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Okay, lets talk about supplements. I don’t believe in becoming a supplement freak like some people I know, but if I had to choose 3 or 5 top supplements, here they are (in order) and I can provide URLs to reference my arguments:
1) ZMA before bedtime. It’s simply just zinc, magnesium, and Vitamin B6. It helps increase the natural testosterone levels, as well as provide a deeper sleep. When you sleep 6 hours a night being a new Dad like me, the quality of sleep is important!
2) Protein and L-Glutamine shake (and cut *some* of the carbs in your diet, especially processed foods or foods that come with a “label” like pastries or chocolate bars). You body will need extra protein to repair itself anyways, you might as well feed it with the right stuff. Any whey protein is good, but if you want to customize it, try proteinfactory.com and order different blends of whey/whey isolates, casein, and egg protein. If you are going to supplement it with L-Glutamine, add 5g to every 30-50g protein.
2b) Post-workout Recovery Drink. This is usually a combination of protein & Carbs (from 1:1 ratios, to 4:1 carb:prot ratios), plus some whey isolates (for immediate absorption), L-Glutamine, and sometimes creatine. SNAC’s Proglycosyn is great (in powder form, requires mixing) or Go! Sports Energy/Recovery shakes (requires no refrigeration… great to bring to the track or field!)
3) Omega-3 Fatty Acids. The proper balance of fats (especially the omega-3 and omega-6) is important, so if you find yourself eating in restaurants, and the saturated fats are high (O-6) then you will need to supplement with the O-3. There are only 2 food groups that have higher ratios naturally in O-3/O-6 and that’s flax & fish. i.e. Coconut oil is all O-6, for example. So it’s okay to eat some bad fats, just make sure you supplement with the good fats to be in balance. You can buy cheap flax seeds and crush them in your coffee grinder… just make sure you refrigerate it after you crush it, and add it to your oatmeal, cereal, etc.
4) Pre-competition “mental alertness/neurotransmitter” drinks. Tyrosine blocks the release of Tryptophan, which is the amino acid that gives you the sleep feeling, especially halfway in the 400m! Power Drive (Biotest) and Vitalyze (SNAC) are common ones. Both uses Tyrosine as the main formulation. Of course, the drink “Red Bull” contains caffeine and Taurine. “Monster” drink is also good at a fraction of the price of Red Bull.
5) Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) for long workouts over 1 hour in duration. Use with or without extra L-Glutamine. Universal Nutrition makes a half decent powder form which you mix it up with water just before intake (do not pre-mix them, as amino acids can become denatured)
Jimson Lee
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Does anyone know if the SNAC products have been tested to ncaa standards?
They are great products but we all know who owns the company.
Beginners need not concentrate on supplements even though so many are obsessed. Eat healthy, train correctly and if you want to help take some fish oil (high strength) and glucosamine for joints.
You hear people give all sorts of numbers “This and that much” percentage is all diet but the true matter of the fact is, its mostly training. Get that right and understand it and you’r on the right track.
When you talk about “pre race” supplements. Power drive and “monster” are equivalents? if so i will deffinatly not get either. supplements should be a better quality than a cheap energy drink
@David – You’d be surprised what I’ve witnessed among athletes, and what I’ve seen them drink before a race! RedBull is one of the more common ones.
i can see how the pump up might be good. but it seems like it’s just all sugary and not that good to drink before a race..
A very good idea to post a “top 3/top 5 supplement” page like this. Nevertheless, I think that I discovered a mistake concerning omega-6 (O-6) fatty acids and saturated fats.
O-6 is definitely not saturated fat.
Fats are
1. saturated (found in coconuts and in hard, fully hydrogenated fats, slowly metabolized),
2. monounsaturated (olive oil is rich in these, oleic acid is quickly metabolized, I try to maximize % of it) and
3. poly-unsaturated. Poly-unsaturated fats are sometimes classified into omega-3 and omega-6 which are “good” and “bad” respectively, although there are also omega-7 (as if neutral, found in nuts) and omega-9 fats. Omega-3 is anti-inflammatory and found in more expensive foods (salmon, especially) while Omega-6 is found in cheap vegetable fats and is pro-inflammatory, instead. Also, a distinction between cis- and trans- fats may be made. Usually, the fats in the plants, fishes and some meats (including our ape relatives) are cis-fats but in PARTIALLY hydrogenated fats, cow fat and milk fat some trans-fatty acids can be found. Consumption of trans fatty acids is moderately associated with cardiovascular diseases. I understand that partial hydrogenation of “particularly good cis-fats” (fish oil) makes them become “particularly bad trans-fats”, as if the cis- and trans- fats were competing in the organism. However, the margarine trans-fats are metabolised in the organism – not as fast as oleic acid but faster than saturated fats.
EDIT of my previous post: the omega-3 and omega-6 distinction is an oversimplification.
EXAMPLE 1: it is not known what happens if you ingest omega-3 trans fat instead of omega-3 cis fat but “bad” trans- as if competes with “good” cis- fat. Hydrogenated fats allow cheaper food but are slightly bad for health, that’s why some countries (Denmark was first) have banned these. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1573366 if you want to read further.
EXAMPLE 2: gamma-linoleic acid is omega-6, read Wikipedia for further reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-Linolenic_acid
Hi This has nothing to do with suppliments but is about the 200 metres.
As a master athlete (57 years old,sprinting since 1975)I have run a great many 200 metre races.What baffles me to this day is the placement of the wind reading gauge at the at the exact same place as when we run the 100 metres I.E. at the 50 metre mark or in the case of the 200 where we only have 50 metres to go.
Having the wind gauge at this point for the 200 seems rather silly.
My reasoning is that many times I have battled into a very strong head wind all the way around the curve only to be told after the race we had a tail wind.
The reason that I bring this matter up is that I an perhaps hundreds of other 200 metre athletes have had records denied to them because of an alleged tail wind.
Surely in this day and age with all the technology we have in this world,far more accurate wind readings can be recorded.
One solution could be to have at least two wind gauges I.E. One gauge on the curve and another on the straight and have a computer average the two readings out, quite simple really.
What are your thoughts on this matter?