4 essential elements of multisport

You can’t open a magazine or view a website without being bombarded with the latest and greatest supplements. They have names like Xplode and Ripped Freak (yes that is a real one)  They tell you to drink this to recover faster. To take this to drop body fat.  And to take this one for unlimited energy.  While some of these items might improve your fitness that is only after you have everything else in order. Here are the essential elements to better yourself in multisport.

1. Water – You have to have this one. Proper hydration is important. You just can’t perform well, especially in the heat, if you don’t take care of your water intake. You really do not need the sports drink unless you are working out extremely hard and for more than an hour. The shakes and sports drinks are not as important as the advertisements would have you think. While they won’t hurt you they can provide a lot of sugars that your body probably does not need. Sports drink after a vigorous workout of more than an hour is not going to be a problem but you do not need to be sipping on the stuff will walking around the mall. Drink up – Hyponatremia (water Intoxication) is probably not much of a risk for most of us.

2. Food – You have to fuel the body. Performance will suffer if you work out on an empty stomach. Food is also important for post exercise recovery. Try to eat real food. This means items that do not come in a box. That’s right – fruits, vegetables, whole grains. If the food does come in a box pick the one with the fewest ingredients. Something like oatmeal is a good choice – 1 ingredient – rolled oats.

3. Exercise – You have to tax the body. You need good solid works that have structure and overload the body. There is no replacement for a solid workout from a solid training plan. You only want to work the body hard enough to adapt.

4. Sleep / recovery – The body needs time to adapt from the training load that you have provided. The muscles do not grow during the workout session. In fact that is when they are damaged. Your body needs rest and recovery built into your training plan in order to become stronger. When training hard, a nap or a few extra hours of sleep is probably better than waking up early for another strenuous work out.

Get all of the basics down.  Once you are seeing results and making gains then you can start to think about supplements.  They still won't do what they claim.  There are not any short cuts.