Workout Supplements

Ingesting protein alone won't build muscle. Your muscles need to be worked first at which point protein is effective in feeding muscles during your workout and will aid in the rebuilding process afterward. Ingesting more protein than your body needs will not provide any benefit, and can, in fact, put a great deal of stress on your liver and kidneys. Beyond repairing tissue, protein is also used in the development of hormones and enzymes that will aid in the development of blood, skin, bone, and cartilage. For this reason, protein is an effective and safe means of building body mass when taken in conjunction with a workout and it can also provide benefits to your total body fitness. Like any supplement, protein should be taken responsibly and in proper measure.

The first nutritional priority after exercise is to replace any fluid lost during exercise. In general the best way to determine how much to drink (either water of a sports drink) is to:

Weigh yourself before and after exercise and replace fluid losses.
Drink 20-24 fl oz water for every 1 lb lost.

Research has shown that eating 100-200 grams of carbohydrate within two hours of endurance exercise is essential to building adequate glycogen stores for continued training. Waiting longer than two hours to eat results in 50 percent less glycogen stored in the muscle. The reason for this is that carbohydrate consumption stimulates insulin production, which aids the production of muscle glycogen. However, the effect of carbohydrate on glycogen storage reaches a plateau.

Protein provides the amino acids necessary to rebuild muscle tissue that is damaged during intense, prolonged exercise. It can also increase the absorption of water from the intestines and improve muscle hydration. The amino acids in protein can also stimulate the immune system, making you more resistant to colds and other infections.
sportsmedicine.about.com

If you don't eat meat, it can take a bit more planning to get adequate protein for muscle building and sports training. Vegetarians must take extra care to avoid deficiencies of iron, zinc, and B12, which can hurt exercise and strength training performance.

The following tips will help vegetarians who want to get the most from strength training programs.

How to Get Adequate Protein in Your Diet
The current protein recommendations for optimal muscle building in a strength athlete is 1.6 to 1.7 gram protein per kilogram of body weight (0.73 grams per pound). For a 200-pound athlete, that is a total of 145 to 154 grams of protein a day. There is no scientific evidence that more than 2.0 grams of protein per kg of body weight has any additional benefit in muscle strength or size.
You can get enough protein by including plenty of low-fat dairy products and protein-rich plant sources, like soy, in your diet. The following protein sources may work for vegetarians:

Milk, 8 oz, 8 grams
Tofu, 3 oz, 15 grams
Yogurt, 8 oz, 8 grams
Cheese, 3 oz, 21 grams
Peanut butter, 2 tbsp, 8 grams

How to Get Adequate Iron in Your Diet
Heme iron is a type of easily absorbed iron that is found in animal protein. If you eat fish or chicken, you will get this type of iron, but if you eat no meat, you will need to find other sources of iron. Our bodies don't absorb non-heme iron -- the kind found in vegetables -- as easily as the iron that comes from animal foods. Non-meat eaters, especially female athletes, must pay attention to their dietary iron needs. Good sources of non-heme include wholegrain cereals, leafy green vegetables, figs, lentils and kidney beans, and some dried fruits.
How to Get Adequate Vitamin C in Your Diet
Vitamin C in fruits, vegetables, and other foods help vegetarians absorb non-heme iron from other foods, so it's a good idea to eat a combination of foods at each meal. Consider eating citrus fruits with an iron-fortified wholegrain cereal or have a citrus fruit juice with beans.
How to Get Adequate B12
Because vitamin B12 is available only from animal products, it is one of the most common nutrients missing from the diets of vegetarian athletes. To get enough B12 (you require only a small amount-2.4 micrograms-per day) try to eat B12-fortified foods like soymilk, and cereal. You can also get enough B12 if you consume eggs, cheese, milk or yogurt.
Avoid Foods That Interfere with Iron Absorption
Some foods contain substances that block the absorption of iron in the intestine. Coffee, whole grains, bran, legumes, and spinach all interfere with iron absorption and should be combined with vitamin C to increase iron absorption.
Talk To Your Doctor About Supplements
Although dietary supplements should not be used to make up for a poor diet, there are times when they can help prevent some deficiencies. Ideally, you should discuss the use of any supplements with your healthcare team.
All athletes are encouraged to eat a balanced diet that includes a wide variety of foods, but vegetarian athletes can rest assured that they don't have to eat meat in order to get adequate nutrition for strength building. If you have concerns about your nutritional status, is is recommended that you talk with your doctor or a registered sports nutritionist to review you eating plan and make recommendations.

Source

D. Enette Larson-Meyer, PhD, RD, FACSM. Vegetarian Sports Nutrition: Food choices and eating plans for fitness and performance, Human Kinetics,
by Elizabeth Quinn

Athletes often look for alternative nutrition to perform at their best. Supplements are a multi-million dollar business that offer some good and some unnecessary products. Here are some tips and information about the more common over the counter supplements.
What is a Supplement?
A supplement is something added to the diet, typically to make up for a nutritional deficiency. Ideally, it should be used as a substitute for eating well. Supplements include the following:

Vitamins
Amino Acids
Minerals
Herbs
Other Botanicals
What Supplements Aren't
Products classified as dietary supplements are not required to meet any Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. There are no regulations that guarantee the safety or purity of something sold as a supplement. Therefore, supplements are not:

Required to meet the same safety requirements as over-the-counter or prescription drugs or food ingredients
Held to specific manufacturing standards
Guaranteed to meet product potency or purity ratings
Required to prove the effectiveness of any health claim they make
Required to meet safety or efficacy testing prior to going to the market
The FDA is prohibited from removing a product from the market unless it can prove that the product will cause a medical problem. Most health risks of supplements are discovered after the product is on the market. Supplements that are pulled from the market are usually linked to a reported serious health risk or death that is tied to the use of the product.

What are Ergogenic Aids and Performance Enhancing Substances?
Erogenic aids consist of substance, drugs, procedures and even devices that are intended to improve athletic performance. Some of these substances are naturally occurring, easily available and completely legal while others are manufactured, illegal, or banned by many sporting organizations.

B-Vitamins
Vitamins are essential for the body to function properly, but there may be a link between the B-vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, B-12 and folate) and performance in high-level athletes.
Caffeine
Caffeine has been used by endurance athletes for years as a way to stay alert and improve endurance.
Creatine
For some athletes, creatine supplementation improves repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise, such as sprinting, weight lifting or power sports.
Ephedrine
Research hasn't found any improvement in strength, endurance, reaction time, anaerobic capacity, or recovery time with ephedrine supplements.
Glucosamine
Glucosamine has been used to treat osteoarthritis and helps stimulates cartilage. But does it help athletic performance?
Glutamine
Glutamine (L- Glutamine) is a classified as a nutritional supplement and is not regulated or banned by most sports organization.
Hydration and Sports Drinks
Adequate fluid intake for athletes is essential to comfort, performance and safety. The longer and more intensely you exercise, the more important it is to drink the right kind of fluids.
Protein Supplements
Protein is a necessary nutrient that everyone needs to function properly. Both athletes and sedentary individuals need to get adequate protein.
Ribose
There is clear evidence that shows an athletic performance benefit of ribose supplements.

Water is the most essential ingredient to a healthy life. Water has many important functions in the body including:
Transportation of nutrients / elimination of waste products.
Lubricating joints and tissues.
Temperature regulation through sweating.
Facilitating digestion.
Importance of Water During Exercise
Proper hydration is especially important during exercise. Adequate fluid intake for athletes is essential to comfort, performance and safety. The longer and more intensely you exercise, the more important it is to drink the right kind of fluids.

Dehydration
Athletes need to stay hydrated for optimal performance. Studies have found that a loss of two or more percent of one's body weight due to sweating is linked to a drop in blood volume. When this occurs, the heart works harder to move blood through the bloodstream. This can also cause muscle cramps, dizziness and fatigue and even heat illness including:

Heat Exhaustion
Heat Stroke
Causes of Dehydration

Inadequate fluid intake
Excessive sweating
Failure to replace fluid losses during and after exercise
Exercising in dry, hot weather
Drinking only when thirsty
Hyponatremia - Water Intoxication
Although rare, recreational exercisers are also at risk of drinking too much water and suffering from hyponatremia or water intoxication. Clearly, drinking the right amount of the right fluids is critical for performance and safety while exercising.

Adequate Fluid Intake for for Athletes
Because there is wide variability in sweat rates, losses and hydration levels of individuals, it is nearly impossible to provide specific recommendations or guidelines about the type or amount of fluids athletes should consume.

Finding the right amount of fluid to drink depends upon a variety of individual factors including the length and intensity of exercise and other individual differences. There are, however, two simple methods of estimating adequate hydration:

Monitoring urine volume output and color. A large amount of light colored, diluted urine probably means you are hydrated; dark colored, concentrated urine probably means you are dehydrated.
Weighing yourself before and after exercise. Any weight lost is likely from fluid, so try to drink enough to replenish those losses. Any weight gain could mean you are drinking more than you need.

High altitude. Exercising at altitude increases your fluid losses and therefore increases you fluid needs.
Temperature. Exercising in the heat increases you fluid losses through sweating and exercise in the cold can impair you ability to recognize fluid losses and increase fluid lost through respiration. In both cases it is important to hydrate.
Sweating. Some athletes sweat more than others. If you sweat a lot you are at greater risk for dehydration. Again, weigh yourself before and after exercise to judge sweat loss.
Exercise Duration and Intensity. Exercising for hours (endurance sports) means you need to drink more and more frequently to avoid dehydration.
To find the correct balance of fluids for exercise, the American College Of Sports Medicine suggests that "individuals should develop customized fluid replacement programs that prevent excessive (greater than 2 percent body weight reductions from baseline body weight) dehydration. The routine measurement of pre- and post-exercise body weights is useful for determining sweat rates and customized fluid replacement programs. Consumption of beverages containing electrolytes and carbohydrates can help sustain fluid-electrolyte balance and exercise performance."

According to the Institute of Medicine the need for carbohydrate and electrolytes replacement during exercise depends on exercise intensity, duration, weather and individual differences in sweat rates. [They write, "fluid replacement beverages might contain ~20-30 meqILj1 sodium (chloride as the anion), ~2-5 meqILj1 potassium and ~5-10% carbohydrate."] Sodium and potassium are to help replace sweat electrolyte losses, and sodium also helps to stimulate thirst. Carbohydrate provides energy for exercise over 60-90 minutes. This can also be provided through energy gels, bars, and other foods.

Sports drinks can be helpful to athletes who are exercising at a high intensity for 60 minutes or more. Fluids supplying 60 to 100 calories per 8 ounces helps to supply the needed calories required for continuous performance. It's really not necessary to replace losses of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes during exercise since you're unlikely to deplete your body's stores of these minerals during normal training. If, however, you find yourself exercising in extreme conditions over 3 or 5 hours (a marathon, Ironman or ultramarathon, for example) you may likely want to add a complex sports drink with electrolytes.