supplements
loonytoon
Posts: 673
in General Chat
I was reading in the "Triathlon training bibble" about the following supplements
creatine...which basically said this was a good way of boosting endurance abit like (as i inturpret it) carbo loading
and
Branched Chained Aminos - which to para phrase again are good for preventing the body from using protien from muscle when exercising hard and amongst other things the apparently help maintain the immune system after hard workouts or race..they sound almost like a engery source (kinda like these 4:1 energy drinks)
Both these it suggests are most useful to us during hard training phases and racing. A point in my training I am getting to now.
I currently have a protein shake after work outs as well as my normal diet (increase because of the work load).
I am not expecting either of the above to give me a competive edge more allow me to recover from efforts quicker. Does anybody have any experience of these? if so did they help...
cheers
the loony (ian)
creatine...which basically said this was a good way of boosting endurance abit like (as i inturpret it) carbo loading
and
Branched Chained Aminos - which to para phrase again are good for preventing the body from using protien from muscle when exercising hard and amongst other things the apparently help maintain the immune system after hard workouts or race..they sound almost like a engery source (kinda like these 4:1 energy drinks)
Both these it suggests are most useful to us during hard training phases and racing. A point in my training I am getting to now.
I currently have a protein shake after work outs as well as my normal diet (increase because of the work load).
I am not expecting either of the above to give me a competive edge more allow me to recover from efforts quicker. Does anybody have any experience of these? if so did they help...
cheers
the loony (ian)
0
Comments
I have seen some info about Creatine some good some flat. haven't used it.
On a similar point, a lot of you are intending to spend hours on your 70.3s etc and need to make sure that you hae the best sports drinks etc.. The reason for this post is that a friend of mine ran London and ended up in hospital because his blood salt levels had dropped through the floor, this was accompanied by his blood pressure and his temperature, then his hearing turned itself off!
If you are intending to be spending over 2 hours in an event you really must try out the drinks in training, make sure that you don't just drink carb drinks but include electrolyte replacement drinks (not just sugar, but salt as well)
If in doubt take a bag of low fat Walkerrs crisps.
De hydration used to be the biggest problem at London, now it is the opposite; some of this is due to people drinking too much and diluting their blood for others it is just low salts to begin with.
David
I think I am probably gonna stick with protein shake post work out and the nessacary sports drinks during it. I am not sure that at this stage of my career(odd choice of words) that this sort of thing (creatine / amino stuff) will help..
I have heard the same about about creatine though one thing that I read is that it my benifit veggies as they don't get it naturally from meats - although I am not veggie my wife is and I tend to eat 3/4s or more meat free...
on your note about salt/water etc I have just recieve my delivery of "high5 with super carbs" and free gels which I intend to sample over the next few weeks training to see which taste bad or not
From what ive learnt in Biochemistry Creatine is only really a benefit to explosive events and even then it depends on the individual (ie if you are a veggie) and remains highly controversial. The theory behind is that it buffers hydrogen ions and enables faster resynthesis of creatine phosphate post ex- the energy system that fuels anaerobic exercise.
On the negative it can lead to weight gain (from water retention) which as Triathletes we can do without, also as a relatively new supplement the long term effects are unknown. There are also issues regarding the way that it is manufactured- it may not be pure therefore if your thinkin about ever going elite (hmmm) it may contaminate drugs tests.
Regarding the branched chain amino acids (essential amino acids) these are not metabolised naturally by the body therefore we rely on obtaining them simply though a normal diet. Again amino acid supplements may be harmful and there is no hard eveidence to support there use.
You are right to take your shake immediately post ex as this is when your body is more switched on for protein synthesis.
Stick with the protein shakes and a good balanced diet
Zoe
i'm no scientist and do not know the science behind supplements , creatine, amino acids etc, but i have tried creatine and just thought i'd add my own experiences,
i used to box and took creatine for one time before a fight, approximately 10 weeks of taking it and training very hard, this was the first time i used it, my strength and speed increased dramatically, sprinting and running over distances up to about 3 miles, i did, put on a little weight but had to monitor this to be the correct weight, i also needed to drink more and had very dry lips, however over longer distances i tired and didn't feel much benefit,
the second time i tried it i was stiil doing some boxing though not much and was doing sprint tri's, this time i felt no effect at all.
the third time was last year when i took up triathlon again after a few years off, doing mainly sprints and a few olympic's, i thought it would help me get back into training and give me a boost after a few years off (hence fatmatt), this time the only effects i felt were, a 'really' bad stomach and loss of energy, tiredness etc.. i stopped after a week or so and haven't tried since.
obviously everyone is different and will react differently, but this is just my experiences,
personally i don't think creatine is useful for more than sprint distances, and even then i'm sticking with a good diet.
fatmatt
Here's some info re optygen (it's becoming increasing popular):
The adaptogens in OPTYGEN have been studied extensively for their ability to:
[ul][*]Increase VO2Max
[*]Increase the body's ability to adapt to high levels of physical stress
[*]Increase anaerobic threshold
[*]Reduce lactic acid[/ul]
Supplementwatch.com (an independent research company) evaluated nine of the most popular endurance supplements and OPTYGEN was RANKED THE #1 ENDURANCE SUPPLEMENT. In the research study, Supplementwatch.com stated: "OPTYGEN is certainly poised to offer a decent shot at improved oxygen efficiency -and reduced lactate and increase performance as a result." Procycling magazine added OPTYGEN in their "Wish list" category in the September 2002 issue and said: OPTYGEN is a "legal, pure and effective pill." and OPTYGEN is "worth considering if you're a competing athlete."