Gymnasts require immense amounts of energy to compete at national and international competitions, which often span multiple days with hours of training involved for each competition.
Pre-workout supplements are multi-ingredient dietary formulas designed to increase energy and nutrients to promote optimal performance over time. Both collegiate and elite gymnasts may be subject to random drug testing by NCAA and WADA, meaning they must take special precaution in selecting their supplements carefully.
Magnesium Bisglycinate
Magnesium has an unlikely role to play in sports nutrition. While it plays a crucial role in energy metabolism and helping with sleep quality, research has also demonstrated its value in maintaining peak levels of performance during exercise.
Magnesium plays an essential role in any workout by helping muscles contract and relax – an essential aspect of high intensity sessions where lactic acid build-up restricts performance. Furthermore, magnesium acts as an anti-inflammatory that reduces post-workout soreness while supporting recovery of muscles.
As more athletes turn to magnesium supplements for fueling enzymatic reactions and meeting FDA RDA recommendations for essential nutrient intake, its increase in popularity among athletes shouldn’t come as a shock.
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Vitamin D
Athletes must maintain adequate levels of Vitamin D to support bone and muscle health, which in turn supports their athletic performance. Vitamin D plays an essential role in producing ATP, the energy currency for our bodies. A combination of diet and supplements should help athletes ensure sufficient circulating levels of Vitamin D.
Studies have revealed that Vitamin D deficiency is common among young athletes and may significantly impede performance. Athletes can consume more Vitamin D through fortified food such as milk, nondairy alternatives to milk alternatives and cereals containing extra fortification of this nutrient.
Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to diminish muscle strength and increase the rate of bone fractures, potentially impeding recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage and slowing recovery time.
Gymnasts need to consume whole grains, protein-rich foods, fruits and vegetables regularly and drink enough fluids. Athletes may also benefit from using supplements like Branched Chain Amino Acids, Caffeine Beta Alanine Fish Oil/Omega-3 that may improve endurance by delaying DOMS symptoms while supporting glucose metabolism during exercise; they also support lean muscle growth by supporting metabolism of glucose during workouts and maintain lean muscle mass development and maintenance.
L-Carnitine
L-Carnitine offers numerous health advantages: endurance, weight loss, muscle repair protection and amplified fat-burning are among the many. Furthermore, L-Carnitine also boosts brain function and regulates blood sugar. Produced naturally by livers and kidneys from amino acids lysine and methionine production but available as supplements as well; stored mainly within muscles with trace amounts found in blood and liver tissue stores.
Research supports that carnitine can improve endurance by decreasing lactic acid accumulation, thus improving sprints and other short-duration exercises. One study indicated that professional soccer players who consumed three to four grams of carnitine daily saw their time until exhaustion increase significantly.
Carnitine transports fatty acids into mitochondria for b-oxidation and energy conversion into the form of ATP, as well as attaching itself to proteins such as Coenzyme A through its acetyl group to help them work more effectively. Human bodies have the capability of storing carnitine for later use; typically those eating lots of animal products have plenty.
Beta-Alanine
Beta-Alanine is an essential amino acid produced in your body that does not need to be obtained through food sources. When taken orally, beta-Alanine forms a dipeptide with histidine called carnosine that reduces muscle lactate build-up during intense exercise thereby delaying fatigue and improving performance.
CarnoSyn(r) helps replenish muscle stores of carnosine to reduce acidity and enhance glucose uptake, ultimately leading to energy issues and fatigue. CarnoSyn(r) helps replenish these stores of carnosine naturally produced in your body for reduced muscle acidity and greater endurance.
Carnosine has been proven to help facilitate workouts over time for aerobic and anaerobic athletes, including gymnastics, rowing and cycling (de Salles Painelli et al. 2014; Saunders et al. 2017). Unfortunately it seems less beneficial for strength-focused training due to energy systems differing during power-focused workouts which requires different buffering strategies; however studies demonstrating its benefits do offer hope that future research may uncover ways to make carnosine even more effective for these athletes.
Caffeine
Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is a natural stimulant used to improve central nervous system (CNS). It works by interfering with adenosine’s action on certain brain cells and decreasing its inhibitory effects – leading to greater focus and alertness as a result of less inhibitory brain activity. Furthermore, caffeine also accelerates fat breakdown while improving neuromuscular function.
Prior to competition and training sessions, athletes are advised to consume low to moderate doses of caffeine as habitual consumption may counteract its ergogenic benefits. It is best taken as a supplement rather than coffee or tea so as to maintain control over dosing; generally speaking it reaches peak blood concentration about an hour post ingestion.
Studies indicate that 3-6 mg of caffeine per kg bodyweight is an effective means of improving endurance exercise performance, making this amount readily available through sports drinks, gels and chews. However, some athletes are known as slow metabolizers who may not reap any benefit from caffeinated intervention; such athletes would likely do better with carb-containing energy sources like bananas or fruit instead.