Supplements and Workouts

John Schneider

Looking for da haus guidance.

For those of you who do take pre exercise supplements - Hammer Race Caps Supreme, Optygen, etc.  How often do you take them during a typical Outseason Training Week.  For instance which days/practices in the outseason week 7 would you take them?

Do you always take them on the required days ! practices but not during the L practices, always on the ! and M days?

Thanks in advance, John S

John Withrow

FWIW, I do all of my workouts very early in the morning. Against official EN guidance, I do almost all of my fall/winter/spring workouts completely fasted with only water regardless of workout duration. I generally have a recovery shake and/or large breakfast shortly after my workouts. I take 4 Optygen HP every morning during this "after workout" nutrition. On my rest days, I take them with breakfast. I also take Omega 3, Magnesium, and Vitamin D3, and Votamin C at this same time as the Optygen in the mornings. Every several months, I go a couple of weeks without taking the Optygen. I have no idea if it works or if I'm doing it right, but it seems to work for me.

I take a whole slew of other supplements/vitamins at lunchtime and in the evenings but am currently experimenting with the timing of the non-morning stuff that I take.

Ralph Moore

I found this recent article on VItamins C and E supplements interesting because the results are counter intuitive and directly contradict what the purveyors of these supplements say.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/272023.php

I think it is important when discussing this topic to make the distinction between nutritional caloric replacement and "supplements" that are marketed to improve athletic performance.

There is a pretty significant body of research that suggests that the majority of nutritional and vitamin supplements have limited or no proven benefits. Since the placebo response in humans is so significant, it is really difficult to establish the numbers to demonstrate performance improvement for any particular brand or specific type in most cases. Since supplement makers are not regulated by the FDA there is no oversight into what is actually in them or whether they have any clinically proven benefits. Mostly what you have to go on are the claims of the various manufacturers. In many cases people have actually been harmed by unregulated supplements. http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm153239.htm

That being said, I think that using gels and nutritional aids for race practice and endurance events as suggested by the coaches and in the wiki is more a matter of finding and honing a nutritional plan that will work for the individual on race day. Using this nutritional plan during training is useful to make sure it will work for the individual. I would carefully consider whether the extra money that one spends for other dietary supplements and performance enhancing agents is money well spent in the absence of test data to prove the efficacy of such substances. Concentrating on a well balanced nutritious diet and timing your caloric intake around your workouts should provide more than adequate nutritional support for training in the average person. Chocolate milk has been shown to be comparable in nutritional value to most of the commercially available recovery drinks and is lots cheaper.

On a medical note, if you are an age group male who had demonstrated low testosterone (by testing) then testosterone replacement back to normal levels is a well-proven performance enhancing strategy. If you are not low, don't take it because you don't need it.

I think that was WAY more than you asked, I apologize in advance for the soapbox and going off-topic. I just have this conversation with patients almost every day and I am amazed by how well advertisers can convince folks of the "benefits" of their (usually expensive) products with minimal or no evidence to back up those claims. You might save the money and get a power meter