Like most sportsmen and women martial artists are often looking for ways in which to boost their performance, both mentally and physically. Mentally we have techniques like meditation and NLP that calm and focus the mind, help us relax and think better and therefore aid us by improving our over all performance. Physically we have aids like weight training and proper diet and supplemental to that we have specially designed sports nutritional supplements, which is what I want to talk about here in this article.
I have been taking certain dietary supplements on and off for years now, mostly protein and creatine supplements as well as a few others that I’ve tried mainly out of curiosity, like Glucosamine Sulphate, which claims to help the joints by taking away the aches, which I found it did do, to an extent. It was no miracle cure, it has to be said, but then miracle cures, in my experience, simply don’t exist.
And that’s the thing about all these sports supplements, people who buy them expect too much from them, and who can blame them, given the overhyped nature of the ad campaigns that promote them. Open any sports related magazine and you are sure to find adverts promoting the latest sports nutrition products. Usually the tag line to these ads will read something like, “PROVEN TO BUILD MUSCLE AND LOWER FAT- IN JUST TWO WEEKS!”, or something along those lines.
If you are currently in a weight training program trying to build muscle or loose fat then these products practically scream to be bought. You want that short cut to a fabulous body or awesome strength and you just can’t help thinking that these products will provide you with those things if you just take them as directed. This is wrong thinking obviously, but millions of people around the world buy these products thinking just that and the manufactures know it. They know you can’t resist them and so they make millions, even billions, of dollars each year selling their products to people who just want a quicker way to reach their goals.
Do These Products Actually Work?
That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? If we had solid, scientific proof that these products definitely worked then we would all be out buying them, wouldn’t we? If I said to you, here’s a product that will make you a better martial artist and I’ll sell it to you for only X amount of dollars, you’d probably buy it from me. Hell, I would, if I knew for sure it would make me a better martial artist.
But like I said, we don’t know for sure. The scientific claims that back up these products are dubious at best and given the money involved in such an industry, it’s hard to even trust the companies that provide this research. It’s no secret that in the pharmaceutical industry the scientists will report whatever the corporations want them to report, so forget about the scientific claims behind the products. They just can’t be trusted, in my opinion.
Indeed I once spoke to someone who happened to work in the industry and this person informed me that 99% of these products were basically placebos and didn’t actually do what the adverts for them said they would do. He told me the whole industry was a scam and that people were being conned. Only a handful of products actually made any difference to those taking them. Now that is just one persons view from within the industry. Whether he is right or wrong, I don’t know.
The only way to tell if these products work or not is to actually try them out for yourself and see what effect they have on you. That is the only proof that means anything, at the end of the day, the proof that you find yourself. Just like in the martial arts, it is up to you to find your own truth.
All I can do here is offer you my opinion on these products based on the ones I have tried myself and the effect (or lack of) that they have had on me. Before I go on to name the products that I have experience with, let me just say this. In order to give yourself the best chance of success with supplements you have to make sure that three things are in place:
1. A regular exercise regime.
2. A proper diet.
3. Lots of proper rest.
The above three criteria are vital to your success and the success of the products. You can’t complain that you don’t gain any muscle when you are not weight training enough to promote growth. Neither can you complain when you don’t loose weight when you haven’t changed your diet enough. You also can’t complain about a lack of progress when you’re busy burning the candle at both ends. You have to do all you can to help the supplements along for them to work properly. This is why a lot of people don’t experience any success with the products because the foundations laid are not solid enough for the supplements to take hold or else they are cancelled out by other bad chemicals like alcohol or prescription drugs or too much junk food.
So if you’re going to take these products make sure everything else –diet, exercise regime, proper rest- is in place before you take them or you won’t feel any benefit from them.
Anyway, let’s take a look at some of the supplements I have tried over the years and see if they are worth taking or worth binning.
Protein Supplements
Protein supplements are probably the most popular and biggest selling product out there and certainly the one I have used most often myself over the years. As you probably already know, the body needs protein for muscle growth and regeneration. If you are involved in weight training or even hard exercise like martial arts training then you will need a good amount of protein in order for your body to recover better. Even when I’m not weight training I still take a protein supplement twice a day for two reasons:
Firstly I have a high metabolism and find it very difficult to gain weight so I take the protein to maintain the weight I have and also to help me recover after training sessions (I take it immediately after training to take advantage of the window of opportunity opened up at this time were the body is much more receptive to nutrient uptake).
Secondly I use it to enhance my diet. By taking extra protein I make sure my body gets enough of it. I also feel better when I take it. My mood improves and my immune system is stronger.
There are many different brands of protein powder out there that you can buy but I recommend the higher quality whey protein. I tend to stay away from the cheaper brands because I don’t think the quality is good. I always buy Maximuscle products because they are an established brand leader who sponsors many sports people, including a number of martial artists. Maximuscle products, though slightly expensive, are also of a pretty high quality compared to some. Out of all the brands I have tried (and I have tried many over the years) I have gotten the best results with Maximuscle. Obviously you can try them all out for yourself. I’m just giving you the benefit of my experience here.
You can check out Maximuscle by clicking this link.
Creatine
Creatine supplements were all the rage in the nineties and it seemed like every big sports person was either taking it or endorsing it at the time. It was hailed almost as a wonder supplement that gave people added strength, stamina, power and size. But does it?
In my experience, yes it does. Creatine is one of the few supplements you can buy that actually lives up to the hype and it is the one product that has had the biggest impact on my martial arts training. About two weeks after taking the recommended dose I always notice gains in strength and power and also an increase in stamina. And because creatine allows the muscles to hold more water, I also notice a significant increase in muscle size. I usually gain about 2-3 pounds of lean mass after taking it. The pump it gives you during weight training is amazing and I would recommend it to anybody who is weight training to take it for the two month cycle.
I find creatine especially useful when I need peak fitness for an upcoming event like a grading or competition. I always start taking it about a month beforehand so that I have the best gains by the time the event comes around.
If you haven’t taken creatine yet then I recommend you try it out. There are no side effects except running to the toilet a bit more often the first few days you take it and the gains in strength, power and endurance and over all fitness you get make it worth taking, especially if you need peak fitness for an event.
Get your boxing equipment for less.
The only other thing I would add is that you must drink plenty of water with this product. If you don’t it tends to gather up in your kidneys, which isn’t good for you, so make sure you drink water often throughout the day.
All-in One Supplements
All-in-one products are basically products that combine the main ingredient of several other products to produce a supplement that delivers on a number of different fronts. Usually what you get with these particular products are combinations of whey protein, carbohydrates, creatine, amino-acids, various vitamins and minerals and perhaps a few other ingredients like Gluamine. Such products, because they contain so many ingredients are often more expensive than buying the ingredients on their own, though they do claim to have a more dramatic effect simply because you are taking so many powerful supplements in one hit.
I have tried a few all-in-one products and the only one that I found to be any good was Cyclone, a product made by Maximuscle and which has very impressive results in terms of gaining muscle and strength and also aiding recovery and enhancing my over all martial arts training experience. I was so impressed by Cyclone that I’ll be writing a full review on it soon so you can read my experience of it then.
Other Products
There are lots of other products out there that you can take that claim to have various benefits. After protein and creatine, one of the most popular supplements is vitamin and mineral supplements. Personally I don’t take these because I don’t believe they have much effect on the body. There have been many studies done over the years that have yet to prove that vitamin supplements are anything more than placebos. For that reason, and the fact that I have tried them myself and found them to have to no real effect, I don’t take them.
We also have fat burners and various stimulant type concoctions that claim to pep you up before and during training. Again, I have tried none of these, mainly because I have no need for them. A fat burner is the last thing I need, to be honest. Maybe a fat gainer, but they don’t do those. I wonder why?
Don’t Take My Word for It
As I have said already, the only way to know if these supplements work or not is to buy them and take them yourself. You can read the labels and anecdotal information on them but you’ll never know what effect they have on you unless you use them.
If you are going to use them, give the products the best chance of working by sticking as much as possible to a strict regime of regular exercise (weight training, martial arts), good dieting and plenty of rest. For the most part, the better products do as they say but they don’t by any means have a miracle effect or produce wondrous transformations. They give you a slight advantage, that’s all, but sometimes a slight advantage makes the difference between success and failure. Keep that in mind, and you won’t be disappointed when you try them out for yourself.
P.S. If any of you have tried these products then tell me about your experiences of them. I’d be interested to hear about what you think works and what doesn’t. Leave your comments below.
