How many supplements are on the market? What are their characteristics and the differences in use? Our analysis will help you understand a little better
The ISTAT data confirm that fitness, understood as physical activity characterized by attending a gym where you train with isotonic and / or cardio fitness equipment, rather than participation in aerobics courses, is the most practiced discipline ever. from the Italian population. Statistical institute aside, the figure of visitors, provided by studies of independent marketing companies, seems to be around 10% of the population, corresponding to about 6,000,000 Italians who attend one of the 8,500 fitness clubs in the area .
Since the 90s the gym has undergone radical transformations: larger surfaces, ultra specialization of disciplines, the implementation of electronics in cardio-fitness machines and isotonic equipment, rather than the spread of personal trainers, with a consequent general improvement. of the service offered to the end user. Anyone who knows the sector knows that in Italy, as in southern Europe, we receive (late ...) the trends and news of the sector that come from the U.S.A. The offer of supplements produced by companies in the sector and proposed to fitness and body building practitioners has greatly expanded and adapted to the times. found in Italy a diffusion among the majority of fitness practitioners.
Type of single-dose supplements
The most popular products are certainly sports bars, mineral drinks, energy gels and protein drinks, followed by a whole series of specialized supplements in vial format containing amino acids, thermogenic, mineral salts and vitamins.
Sport Bar
That of sports bars (bars) is the largest and most diversified category, starting from the weight (25g, 35g, 50g, 80g and 100g) and the distribution of macronutrients (zone formulation, hyper protein, low carb). however forget to carefully analyze the quality of the ingredients; Unfortunately for those who do not know, there are many products on the market containing hydrolyzed gelatin, hydrogenated fatty acids, margarine and artificial sweeteners, ingredients that have nothing to do with a healthy lifestyle. The common sense of the gym manager should lead to a rational evaluation of the supplements he offers to his customers, as well as the considerations made for the purchase of the equipment in reference to the quality, reliability and added value they can have for the gym. user.
In any case, the bar taken before training is useful, as it avoids carrying out physical activity on an empty stomach, while if taken during the day as a snack, it can help those who try to follow a particular diet (zone diet or hyper protein The energy bars proposed by the mass media with names stolen from our discipline have nothing to do with fitness, that is, on the shelves of the super market there are "bars" that compared to the specialized products that are sold in the gym and in the shops of supplements have in common only the form, while the ingredients are very poor (sugars, fats and carbohydrates).
Mineral Drink
As far as mineral drinks are concerned, a very clear distinction must be made in reference to concentration and osmolarity. They differ in hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic products. The latter are generally the most widespread, as they are distributed by large multinational companies in the beverage sector but they have the big limit of being highly high-calorie (even 45 g of sugars per 500 ml of product) and therefore are not recommended for those who follow a diet or for those who want to better control the insulin response. Once ingested, they slow down gastric emptying and reduce the absorption of water by the plasma, resulting in less muscle hydration. Unfortunately these are the most popular products as they are very cheap and good in taste (with 45 g of sugars ...). Fortunately, specialized companies are able to formulate efficient mineral drinks from the point of view of hydration (ratio of mineral salts / sugars / water) which provide few calories (from 0 to 20 g of sugars per 500 ml of product) and which improve the " muscle hydration thanks to the hypo / isotonic solution. Also in this case, the technical manager of the room must be able to influence the choices of the manager of the fitness center, as the reason leads us to understand that hypertonic saline supplements taken regularly during training in the gym can cancel all results in terms of weight loss. and improvement of the fitness conditions of the subject and therefore it undermines the work of the room instructor, who is in contact with 50% of users who train in the gym to lose weight.
Second part "
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