Athletes, bodybuilders and fitness competitors are often confused about which supplements they should be using to reach their goals. There are so many different products on the market and each serves a unique function. The purpose of the Athlete’s Supplement Pyramid is to provide you with a hierarchy guide that can help you decide which supplements you should use to best meet your goals. Also, if your cash flow is tight and you don’t have the luxury of an unlimited supplement budget then this pyramid will help you prioritize your supplement purchases based on order of necessity. The core foundation of the Supplement Pyramid is centered on the base, which is made up of Nutritional Foundation Supplements. The next level in the hierarchy is Recovery Support Supplements, followed by Goal-Specific Supplements, and finally, at the apex of the pyramid, Condition-Specific Supplements.

Nutritional Foundation Supplements are those that you should be taking year-round in order to meet your basic nutritional needs. Supplements in this category are considered the base of your supplement regime and should be prioritized over all other supplements in the pyramid. Essential supplements such as protein powder, essential fatty acids (EFAs), vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, greens products and fiber will help you meet your essential nutrient needs. Now of course, many of these nutrients can be obtained from food, so if you’re diet is spot on then you might not need to use all of the aforementioned supplements. However, it can often be difficult for athletes to meet all of their basic nutritional requirements through food alone. In order to maintain optimal health and body function and to help prevent illness and disease you must ensure your basic nutrient needs are met. Once you have your Nutritional Foundation Supplements covered, then you can move up the Supplement Pyramid hierarchy and begin addressing Recovery Support Supplements.

Any hard-training athlete or bodybuilder understands that optimal recovery from intense training must be addressed through proper nutrition and supplementation. After an intense workout, your body is primed and ready to soak up the nutrients it needs to enhance tissue repair and recovery, but you’ve got to get those nutrients to your muscles quickly or else recovery will be compromised. Post-workout is the ideal time to consume a liquid supplement because it’s rapidly absorbed and delivered to muscle tissue much faster than whole foods. Research clearly shows that after an intense workout, athletes can benefit from a fast-acting protein and carbohydrate source and the immune-boosting amino acid glutamine. Immediately after every workout, try having a serving of whey protein isolate with waxy maize starch and 5 to 10 grams of glutamine. This simple yet effective supplement stack will help you recover faster and can even improve performance during your next training session!

Goal-Specific Supplements make up the third level of the Supplement Pyramid hierarchy. Supplements that fall into this category can be used in addition to the Nutritional Foundation and Recovery Support supplements to help you reach a specific goal, such as muscle growth, fat loss, or performance enhancement.

When it comes to muscle-building supplements, there are countless different products on the market. This category of supplements can get really confusing, so you should focus your attention on the most effective products in this category, which includes Creatine supplements, amino acids, testosterone boosters and weight gainers. Although there are many other new supplements that claim to increase muscle growth, the ones just mentioned have the greatest collection of scientific research to support their effectiveness!

The fat loss supplement category is much like the muscle-building, as there are a lot of different options to choose from. To avoid the confusion, the fat loss category will be broken down into three main groups, thermogenic fat burners, appetite suppressants, and ‘fat-burning fats’. A good thermogenic supplement can increase caloric expenditure and give you an added energy boost when following a calorie restricted diet. Appetite suppressants are a great help if you get a lot of cravings and have trouble staying on track with your diet. ‘Fat-burning fats’ such as CLA and MCTs can help boost overall metabolism, increase fat oxidation and reduce fat storage.

Performance-enhancing supplements are those which are used to immediately increase physical performance in the gym or on the playing field. Some products are designed to increase strength and power, whereas others increase endurance capacity and prevent fatigue. Pre-workout supplements have gained great popularity over the past few years and can definitely help improve performance through multiple mechanisms of action. Nitric oxide boosters are supplements that can be classified as performance enhancers because of their ability to increase blood flow and nutrient and oxygen delivery to working muscles. There are also many very effective endurance-enhancing products on the market that many distance runners, cyclists and other athletes find effective. Beta-alanine is one of the newer ingredients worth trying, as research studies indicate that it can significantly improve endurance capacity and prevent fatigue!

 

The peak of the Supplement Pyramid is where Condition-Specific Supplements fit into the mix. These supplements are those that are useful only under specific conditions or to address a particular health issue. For example, someone who has trouble sleeping could certainly benefit from a natural sleep-aid supplement. A natural diuretic supplement could be very useful for a competitive bodybuilder or MMA fighter to help shed excess water weight before a competition. There’s a long list of products that could fall into this category, but to keep things simple we’re going to focus on the following condition-specific supplements: sleep, joint, stress, detoxification support and diuretic supplements.

 

Now that you have a good understanding of the Athlete’s Supplement Pyramid, use it to your advantage and prioritize your supplement purchases based on your budget, needs and goals. Just remember, the core of your supplement program should always be built from the base of the pyramid, which is made up of Nutritional Foundation Supplements.

Don Gauvreau, a.k.a. the Supplement Godfather, is recognized in the sports supplement industry as an R&D and product formulation expert.