Adam Kemp Fitness

Fitness Blog | Professional Athlete

Workout Supplements

The Best Workout Supplements

There are literally thousands of health and diet supplements on the market, and very few of them are effective or healthy for your body.  When I first began training, I wanted to try and use every supplement on the market.  The more I learned about what I was putting in to my body, the less supplements I wanted to buy.

The biggest issue with the supplement market is that it is not regulated by any governing body, and marketing makes it very difficult to determine what you should be buying.

Luckily, I have used myself and other personal experiences to learn about and test many supplements and products, and you can find real reviews and information on dietary supplements right here!

Don’t waste your money on expensive and useless supplements, take the time to learn what your body needs from the information I have provided!

How to Use Workout Supplements Properly

how to use supplements correctly to improve your health

Before you use a nutritional supplement, it is important to understand its purpose. A dietary supplement is supposed to compliment your current diet by boosting the amounts of nutrients you intake per day.

In other words, dietary or nutritional supplements serve to boost health and wellness.

Fitness enthusiasts ingest vitamins, minerals, and other dietary supplements to increase their energy level, their ability to recover after workouts, for weight loss and muscle gain, and their general health.

Pregnant women need to take specific dietary supplements such as iron, folic acid, Omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, and others to help in the growth and formation of their baby.

Supplements are a necessity especially in our age where modern farming techniques employ fertilizers that deplete the soil of essential nutrients. The world simply is not producing as nutritious food as it used to.

Nonetheless, understanding the rules and regulations of dietary supplement-ingestion can be quite a challenge.

Common questions about how to use dietary supplements include:

  • What supplements are the best weight loss solution?
  • Which dietary supplements will help you build more lean muscle mass?
  • What are the right foods to ingest in combination?
  • What’s the best time to take a dietary supplement?

 

These are a few of the common frequently asked questions about how to use dietary supplements, but not the only ones! People don’t want to take these supplements and invest their money for no reason; they want them to work effectively.

Health enthusiasts often make easily avoidable mistakes, which doesn’t need to happen.

Keep reading below to find a short and important list of supplement tips and tricks that will help you maximize your use of dietary supplements!

1.) Take the Correct Dosage

Do your best to resist the temptation to disregard the dosage recommendations suggested by your doctor or written on the label of your dietary supplements.

These dosages designated by the doctor or manufacturing company are most-likely for a specific reason, and you should not tamper with this.

Don’t forget that these supplements are supposed to enhance the nutrients you have already obtained from your meals, and they are not a substitute for a poor diet.

As the name implies, its purpose is to supplement your meal; not to replace it.

Beware of taking more than the prescription allows, as there are many possible side effects. As the saying goes, too much of anything (even dietary supplements) is bad for your health.

Research has shown that ingesting more supplements than required can cause health problems such as:

  • Upset Stomach
  • Diarrhea
  • Liver Damage
  • Difficulty Sleeping

Nearly all supplements can be bad for your health when taken in too high of a dose, but you should be especially careful with Iron, and Vitamins A, D and E supplements. When your body stores up too much of these, you can have a real catastrophe on your hands.

In fact, excess iron in the blood can lead to coma and death.

As long as you follow the instructions on the supplements you are using; you will have no problem at all!

2.) Study The Instructions and Contraindications On The Labels

Before you settle on a particular supplement, I strongly advise you run an investigation of your own on the product! Study every relevant material you can find, and read the labels judiciously.

If you have any questions or concerns, ask a professional.

No matter what the sales representatives tell you, supplements are not curative medicines. I have heard people claim that “this and that supplement” can treat certain deadly ailments (even cancer)- and they are not true.

Don’t be deceived.

When you are considering to purchase a certain supplement, be very wary of any product that makes outlandish claims. Remember- if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.

Flee from products that promise quick fixes!

If you are enthusiastic about natural living, you are more likely to be attracted to products that claim to be organic. However, you should beware of any product that claims to be “organic” or “all-natural.”

Ensure that you verify every claim before you buy any dietary supplements because many companies use phony marketing practices to sell more products.

Another important reason you need to investigate any dietary supplement you purchase is that every supplement can potentially react poorly with your medications.

Some supplements have side effects on their own too.

Ultimately, the trick is to read all the labels religiously and discuss your dietary supplement decisions with your doctor.

It is better to be safe than sorry!

3.) Your Dietary Supplements Cannot Replace Your Meals!

We touched on this briefly earlier, but you cannot use dietary supplements to replace your meals.

Your multivitamins and other assorted supplements are developed to enhance and supplement your meals; they aren’t mean to replace them.

Beware of dietary supplements that claim to as good as real food, because this is nearly impossible. Most companies which make these types of claims aren’t telling you the whole truth.

One of the common mistakes that newcomers to the supplement world make is to purchase meal replacement shakes or powders. Although these types of supplements can help you lose weight quickly, they will damage your long-term metabolism.

Overall, it is a good idea to avoid any supplements that are intended to replace your daily meals. However, you should absolutely use them to improve your diet- especially when it is too expensive to buy quality foods to fill your nutritional needs.

For example, according to a study produced in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association on the comparison of the cost of calcium supplements vs foods which contain calcium,

"Calcium carbonate supplements emerged as the least expensive source of calcium, at roughly one-third the cost of the least expensive food source of calcium."

If you use dietary supplements to fill gaps in your current diet, you will use them correctly!

4.) Store Your Dietary Supplements In a Hidden and Cool Dry Place

If you are a parent and taking dietary supplements, this is an important point for you. The world news is full of tragic incidents, make sure your supplements are out of the reach of anyone who may accidentally take them.

Although very, very few dietary supplements are seriously harmful, you should still treat them the same as your medications.

If you do not have a space like this in your home, an easy trick is to build a cabinet high above your bathroom mirror, way beyond the reach and sight of your children.

The fridge or freezer is the wrong place to store your dietary supplements because the ice can moisten the tablets.

Dietary supplements are very beneficial to both the young and the old, which is why people spend money on them each year.

Additional Thoughts on Using Supplements

Supplements are effective when you know how to use them, and each one is different.

There are a few dietary supplements which can be named true super supplements, but many are simply useful additions to your current diet.

Whether your goal is to develop an aesthetic physique, become better at a certain sport, or simply improve your health, properly using dietary supplements is a critical component!

A few of my favorite articles in this category include:

Keep scrolling below to find all of the articles about workout supplements and other dietary supplements that have been posted on my website!