supplements/nutrition worth the $$?
I'm sure this has been covered a million times, I'm sorry if my searching is not thorough enough, but I tried and I guess my attention span isn't what it used to be! I'm a team Hammer member and am considering giving up the program for a lack of money due to the maybe fact that most stuff is snake oil. I do like their products, but the more I read, the more I learn that most everything can be taken care of with a good diet. What I do like about their supplements is that they are all natural (I guess) and the convenience of them. Instead of planning meals for pre or post workouts, you just add some powder to water and viola, you're done. But do I need to spend $150 every 3 months, and sometimes more because I run out? Should I look more closely to diet, buy some chocolate milk, kool aid packs and keep filtering water, or is there some sense to all of this? It is a very unregulated part of the nutrition industry, so there isn't much evidence backing up any claims, except phd's in the nutrition field saying to take this stuff. Anyone else question this, and what have you done? Thanks!
Dan
Comments
Wow- talk about a can of worms. You are going to get many a varied reply. I guess sooner or later makes no difference as to when I chime in.
Disclaimer- I take no supplements regularly. I can not even remember to take the pre-natal vitamins daily and that is a total duh! I do take Hammer Endurolytes during prolonged training as I tend to get sodium deficient. Recoverite after BRicks or workout longer than 90 minutes, but it is too scoops in a very watered down bottle.
I am a big believer that a healthy and varied diet will get you much of what you need. That said I eat a large salad daily with various lettuces and veggies, nuts and seeds. I go for multi-color. Same with fruit, the more colors, the better. Lean protein. I have basically cut out processed foods and have not eaten fast food in many years. I do not count calories, and fat usually comes from an avocado or olive oil, some dairy.
To get away from cereal I have switched to Iso-pure protein shakes- $$ for sure, but I don't have time to make scrambled eggs and bacon every morning.
So while you are spending $$$ on supplements, raw/ basic food to prep healthy meals is $$$ as well.
Personally I feel quite healthy, happy, and am able to maintain a relatively stable weight.
Well, I'm not exactly as healthy an eater as you are, but I do all the cooking and shopping in the house so I do take care of myself most of the time (sorry, pizza, and BK (only once a month, sorry!!!). I use recoverite after most hard workouts and heed when I'm sick of water. I have perp. but only use it for races or really long rides so it doesn't get used much. I just don't know if recoverite is doing anything or not, but I've used it for some time now and am "afraid" to part with it. I really like EN and it is an extra expense this year, so I'm trying to cut corners other places to justify it! Thanks Michele.
Ah- specificially Recoverite. I am a hard sell on any hype. I do not believe all the stuff Hammer has written, but their drink products taste better than anything else I have found. Except Perp- HATE IT.
My N=1 experience. Having been in EN 2 race and 1 OS (headed in to OS #2). Doing very similar work, water before, maybe dilute HEED during (so it won't taste like water). I have gone with and without Recoverite afterwards. I think I do recover better with less muscle soreness. But in OS, we only BRick 1 or 2 times per week and workouts are max 1:15, so I hardly use Recoverite in OS. In season- more often as workouts are longer in general.
Maybe it is because I hardly had a protein intake until the past 6-8 months, so the Reoverite was a decent protein source for me. Now I have adjusted my diet and have noticed that I don't reach for the Recoverite nearly as often.
I have tried other "recovery" drinks, and it is usually taste that I can't tolerate.
Have you done your own "experiments"? How do you feel with/ without? It's a good time to play around with that stuff. Most folks avoid gels/ bars/blocks/ jellies whatever during OS since we get our fill In Season.
I find it challenging to eat a balanced and varied diet as I am a creature of habit. Chipotle can be good with macronutrients but low on the anti-oxidants, etc.
Therefore, I take a good multi-vit daily. I vary between Douglas Labs Ultra Prevention X (10) and their Elite Athlete Formula which has iron.
There are others I use also and most recently have found great results (seat of the pants) with Base Performance Aminos.
Vince
As a Registered Dietitian, I'm a big fan of getting as much of your nutrition as possible through whole (least processed) foods as possible. However, this is not feasible for many people. That is when I start exploring other options. I am a strong believer in recovery drinks, but also think you need to find what works for you. I'd try a workout without the Recoverite, one with low-fat chocolate milk, etc. and see if you notice a difference in how you feel. I also believe in during workout nutrition but also recommend you find what works for you. I have a friend now experimenting with fruit leather with chia seeds, and gatorade mixed with green tea. Seems to be working for her during her marathon training.
Moral of the story: Don't be afriad to tinker with your nutrition. You should find what does and doesn't work for you.
Hope that helps!
Vince
Thanks Vince. I'll be tweeting more after the new year.
Look forward to it.
Vince
+1 on reading and heading Penny's advice. Also look into nutrition books by Bob Seebohar. He's an endurance athlete and coach, and a dietitian.
Tinkering and playing around with what will work and trying different things, especially now that we're in the OS is a good idea. I've found that for recovery chocolate milk really is good, but I really really love Mix1 (very portable, chock with vitamins and good polyphenols, and a decent supply of protien, and oh so tasty), and a banana for a quick snack to get me to the point when I can eat my post workout meal (a key element in recovery). In the AM that might be oatmeal with various add ins...like frozen berries, flax, etc. or eggs that I'll eat wrapped up all nice and snug in a tortilla.
Also I think an important part in continuing to keep our engines burning and our muscles repairing optimally are the snacks we eat. I still am working on determining the right combination and calories for my snacks to set me up for my best training and recovery, but I do think we can get what we need in that realm from available foods. I do sometimes wish someone could tell me to eat X and that I would be guaranteed that it would work for me....I get overwhelmed sometimes by it all. And the experimentation can be frustrating...especially when I feel like I don't have enough gas to complete my workouts at my best. Mr. Seebohar contracts with my health club for nutritional planning and coaching....maybe I should go make an appt. with him and see what I can get out of him about this....as long as that doesn't cost me $$$ I might have to do that and report back...we'll see. I am really interested in this topic, so it could be worth it.
Vince - Chipotle does have it's place in the diet of the endurance athlete....we actually can use all those carbs!
My idea of a recovery drink in the OS, is 8oz of OJ followed by a smaller glass of skimmed milk.
Antioxidents that's what all the tea that I drink is for.
I do load up on veggies, pasta & fish, as well as trying to eat as much fruit as I can.
last year during IMOO training I made a habit of buying bags of apples, oranges and a bunch on banana's every monday morning enough to last the week at work, having them on your desk in easy reach helps you avoid the crap food.
Olivia is absolutely right - Bob Seebohar has some great books including Nutrient Timing and a new book out on Metabolic Efficiency that talks about training your body to more efficiently use fat rather than carbs as fuel. The jury is still out among sports RDs about his metabolic efficiency ideas. I have a lot of respect for Bob and his work. He also does webinars that may be worth attending.
I'd be really interested in what he says if you go. :-)
One word, ZONE. It has transformed my body comp and performance. When I'm in ZONE with my diet, I see measurable differences in my performance and my health in general. I found ZONE through my use of CrossFit (seriously the best workouts I've ever used for strength and all around athleticism). They have a good run down of the basics here: http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/start-diet.html
I also recommend following the paleo diet philosopy as well. Zone = quantity; paleo = quality.
Olivia,
I love the "c" word in regards to Chipotle. It's one of the few places that a quick meal can be made healthy. Also love Qdoba. Their serving sizes appear more generous than the "C" word's.
Vince
Byron,
I was a CrossFitter in the OS 2 years ago and found that I could Zone easily with the lower durations of workout time but harder for me to do with longer durations.
Vince
Simple. Best. Qualify. I LOVE CHIPOTLE! I seem to live on that stuff during my peak training.
Vince -- I definately eat above my recommended blocks most days and add clean carbs (apples, pears, berries, veggies, and some basmatti rice) and go up to 4x fats (nuts and avocados) to keep the energy levels up on longer days. Although I try to stay close to Zone most of the time, you do have to get the extra cals that endurance athletes burn. I just try to make those extra cals balanced to a degree - in other words I don't think that eating a bunch of carbs without some protien and fats to accompany is a good nutritional plan. It seems to work for me.