A good and healthy diet should be enough to maintain a good training pace that allows us to achieve our goals; However, supplements may prove to be the perfect complement to enhance our results and get us closer to the goals we want.
Have you ever thought about including sports supplements in your diet? If the answer is yes, then read on. We will talk about the benefits of the most important sports supplements!
Sports supplement for training What are they?
Sports supplements for training are made from a concentrate of substances such as nutrients, minerals and vitamins.
The objective of supplements is to increase total dietary intake, complement or replace some dietary substance in the diet we usually eat.
These supplements must be a food supplement, that is, they must be accompanied by a healthy diet that meets the needs of each person.
It is important to emphasize that each person will have certain, completely different needs. We cannot take supplements freely, but we have to find the perfect balance between the needs of our body and our diet to know which sports supplements best suit our needs.
Who can take a sports supplement to train
Not all people are suitable to consume any dietary supplement, since there may be certain effects that occur when making some mixtures.
Although any healthy person over 15 years of age can consume a food supplement without problem, you should know that if you are lactose intolerant, diabetic or suffer from hypertension (among many other pathologies) you should be careful with the mixtures of each food supplement.
If you suffer from any of these pathologies, it is advisable to consult with a health specialist so that they can offer you the best sports supplement for your training that is compatible with your needs and, in this way, prevent you from suffering any inconvenience. For example, people who suffer from hypertension are not recommended to take dietary supplements that contain caffeine, no matter how many advantages they have on sports performance.
Type of sports supplement for training
We have already emphasized that the most important thing is to eat healthy.
It is essential to include whole grain carbohydrates, nuts to provide energy, vegetables, fruits, lean meats (such as turkey or chicken), eggs and dairy products in our diet. The latter is important to promote lose weight.
Protein
Proteins are molecules that are largely made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms. These are part of other more basic molecules, amino acids.
“Proteins form about 50% of the dry extract of the body’s tissues”.
They can be obtained in different ways: through daily nutrition, which is the most common way to obtain them, or through the consumption of sports supplements that provide these types of macronutrients essential for our nutrition in large quantities.
In relation to their functions, in addition to creating new tissue and repairing existing ones, proteins also perform other functions such as regulating body fluids, such as urine and bile.
Consuming protein regularly through food has the main objectives of enabling the synthesis of proteins, new tissues and functional organic substances, and replacing the proteins present in the body.
The proteins that should be consumed have to be appropriate according to the needs that each person has in relation to diet and weight. The exact amount of protein is determined by muscle mass and weight, as well as the physical activity that each person does during the day. In the case of athletes who have a very active life, or who perform physical work very frequently, or are simply in the development phase of muscle mass, they take a higher and recurring protein intake than protein as a sports supplement.
Creatine
Creatine is a compound that is formed through the union of three amino acids: Glycine, Methionine and Arginine.
The main sources of creatine are fish, especially salmon or tuna, and red and free-range meat. These are also found in foods that contain dairy or eggs, but in a smaller quantity.
Although the consumption of creatine has a very positive effect, it is very difficult to achieve an improvement in sports performance, which is why sports supplements are used.
“Creatine improves muscle intensity, strength and endurance”.
It also promotes intracellular water retention (not fluid retention, as has been made out to be believed). This means that creatine does not make us bloated, but rather promotes protein synthesis in muscle cells, which results in a significant increase in muscle mass.
Several studies have already been carried out that show that the best time to take creatine is right after training, since physical exercise promotes protein synthesis; In fact, mixing creatine consumption with carbohydrates or proteins improves its absorption and can increase creatine stores in the muscles and promote the acceleration of metabolism.
Glutamine
Glutamine is an essential amino acid that we can find in its glutamic acid form in foods rich in protein.
Glutamine helps muscle recovery, maintains the proper functioning of the immune system and promotes the secretion of growth hormone, which increases protein synthesis.
The best times to take glutamine are before bed or after training. Glutamine is recommended for athletes who practice high-intensity or high-resistance training.
Amino acids
Amino acids are molecules that combine to form proteins, since these are one of the fundamental pillars of the human body. The human body uses amino acids to promote:
- The decomposition of food.
- Accelerate metabolism.
- Repair body tissues, among many other bodily functions.
Amino acids are of great importance for those athletes who base their training on resistance: they can maintain blood glucose, increase endurance and prevent fatigue. They begin to take supplementation approximately after an hour of exercise, as blood glucose levels begin to decrease; Therefore, it is essential to maintain the supply of amino acids in the body to avoid fatigue shortage.
Amino acids can be classified into three groups:
Essential amino acids
Essential amino acids cannot be produced by the body. Consequently, they must come from food.
The 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine.
Non-essential amino acids
Non-essential means that our body can produce the amino acid, even though we don’t get it from the foods we eat. Non-essential amino acids include: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine and tyrosine.
Conditional amino acids
Conditional amino acids are usually not essential, except in times of illness and stress.
Conditional amino acids include: arginine, cysteine, glutamine, tyrosine, glycine, ornithine, proline and serine.
Fat burners
These are better known as thermogenics, which are substances that cause an increase in body temperature, thus generating different metabolic reactions that cause the loss of body fat.
For fat burners to increase their effectiveness significantly, they have to be accompanied by a good exercise routine and a balanced diet.
The main functions of fat burners are:
- Elimination of fat: Thanks to its effects on the body.
- Increase in muscle mass: When exercising the body will use fat reserves.
- Accelerates metabolism: Its acceleration will cause our body to burn fat more quickly.
- Reduces appetite: Generating a feeling of satiety.
L-Carnitine
It is a type of amino acids whose main function is the transport of fatty acids into the mitochondria, which is the cellular organ that is responsible for supplying the energy necessary for cellular activity. This amino acid is found mainly in foods of animal origin, meat or dairy products and is also produced by the human body itself.
It is a perfect alternative to sugars since a high dose of L carnitine transforms energy at the same level as sugars and causes a loss of fat in the body. Despite the great benefits it provides, it is not essential for the human body, although it is recommended for athletes who need a high amount of energy for their physical activities.
Electrostimulation and sports supplements for training
Sports supplements are a timely food supplement to enhance the effects of our training, and thus effectively achieve our physical goals; But have you stopped to think what happens if we combine sports supplements with an electrostimulation routine?
As we have been saying, sports supplements alone do not work. To obtain results we must accompany them with a balanced diet and an exercise routine.
In previous posts, we talked about the benefits of electrostimulation, and it increases our performance by up to 50%; Therefore, if we mix sports supplements with electrostimulation training we will increase the results exponentially:
- Muscle development, which we colloquially know as hypertrophy.
- Reduces body fat.
- Improves sports performance.
- Tones and defines our body.
- Considerably reduces swelling and fluid retention.
- Accelerates our metabolism.
Among many other benefits; However, electrostimulation does not only have physical-aesthetic advantages or benefits. It also improves circulation, promoting the elimination of toxins, and stimulating collagen production. These benefits are ideal for combating circulatory diseases such as the dreaded varicose veins or cellulite.
Furthermore, training with electrostimulation promotes a high level of metabolic activity not only during exercise but also up to 72 hours after training.
Conclusion
In short, before taking any type of sports supplementation we must have a good diet and an adequate training routine, but above all, have the advice of a professional who will guide you to know which sports supplement best suits your needs.
And if you want extra help to boost your results quickly and effectively, don’t hesitate to try Wiemspro’s electrostimulation workouts. You will be able to multiply the results in less time!