The practice of body building and aesthetic culture - even more generically referred to fitness and al wellness - is sometimes closely related to the use / abuse of food supplements; a bit as if, by taking more products, you can gain a few more chances to reach your goals. For further information: Hard Gainer
However, this is not the essential function of food supplements. Rather, they should be designed to fill any nutritional deficiencies, due to malabsorption problems, metabolic pathologies, excessive losses or a fundamentally incorrect lifestyle / diet.
The fact remains that lovers of aesthetic culture are a very broad target, willing to invest (or rather to "spend") even more than necessary. Where there is demand, obviously, an offer is created; that's why the food supplement industries have created real lines dedicated to improving physical fitness.
Rationally, it can be deduced that "stuffing yourself" with products has no meaning if, upstream, they are not structured: an effective training protocol and a diet suitable for the specific metabolic structure / specific objectives; on the contrary, sometimes the assumption of certain products does not seem to be justified in any way.
Now let's see how to approach the world of supplements in the context of the weight room, to avoid making the most common mistakes.
and minerals.For further information: Multivitamins For further information: Vitamin Supplements For further information: Magnesium and Potassium
Virtually anyone who has taken, is taking or will be taking a vitamin or mineral supplement. However, assuming you need it is a double mistake. First of all because it is incorrect to take nutrients in quantities greater than necessary; secondly because, regardless of the poisonous potential of these nutrients - very low or almost non-existent - this is a totally wrong approach.
It is therefore not recommended, especially for those starting a training program from scratch, to take any type of supplement. On the contrary, it would be appropriate to understand "why", "when" and "to what extent" the body may really need to reintegrate. A good dietary supplement can in fact have very positive effects, if there is a real need.
It is the "specific need" that must stimulate the search for a "solution", therefore the "hypothesis of a" possible deficiency and the means to compensate for it. Be careful though, the reader does not misunderstand; wanting to grow muscles, increase strength or reach better levels of definition, are not real needs, but goals. The strategies to achieve them are to be found in training and diet, not in supplements. If, in practice, there is a real need to integrate, the choice of a specific product is welcome. Later on we will give some examples.
causes a loss of minerals, especially sodium and potassium, but also magnesium, it is logical to deduce that as this phenomenon increases, it is essential to increase the nutritional intake as well - in general, it is not necessary to increase the sodium intake. provide potassium and magnesium are basically vegetables, fruits, seeds and sprouts; unfortunately, when the losses reach important levels (complicating the water balance up to - 2 or 3 liters / day) in order to avoid consuming more than 1 kg of vegetables per day - which, as we know, also contain carbohydrates and fibers - it becomes particularly convenient to take isotonic liquid formulas in a delayed manner but above all in the vicinity of training sessions.muscular. Since muscle is largely made up of protein, it is commonly believed that these nutrients need to be increased in the diet. However, first of all the body must receive the right anabolic stimulus by means of training; if the training is wrong, there is no diet that fits. In this regard, the energy substrates should not be underestimated: carbohydrates, creatine phosphate and branched amino acids (BCAA).
The carbohydrates used during training consist of glucose from muscle glycogen, branched amino acids from contractile tissue proteins and phosphates are stored inside the cells themselves. Proceeding in order:
- It is necessary to take into consideration the fact that proteins are fundamental, but to the point of filling the body's demand. Athletes engaged in grueling daily workouts can reach a double requirement of proteins compared to a sedentary, so first of all it is good to clarify: " How much protein do I need? ". Having understood this, it will be necessary to count how many proteins we are able to take with the diet and, making the difference, evaluate if and how much protein supplement to take daily.
- The fullness of glycogen stores depends on the quantity of carbohydrates taken in with the diet and consumed with exercise. If the "workout lasts over 45-60" it may be necessary, also to support brain activities, to support the effort by introducing other carbohydrates; ergo, eating fast-absorbing carbohydrate foods or using a maltodextrin dietary supplement
- creatine phosphate is limited in the muscles, but very useful, both for strength performance and for recovery between sets, and for giving greater hypertrophy to the same. The stocks inside the fiber cells increase with specific motor exercise but can benefit from nutritional creatine. It is mainly contained in the flesh. Obviously it is not possible to eat free-wheeling meat, which is why one might think of supplementing creatine with specific products
- The branched-chain amino acids, which we would not like to be affected because they are part of the muscle mass, are recruited especially in case of lack of the other substrates. After having ensured the carbohydrate component, to minimize the catabolism of BCAAs, it is therefore possible to carry out an integration of the same before, during and after the sessions.
It is therefore useless to take carnitine and various thermogenics to lose weight, if a negative energy balance is not established first - or, even better, if you have not previously carried out a period of metabolic reset (cit.).
