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Ultimate Guide to Sports Nutrition and Performance Supplements

The foundation of all improved exercise performance is a nutrient-rich diet. Nutrition can enhance your sport performance, helping reduce fatigue and the risk of disease and injury — it is so incredibly important!

Each of us is different though, so sometimes, consuming the right amount of nutrients is difficult. Other times, you might just be looking for something to enhance your performance, which is where sports and fitness supplements come in.

Should you take supplements? This guide aims to educate, inform and the general public, those getting into the gym, fitness enthusiasts and athletes on sports nutrition and supplements. It touches on subjects, including:

• Understanding Sports Nutrition
• Fitness Supplements
• Pre-Workout Nutrition
• During Workout Nutrition
• Post-Workout Recovery
• Factors to Keep in Mind When Creating Your Sports Nutrition Plan

Understanding Sports Nutrition

When trying to hone your body so that it’s at its peak, you need to understand how your body works. This includes your metabolism and energy systems, as well as how your diet impacts both of these.

Our nutritional plans should be tailored to each of us as our specific goals, food preferences and practical challenges differ.

Basics of macronutrients and micronutrients

Active adults who exercise between three to four times a week can usually meet their nutritional needs through a normal, healthy diet. Gym enthusiasts and athletes who have intense training sessions five to six times a week will generally require significantly more nutrients to support their energy demands.

Carbohydrates

These are the body’s preferred fuel sources for energy, but most especially for our red blood cells and our brain. Carbohydrates are the quickest food source to also break down and convert to ATP, which is why they’re preferred.

Carbohydrates are also broken down into sugars, mainly glucose, which is the body’s primary energy source. Glucose can then be converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscles to be used during exercise. These stores can be increased by regularly eating high-carb foods.

Simple carbs include sugars naturally occurring in foods like fruits, vegetables and milk and complex carbs include oats, whole-grain bread and potatoes.

For fitness enthusiasts, when training for endurance, you’re generally doing high-volume and high-intensity workouts, so this is when your body requires higher calories and higher carbohydrates. Between 7 to 13g per kg of carbohydrates per day is often recommended.

When training for strength, while you’re also doing intense exercise, you generally don’t need as high an amount of carbs, so between 5 to 8g per kg per day is often recommended.

Proteins

Protein is essential for muscle growth and recovery, hence why athletes and fitness enthusiasts consume so much of it. While protein doesn’t give you much energy as it’s not the body’s preferred source of energy, see above, it’s still incredibly important for building and repairing our muscle tissues and helping to maintain our immune system.

If we don’t consume enough protein, this can result in a loss of muscle tissue as the body will begin to break down this muscle tissue to meet its energy needs.

Complete proteins include animal sources like meat, fish, poultry and milk.

Endurance athletes generally require about 1.5 to 2g per kg per day, while strength athletes require a bit more, about 1.7 to 2.2. Try to consume protein fairly evenly throughout the day.

Fats

Our bodies need fats to transport vitamins and minerals throughout the body, to fight inflammation and support healthy hormone function. All athletes need about 1.5 to 2g per kg per day.

The preferred fats (unsaturated) should come from olive oils, avocado, nuts and seeds.

Vitamins and minerals

Ensure you’re not deficient in any nutrients to help with your long-term fitness goals.

Iron

Iron is needed for energy metabolism, oxygen transport, cognitive function and immunity, and as our body cannot produce it, it must be absorbed from our diet or supplements. Athletes are more susceptible to iron deficiency due to higher iron demand during exercise, but most especially, female athletes, endurance athletes and vegetarian and vegan athletes.

Calcium

About 1 per cent of calcium in our bodies supports metabolic functions, like muscle contraction, with the other 99 per cent found in our teeth and bones. Calcium also plays an important role in nerve impulse conduction, regulation of blood pressure and maintaining a regular heartbeat, blood clotting, maintaining water balance, secretion of hormones and normal brain function.

Further Reading: Is Calcium AKG good for muscle recovery?

Multivitamins

Athletes and fitness enthusiasts who restrict their total energy intake or lack variety in their diet are at risk of not having enough of certain vitamins and minerals, so taking a multivitamin and help enhance your performance by improving your deficiencies. Make sure to check the composition of the product to make sure it includes what you need.

Probiotics

These are live microbial food supplements that may benefit our gut and microbial balance, impacting our overall health. Benefits can include improved intestinal tract health, enhanced immune system, reduced lactose intolerance, lower prevalence of allergies and better mental health.

In athletes, better gut health improves body composition and lean body mass, reduces stress hormones, helps with age-related declines in testosterone levels and increases neurotransmitters that may benefit our cognition and mood.

Probiotics are found in foods like yoghurt, cultured milk products and fermented drinks like kombucha, but can also be purchased as supplements. Effective dosages are between 109–1010 (1–50 billion bacteria), but studies have shown that most athletes will safely tolerate 35–50 billion, but lower dosages may benefit some individuals more.

Vitamin D

This is a fat-soluble vitamin with two forms: D3, which is the important isomer found in human skin, and D2, which is the plant-derived equivalent, but D3 is preferable. It has an important role in bone health, gene expression and cell growth, as well as for optimal muscle function. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to increased risk of bone injuries, chronic musculoskeletal pain and vital respiratory tract infections.

In athletes, vitamin D supplements with lower vitamin D levels can improve their athletic performance, such as in their strength, power, reaction time and balance. Other than supplements, food sources generally won’t meet vitamin D requirements. The sun is the optimal way to get vitamin D.

Athletes with low exposure to the sun when training, have dark skin pigmentation, live at latitudes more than 35 degrees north or south of the equator, wear clothing that covers most of their body, are missing limbs, or who regularly use sunscreen and avoid the sun, are at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Zinc

Zinc is a trace element that plays a role in carbohydrate and fat metabolism. More than 85 per cent of the zinc in our body is found in our skeletal muscle and bone and it has a major role in our immune system. Our bodies cannot produce zinc, so it must be consumed, primarily through meat, fish, poultry, fortified breakfast cereal and milk.

Zinc supplements may reduce the duration of common cold symptoms by up to 42 per cent. Talk with your medical professional before taking zinc supplements. Side effects can include a bad taste, nausea, constipation and copper deficiency.

Each day, our diet should:

• Give us enough energy and nutrients to meet our training and exercise demands
• Allow our bodies to recover during training sessions
• Include a wide variety of foods
• Allow us to achieve our optimal body weight and body fat levels for performance
• Provide us with enough fluid for hydration
• Promote both our short and long-term health

For athletes, a balanced nutritional diet is vital for sports performance and good nutrition can even enhance our performance. If the amounts above were confusing, just remember, our energy intake should be 45 to 65 per cent carbohydrates, 15 to 25 per cent protein and 20 to 35 per cent fat.

Sometimes, it’s the timing of nutrients that significantly improves athletic performance and helps to recover quickly.

Some examples include:

• 30 to 60 minutes before you exercise, eat at least 30 to 50g carbohydrates and 5 to 10g protein.

• Some suggest a high-carbohydrate meal 3 to 4 hours before exercise with a small snack 1 to 2 hours beforehand. Experiment to see what your body does best with.

• Keep in mind that a meal high in fat, protein or fibre can increase the risk of digestive discomfort when eating close to exercise.

• Examples of meals could be cereal, toast, fruit salad and yoghurt or pasta.

• If working out longer than 60 minutes, consuming carbohydrates during exercise is recommended to top up your blood glucose levels and delay fatigue.

• 30 to 60g is enough, such as through sweets, sports gels, sports drinks, sandwiches with white bread or sports bars. Consume regular amounts throughout the exercise session.

• Post-exercise, take around 1g per kg of carbohydrates and 0.5g per kg of protein within 30 minutes to 2 hours to help maximise your recovery.

• If you will be training again within 8 hours, carbohydrates with a high GI, like white bread, white rice and white potatoes, are best.

Fitness Supplements

Being able to understand which supplements help our bodies and which ones don’t is crucial to ensuring we experience enhanced performance when exercising. This supplements for gym beginners guide should help you with most questions.

Are workout supplements necessary? It really depends on your fitness goals, and while they’re not needed, if you’re going to the gym, you’re generally trying to achieve a desired outcome, so taking a fitness supplement can improve your results faster.

Are sports supplements checked for safety? Sports supplements are unregulated products that are marketed to enhance athletic performance. This means that unless the manufacturer provides otherwise, then no, they are not checked for safety by a governing body like the FDA.

When choosing supplements, ensure each individual ingredient is listed and don’t purchase ones that say, ‘proprietary blend’. The supplement should have certified labels on it, should be third-party tested, plus tested for any banned substances, meet GMP manufacturing standards and the ingredients and doses should be based on scientific research.

Pre-Workout Nutrition

Good nutrition can help your body perform better and recovery faster after each workout and taking certain nutrients before exercise can both maximise your performance and reduce any muscle damage.

Try to eat a meal containing the three nutrients above (carbs, protein and fat), 2–3 hours before you exercise, especially before longer workouts. When you can’t do this, eat a smaller meal 45–60 minutes before your workout, choosing foods that are easier to digest.

There is a range of pre-workout supplements that can be used before working out that may improve performance and strength, increase lean body mass and reduce fatigue. Each supplement mentioned below contains the recommended dosage and optimal timing, so keep those in mind when creating your fitness regime.

Beta-alanine

Taking B-alanine has been found to increase muscle carnosine levels and improve high-intensity endurance performance in both trained and untrained athletes, making it one of the best supplements for endurance athletes. Carnosine is found highly in skeletal muscle and is formed by B-alanine and L-histidine, two amino acids. It’s naturally found in red meat, white meat and fish, but since it’s broken down to the two amino acids when ingested, this means it doesn’t increase muscle carnosine content.

Taking between 3.2 and 6.4g per day of B-alanine for periods between 4 to 24 weeks appears to be safe, so, it’s recommended to take 1600mg with each meal and their largest snack each day. Effects are felt more when taken with a meal compared with in between meals.

Carnosine effects differ between people due to muscle composition, sex, muscle groups, age, diet and athlete type. It’s thought to be an alternative performance supplement to acute sodium bicarbonate, just without the gastrointestinal upset. Don’t take more than 800–1600mg of instant-release B-alanine at a time as it may result in paraesthesia.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a compound that is easily absorbed and moved through body tissue and organs. It’s found naturally in the leaves, beans and fruits of a variety of plants and is often found in coffee, tea, cola drinks, energy drinks, chocolate and sports foods.

About 2–3mg/kg, so about 200mg, have been shown to improve exercise performance by reducing the feeling of fatigue and allowing you to pace yourself for longer periods, regardless of if taken before or during exercise. With benefits experienced at this dose, this means athletes and fitness enthusiasts are less likely to experience side effects in heart rate, anxiety, and changes in their fine motor controls.

Keep in mind that people can have different effects to caffeine, so it may not affect you as it does others. Some people experience benefits taking it before, spread throughout or late in exercise when fatigue begins to occur. Taking caffeine too late in the day can affect sleep.

Creatine

As one of the best legal supplements for athletes, creatine is a nutrient found in animal muscle, like meat and fish and is stored in our skeletal muscle, where it provides energy to support brief, intense exercise. And by short, we mean 8 to 10 seconds of intense exercise. This is why people take creatine monohydrate supplements that can increase skeletal muscle creatine to improve their high-intensity muscle performance. It’s also been found to improve resistance training outcomes, like muscle strength, endurance and muscle hypertrophy, when combined with resistance exercises.

A small amount of creatine is also found in the brain, where it supports energy production, improves cognitive processes and may reduce damage and enhance recovery from mild traumatic brain injuries such as concussions.

Creatine monohydrate comes as a white powder that is often combined with a liquid or food, and should be consumed immediately once mixed as it can quickly degrade to creatinine. Creatine monohydrate absorbs incredibly well into the body compared to other creatine supplements.

It’s also one of the bodybuilding supplements, as muscle creatine can increase when taking 5g of creatine monohydrate 4 times a day, for about 5 days, but the recommended dosage is about 0.3g/kg of body mass for 5 days, typically split with each meal. Then, it’s recommended to take a maintenance dose of 0.03g/kg body mass once a day afterwards. You can also take a smaller dose of 3–5g/day over a period of 4 weeks, rather than take increased doses for the first 5 days.

If you do physical activities, like sprinting, that are limited by creatine availability and metabolism, you may also benefit from taking creatine, and vegetarians have a large potential benefit from taking creatine.

What workout supplements should I take as a woman? Creatine is one of the safest and most-researched supplements out there, so it’s perfect for men and women.

Further Reading: How beneficial is creatine for someone who doesn't work out?

There are no serious side effects when taking creatine monohydrate supplements, although there are some cases where it may cause some rapid weight gain and some mild gastrointestinal discomfort.

Further Reading: Does Creatine Impact Sleep?

Sodium bicarbonate

During long periods of intense exercise, our muscles can produce excess hydrogen ions, which can interfere with our metabolic processes and may contribute to fatigue. Taking bicarbonate can remove these hydrogen ions and allow our body to continue exercising.

It’s recommended to take between 200 and 400mg/kg body mass with a small, carbohydrate-dense meal, about 120 to 150 minutes before exercising. These come in capsules and tablets.

This supplement was even recommended by the 2018 International Olympic Committee Sports Nutrition Consensus Statement as one of the five dietary supplements that can consistently improve elite athlete performance.

Potential side effects of sodium bicarbonate supplements include gastrointestinal problems like nausea, stomach pain, diarrhoea and vomiting. Take with plenty of fluid, although, this runs the risk of weight gain.

Dietary Nitrate

Nitric oxide is needed for a variety of functions in our bodies, but for exercise, it’s needed to regulate blood pressure and blood flow, mitochondrial respiration, immune function and muscle contraction.

Nitrate can be converted into nitrite and then to nitric oxide, with nitrate found in vegetables like leafy greens, some fruits, drinking water and processed meats where it’s added as a preservative. Taking a nitrate supplement may enhance exercise performance in situations where nitric oxide production may be compromised.

It has the potential to enhance muscle power, sprint and high-intensity intermittent exercise performance, making it an option if you’re looking for muscle and fitness supplements.

Drinking beetroot juice as a sports supplement is an option as this is a rich source of dietary nitrate. Drinking both a single dose of beetroot juice (350–500mg of nitrate) 2 to 3 hours before exercise and drinking it for multiple days has found benefits to exercise capacity, sports performance and a reduction in the oxygen cost of exercise. It may cause some mild gastrointestinal discomfort and temporary pink urine and stools.

The average daily intake is about 60 to 120mg/day. Keep in mind that plasma nitrate concentration peaks at about 2.5 hours after taking dietary nitrate. Using antibacterial mouthwash can limit our plasma nitrate levels.

Highly trained endurance athletes may not benefit significantly from nitrate supplementation

Glycerol

This is a sugar alcohol that is stored in most human tissues and released after lipolysis. It’s found in foods like soybeans and tallow and is often added to processed foods and drinks as an emulsifier, preservative, sweetener or thickening agent.

It can help your body retain ingested fluids, which may help athletes and fitness enthusiasts when doing sports where you dehydrate easily. This means it can delay or prevent the deteriorating effects of dehydration during exercise. If you’re preparing for a competition or competing in a sport where it’s hard to keep hydrated, glycerol can be beneficial.

Take 1.2 to 1.4g/kg body mass of glycerol in around 25ml/kg body mass of fluid, about 90 to 180 minutes before exercise. Some side effects may include gastrointestinal discomfort, increased body mass from fluid retention, nausea, headaches and laxative effects.

Curcumin

The most abundant compound found in turmeric, for sports performance, curcumin has been found to reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and soreness, as well as delay muscle soreness. It’s often used to treat pain and inflammation after exercise and is one of the best supplements for muscle recovery. It’s also been suggested to improve skeletal muscle function after strenuous exercise.

Follow the package directions, but evidence has suggested that a 2–5 day supplementation of high doses (2 x 500 to 2500mg per day), or taking a hybrid product giving you around 200 to 1000mg of curcuminoids per dose before exercise is beneficial for those wanting recovery benefits.

Curcumin isn't well absorbed into the body, however, Xandro Lab’s Turmeric Curcumin supplements are a highly bioavailable form of curcumin proven to relieve joint pain, reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and improve digestive health. Try out these benefits here!

Further Reading: What Does a Pre-Workout Do?

During Workout Nutrition

During exercise, especially intense exercise, it’s incredibly important to stay fuelled and hydrated. Below is a list of gym nutrition supplements to take during exercise that may provide some benefit for your goals.

Water

Along with nutrients, our bodies need water. During exercise, we sweat, and losing just 2 per cent of our body weight in fluids can significantly reduce our performance.

If you’re only exercising for an hour or less, water is enough to keep your body hydrated, but once it begins to exceed this or if you exercise in hot and humid environments, electrolytes will be needed to replace the ones lost in our sweat. If you don't,t this can lead to early fatigue and cramping.

Definition: Electrolytes are essential minerals that maintain our fluid balance and are needed for normal muscle contractions, along with other key functions in the body.

Sports Drinks

These are designed to give you a balanced amount of carbohydrates and fluid to help you both rehydrate and refuel during and after exercise.

Taking sports drinks benefits you during exercise both as a fuel source for your muscles, and due to the fact that when the receptors in your mouth or oral cavity are exposed to carbohydrates, this creates a positive response in your brain and central nervous system, which decreased the perception of effort and enhances pacing during exercise. The amount of electrolytes in sports drinks, mainly sodium, also help to preserve our thirst drive.

Cooler drinks are generally easier to consume after high-intensity exercise, and these can also be taken in ‘slushie’ form. Sports drinks generally come in ready-to-drink and powdered forms and come in a range of flavours. These will typically have between 6 to 8 per cent (6–8g/100ml) carbohydrates and around 20 to 40 mmol/L (46–92mg/100ml) of sodium.

A lower sodium concentration increases palatability and usually promotes greater fluid intake, while a high concentration replaces sweat electrolyte loss and helps with fluid retention, helping with exercise recovery after exercise.

Sports drinks can be taken pre-exercise during your meal or taken immediately before exercise, during exercise to help with hydration, fuel and reduced perception of effort during exercise, or after exercise to help you refuel — there are better options to refuel, though.

Keep in mind that sports drinks aren’t needed for every training session. Athletes should consider their physique and nutritional goals to determine if they’re worth it for them to ensure they’re not spending unnecessary money. Like other carbohydrate drinks (like soft drinks and fruit juices), these can help contribute to dental erosion. They can also cause gut discomfort.

Sports Gels

These are high concentrated sources of carbohydrates (65–70 per cent or 65–75g/100ml) in a form, like honey consistency, that’s easily consumed and quickly digested. They’re compact and portable sources of carbs so you can easily consume them before or during exercise.

Taking carbohydrates during exercise can help protect immune function, something that is reduced when our bodies undergo exercise stress. Sports gels can also help our bone health.

A sachet or typical sports gel generally provides about 20–30g carbohydrates and a low sodium content. Some contain caffeine (25–100mg) and menthol. Most should be taken with water or other dilute fluids and these can be taken pre-exercise, during exercise and after exercise.

Sports Confectionary

Also called ‘sports chews’, these are highly concentrated sources of carbohydrates in a chewy jellybean or jube form that is easily consumed and quickly digested.

These typically come in packets that suit situations where you can consume smaller servings of carbohydrates and frequent intervals. This helps act as fuel for your muscles as well as provides a mouth-sensing benefit to your brain and central nervous system.

Typical carbohydrate content ranges from 75–90 per cent by weight, or about 4–6g per piece. They also contain sodium, while some contain caffeine and multiple transportable carbohydrates, which is a blend of carbohydrates like glucose and fructose. Some sports confectionary should be taken with water and can be taken any time during your exercise regime, whether it be before, during or after.

Sports/Energy Bars

These are compact and portable sources of carbohydrates that can be easily taken before or during exercise to help meet your carbohydrate targets.

These are less used as athletes often take liquid forms to also address fluid replacement but are well tolerated and can rapidly provide carbohydrates to your muscles. They’re also more compact and convenient.

You will find bars that look like ‘granola bars,’ which suit lower-intensity exercise, as well as more chewy and low-fibre blends that are more suited for high-intensity endurance workouts where a low-fibre bar can help with gut tolerance. They can be taken whenever during your exercise process.

Electrolyte Supplements

These are powders, tablets or ready-to-drink products made to replace our fluids and electrolytes, like sodium and potassium, that we lose through sweat or other body fluids.

General recommendations for sodium intake during endurance are about 0.5–0.7g per litre of fluid, which helps balance the thirst drive and palatability of fluids.

Be careful with how fast you drink electrolyte supplements, as you can get mild hyponatremia (high blood sodium concentrations) if you drink fluids at a rate that is slightly faster than your sweat losses. Severe hyponatremia, with symptoms of confusion, nausea, headaches and fatal cerebral oedema, is also possible.

These are available in ready-to-drink, tablet, ice block and powdered forms in various flavours and are manufactured according to the World Health Organisation. They typically have between 50–60mmol/L of sodium and a low-moderate carbohydrate content.

These are best taken before exercise, in hot environments and during exercise and sporting activities.

Post-Workout Recovery

Other than the physical activities you do to help with muscle recovery and repair, including getting adequate sleep and rest, there is a range of supplements you can take to help with this.

Isolated Protein Supplements

Protein helps in muscle building and repair, making it highly sought after by athletes and fitness enthusiasts. When you regularly exercise, you need an increased daily intake of protein. For example, athletes in heavy training require about 1.2–1.6g/kg body mass daily, which is up to double what’s recommended for those who barely exercise. It’s best if this is taken in meals throughout the day, rather than just one large meal.

Protein supplements are available as powders, bars and ready-to-drink shakes and sometimes also include carbohydrates, fats, individual amino acids and performance ingredients like creatine.

It’s easy to obtain the required protein requirement from our diets, but some individuals may benefit from a rapidly ingested protein supplement after key workouts or to fortify meals low in protein. Make sure they don’t have any harmful added ingredients or allergens.

Whey protein is one form of isolated protein. It’s naturally present in milk and contains little fat, carbohydrates or lactose, and it’s a naturally complete protein, containing all essential amino acids needed in our diet. They contain BCAAs, the first amino acids used during intense training, and help repair and build lean muscle tissue. It’s also very easy to digest, meaning it absorbs quickly.

Whey protein has been found to perform better than other types of protein, too. As for whey protein serving, 1–2 scoops, or 25–50g per day is often used after workouts. You can even purchase single-serve protein powder packs.

If you’re looking for protein supplements for teenage athletes, make sure they don’t contain caffeine. Many people ask about the best weight gain supplements for skinny guys, and mass gainers are one option that works, as long as they contain enough protein (like whey) with lots of starchy carbs.

BCAA

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are purified amino acids that come as crystalline powders.

There are some suggestions that BCAAs can improve endurance capacity and reduce fatigue, improve muscle recovery and increase muscle mass indirectly. Other than muscle recovery, more research is needed to determine if there’s a direct relationship and strong evidence for these claims. It’s considered an option for one of the best supplements for muscle growth.

When purchasing BCAAs, make sure to find out the sources of the protein from which it's derived.

Mixed Macronutrient Supplement (bar, powder, liquid meal)

These are compact and practical sources of protein, carbohydrates and micronutrients for situations where you can’t eat or access whole foods or when you don’t have an appetite.

They are available as powders, bars/balls and ready-to-drink shakes and they vary in how much of each nutrient they contain. They can be a less filling source of energy and protein between meals but they’re not something that’s always needed when you exercise and can actually impede your results due to weight gain.

Antioxidants

These are compounds that can protect against oxidative damage from free radicals.

Vitamin C, in particular, is a water-soluble antioxidant that plays an important role in many functions of our bodies, such as helping with iron absorption and helping our immune system and, for athletes or those doing intense exercise, can help neutralise some of the damage caused by exercise-induced ROS and RNS, such as possibly impairing our physical performance, recovery and immune function.

It's found naturally in fruits and vegetables like citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes and capsicum. Taking between 500 to 1000mg of vitamin C supplements can potentially help support athletes’ immune health when doing intense exercise.

Collagen

The most abundant protein in the human body, collagen may benefit athletes or fitness enthusiasts post-exercise due to glycine decline. It’s also been suggested that collagen supplementation may help in the prevention and treatment of muscle, cartilage, connective and bone tissue injuries.

In combination with strengthening exercises, collagen supplementation has been shown to reduce joint pain and decrease inflammation and muscle damage after strenuous exercise.

Take between 20 to 25g of collagen daily, 40 to 60 minutes before exercise or immediately after exercise, making sure you’re consuming enough vitamin C as it’s a cofactor in collagen synthesis.

Carnitine

Found in animal products, but also made from the amino acids, lysine and methionine within the body. It’s stored in the heart and skeletal muscles and is needed to transfer fatty acids from the blood into the muscles for fuel during exercise. It may also act as an antioxidant to help in muscle recovery and reduce muscle protein breakdown after intense exercise.

There have been some conflicting studies, but some research has found favourable results on muscles after 3 weeks of L-carnitine supplementation. It’s also believed to help with weight loss due to its proposed role in helping fat oxidation. If you’re asking, ‘What supplements should I take to lose weight,’ while there are better alternatives, if you’re after a specific sports supplement that helps, carnitine is an option.

It’s recommended to take 1.4 to 3g L-carnitine (or 2–4g L-carnitine L-tartrate) twice a day for 12 weeks or longer, taken with a meal containing carbohydrates.

Ketone

These are chemicals produced by the liver during times of low energy or carbohydrate availability, such as during fasting. They’re taken to increase blood concentrations of ketone without the need for energy or carbohydrate restriction to enhance endurance performance, post-exercise recovery or to enhance health training.

Take around 570 to 750mg/kg, although the amount for some sports are unknown and may not be suited for all sports due to their effects on areas of the body, like reducing glycolysis, glycogen use and may increase body acidity.

Fish Oil

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and, in particular, EPA and DHA, are incredibly important for our bodies, helping areas like our skeletal muscle, heart and brain. They also have longevity benefits (read our Longevity post, here).

A combined dose of more than 1000mg of EPA and DHA per day has been linked to reduced exercise-induced inflammation, possible preservation of muscle structure and function, and reduced physiological strain.

Magnesium

Magnesium is needed for hundreds of processes in our bodies, and for athletes, it may have benefits as an anti-inflammatory, a smooth muscle relaxant by reducing blood pressure in the post-exercise state, in neuromuscular strength, mood and bone healing. When we sweat excessively, our magnesium levels may deplete to suboptimal levels. Magnesium is also needed in muscle contraction, so we need to ensure we’re not deficient in the mineral.

While taking magnesium may not directly improve physical performance, it’s recommended to take magnesium supplements if your levels are low, making sure it's in a form that’s highly absorbable. Xandro Lab’s Magnesium Glycinate is one of the most bioavailable forms of magnesium, meaning it can improve deficiencies faster, and it’s also well tolerated in the bowels.

Further Reading: The Benefits of Magnesium Glycinate on Anxiety

Alpha Lipoic Acid

Plays an important role in mitochondrial energy metabolism and has antioxidant benefits by potentially increasing glutathione levels within cells and improving reduced vitamin C and E from their oxidised vitamin forms. It may prevent glycation reactions, help with diabetes control, and provide weight loss benefits by helping decrease food intake and improving energy expenditure.

In sport environments, limited studies have found ALA had some improvements in markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant benefits after muscle-damage exercise, but more human studies are needed.

Phosphate

Sodium phosphate has been suggested to increase aerobic capacity, increase peak power output, increase anaerobic threshold and improve myocardial and cardiovascular responses to exercise. This is due to its effects on oxygen throughout the body, however, studies are currently ambiguous and varied, so more research is needed.

Factors to Keep in Mind When Creating Your Sports Nutrition Plan

Vegetarian athletes may require dietary supplements to avoid deficiencies and to ensure they are getting the proper nutrients needed to support their athletic goals.

For athletes and fitness enthusiasts who live in high altitudes, specialised training and proper nutrition is required. For example, they will need to consume foods high in iron to increase their red blood cell count to carry more oxygen through their bodies. Foods high in antioxidants and protein are also essential to keep the high risk of illness at bay.

If you live in hot environments, you will need to ensure you’re keeping hydrated with fluids and electrolytes. If in cold environments, hydration is also a concern, as well as maintaining your body temperature, with leaner athletes prone to hypothermia. Make sure to modify your calorie and carbohydrate intake.

Athletes often have to restrict calories and certain food groups, which can also lead to deficiencies of essential nutrients. The most common are:

• Iron deficiency, which can impair muscle function and athletic performance.
• Vitamin D deficiency, which can result in decreased bone strength and reduced muscle metabolic function.
• Calcium deficiency, which can prevent the repairing of bone tissue, can decrease the regulation of muscle contraction and inhibit nerve pathways.

Each body is different, so what we each need is also going to vary. It also depends on the goal you’re trying to achieve. For athletes in endurance-based sports, often, a leaner composition is better, while for those in power sports, having a higher body fat and more muscle is advantageous.

Also, make sure you’re familiar with your medical conditions and injuries as these influence the types of supplements you can take.

Sports nutrition is about using the science of food in combination with our body’s physiology to manipulate certain systems within to achieve our desired performance result.

With the knowledge and guidance provided in this post, you'll be well-equipped to make informed decisions about incorporating supplements into your fitness routine. Whether you're an aspiring athlete or simply striving to lead a healthier lifestyle, this guide will help you achieve your fitness goals and reach your peak performance while prioritising your well-being. Stay motivated, stay informed and unleash your full fitness potential with the right supplements.

Further Reading:Healthy Running Routine