With or without supplements?

When I talk about protein or supplements I sometimes feel special reactions: Some practitioners would tend to consider supplements as a kind of magic potion. I even knew some people who no longer ate and were only eating protein shakes all day long. Be careful, let's be clear, a protein shake is nothing like Popeye's spinach or Asterix's magic potion! For me, a protein shake is a quick and easy way to get the body the amount of protein it needs. In this protein shake, there are milk or egg that are concentrated and taste great! It simply means that the milk has been filtered, the fat has been removed and the protein kept, a flavour has been added, so you can enjoy this benefit if you don't have time to cook or take the time to eat. In the factory, for example, some workers cannot take a break to eat but they are allowed to drink. So this is the opportunity to have a protein shake.

It is therefore imperative not to give your body a single diet but to leave it a variety of nutrients at its disposal for its balance. A good diet or rather a good control of the diet is essential to the dietary balance of a good athlete!

Certainly an athlete needs protein but also fibres, minerals, slow carbohydrates etc... So before talking about supplements, he needs a base that is his diet. Supplements should only be a part of it. A question often asked to me, which is exactly the opposite of the previous question: "Can we progress without supplements? »

Why not? If your body has everything it needs to progress, yes... But sometimes it is difficult to get everything you need for good training through food. If you need one gram of vitamin C per day, for example, you will need to drink two and a half litres of orange juice, or eat 10 oranges to get the same amount. As for the price of vitamins, it will surely be below that of 10 oranges per day.

This is just one example, of course, but just to show you that in fact what is important in everything is balance. There is no point in defending one vision or another, there must be a balance between a balanced diet, not too restrictive in its realization and easy in its application.

If you want to know if everything is going well in your body, take regular blood tests to see if there is a latent problem. You can also have clues: As long as you progress without hurting yourself, you are on the right track.

On the other hand, there are also supplements that can boost your training, your performance or your shape, such as creatine, arginine, bcaas, tribulus terristris, taurine, guarana, caffeine, fat burners...

I will take the time to develop each of these supplements in detail in a future article, but know that if used properly they will help you boost your performance.

Yves Bondroit coach for QNT