What Supplements Are Best For MMA?

One of the most common topics about nutrition that fighters want to understand is supplements. The reason I think this is funny is that most of those athletes who are interested in taking supplements have horrible diets! Remember, don't put on your tie before you put on your shirt. You must first fix you diet and then see what you need to add. Look at the term "supplement" itself. It means something that completes or makes up for. With a proper diet, there are not going to be many things that need to be supplemented, and there are many products out there that just plain don't work. What I am going to cover is what I feel are necessary supplements for the hard-training MMA athlete. However, it is a good idea to check with your health care professional before taking any

supplement.

Whenever athletes are asked what is the most important meal of the day, most of them automatically respond, "Breakfast." I feel this is incorrect. The most important meal is the postworkout

meal. After the workout, your body is in catabolism and starving for the carbohydrates and protein that it needs to recover and repair. This meal can start the recovery process quicker and help ensure progress. It should be taken immediately following the end of the workout. When most people think of a shake, they think of a protein shake. Protein is important to us at the postworkout meal, but you cannot forget about the carbohydrates. Simple carbs and whey protein are great choices here. You can buy a premade postworkout shake, or you can even just mix in the right amount of whey protein with a sports drink. In addition to the basic carbs and protein at this time, I recommend a good antioxidant vitamin (for its ability to decrease the effects of free radicals that are produced by intense exercise), and possibly creatine or L-glutamine if you feel that is necessary. This meal is critical. You should then eat again in about one hour.

The preworkout meal comes next. What you ingest before the workout has a lot to do with how that workout will go and the catabolism that takes place.

Now it must be breakfast, right? Well, yes and no. After the post- and preworkout meal, every meal is very important to the specialized MMA athlete, so you want them all to be perfect. You are eating now for performance, so, in fact, there is never a traditional meal that doesn't count as much as another.

There are a few other supplements that I would recommend every MMA athlete pay attention to. The first is a good encapsulated multivitamin. With the amount of stress you are putting your body through, and the poor air and other conditions that surround us every day, I believe a multivitamin is important. Even if you are getting most of what you need in your diet, you can never be too safe.

The second supplement I would recommend is creatine. This is the most studied supplement in the history of supplements, and the research is overwhelming in terms of improved performance and recovery.

The third supplement I would like to mention is L-tyrosine. This is an essential amino acid that acts as a mild stimulant during workouts.

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