I have been a personal fan of supplements when I was a beginner paddler about 8 years ago, when all the rage was about getting the biggest muscles and getting stronger. It wasn't exactly the cheapest way to get my daily protein intake and I wasn't exactly seeing much of the results from training. I was very much discouraged looking at how things were going with my body and how little effect they had on my overall physique. Well, who could deny that it did give me a mental boost to know that supplements could indeed boost my performance but do they really work. In this article we will focus on the few traps of the supplement industry and how we as athletes can avoid it. 1) Protein shakes are the king of building muscle. I have experienced many a times athletes taking in countless scoops of protein supplements in various forms after training expecting a bigger gain in growth or strength just after eating that. I definitely agree to a certain degree that they have their benefits just that its inconclusive that we really need that much protein in our diet at all. Unless you are a raging bodybuilder or power lifter who needs to gain over 40 kilos to build the almighty herculean physique, athletes would only need enough from their typical diets. In fact most of the excess protein becomes pure waste product that the body would not be able synthesize. The key to building muscle can really be as simple as the training methods you are engaged in.
2) I need to maintain a high protein diet. Such diets are unfortunately unhealthy especially if you're an athlete regardless if you were strength training or not. Your main staple should consist of carbohydrates even if you were someone who strength trains 6 times a week. Carbohydrates induce glycogen which help to provide the energy for your body to continue exercising at that rate. It would be a dumb deal to stick to a high protein diet because energy levels will deteriorate after a certain period and it induces catabolism (atrophy of muscle) due to high levels of acidity from loss of glycogen. Its like using your muscles to build muscles. get it?
3) Supplements give me a mental boost to go push for the last rep. I use water to do that. Many studies have shown much gains in strength really come from mental training as compared to the supplement taking effect at all. You can't put away the obvious fact that the supplement industry makes use of the opportunity through their marketing ploys to induce their customers to buying more of their product. One company tells you this and tell you that but another says another thing altogether. So who do you believe? I believe in something that we already have in the first place; our brain. We have capabilties to push beyond our limits through the power of our mind and with proper mental training in place, it beats drinking down a pound of protein shakes down your throat.
Well, I have my say of supplements but they are definitely not extensive. So do your research and really search out the diamonds from the rough if you are really keen on taking supplements. I think with proper training, nutrition and diet, performance gains can far outweigh taking pound after pound of powder.
