Sports Nutrition Info!

Website by Inspired Instinct Designs © 2007

As an athlete you will need to ensure you get the right balance of nutrients and nourishment on a daily basis to aid the efficient production of energy and fuel for training and muscle recovery. Whilst it is true that eating a well balanced diet and drinking plenty of water is a sensible solution, very few people can consistently do this due to their busy lifestyles and general food preferences. For example, to get the optimum level of protein you would need to help build and repair muscle after a weights session you may need to consume 8-10 chicken breasts! The challenge is to extract the necessary nutrients from your meal, in ratio to your daily calorie intake, without consuming all the excess bulk and to do it in a quick and timely manner. Sports Nutritional Supplements were carefully designed to deliver you the right and necessary level of nutrients to your body in a way that is convenient, effective and easy to digest.

Post exercise Sports Nutrition is aimed at people who frequently exercise or weight train a minimum of three times a week, or those aiming to get improved results from their training programme in a shorter period of time. To gain any real benefits to performance and mass Sports Nutritional Supplements should be taken in support of training and in addition to a sensible diet which is low in saturated fat, salt, alcohol and caffeine. The diet should be high in fibre and most importantly high in protein as this is the building block for muscle and repair but remember supplements such as creatine and protein will produce little effect to someone who only trains once a week.

As an athlete, with a frequent or intense training schedule, your body will require higher than normal amounts of certain nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates. What you need to decide now is which Sports Nutritional Supplements will benefit you the most. Below is a list of the most popular options available and how supplementing your training and diet with these would benefit you.

Creatine:
This Nutritional Supplement helps you to gain muscle mass and improves your short term strength and endurance. When taking Creatine supplements you will find that your muscles are more springy in texture due to the water retention and you will experience a feeling of 'bursting' energy enabling you to be able to lift more weights with ease. Creatine aids recovery between sets and replenishes your ATP stores allowing you to perform better and train harder. The same results can be found in sprinters and swimmers. There is no doubt that you will see results and feel the the benefits of taking Creatine if building muscle or improving recovery time between sets or laps is your goal however it is important to note that you will only maintain these attributes for as long as you are taking the supplement. Once you discontinue use, your body will return to it's original state.

Protein:
This Nutritional Supplement helps to repair damage to your muscle fibre and other body tissues and also provide energy to your body. Your body tissues will undergo a form of 'destruction' during heavy exercise and particularly during a weights session, during this time your body's healing power is summoned and your immune system will also get a workout. Protein is the Sports Nutritional Supplement that gives your body the power to reconstitute the tissues and muscles making it an important component in the recovery process and the one of the primary nutrients in the post training replenishment.

Any regular exercise increases protein needs, especially tough workouts or races and of course strength training. The key question is how much should you be getting? Daily needs will vary from person to person and training intensity, however a good guide is to base it on your body weight, measured in grams of protein per pound of body weight. You should also consider that your body burns more protein if you do not consume enough calories as this is your body's way of compensating to maintain its ideal. Not enough nourishment and nutrients coupled with intense training will cause this to happen.

Sports Drinks:
Hydration is crucial for comfort, performance and safety during training sessions. The longer and harder you exercise, the more important it becomes as a loss of as little as 2% of your body weight from sweating can lead to a drop in blood volume, forcing the heart to work harder in order to move blood through the bloodstream. Dehydration leads to fatigue, poor performance, decreased co-ordination and muscle cramping. So while water should always be the number one drink of choice, Sports Drinks certainly have their place and many athletes will turn to them in order to stay hydrated. The question is will you benefit from them?

You should consider Sports Drinks if the following applies to you:

You are training at a high intensity for 60 minutes or more.
For workouts over 90 minutes they are essential.
Your training is intense or occurs in hot, humid conditions.
You find it difficult to tolerate water.
You haven't eaten for a while.
You are doing multiple workouts in a day, like MMA Fighters or Tri-Athletes for example.

Sports Drinks fall into various categories but the premise of each is very similar, to hydrate and improve recovery rates. Improving your recovery rate means that you can train harder and longer which will in turn lead to an increase in energy and endurance making Sports Drinks a popular choice amongst althletes. It is important to note that not all Sports Drinks hydrate equally and those that contain a higher level of sodium are generally preferable because they are absorbed quicker and maintain fluid balance and the blood and muscles better. It is advisable to drink every 15 minutes during a 60 minute workout and Sports Drinks will stimulate thirst encouraging you drink to more then if you were to drink just plain water.

Thermogenic Supplements:
Thermogenics are a great way to crank up your workout intensity, boost metabolism, and increase calorie burning, but they don't help you build muscle. Many body builders will turn to dieting to help them lose weight and thermogenics to increase thermogenesis and burn more calories. Thermogenics increase the stimulation process in the body which is used for burning fat and they also increase the tissue generation. It's the increased speed of metabolism, caused to some extent by the raise in your body temperature, that serves your purpose of reducing weight. Caffeine, capsicum, bitter orange and ephedra are the common substances of these thermogenics fat burners. STACK or ECA is the most popular thermogenic compound containing ephedrine, caffeine and asperin. Remember a large amount of caffeine may make you feel nervous and you are not able to engage in physical and mental tasks which play essential parts in your training so think about the caffeine intake in your existing diet before contemplating taking a thermogenic supplement. It is adviseable to consult your doctor before taking any fat burner to find out whether this product is suitable and safe for you.

CLA Conjugated Linoleic Acid:
CLA is an omega-6 essential fatty acid (EFA) which is said to burn fat, build muscle and fight cancer. Omega-3 and omega-6 are two essential fatty acids that cannot be manufactured internally within your body, and so must be consumed from your diet via food or supplementation. Of all the supplements (sports based or otherwise) claiming to help with weight loss CLA has the strongest evidence to support its effectiveness. CLA causes a process known as repartitioning which switches calories from food into healthy muscle tissue whilst helping the body to burn stored fat cells. According to Tonalin, the CLA supplement has undergone more than 600 studies in the past 25 years and the scientific studies have discovered that CLA is responsible for reducing fat storage after eating, increasing fat burning or metabolism, increasing the speed fat is broken down in fat cells and reducing the number of fat cells in our bodies.

What are Sports Nutritional Supplements?

As an athlete you will need to ensure you get the right balance of nutrients and nourishment on a daily basis to aid the efficient production of energy and fuel for training and muscle recovery. Whilst it is true that eating a well balanced diet and drinking plenty of water is a sensible solution, very few people can consistently do this due to their busy lifestyles and general food preferences. For example, to get the optimum level of protein you would need to help build and repair muscle after a weights session you may need to consume 8-10 chicken breasts! The challenge is to extract the necessary nutrients from your meal, in ratio to your daily calorie intake, without consuming all the excess bulk and to do it in a quick and timely manner. Sports Nutritional Supplements were carefully designed to deliver you the right and necessary level of nutrients to your body in a way that is convenient, effective and easy to digest.

Should I take Sports Nutrition?

Post exercise Sports Nutrition is aimed at people who frequently exercise or weight train a minimum of three times a week, or those aiming to get improved results from their training programme in a shorter period of time. To gain any real benefits to performance and mass Sports Nutritional Supplements should be taken in support of training and in addition to a sensible diet which is low in saturated fat, salt, alcohol and caffeine. The diet should be high in fibre and most importantly high in protein as this is the building block for muscle and repair but remember supplements such as creatine and protein will produce little effect to someone who only trains once a week.

What Sports Nutritional Supplements are available?

As an athlete, with a frequent or intense training schedule, your body will require higher than normal amounts of certain nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates. What you need to decide now is which Sports Nutritional Supplements will benefit you the most. Below is a list of the most popular options available and how supplementing your training and diet with these would benefit you.

Creatine:
This Nutritional Supplement helps you to gain muscle mass and improves your short term strength and endurance. When taking Creatine supplements you will find that your muscles are more springy in texture due to the water retention and you will experience a feeling of 'bursting' energy enabling you to be able to lift more weights with ease. Creatine aids recovery between sets and replenishes your ATP stores allowing you to perform better and train harder. The same results can be found in sprinters and swimmers. There is no doubt that you will see results and feel the the benefits of taking Creatine if building muscle or improving recovery time between sets or laps is your goal however it is important to note that you will only maintain these attributes for as long as you are taking the supplement. Once you discontinue use, your body will return to it's original state.

Protein:
This Nutritional Supplement helps to repair damage to your muscle fibre and other body tissues and also provide energy to your body. Your body tissues will undergo a form of 'destruction' during heavy exercise and particularly during a weights session, during this time your body's healing power is summoned and your immune system will also get a workout. Protein is the Sports Nutritional Supplement that gives your body the power to reconstitute the tissues and muscles making it an important component in the recovery process and the one of the primary nutrients in the post training replenishment.

Any regular exercise increases protein needs, especially tough workouts or races and of course strength training. The key question is how much should you be getting? Daily needs will vary from person to person and training intensity, however a good guide is to base it on your body weight, measured in grams of protein per pound of body weight. You should also consider that your body burns more protein if you do not consume enough calories as this is your body's way of compensating to maintain its ideal. Not enough nourishment and nutrients coupled with intense training will cause this to happen.

Sports Drinks:
Hydration is crucial for comfort, performance and safety during training sessions. The longer and harder you exercise, the more important it becomes as a loss of as little as 2% of your body weight from sweating can lead to a drop in blood volume, forcing the heart to work harder in order to move blood through the bloodstream. Dehydration leads to fatigue, poor performance, decreased co-ordination and muscle cramping. So while water should always be the number one drink of choice, Sports Drinks certainly have their place and many athletes will turn to them in order to stay hydrated. The question is will you benefit from them?

You should consider Sports Drinks if the following applies to you:

You are training at a high intensity for 60 minutes or more.
For workouts over 90 minutes they are essential.

Your training is intense or occurs in hot, humid conditions.

You find it difficult to tolerate water.

You haven't eaten for a while.

You are doing multiple workouts in a day, like MMA Fighters or Tri-Athletes for example.

Sports Drinks fall into various categories but the premise of each is very similar, to hydrate and improve recovery rates. Improving your recovery rate means that you can train harder and longer which will in turn lead to an increase in energy and endurance making Sports Drinks a popular choice amongst althletes. It is important to note that not all Sports Drinks hydrate equally and those that contain a higher level of sodium are generally preferable because they are absorbed quicker and maintain fluid balance and the blood and muscles better. It is advisable to drink every 15 minutes during a 60 minute workout and Sports Drinks will stimulate thirst encouraging you drink to more then if you were to drink just plain water.

Thermogenic Supplements:
Thermogenics are a great way to crank up your workout intensity, boost metabolism, and increase calorie burning, but they don't help you build muscle. Many body builders will turn to dieting to help them lose weight and thermogenics to increase thermogenesis and burn more calories. Thermogenics increase the stimulation process in the body which is used for burning fat and they also increase the tissue generation. It's the increased speed of metabolism, caused to some extent by the raise in your body temperature, that serves your purpose of reducing weight. Caffeine, capsicum, bitter orange and ephedra are the common substances of these thermogenics fat burners. STACK or ECA is the most popular thermogenic compound containing ephedrine, caffeine and asperin. Remember a large amount of caffeine may make you feel nervous and you are not able to engage in physical and mental tasks which play essential parts in your training so think about the caffeine intake in your existing diet before contemplating taking a thermogenic supplement. It is adviseable to consult your doctor before taking any fat burner to find out whether this product is suitable and safe for you.

CLA Conjugated Linoleic Acid:
CLA is an omega-6 essential fatty acid (EFA) which is said to burn fat, build muscle and fight cancer. Omega-3 and omega-6 are two essential fatty acids that cannot be manufactured internally within your body, and so must be consumed from your diet via food or supplementation. Of all the supplements (sports based or otherwise) claiming to help with weight loss CLA has the strongest evidence to support its effectiveness. CLA causes a process known as repartitioning which switches calories from food into healthy muscle tissue whilst helping the body to burn stored fat cells. According to Tonalin, the CLA supplement has undergone more than 600 studies in the past 25 years and the scientific studies have discovered that CLA is responsible for reducing fat storage after eating, increasing fat burning or metabolism, increasing the speed fat is broken down in fat cells and reducing the number of fat cells in our bodies.

Website by Inspired Instinct Designs © 2007