I'd like to preface this blog by letting you know that I'm not a big supplement guy. I love reading all of the research and trying to find ways to help my clients and athletes gain a legal competitive edge, but the industry creates far too much hype. Rarely does a supplement really stand out and offer something that food can't provide you in the first place. After all, magnesium and other supplements usually provide something that you need in pretty trace amounts (aka micr

Even though all supplements in themselves have very limited effects in the body, they are a blast to research and study. Also, if you can locate a few that work in harmony, then "supplement stacking" can create an effective synergy for you that is better than any single one alone and definitely may be worthwhile. We live in a very stressful world and "Fight or Flight" is all too common. Not to mention chronic stress's link to various types of potential disease. So, if some

Beta-Alanine is one of those supplements that has flown under the radar compared to the common, predictable supplement trends. How does beta-alanine work? The notion is pretty simple. Beta-alanine converts to Carnosine in the body and is a major contributor to buffering hydrogen ions from lactate production that inevitably accumulates during intense, continuous exercise in the 1-3 minute range. This information would apply to a certain type and percentage of athletes (400m r

I'm sure that if you have been reading research or are a fitness enthusiast, you have heard Citrulline advertised all over the supplement market as of late. The next obvious question is what it does and whether it is worthwhile for any of your training goals. Understand that much of the potential benefit of Citrulline centers around general health measures; however, research has aimed at looking at whether or not it has any merit when it comes to aerobic exercise and streng

BCAA’s are another one of the most popular muscle-building/sports performance supplements on the market today. On paper, BCAA’s sound amazing. BCAA’s make up approximately one third of the protein content of muscle and include the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Unfortunately, research for BCAA supplementation in the presence of adequate protein intake for a referenced athlete or individual does not seem to promote a benefit.1 Another example can clearly be see

We are all familiar with the classic phrase, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Well, it couldn't be more the case here, and it always applies when truth is being spoken. I rarely re-purpose content, and if I do, I'm adding in more information, but the advice below stems from a book I wrote nearly ten years ago. See here. What's not surprising is that literally the same advice being routinely advocated on social media platforms and across the web regar

Zinc and magnesium are two potential powerhouse supplements that can be difficult to get enough of from diet alone. Especially zinc with competitive athletes, since this micronutrient is excreted rapidly with higher sweat or perspiration rates.1 I want to warn you that this quick blog is just a simple "primer" on each of these supplements, especially Magnesium. As you may know, Magnesium is involved in hundreds of distinct and important reactions in the human body and would

Vitamin D undoubtedly remains one of the most hyped and popular sports supplements on the market today. In this blog, you will discover answers to some of the more common topics related to this sports supplement. To get things kicked off, here is a quick and very detailed primer that I contributed to over at T-Nation.com . It depicts how The Vitamin D pathway works in the body, along with some more evidence for athletes who may be lacking in the vitamin if you are intereste

As it stands, training status seems to play a significant role in whether nitric oxide will be useful to an athlete, and research has been limited to young males exclusively, so more work is needed to examine other training populations. However, in untrained or moderately trained individuals, NO may improve performance. With those who are highly trained, the benefits of incorporating NO are unlikely. 2 Let's Look at The Research A study found an anaerobic sprinting ben

Glutamine, or L-Glutamine as it’s often called, is one of the more popular and hyped up sports supplements on the training market today. Moreover, Glutamine is often associated with false claims that Glutamine supplementation is essential and helps speed up the recovery and muscle-building process and is more related to performance outcomes. I’m here to hopefully offer some relief and provide you with a clear perspective on the supplement, how it applies to the research, and