Almost every week, I’ll get at least 10 messages from kids asking me to give my opinion on a supplement they’re taking, or thinking about taking. My response is almost always the same “You probably don’t need that man”. The hard truth is that the majority of the supplements you find at your local GNC or health food store are probably not going to do anything more than turn your piss yellow. However, when chosen wisely and used in conjunction with a healthy diet, the right combination of supplements can dramatically improve your performance and recovery capacity
Here at Fowler Fitness, all of our training and nutrition protocols are based off a holistic model. That means that we recognize that the health of our athletes is directly related to their performance on the court, track or field–it’s all connected. Therefore, when choosing the correct supplements, it’s vital to address exactly that…HEALTH first.
The first order of business when it comes to nutrition and supplementation for athletes (in regards to optimal health) is replacing what they lose . This is the idea behind popular sports drinks like Gatorade and Poweraid. You play a hard game and sweat profusely, you excrete nutrients, get dehydrated, and performance drops. Simple. Pretty much everyone intuitively knows this, yet most fail to address it. Ultimately, this can lead to some pretty nasty nutrient deficiencies that will wreck havoc on your health, kill you performance, and make it nearly impossible to optimally recover from intense training and competition. Before considering any other supplement, you’ll want to make sure you have optimal levels of these commonly deficient nutrients listed bellow.
Magnesium
Eighty-five percent of Americans are severely deficient in magnesium, a vital nutrient that is key in over 300 different biochemical reactions in the body. Stop for a moment and now consider that most athletes eat a typical American diet that is almost completely void of micronutrients such as magnesium. Now combine that with the fact that athletes are constantly excreting what little of these nutrients they do get from their diet (simply walking on a treadmill for 30min can deplete magnesium stores up to 20%), and you should be able to see what a recipe for disaster this is. Low testosterone, poor sleep quality, muscle cramps, lingering soreness, low energy levels, down-regulated protein synthesis…these are just a few of the side effects of low magnesium that can directly impact performance and recovery. Maybe you think you’re immune to this problem because you eat relatively healthy and take your gummy multivitamins each morning. Not so fast. Unless you’re downing 4 tubs of spinach everyday, you’re probably deficient, buddy.
What to do: Supplement with magnesium. The RDA for is 400 mg/day for men, and 300 for women. Athletes should double this , split into two separate dosages, one in the morning and one in the evening. Ideally these should be taken with food to avoid stomach discomfort. Some studies have shown that magnesium levels tend to naturally drop off mid-day, so taking them in this way is ideal to keep you levels chugging along. In addition, you’ll also want to keep lots of foods in your diet that are rich in magnesium such as avacodo, pumpkin seeds, broccoli, spinach and well…pretty much anything green. Since magnesium is a water soluble nutrient, it needs to be replaced DAILY. When choosing a magnesium supplement, you’ll want to avoid cheap, low absorption magnesium oxide (be sure to check the label) and opt for one of the options bellow based on your specific needs:
- magnesium threonate–this is the best option (also the most expensive) for restoring serum magnesium levels as it has been shown to penetrate the cell membrane
- Magnesium Taurate–a good option before bed, as it has a calming effect
- Magnesium Citrate–Laxative effect. Best to build up gradually
- Magnesium Glycinate and magnesium aspartate–High bioavailability and absorption. Another great option for restoring serum magnesium levels.
- Magnesium Malate– Good for treating chornic fatigue and low energy levels.
B-vitamins
Just like magnesium, B vitamins are a class of water soluble micronutrient that are vital in numerous different biochemical reactions in the body, most notably cell/energy metabolism…and guess what? You’re probably deficient in them as well. Symptons of vitamin B deficiency include fatigue, muscle weakness, depression, irregular heart beat, and an inability to focus or concentrate. You know, pretty much everything that your doctor wants to shove a pill down your throat for. Prolonged deficiencies can also lead to the development of many neurodegenerative/nervous system diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimers, Dementia, and ALS.
What to do: Supplement with B-complex vitamins. Since B-vitamins are also a water soluble nutrient, athletes should probably double up on their dosage, split into two separate doses, one in the morning and one mid-day taken with food. since they can give you energy, it’s best to avoid taking them later in the day. When choosing a B-vitamin supplement, it’s important to pick one that is sourced from whole foods. Most B-vitamin supplements you’ll find at the store use synthetic vitamins, which cause more harm than good. Studies have shown that close to 50% of the population lives with the MTHFR defect gene, which prevents these individuals from receiving any of the benefit of these synthetic vitamins in the first place since. For these individuals, taking a B vitamin supplement that is both whole food sourced and CoEnzymated for optimal absorbtion produces best results. Most grocery stores will carry whole food based B-vitamin supplement, while whole food CoEnzynated supplements can be bought online or found at specialty stores like Whole Foods. The following brands are the best and provide clinical dosages:
- Emerald B-Healthy–Sourced from whole fooods and CoEnzymated. This is personally the brand that I use.
- Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw B complex– Whole food sourced.
- Mykind Organic B complex–Whole food sourced.
Omega-3 fatty acids
The typical American diet is almost completely void of inflammation decreasing omega-3’s, and full of inflammation promoting omega-6’s. You also might know that inflammation has been shown to be the root cause of almost very disease known to man including cancer, heart disease, and stroke…you name it. Go on PubMed and simply type in “omega-3’s” followed by the name of any disease, and you’re likely to find a list of studies showing how these amazing fatty acids can benefit it.
For athletes, inflammation can be a real problem. If you want to recover faster and make better progress in the gym, you had better be doing everything you can to reduce it. You know, unless walking around aching in pain and making zero progress is something you enjoy. Put simply, omega-3’s are pretty damn important and you’re probably super deficient in them.
What to do: Supplement with fish oil. Just like the supplements mentioned above, athletes should consider doubling up on their dosage. Generally, 2-3 G of fish oil per day is ideal to keep inflammation at bay and reap all of the health benefits. The human genome evolved on a diet rich in omega-3’s, so a high dose is crucial. In addition, you’ll want to limit the amount of times you eat out per week, limit your consumption of processed foods (probably everything in your pantry right now) and replace all inflammation promoting vegetable oils ( like cottonseed, peanut, canola, corn, sunflower, safflower, Crisco, Pam ect as these will cancel out the benefits of fish oil) with unprocessed oils like olive, coconut and butter (yes butter is actually healthy, get up to date with the research man)
Just like any other supplement, you’ll want to make sure that you’re choosing a brand that is high quality, and free of anything that might do more harm than good. With fish oil, this is even more important, as most brands are either severely under dosed or poorly sourced. Not all fish oil is created the same. Here are the two brands that I’ve found that provide clinical dosages (you’ll still need to probably double or triple the dose to attain the 2-3G a day recommendation) and some of the highest purity around:
1) Carlsons fish OR cod liver oil
2) Biotest flameout
3) Nordic Naturals Liquid fish oil