5 Supplements for Performance

Here are 5 natural supplements for performance that you could consider for performance:

1. Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant with well-established benefits for performance. It is by far the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, found in coffee beans, tea leaves and chocolate  (cocoa beans) and cola nuts.

Benefits

• Improved vigilance and alertness when sleep-deprived
• Makes endurance exercise “feel easier”
• Enhances maximal intensity, but only in trained persons.
• The jury is still out on the significance of how well caffeine aids strength and power performance.

2. Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that is made in the body. It is also found in red meat and fish. 95% of stores are found in skeletal muscle and it plays an important role in the maintenance of energy availability.

Benefits

• Acute improvement in performance of single and repeated bouts of sprints especially in tasks lasting <30s.
• Chronic benefits include include lean muscle gains and improvements in strength and power.

3. Nitrates

Inorganic nitrate is a natural component of many foods, notably green leafy vegetables and beetroot (also as a preservative in products such as cured meats). It is converted to nitric oxide in the body which has beneficial impacts on blood flow.

Benefits

• Improved time to exhaustion and endurance time trial events lasting < 40 minutes.
• Improved high intensity sprint and power actions in team based activity settings lasting from 12 to 40 minutes.

4. Beta-Alanine

Beta-alanine is an amino acid that is produced endogenously in the liver, or consumed in proteins.  This amino acid acts as a precursor for carnosine synthesis, an intracellular buffer.

Benefits

• Improved single and repeated bouts of high-intensity performance efforts lasting from around 30 seconds to 10 minutes.

5. Sodium Bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate is an alkalinizer that improves extracellular buffering capacity (as opposed to intracellular buffering as seen with beta-alanine).

Benefits

• Improved single and repeated bouts of high-intensity performance efforts lasting from around 30 seconds to 10 minutes.

Disclaimer: This post is purely informational, and you should work with a professional to determine whether it is the correct path.

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