supps for gymnasts?

[lisiflex]

hey guys,

I was wondering how good/bad supplements for gymnasts are?
I have been training 3 times a week for 2 hours since 2 years, but I am going to take it more serious in 2014, I will train 5 times a week for 2-3 hours and I also have some bodyweight strength goals.
How beneficial would supps be? Like L-Carnitin, Creation or Beta Alanin?

Will it help being more endurant, build muscle faster, shorten the recovery time and prevent overuse injuries (to a certain point!)?

Please tell me your advices and experiences!

PS: I weigh 110lbs and try to have a protein intake of about 80gr. each day. (Eggs, chicken, low fat quark, whole grain bread, veggies, fruit, oat meal, rice, potatoes, fish)

[James Janssen]

Hey there, the benefits that come with the use of supplements vary individually. Personally I used creatine, but it didn't do much for me, where lots of people/studies did notice a difference. Still looking into BA myself, this website has some nice information on it : http://www.beta-alanine.net/

 

I would try them out and see what it does for you, if:
- you have a proper diet (which you do, seeing from the food sources)

- you get enough sleep

- you reduce your stress levels

- you have a conditioning program that is worth using supplements for

I know that it isn't really a part of your question, but a leap from a 3 day/week split to a 5 day/week split is a huge one, especially seeing you train for 2-3 hours/day. Just watch your recovery ability, because more isn't necessarily better 

[Colin Macdonald]

hey guys,

I was wondering how good/bad supplements for gymnasts are?

I have been training 3 times a week for 2 hours since 2 years, but I am going to take it more serious in 2014, I will train 5 times a week for 2-3 hours and I also have some bodyweight strength goals.

How beneficial would supps be? Like L-Carnitin, Creation or Beta Alanin?

Will it help being more endurant, build muscle faster, shorten the recovery time and prevent overuse injuries (to a certain point!)?

Please tell me your advices and experiences!

PS: I weigh 110lbs and try to have a protein intake of about 80gr. each day. (Eggs, chicken, low fat quark, whole grain bread, veggies, fruit, oat meal, rice, potatoes, fish)

 

Creatin is the only supplement with clear benefits that are supported in research. Even then, the benefits amount to a slight increase in power output, and a bunch of extra water weight.

 

I'd save my money if I were you. If you really want to try supplements, this is the best resource I know of for information: http://examine.com/

[Daniel Burnham]

I would up protein 80 is still fairly low. Sleep and enough food are the best I have found. The others provide little benefit and just aren't worth the price in my opinion. The exception being caffeine. Take caffeine before workout.

[Alexander Svensson]

I would up protein 80 is still fairly low. Sleep and enough food are the best I have found. The others provide little benefit and just aren't worth the price in my opinion. The exception being caffeine. Take caffeine before workout.

Do you feel a big difference when taking caffeine before workout? I don't think I've ever tried but I generally don't seem to get any energy boosts or something whenever I'm drinkin coffee.

[Daniel Burnham]

Yes. But I am fairly sensitive. I alternate between green tea and Yerba mate when I am well fed. If I haven't eaten I will do coffee with protein and some cream in it.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

hmm if there's a supplement i'd suggest: after having your food and veggie intake dialed(especially dark green leafy) is calcium.

only under the condition that you take it while you are active because bone is a piezoelectric(i think this is the spelling?) material and that means that it only creates adaptation through pressure because it generates small currents of electricity.

i won't take that statement so serious until i find like 3-4 more clinical studies or experiments pointing to truth in the claim.

[Mikkel Ravn]

I recently began supplementing creatine and beta alanine, just to check out the effect (and with the small hope that beta alinine could aid in gaining mastery for hollow body rocks). There seems to be an effect, but it may just be psychological.

I wonder, though, if performance boosters are such a great idea, if you're already training on the edge of your work capcacity. Creatine and such may boost muscle function, but it does not raise the recovery rate of connective tissue, to my knowledge, so there could be a higher theoretical risk of injury associated with such supplements. Just a thought.

[Colin Macdonald]

hmm if there's a supplement i'd suggest: after having your food and veggie intake dialed(especially dark green leafy) is calcium.

 

What's the benefit of calcium supplementation on athletic performance? A quick google search brought up this page: http://www.training-conditioning.com/2007/03/good_to_the_bones.html

 

While I think lot of people have problems with calcium, the real problem is with calcium absorption, not the actual levels of calcium in the body. Vitamin D and K2 is what people should really look at, most people have enough calcium in their diets, but they lack the right vitamins and other co-factors to put them in the right place. The one supplement I take is vitamin D which aids in putting calcium where it's supposed to be in the body. And natural sources of it are hard to find in the winter! 

 

Excess calcium is also a potential risk factor for arteriosclerosis, and low vitamin D/K2 levels correlate very strongly with heart attack risk. Natural sources of calcium have co-factors that help with proper absorption. Calcium supplements are probably just going to spike the levels in your blood, potentially building up in your arteries.

 

edit: The article I linked to only mentioned vitamin K, but from what I understand it's K2 that's really important. It's derived from K1 through bacterial fermentation, subsequently grass fed ruminant animals are the best source.

Edited December 29, 2013 by thecolin

[Tristan Curtis]

I think that in the long-term, getting all vitamin and mineral RDAs will help you more than regular use of performance supps. I encourage everyone to remember the definition of supplement, and ask yourself "What am I supplementing?".

 

Put your food intake into a tracker and see how well you're doing. It's easy, demystifying and very empowering.

 

Supps I use:

• horsetail stem capsule (250mg calcium)
• sublingual methylcobalamin (1,000mcg B12)
• Brazil nut (500ug selenium)
• 1/2 tablespoon flax seed oil (3,000mg omega-3 EFA)
• split pea protein isolate powder (82% AAs)
• 3g creatine monohydrate 6x/week (for me, a massive difference in output when doing more than 6 reps)

 

For every person I hear who has success with creatine monohydrate, I hear someone who notices nothing. Although I wonder if everyone gives it the 1-2 weeks it needs to truly "kick in".

 

For what it's worth, my wife is a figure model who sometimes uses beta alanin cosmetically for the "pump" and vascular look before getting on stage. However, she finds that well-timed simple sugars is a lot more effective than any particular AA. Whether that carries to performance - don't know.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

What's the benefit of calcium supplementation on athletic performance? A quick google search brought up this page: http://www.training-conditioning.com/2007/03/good_to_the_bones.html

 

While I think lot of people have problems with calcium, the real problem is with calcium absorption, not the actual levels of calcium in the body. Vitamin D and K2 is what people should really look at, most people have enough calcium in their diets, but they lack the right vitamins and other co-factors to put them in the right place. The one supplement I take is vitamin D which aids in putting calcium where it's supposed to be in the body. And natural sources of it are hard to find in the winter! 

 

Excess calcium is also a potential risk factor for arteriosclerosis, and low vitamin D/K2 levels correlate very strongly with heart attack risk. Natural sources of calcium have co-factors that help with proper absorption. Calcium supplements are probably just going to spike the levels in your blood, potentially building up in your arteries.

 

edit: The article I linked to only mentioned vitamin K, but from what I understand it's K2 that's really important. It's derived from K1 through bacterial fermentation, subsequently grass fed ruminant animals are the best source.

everything you say is true I should have made a disclosure of not only mentioning that food and veggies are taken care of but that you also screen yourself for deficiencies(as Wheezer pointed out, thanks mate)

[Tristan Curtis]

should have made a disclosure of not only mentioning that food and veggies are taken care of but that you also screen yourself for deficiencies

 

It's the PC way.

[Jon Douglas]

Just some extra whey protein for convenience and a pre w/o cup of coffee for me. I went through a phase of investigating other supplements, but concluded the benefits were marginal, especially against the cost (particularly severe due to being in Australia. Import tax on EVERYTHING)

Better progress and no micromanaging stress by just doubling vegetable intake.

[Brad Mifsud]

In terms of vitamin d and k2 supplementation I think there is now some evidence it's a combination of vitamin a, d and others not any one on its own that is important.

Link here http://www.precisionnutrition.com/stop-vitamin-d

[Jonathan Reyles]

I found Animal Flex to work especially well for me. Though LOTS of pills to swallow. I usually drink it first thing in the morning before my morning practice. I used to have annoying wrist pain before taking this, but now it's been virtually non-existent.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/univ/flex.html 

I also find just buying tumeric and chewing on it to be extremely helpful for joint lubrication.