Treatise on Nutrition and Supplementation

[SB39 2]

OK, y'all,

I understand that workout supplements are seductive in what they promise and in what you read about them working, but you have to underrstand something; they come near last in the hierarchy of importance of factors of athletic success. First, comes desire, the fountain from which all else flows. Next, comes form; athletic technique/education and specifics of nutrition. Then, come the additives; upgrading equipment, supplements, hockey schools... Why are guys like Ron Francis, Tim Duncan, and Ray Lewis so good...? Answer: they mastered the fundamentals of their respective games, and I would like to call particular attention to Ray Lewis because of his intensity, preparation, performance, and ensuing reputation.

Now, I'm not directing this at anybody in particular, but I have received a lot of PM's about what supps to take for certain goals (pure strength without size, fat loss without sacrificing muscle...), and I've had to repeat the same general advice, tweaking it for each person, personal situation, and set of goals. We all play hockey, and since we're on this psychotic messageboard, I assume we all have the desire down. Good. We have widely varying skill levels here, so you have to figure out for yourself how much you need to focus on skill/mind development at the somewhat exclusion of other factors.

For supplements, understand that they are called supplements for a reason: they are meant to be ADDITIONS to an already solid diet and workout. You have to read up on proper nutrition, about which recent developments (last 15-20 years) have made the traditional food pyramid that we see in textbooks obsolete. Once you have the proper food selection and meal frequency set up and in place so that it is no longer a 'diet' but a daily routine, then you can start thinking about adding whey protein, glutamine peptides, creatine, and whatnot else. Before even thinking about supps, you should already be taking a multivitamin, some sort of EFA's, and extra antioxidants to help with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

About supplements themselves, they will generally enhance the effect of exercise on your body (fat burners...), enhance your capacity to exercise (creatine, maybe glutamine, energy enhancers...), or enhance recovery (glutamine, whey...). Losing fat, getting stronger without bulking, and any other body composition goal are to be won or lost on the strength of your diet first, workout second, and supplements a distant third.

Again, I am not trying to chastize people for asking me for advice, because I take that as a great personal compliment in each case, but most people I have dealt with, in training or on this board, have the entirely wrong concept of how all these factors interact, and it is very clear to me because I used to be the same way and it took a lot of education and learning the hard way to beat that out of me. I welcome petitions for advice, but for you to make any real progress, you need to understand first, then proceed forward...

PS. I PMed this to another member and though you all could use this discussion on another board about food and the pH of one's body...

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/showthread.php?t=225307

[Eazy_b97 1]

Great post SB39, I know I was one of the guys who PMed you, and inquired about certain supp's and I have no problem admitting I'm uneducated. I got a reply very similar to this, I live in a house where good diet and steady exercise is preached, and am aware that currently I am not where I should be, but it is within myself to turn things around, and until I turn my work ethic around Supps will be wasted on a guy like me.

Bottom line, great post, if you want results put in the effort first and use the others "additions" to an already steady and healthy life style.

[EndBoards 0]

Great post SB.. When I first joined MSH a few weeks ago, I read through a certain thread that doesn't need to be re-hashed.. :D I wish I was a member back then so I could've participated..

To put it simply: If included in a properly planned & executed diet & training program, supplementing your diet with creatine and protein greatly enhances gains in lean muscle mass, strength, endurance, and power. Period.

Theo montioned some books.. I have the one by Peter Twist's book right next to me. He's very biased against supplements of any kind. His exact words are "Protein supplements, amino acid supplements, and most other 'miracle' methods of gaining weight are a waste of money."

It's true that lots of the stuff out there is gimmicky and not at all helpful. However, there are hundreds of independent studies over many years that prove the effectiveness of creatine and protein supplementation. The rest of Mr. Twist's book is excellent, but he really needs to brush up on his research for this section.

[EndBoards 0]

I did a quick search for some studies and found this page..

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelate...H/creatine.html

At the bottom there are 20 links to various studies done on creatine. I clicked on a few and found that most of them found significant performance increases in the use of creatine.

The important thing is to educate yourself. Creatine in itself does not build muscle or make you a better hockey player. What it does do is provide a larger supply of anaerobic (i.e. short term) energy.

Here's how it works. Your body has three energy systems.

1. Anaerobic Alacitc (no oxygen, no lactic acid - good for 30-60 seconds of maximum strength, power & intensity.)

2. Anaerobic Lactic (no oxygen, with lactic acid - good for 60-90 seconds of high strength, power, & intensity)

3. Aerobic (with oxygen - good for hours of low strength, power & intensity)

The first part of system #1 lasts 10 seconds and uses chemical fuel (I forget what it's called) that is stored in your muscle. After that fuel supply is used up, your muscles turn to the supply of creatine for fuel. After the supply of creatine is used up, your body switches to system #2 which produces lactic acid (the cause of the burning sensation in your muscles). After the energy available in your lactic system is used up, your body switches to #3.

Think about it - at the beginning of a shift, you're breathing easy and playing at maximum intensity with no muscle burning. You're using system #1. After a minute or so, your muscles begin to burn. That indicates that you're beginning to use up the energy supply of system #2. Right about this time, your body is figuring out that it might need energy for a while, so your heart rate and breathing starts to ramp up. After two minutes, your heart and breathing are going wild delivering as much oxygen to your muscles as possible. That's system #3 kicking in.

Supplementing your diet with creatine helps energy system #1 last longer. In hockey, that means that you'll get an extra 20-30 seconds of maximum effort before your muscles start to burn. If you're weight training, it means you'll be able to do 7 or 8 reps of ___lbs. instead of just 5 - which over time will result in additional lean muscle mass.

Understanding what creatine does and how to take advantage of its effects is an important part of using it. If you take creatine, but don't increase your weight/reps in the gym it's not going to help. If you take creatine, but shortchange yourself on shift length or intensity, then it's not going to help...

Hopefully this long-winded mess will actually help some folks..

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Hey short question for SB39, how much water per day should a hockey player drink?