Nutritional supplements are often widely discussed among fitness people. Some are bragging, some are scornful. Most of the people who brag about it are businessmen, and the people who despise it are mostly friends who don’t know enough about nutritional supplements.
So how should we understand fitness nutritional supplements?
There is a more detailed introduction in our "Muscle Mall" website: www.jiroushop.com. Among them, we have the following interpretation of nutritional supplements. I believe you can understand it quickly.
It's very simple! MuscleNet also has some comparative articles on supplements and foods.
Which is better, natural food or nutritional supplements? In fact, this comparison is not very appropriate. Because the nutrition of natural food is more comprehensive, it cannot be replaced by supplements. Supplements also have obvious advantages in that they can provide individual urgently needed nutrients for fitness groups.
Generally speaking, the choice of nutrition should be based on your actual requirements. If properly matched, fitness people will improve their exercise efficiency and achieve better results.
Common sports supplements:
Sports supplements can be divided into many categories according to different classification standards. For example, according to the ingredients, they can be divided into complex nutrients, amino acids, and natural testicular stimulation. According to different functions, they can be divided into muscle building types, strength building types, and fat loss assistance. class etc. I won’t classify them here, I will simply introduce a few common supplements.
1. Muscle Gaining Powder, also known as heavy muscle building powder, this name is actually misleading. Don’t be fooled by its name. It is just called this name. Don’t think that you are eating muscle building powder. Your muscles will grow like mushrooms after a spring rain. This is impossible. If you really think so, you are too naive. You know, product promotions are all exaggerated. Some brands will even advertise that they can grow a considerable amount of muscle within a few weeks. Haha, if you don’t exercise and eat this, or the exercise intensity is not enough, let me tell you, you can eat this. This one will only get fatter and fatter, full of fat. There are only two main ingredients in muscle-building powder, one is carbohydrate and the other is protein. Its nutritional ratio is prepared for you. Just take a spoonful after training. That’s why it’s also called fool fan. Generally speaking, the amount of carbohydrates in the ingredients of muscle-building powder is greater than that of protein. You can look at the nutritional label on the back of the product.
2. Protein powder, as the name suggests, is protein (almost 90% of the ingredients are protein, you can look at the amino acid ratio at the back of the product) Generally speaking, whey proteinThe most common ones, of course, are casein and other types. Newbies to fitness often struggle with whether to choose protein powder or muscle-building powder. I would say there is no difference. If you find it troublesome, just choose muscle gain powder. After all, the ingredients are all prepared for you. If you choose protein powder, then you have to add extra carbohydrates. Supplementing only protein without supplementing carbohydrates is a big misunderstanding in building muscle. There are many other categories on the market now, such as nitrogen-positive proteins and so on. In fact, this is just a hype of a nutritional concept of positive nitrogen balance, which is useless. As for the sustained-release protein, it promotes the overall slow release of amino acid flow.
3. Creatine, this is a strength-enhancing supplement, which is actually an amino acid. I have explained its mechanism of action many times. I won’t explain it anymore. I made a picture myself. You will be more impressed by the picture.
Did you see that? Creatine acts on the mutual conversion process of ADP and ATP, which means it can indirectly increase energy reserves. Nowadays, there are many creatine brands. In addition to creatine, other ingredients that are beneficial to creatine absorption are added, such as glucose, and the taking methods are also different. But the most classic method is the impact period → maintenance period → deactivation.
(The classic way to take creatine monohydrate is the most classic way to take it. Some creatine brands no longer use the shock period.)
Shock period: Take 20 grams of creatine every day, 5 grams each time. Take it continuously for 5 to 7 days to increase the creatine reserves in the body.
Maintenance period: After taking 20 grams for 5 to 7 consecutive days, just take 5 grams every day before or after training for the next 4 to 6 weeks. (I prefer to take it after training)
Discontinuation: Take it for 4 to 6 weeks and stop using it for 3 to 4 weeks to restore the secretion of endogenous creatine.
During the period of taking creatine, your body will store water and gain weight.
4. Nitrogen Pump: This is a stimulant supplement with many ingredients, but the basic ones should be arginine and caffeine. Arginine is a syntheticThe precursor of nitric oxide helps dilate blood vessels, increases muscle congestion, promotes nerve excitement, and improves training effects. The nitrogen pump has almost no boosting effect. Many people compare it with creatine, which is actually very painful. Note that the effect of the nitrogen pump is very different from the individual's physical constitution. If you have a strong tolerance, you may not have much effect after taking it for a long time. That way you don't have to eat it. Because eating is the same as not eating. Some people will feel like they are the best in the world after eating the nitrogen pump. In fact, that is your psychological effect. Note: It is best to read the instructions carefully when taking a nitrogen pump. If you have a disease, such as cardiovascular disease, or you like to drink, taking a nitrogen pump may cause tragedy, and in serious cases, you may die. . .
5. Natural testicle-stimulating supplements are used to increase one’s own androgen secretion. As we all know, muscle growth requires a good hormonal environment. How do I describe this product? It is closer to steroids, but not steroids. Steroids are prescription-grade drugs and do not fall into the category of dietary supplements. Most of the ingredients in natural testicle-stimulating supplements are plant extracts. Steroids work exogenously to increase hormone secretion in your body, while natural testosterone boosting supplements work endogenously. That is to say, even if your hormone secretion is increased, it will not exceed the normal value, and it still belongs to the human category. For example, the normal range of testosterone for a normal adult man is 260~1250ng/dl, and your own secretion is 500, then after you take it, It may be increased to around 1,000. No matter how high it is, it will never reach that peak. But steroids are different. If you do a steroid cycle, your testosterone index will usually be off the charts, far exceeding the normal value. If you want to know your hormone secretion, you can go to the hospital to do six hormone tests. There will be testosterone data in it. You can refer to the normal value in it. Note that the reference range of the normal value is different, and the units are also different. Pay attention to the distinction. It is usually nmol/L or ng/dL.
6. Assistant fat loss supplements have complex ingredients. In fact, these supplements are the most useless. They may only have 5% to 10% effect, or even just a placebo effect. , it depends on your diet and training. If you don't eat well or don't exercise enough, it's basically useless for you to eat, so those who want to lose fat should focus on this and do a good job in your daily diet and training. (Common L-fat reduction supplements are useless, please see the end of my blog’s fat science post for details)
7. Multivitamin, supplement daily vitamins needed.
8. Joint protection supplements, salts of glucosamine, the most common ones are glucosamine hydrochloride and glucosamine sulfate. This product is available in pharmaceutical grade and food grade (health care products) in China. It is beneficial for treating joint injuries, but not much. Even the NIH spent more than 10 million yuan to finally research it.The results were said to be no better than a placebo. Its main function is prevention and improvement. In the United States, this thing belongs to the category of dietary supplements, while in Europe, it is sold as a drug.