Athletic performance enhancement supplements, like caffeine, have become popular choices among athletes. While its research base and availability in low to moderate dosages make caffeine accessible, other substances, like beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate can have unpredictable results on performance.
Two-thirds of elite track and field athletes reported using dietary supplements designed or claimed to enhance athletic performance. [1]
Caffeine
Professional athletes often incorporate caffeine into their daily diet as it has been shown to enhance performance. Caffeine’s stimulating properties can extend exercise endurance, delay fatigue, increase muscle glycogen availability and promote fat oxidation; all of which serve to spare muscle carbohydrate stores while improving endurance (1).
Researchers have demonstrated that taking moderate doses of caffeine (3-6 mg/kg body weight) before and during exercise increases endurance in both laboratory and field studies (2-3). Furthermore, energy drinks containing caffeine have also shown to enhance endurance (3,4).
Individual responses to caffeine vary considerably, as some respond negatively or barely at all (5,6). This could be the result of polymorphisms of the CYP1A2 gene which influence how caffeine is processed by the body; research indicates that timing of ingestion is crucial for optimizing performance benefits (6,7); however some studies have demonstrated that taking caffeine first thing in the morning does not improve performance (7,8).
Creatine
Creatine monohydrate has long been acknowledged for its benefits as an ergogenic aid that enhances exercise performance. Studies have demonstrated its benefits by showing how creatine monohydrate increases strength during exercises lasting less than 3 minutes, sprint performance, fat-free mass gains and muscular power [3, 8, 9 12, 14].
Creatine not only boosts athletic performance but can also reduce muscle damage during exercise by speeding recovery time and increasing anabolic hormones that promote muscle growth. Furthermore, creatine has also been proven to alleviate mental fatigue and enhance cognitive performance during endurance sports competition.
For optimal creatine performance, experts advise taking three to five grams daily in three to five divided doses. Athletes sometimes increase their intake up to 20 grams over several days (spread out into smaller dosages) but this isn’t necessary. To avoid potential side effects and ensure you only purchase supplements containing pure creatine monohydrate with third-party certification such as NSF Certified for Sport or Informed Choice certifications.
L-Arginine
L-arginine is an amino acid which plays a key role in producing nitric oxide, an important vasodilatory compound that increases blood flow to muscles during exercise. Nitric oxide has vasodilatory properties and improves oxygen delivery to muscle groups during workouts while decreasing post-exercise lactate and ammonia levels, speeding recovery.
Researchers conducted a recent study assessing the effect of arginine supplementation on performance and body composition among 56 male soccer players for 45 days. Players either took a placebo pill or 2 grams of arginine daily; results demonstrated that supplementing with arginine improved sprint capacity without impacting strength; reduced total body fat mass while increasing lean body mass and increasing muscle mass.
Research must continue in order to ascertain the optimal dosage and effects of arginine for various athletes, as well as which training methodologies enhance its efficacy. Furthermore, standardizing supplementation protocols would help create consistency across methods used.
L-Glutamine
L-Glutamine is an invaluable amino acid for muscle growth and recovery. It stimulates protein synthesis while helping prevent muscle breakdown during intense physical exercise. Furthermore, L-Glutamine supports cell hydration while strengthening immune function during and post training sessions.
Research has demonstrated that supplementing with glutamine reduces fatigue markers during prolonged exercises, such as increased blood CK levels. Furthermore, glutamine supplementation enhances glycogen synthesis and decreases ammonia accumulation in muscles; additionally it has been demonstrated that taking glutamine regularly maintains a positive nitrogen balance within the body, essential for protein synthesis and anabolism.
Glutamine supplementation has been demonstrated to effectively increase endurance exercise time until fatigue, as well as reduce anaerobic sprint tests’ serum creatine kinase (CK) declines, with improved basketball shooting performance and visual reaction times when compared with water consumption. Furthermore, L-alanyl-L-glutamine has been found to increase hypothalamic serotonin concentrations but does not impact key fatigue markers such as RPE measurements[45].
