Do multivitamins enhance physical performance?

"Large intakes of multi-vitamin supplements taken over prolonged periods of time have not been shown to enhance physical performance."
(Statement by Sports Nutrition Expert)
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Gary:

In this case, restrict calcium, increase magnesium, sodium, potassium
and copper.  Restrict zinc, increase cobalt and molybdenum.  B
vitamins will improve uptake of these minerals.  Large amounts
 of vitamin C may depress already low copper levels, so no
big doses of vitamin C.
Got the idea?

I agree and disagree.

I have never seen any performance benefits from giving an athlete a multivitamin.  So, we are in agreement with that.

However, I am not in agreement with the implied message in this statement that vitamins, minerals and other nutrients do not improve athlete performance.  To the contrary, huge gains in athletic performance, consistency in training and competition and career longevity can be had from the thoughtful use of vitamins, minerals and so on.

The scattergun use of a multivitamin is next to useless.  A waste of time and money.  Minerals are actually more important than vitamins.  And how about all the different fats, carbohydrates and proteins that are essential for healthy metabolism?  And how about the huge variety of natural antioxidants, including betacarotenoids?  Without a rich supply of all these nutrients, a multivitamin is next to useless.

And what happens if there is already too much of one vitamin?  A multi might just make matters worse.

What is effective is the use of scientific testing to first determine by a hair tissue mineral analysis where there may be excesses and deficiencies within the individual athlete.  There always are.  Once these are determined each deficiency can be progressively corrected by using a building block approach to nutrient supplementation - restricting those in excess while increasing those in deficiency.

Do these things, and not blindly prescribe vitamins, and the improvements in athlete performance can be spectacular.   This is to be had without resorting to heavily promoted sports performance compounds such as creatine and hydroxymethylbyturate.   You can add these later to the athlete's diet  once the basics of nutrition are in place.

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The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.  Please give me your support by subscribing to my free email updates. Please shop at my Online Store. Please encourage your family and friends to do the same. While we may not always be able to compete with the big operators on price, we aim to more than compensate through personal service!

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Do you have a question?  Email Gary: gary@myotec.co.nz. Include any relevant background information to your question.  Please be patient and be aware that I may not be able to answer every inquiry in detail, depending on workloads (My paying clients take precedence!). I will either reply by email or, most likely, by way of an article (Personal identifying details will be removed before publication).

Will creatine improve endurance sports performance?

I am asked now and then if creatine supplementation is beneficial for endurance sports like triathlon, kayaking and cycling, including mountain biking.

After a year or so experimentation myself, I can now say "yes!" Let me explain why:

First of all, here is a reprint of the information about Balance Creatine:

"Creatine is a naturallly occurring compound within the body and is synthesized from 3 amino acids. The muscle cells is a major store of creatine in both its basic and phosphorylated form. Comprehensive research has illustrated that increasing dietary intake of creatine can serve to boost creatine stores within the muscle cell. By loading muscular creatine stores in this way, immediate, high-intensity anaerobic work can be supported for a fraction longer. While a few seconds may not seem significant, it may be the difference between succumbing to, or out-running your opposition. While we typically receive 2-3g of creatine through our daily diet, an additional 5g of supplemental creatine daily is the recommended dosage for progressive creatine loading over the period of 28 days.

Balance Micronised Creatine provides superior grade creatine to assist your performance and help maximise high-intensity work output. Packed in New Zealand, Balance's pharmaceutical grade creatine uses smaller micronised particles. The greater surface area they provide means better mixing, absorption and results.

It is important when using creatine to follow the recommended guidelines. Creatine is unlike other compounds in that excess levels are not regularly flushed from the body. With this in mind it is important to cycle creatine supplementation. Progressive loading can be undertaken as detailed above or a rapid loading phase can be achieved on a daily dosage of 20g for 5 days. Following the loading phase, a 28 day maintenance phase of 2-3g of creatine daily serves to hold maximal levels of muscular creatine. It is then wise to stop supplementation for a period of 4-6 weeks to allow creatine levels to fall back to base values. This avoids the accumulation of creatine metabolites produced during the breakdown process.

As with all dietary changes, it is crucial that you experiment to find your best results. When creatine is held within the muscle it also causes water to be retained and can result in weight gain up to 1kg following the onset of supplementation. It is important therefore to weigh up both the benefits of creatine and the impact that carrying a little more weight will have on your performance. "

Ok, that's the science and the propaganda over with! Now let's explain why creatine might be beneficial for sports like cycling, paddling etc.

First of all, I have never noticed a weight gain when using creatine. This might be because the heaps of endurance training while taking it helps keep the muyscles lean. A bulking up might happen if the bulk of my exercise was lifting weights in a gym. Mind you - I have never been able to bulk up. Wrong genes!

Creatine improves explosive power of not more than about 10 seconds. Creatine improves recovery immediately following those explosive bursts. So, how will that assist competing in an endurance race?

If we were to put a power meter on a cyclist in, say a 100km race, what we would discover is there is barely any steady state cycling. Instead, what we would see is several hours of repeated power bursts, some as brief as a few seconds with others much longer: thousands of them as the bunch surges back and forth! In between, the cyclist gasps for air, desperately trying to recover before the next burst of intense effort. The cyclist who wins is the last one standing with sufficient reserve for a final all out sprint to the line.

Kayaking is similar: A 500m flat race always begins with a mad sprint, a middle phase of hanging in there and desperate recovery, followed by a final attempt at sprinting to the line. Down-river kayaking is seldom steady state, with constant bursts of power to correct for eddies and rocks and negotiating rapids. Slalom is all about repeated bursts of power.

Mountain bike riding is never steady state, being repeated bursts of power to negotiate a sharp climb, to get over an obstacle or to pass a flagging opponent and grunty hill climbs.

Creatine has a place in the athletes nutritional repertoire, when taken in accordance with the guidelines above and cycled in such a way that useage peaks with competition cycles. Not much is needed: there is probably no benefit taking more than the recommended amounts - less may be just as good for an endurance athlete with maybe a wee boost before the Big One.

Note: If you want to fine tune your nutrition for health and competition, I am available for one-on-one consultations.

Which sports drink is best?

Hello Gary:
I figure you'd have a very good idea of what are good energy drinks and which are just sugar water.....
I've recently begun running (well, jogging actually) and I'm trying to figure out what's a good sports drink to replenish the electrolytes I'm losing. I can't keep Gatorade down, never have been able to and I'm not sure why....
My goal is to finish a 5K this year - I know that's not very far, but because of my arthritis this will be a huge accomplishment for me. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time!

Shimmies, USA
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Gary Moller comments:

Shimmies, if you troll through my websites you will discover that I am not much of a promoter of sports drinks, especially the gels which are little more than excessively over-priced concentrated corn syrup in most cases.

• Electrolytes are best built up over months and even years, by a diet that is rich in leafy vegetables, organ meats like liver and broths made from stewing bones and gristle. You may also consider a multi mineral supplement that has magnesium in it. Nutralife Calcium Complete is a good one to consider.
• Even if you are sweating heavily, a properly nourished and acclimatised body can go for several days without suffering ill effects of electrolyte depletion. Train for the conditions that you expect to be competing in and you can drink plain water.
• Plain water is best, especially over short distances. Far too many people have trouble with keeping down electrolyte drinks, or avoiding digestive upset when exercising hard. Do not get sucked in by commercially flavoured drinks studies that try to convince you that their product is better.
• Read Training for a Marathon and take special note about how to make better use of your natural stores of energy.

Arthritis
If you have any form of joint arthritis, be it osteo or rheumatoid in nature, follow these general rules of thumb when running or walking:

• Vary the terrain and surfaces. Undulating off-road trails are best that require constant changing of pace, stride length and which challenge the reflexes.
• Do rhythmic calisthenic-type exercises that take the joints through their full range of motion. Conversly, avoid repetitive exercise, like shuffle running that does not take the joints through their range of motion.
• Do speed work on grass, regardless of fitness, at least once weekly with emphasis on increasing stride length and mobility.
• Get your vitamin D levels tested [25(OH)D]. If below a measure of 50, then get daily sunlight until measures exceed 50. Vitamin D is essential for strong bones and a stable immune system.
• Consume daily joint food. It is beneficial for rheumatoid as well as osteoarthritic conditions.
• Take a multi mineral that includes calcium and magnesium as per my earlier advice.
• Take additional Omega3 oils as both natural anti-inflammatories and for joint health.