caffeine improves endurance performance as well, so those individuals that like to go for long runs or cycling rides would benefit from caffeine intake. The scientific data on the effects of caffeine for improving sprint or power performance are less clear, with some studies showing benefits and others not reporting any. Caffeine is beneficial for high-intensity exercise of prolonged duration (including team sports such as soccer, field hockey, rowing, etc.) but the enhancement in performance is specific to conditioned athletes. Lastly, anyone wishing to spike their metabolic rate during a fat loss cycle would benefit from caffeine intake. Dosing: For performance enhancement, 200-400 mg is the most common dose, depending on tolerance. In terms of timing, ingesting caffeine about 30-60 minutes prior to exercise is ideal. Shop for caffeine at the M&F store.
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Beta-alanine
What It Is: Beta-alanine combines with histidine (another amino acid) to form carnosine in the body. By itself, beta-alanine has limited capability to improve performance. However, because muscle carnosine levels are limited by beta-alanine concentrations, beta-alanine is essential for the performance enhancing qualities of carnosine. Who Should Use It: Individuals engaging in very high intensity exercise. Those whose workouts require all-out effort for 60 seconds to 4 minutes would likely see benefit from beta-alanine supplementation. Individuals whose intense exercise bouts last less than 60 seconds or those looking to improve maximal strength or lean body mass are likely not to benefit from beta-alanine supplementation.Dosing: 6.4 grams per day, divided into four, 1.6 grams per dose, is the most common dosing strategy. Shop for beta-alanine at the M&F store
5 of 5
Fish Oil
What It Is: Fish oil contains two essential fatty acids – eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Essential fatty acids are fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be supplemented in the diet. EPA and DHA are referred to as omega-3 fatty acids and are what supplies the true benefits of fish oil supplementation.Who Should Use It: Based on the early research, it does not appear that fish oil improves exercise performance. However, there are several reports that essential fatty acid supplementation (those fatty acids found in fish oil) improve body composition and protein synthesis. Also, fish oil seems promising in reducing risk for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, those whose goals are to increase lean body mass or improve overall general health may benefit from fish oil supplementation. Dosing: 1-4 grams of fish oil per day, making sure to consume 500 milligrams per day of a combination of EPA and DHA. Looking to augment your supplement supply with these four super supps? What are you waiting for? Click here to get shopping:Beta-AlanineCreatineFish OilCaffeineBill Campbell, PhD is an Associate Professor of Exercise Science at the University of South Florida. He has published over 100 scientific papers and abstracts and is the author/editor of three sports nutrition books. He is also the Director of the Exercise and Performance Nutrition Laboratory
Got a limitless budget to blow on supplements? Yeah, neither do we. That’s why it’s important to identify which supplements are absolute necessities for your specific training goals. You can’t just take what everyone else is taking and expect to see Olympia-worthy results. Looking to get lean? A bottle of xyz fat burners from the pharmacy ain’t gonna cut it. Is strength your focus? Then why, in the name of Arnold, aren’t you taking creatine? Are you training at high intensities day in and day out? Have you checked out beta alanine? Consider what you are training for before you consider what you’re training with.
Not all supps are created equal. When you know what your goals are and what certain supplements do, you can then identify the proper pairing(s). Some supplements have broad applications, sure, but most have very specific benefits.
Get an up close look at four of the most widely used supplements on the market to start producing better results in the gym and in the mirror.
Creatine
What It Is: Creatine is naturally produced by the body in small amounts and is an essential compound in the body’s phosphagen system — the energy system that the body uses to fuel high-intensity exercise and explosive movements. Creatine is the gold standard of sports supplements – it builds muscle, increases strength and exercise capacity, and it is safe.
Who Should Use It: Anyone wanting to improve high intensity exercise performance (such as sprinting), muscular power, muscular strength, and lean body mass. Simply stated, this is the best supplement for building muscle and strength. Also, creatine is very effective for delaying fatigue during intense exercise. Creatine is would not be beneficial for those individuals whose main exercise program involves running, cycling, or other aerobic type activities.
Dosing: For most individuals, a typical creatine supplementation regimen involves a loading dose of 20-25 grams per day for 5 days, followed by a maintenance dose of 2 grams per day. This type of dosing strategy saturates the skeletal muscles with creatine and ensures that intramuscular creatine levels stay elevated over time.
What It Is: A central nervous system stimulant with effects that are similar to (yet weaker than) those associated with amphetamines. It is one of the few supplements that may have performance benefits for both anaerobic and aerobic athletes. In addition, caffeine is a reliable metabolic rate booster.
Who Should Use It: Caffeine is a great supplement for lowering the perception of effort during exercise bouts. What this means is that it makes hard, grueling exercise seem easier. Caffeine improves endurance performance as well, so those individuals that like to go for long runs or cycling rides would benefit from caffeine intake. The scientific data on the effects of caffeine for improving sprint or power performance are less clear, with some studies showing benefits and others not reporting any. Caffeine is beneficial for high-intensity exercise of prolonged duration (including team sports such as soccer, field hockey, rowing, etc.) but the enhancement in performance is specific to conditioned athletes. Lastly, anyone wishing to spike their metabolic rate during a fat loss cycle would benefit from caffeine intake.
Dosing: For performance enhancement, 200-400 mg is the most common dose, depending on tolerance. In terms of timing, ingesting caffeine about 30-60 minutes prior to exercise is ideal.
What It Is: Beta-alanine combines with histidine (another amino acid) to form carnosine in the body. By itself, beta-alanine has limited capability to improve performance. However, because muscle carnosine levels are limited by beta-alanine concentrations, beta-alanine is essential for the performance enhancing qualities of carnosine.
Who Should Use It: Individuals engaging in very high intensity exercise. Those whose workouts require all-out effort for 60 seconds to 4 minutes would likely see benefit from beta-alanine supplementation. Individuals whose intense exercise bouts last less than 60 seconds or those looking to improve maximal strength or lean body mass are likely not to benefit from beta-alanine supplementation.
Dosing: 6.4 grams per day, divided into four, 1.6 grams per dose, is the most common dosing strategy.
What It Is: Fish oil contains two essential fatty acids – eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Essential fatty acids are fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be supplemented in the diet. EPA and DHA are referred to as omega-3 fatty acids and are what supplies the true benefits of fish oil supplementation.
Who Should Use It: Based on the early research, it does not appear that fish oil improves exercise performance. However, there are several reports that essential fatty acid supplementation (those fatty acids found in fish oil) improve body composition and protein synthesis. Also, fish oil seems promising in reducing risk for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, those whose goals are to increase lean body mass or improve overall general health may benefit from fish oil supplementation.
Dosing: 1-4 grams of fish oil per day, making sure to consume 500 milligrams per day of a combination of EPA and DHA.
Looking to augment your supplement supply with these four super supps? What are you waiting for? Click here to get shopping:
Bill Campbell, PhD is an Associate Professor of Exercise Science at the University of South Florida. He has published over 100 scientific papers and abstracts and is the author/editor of three sports nutrition books. He is also the Director of the Exercise and Performance Nutrition Laboratory
