Jason Kelly 
Nutrition and supplements are a must to maximize your martial arts. Knowing the right foods and supplements to take will elevate and boost your performance. However, the nutrition and supplement industry is a billion-dollar business. Therefore, you need to understand what supplements work and which ones waste your money. Here is one safe and highly effective supplement and three others you can do without.
Testosterone Boosters
Testosterone boosters promise to increase your testosterone levels and improve your athletic performance. However, before you fall for this hype, realize that not all research conducted on these products is trustworthy. A study done showed boosters worked for people who have low testosterone and not for normal levels. Just because a study with positive results was published doesn’t mean it applies to everyone to get the same result.
The Truth
Your body makes testosterone. Therefore, people with normal testosterone levels did not experience any benefit. Think about it; if OTC testosterone boosters really work, they probably would be banned for purchase. The reason steroids are illegal. If they increased testosterone levels and boosted performance, athletes would fail drug tests.
The Verdict
Not worth the buy because they will not raise testosterone.
BCAA- Branched Chain Amino Acids
Branched Chain Amino Acids are essential for rebuilding muscles and energy production. In addition, BCAA’s are necessary for martial artists and their strength training programs.
The Truth
This is another “your body makes it moment.” Yes, your body makes glutamine. The amount of BCAA you need per day is on a big scale, between 5 and 20 grams each day. First, BCAA’s are added to most protein powders. Secondly, they are in a lot of protein foods. A chicken breast, for example, has about 5.8 grams. A can of tuna has about 5.2 grams. A glass of milk has about 2.2 grams. And two eggs have 3.3 grams BCAA.
The Verdict
You don’t need to waste your money and buy these supplements.
Glutamine
Glutamine is essential to improve muscle recovery and fuel protein synthesis. Like testosterone, the research conducted showed success in people who were ill and had stress that lowered their glutamine levels. What you must understand about supplements are, that being deficient has a different effect than normal. Be careful of sensationalized marketing. If your glutamine is at a normal level, then you will not have any benefit.
The Truth
Your body makes glutamine. So, if you focus on your protein consumption, it will stimulate the body to make glutamine. You only need about a minimum of 2 to 5 grams max of glutamine each day. For example, if you eat chicken, a breast is about 3.5 grams. Drinking milk provides 1 gram. Eating two eggs offers 1.2 grams. And 100 grams of beef has 1.2 grams of glutamine. About 50 cashews, about two handfuls, have 2.2 grams.
The Verdict
Save your money. The body will urinate it out.
Here is What Works- Creatine
Creatine does improve athletic performance in many ways. It increases ATP in your muscles, making it perfect for high-intensity exercise. Endurance exercise and low-intensity performance do not really benefit from creatine supplementation. This is because they rely less on ATP.
The Verdict
Creatine is perfect for MMA and can be beneficial because of its high-intensity movements.
Effects on MMA Performance
Creatine is used to enhance and boost your potential for high-intensity exercise.
Creatine significantly increases resistance training and strength training.Significantly increase sprint speed and reduce 40-meter sprint times.Improved elite swimmers’ sprint times significantly compared to swim training only.Enhanced players 5- and 15-meter sprint times in soccer players.Improves jump training and performance.
How to Creatine Dosage
Start by taking 15-20 grams for three-five days. Then, spread out the 5-gram servings four times throughout the day. Just start with 5 grams a day if you do not want to do the loading phase at 15 to 20 grams.
Eating a protein or a carbohydrate meal will help your muscles absorb creatine more effectively.
After 3-5 days of loading, kick back to 5 grams per day.
Creatine uses water to be absorbed into your muscles for energy so stay hydrated.
Creatine Side Effects
Creatine is a supplement that has been immensely studied and researched. Creating is healthy to take every day and will not damage your liver or kidneys
Always do your own research when buying supplements. Some are very beneficial and work.
Understand that what your body makes naturally, you don’t need. And what your body does not make, for example, something like resveratrol, can be beneficial to take. The body functions best through nutritional balance and harmony to maximize performance, energy, and recovery.
Fitness, Supplements, Health, Nutrition
Black Belt Magazine
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