Nowadays, every now and then on hearing some kind of sports nutrition appears. Its quantity and variety becomes so much that you involuntarily begin to wonder: what kind of sports nutrition to choose. And, indeed, on the market, and in the store, you can see proteins, amino acids, complex preparations, BCAA, and even manufacturers - chickens do not bite. The topic of sports nutrition is of interest to everyone who decided to go in for sports and remembered to look good. The speech in this article, whose goal is to comprehensively answer a number of questions, will focus on sports nutrition from the point of view of a practical aspect.
We will analyze the following points:
- Which sports nutrition is the best and which, respectively, is the worst?
- Which of what manufacturers offer us works? What - no? And why is this happening?
- What days are good for taking sports nutrition?
- How to use sports nutrition correctly?
- Is everything that is written about sports nutrition true?
So, the purpose of our article is to separate the husk from the chaff, to understand where the lie imposed on us is, and where is the truth. Finally, learn how to properly use sports nutrition with benefits and effects for the body.
Do I need sports nutrition and what is it?
Today in sports the following opinion is widespread: you cannot achieve success without sports nutrition. If you start analyzing, you can guess that these opinions are imposed by the manufacturers of sports nutrition, which has nothing to do but advertise nutrition and make us, ordinary people, confident that without sports nutrition we will still be left to wipe the benches. The value of sports nutrition is greatly overestimated - this is a fact that must be hacked to death. Sports nutrition brings multimillion-dollar income to the companies that produce it. Multi-billion dollar income, amendment.
To stop overestimating the importance of sports nutrition, you must first of all stop hoping for a magic wand and a magic pill, from the reception of which we will immediately acquire the missing muscle mass, golden biceps and world fame. We must go down to earth and understand that there is no super training system that will give us quick results without effort. It takes tremendous effort and incredible expense to get anywhere. The next point to remember is that sports nutrition is an ordinary food that is ready for quick assimilation by our body. But that's all. If you remember these two important and fundamental points, you can move on.
Benefits of sports nutrition
- Convenience. An athlete who spends all the time in training is like a squeezed lemon during breaks. He should sit down and rest, and not stand by the stove, conjuring over thick borscht or chicken breast baked in its own juice. Protein shakes are much more convenient. It is worth opening the lid and drinking the cherished contents. Supplements will always be there in cans and bottles, so you can take them with you to competitions, to rest and even to work. A casserole of delicious seafood soup cannot be taken far.
- Time of assimilation. Ordinary food is absorbed for a very long time or, on the contrary, too quickly - in general, not in the way we need it. Sports nutrition has its own assimilation time, which allows us to schedule training times. You do not have to ask stupid questions and not worry about when the eaten lobster or fish will digest there. I drank a cocktail and planned my workouts further.
- Convenient to store. Chicken breast is very difficult to store for a long time, and sports nutrition is easy. It is enough to provide him with a dry, cool and dark place, where the cans will be stored as long as you need. It is unlikely that the same pot of soup will stand for such a long time without beginning to smell fragrant throughout the room.
- Excellent nutritional value. Sports nutrition is a combination of various amino acids and supplements in pure form. They are already ready for assimilation and consumption. We can say that several thousand valuable calories are imprisoned in one jar. To get the calories of one serving of gainer, you need to eat several bowls of pasta.
- Correct dosage. Sports nutrition allows you to eat on a schedule, because loads require a certain amount of protein, amino acids, proteins and other substances to enter the body. It is quite difficult to measure the amount of incoming substances from food by eye.
Of course, if there were no sports supplements, we would still get by with ordinary natural food. And, perhaps, this would force us to be more responsible for our health and diet, not to seek support from the "magic" nutrition with beautiful labels. Sports nutrition makes our life easier, but in general, that's all.
What is the problem for athletes?
The problem for athletes is not in sports nutrition, but in their heads. Unfortunately, when people don't get what they have built in their fantasies, they start looking for a new lifesaver. Hence the questions from the series "which protein is better" follow. The opinions of professionals are also not an indicator on which to rely. Professionals only advertise what they are paid to do. They will not reveal secrets, because there are no secrets at all, there are correct and individual dosages, experience, grams, selected step by step. A professional does not study sports nutrition, but himself, the biochemical processes that occur in the body, the effect of hormonal drugs, insulin, growth hormones.
How to get started with sports nutrition?
You should start your acquaintance not with a catalog of gainers, but with working on your worldview. The worldview must become nutritional. This is the only way to become a real professional. Your regular diet should become athletic, and the lack of muscle growth should indicate that a mistake was made somewhere in training. For sports, it's not supplements that are important, but training and daily nutrition. This should be done with your motto or mantra, which is repeated hour after hour. In theory, you can try and do without additives altogether. This will teach you to be very thoughtful and responsible about the composition of your diet.
Who is eligible to start taking sports nutrition?
You can start taking sports nutrition only if you have established the correct diet, and on the market you buy only natural protein, sticking to your diet. Only then can you afford to look into the store and think about nutritional supplements, for example, complex protein, gainers, which are best suited for beginners. At first, you can restore the body and the loss of calories with a complex protein, which is taken after training and before going to bed. And only after some time can one move to a new level.
Amino acids: what are they and why are they needed?
Over time, you can start looking at more complex and expensive sports supplements - amino acids. Few people know that they are suitable for those preparing for a competition and going through the drying process, as well as vegetarians whose amino acid levels from food are very low. For other athletes, they will simply be unprofitable because of the too high price. If an athlete adheres to a nutritious diet and monitors his diet (continues to go to the market for food), he will receive amino acids anyway.
What about the anabolic window, you ask? Indeed, after training there is a moment when the body needs nutrients and at this moment they are instantly absorbed. But few people know that at this moment the body does not need proteins, but ordinary carbohydrates that can replenish the supply of energy spent during training. And in this, helpers are not amino acids, but any sweet food. It is important to remember: the use of amino acids will be justified if you use them during drying. In this case, amino acids will help to save the muscles that are eaten by the body.
If you cannot resist the temptation and not buy amino acids, then you can purchase a protein called "whey protein isolate". By the way, the same applies to expensive glutamine, which already enters our body with proper nutrition and animal protein, so there is no reason to buy expensive supplements. Their presence on the shelves is a desire of manufacturers, and not a vital necessity for an athlete.
What is creatine?
Creatine is not a beast at all, but a nutritional supplement. A very important nutritional supplement for an athlete, which really plays a big role. Creatine helps the body get the energy it needs for physical activity, which means it is directly related to muscle growth. Creatine can be used after 1–2 years of training. To get creatine from regular food, you need to consume red meat all the time. Therefore, for convenience, it is best to buy creatine within 2 months. The break should also be two months. Since creatine is transported by insulin, which is produced after a meal, the supplement is best taken after a meal.
Do I need to take fat burners?
The market today offers a lot of fat burners, but only a few of them can be called effective. Yohimbe, L-Carnitine are all highly controversial supplements that dry out the human wallet, not the body. The best way to burn fat and lose weight is through proper diet and quality diet.
Vitamin and mineral complexes
Many people believe that sports supplements in the form of vitamins are the most harmless and most useful, and that they should become a guide to the world of sports nutrition. But it is not so. What we are offered as supplements in the sports store is not always beneficial and makes sense. The reason is simple - vitamins are absorbed in the human body only if they are taken with ordinary food, or rather from it. As a last resort, you can drink ordinary vitamins in pharmacy jars - there will be much more sense from them.
conclusions
The time has come to summarize the conclusions, to find a common denominator for everything that has been said, and finally, to add some points that may have remained beyond the comprehensible. So:
- sports nutrition is an additive to natural food, and it is on the usual diet that you need to rely on;
- if you decide to get acquainted with sports nutrition, start with a complex protein, which is used after training and before going to bed;
- instead of amino acids, it is more advisable to drink whey isolate (amino acids will already enter the body if the diet is thought out correctly). Amino acids should only be taken by vegetarians and those undergoing a drying course;
- bet on creatine, which is useful and necessary for the body;
- it's time to return to ordinary pharmacy vitamins - they are much more useful and effective;
- fat burners are useless, it is better to follow a proper diet.
Which sports nutrition manufacturers to choose?
This question is the most common one. Before answering, let's add that there are domestic and overseas firms. Recently, it has been widely believed that foreign food is much better. This is understandable, because the stronghold of the athletics, fitness and bodybuilding industry is located in the United States. Therefore, if you have money, it is best to buy sports nutrition from American and German companies. No matter how much I would like to say good things about Russian food, it is, alas, much worse. Unfortunately, our firms do not have enough money to maintain the quality of food at the proper level.
How to distinguish a fake?
Today, foreign brands are constantly being counterfeited. This is how you can buy a pig in a poke in a "branded bank". Therefore, it is best to buy sports nutrition only from trusted sellers who work with official manufacturers. The reputation of the store should speak for itself. As a conclusion, I would like to once again advise you to pay attention exclusively to natural nutrition and a daily diet, which should consist of protein foods of animal origin, as well as irreplaceable carbohydrates and fats. Let sports nutrition always remain only a supplement.
Watch a video on how to choose sports nutrition and which one (advice from Denis Borisov):
