“To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins, and you will never go wrong. ”

— Hulk Hogan

Key Takeaways

In Part 1, we learned that creatine, caffeine, protein powder, and vitamin D are the best supplements for most athletes.
Though the research is inconclusive, fish oil supplementation has been shown to:
- Reduce inflammation/soreness
- Improve athletic performance
- Improve heart health
Though the research is inconclusive, magnesium supplementation has been shown to:
- Play a role in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body
- Improve athletic performance
- Reduce blood pressure
Studies have shown that Ashwagandha supplementation may:
- Support healthy hormone levels and increase testosterone
- Reduce stress levels
- Improve fertility
- Increase muscle and strength
Beta-alanine supplementation may:
- Improve performance for sets lasting 1-4 minutes
- Might improve your strength in shorter sets of 6-12 reps
- Improve aerobic endurance
- Improve body composition, independent of workout performance

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(Be sure to check out the top tier supplements in Part 1, in case you missed it).

Nobody knows anything.

In medicine and nutrition we’re all just shooting in the dark. We read books, conduct studies, and use our powerful human brains fine-tuned by millions of years of evolution to reason through problems, but the truth is that we rarely know the truth. This lack of certainty is why I hate researching supplements.

Even though it’s begrudgingly slow, we’ve made a lot of progress in medicine and nutrition research. Remember, just 100 years ago we used heroin to treat a cough and lobotomies as antidepressants (1, 2).

We don’t want that.

Though the implications of supplement effects are not as extreme as getting hooked on opioids or a drill in your skull, they’re important for our health and fitness goals. But figuring out which ones are actually worth taking does make me want to put a hole in my head:

For every meta analysis that shows a benefit, there’s a review that shows there’s no effect.
For every researcher that supports a supplement 100%, there’s a doctor that believes it’s a waste of money.
For every person that swears a supplement is a game changer, there’s one that claims it’s garbage.

Besides the supplements that we know work, the waters get very muddy, very quickly. The research on nearly every supplement is inconclusive and nobody knows for sure. NOBODY!

The best we can do is synthesize the research along with logic and personal experience to give the most reliable recommendation possible. That’s what I intend to do, but it’s no easy task. Even though they don’t have the answers, either, I’m not a physician or PhD - take my advice with a grain of salt.

Second Round Steals - A Fish, A Mineral, And A Root

The first round has come and gone, and with it we covered the coveted, staple supplements:

Creatine
Caffeine
Vitamin D
Protein Powder

You might be shocked to see that I left your favorite supplement off the list. Don’t panic and definitely don’t toss every other vitamin and capsule in the trash just yet.

Today, we’ll discuss the second tier of supplements, ones that have:

Solid research supporting it
Moderate to significant positive effect
Little to no potential side effects

In general these supplements are not a waste of money and, depending on your goals, it may be beneficial to take these for months to years at a time.

1. Fish Oil

What is it supposed to do?

Reduce inflammation/soreness
Improve athletic performance
Improve heart health

Does the research support it?

Fish oil just slipped (get it - because it’s oily and slippery) out of the first round. Depending on your source, it's considered a complete waste of money or a miracle anti-inflammatory gift from the gods. It’s probably somewhere in the middle.

There are many studies showing that fish oil supplementation will:

Reduce inflammation and soreness (3-10)
Improve athletic performance (11-14)
Improve heart health (15, 16)

However, there are also studies showing that it will not:

Reduce inflammation (17, 18)
Improve athletic performance (19-22)
Improve heart health (23-28)

So, it might improve your health and performance, or it might not.

Other purported benefits of fish oil supplementation include:

Reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety
Improved cholesterol levels
Increased insulin sensitivity
Improved body composition

These effects are inconclusive or not well-studied (did I mention how much I love researching supplements!)

Regardless, there is no doubt that a diet high in fatty fish and omega-3 fats is linked with a number of positive health outcomes (29). While getting your fish in capsule form is not as beneficial as consuming it in its original biological packaging, it is likely* better than not consuming it all.

Personally, I have taken fish oil nearly every day for the past 5 years because the potential benefits outweigh the nearly nonexistent cons.

Pros:

Relatively cheap
Easy to take
I don’t consume fatty fish very often (have you seen the price of wild caught salmon!)
The potential positive effects are significant

A diet high in omega-3s is beneficial for health

Cons:

It does cost some money (about $10/month for the one I take) (30).

Similar to the caveat with protein powder - if you’re consuming an adequate amount of omega-3 fats in your diet by eating 2 or more servings of fatty fish/week (about 7oz cooked), you likely won’t experience any further benefits from fish oil supplementation.

Final Grade - Early second round with moderate “boom or bust” potential.

*Excuse my wishy-washy word selection. I know it doesn’t make for an enjoyable reading experience, but it’s the best way convey the uncertainty with most supplements.

2. Magnesium (ZMA)

What is it supposed to do?

Improve athletic performance
Reduce blood pressure

Does the research support it?

ZMA is a popular supplement among athletes and bodybuilders that contains zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B6. For the sake of simplicity and my sanity, and because most people get enough zinc and B6 through diet, we’ll only assess magnesium.

Magnesium plays a role in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body (31). Along with vitamin D, it is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the U.S. According to some estimates, 1 in 2 Americans do not consume the recommended amount (32).

As magnesium is involved in ...

Nerve and muscle function
Cardiovascular health
Energy production and storage
Blood sugar regulation

…. it’s important for everyone, but especially for athletes looking to optimize performance. Just take a second look at that list. If you’re a high level athlete, you want all of those functions firing on all cylinders. Right?

Although the results are mixed (33, 34), multiple studies have found magnesium supplementation to have a beneficial effect on performance by:

Increasing strength and power (35)
Increasing blood glucose (i.e. energy) availability and improving rate of lactate clearance (i.e. reduced the burn) during exercise (36).

This study found that magnesium supplementation improved the performance of female volleyball players, even if they weren’t deficient (37). Don’t consider yourself an athlete? It has also been shown to improve exercise performance of elderly women (38).

Despite some promising results, more research is needed to warrant the use of magnesium as a performance enhancing supplement (39).

Magnesium supplementation has also been found to have a significant blood pressure reducing effect (40-44). Finally, it may also improve insulin sensitivity and result in better blood sugar management (45-48). YET AGAIN, though, the results are inconclusive (49, 50).

Overall, it appears taking magnesium is a good idea if you’re deficient and:

Trying to optimize athletic performance
Tend to have high blood pressure
Want to control blood sugar levels

Magnesium is low risk, medium reward supplement.

Final Grade - Solid second round prospect.

3. Ashwagandha

What is it supposed to do?

Support healthy hormone levels

Reduce stress levels
Improve fertility

Increase muscle and strength

Does the research support it?

Ashwagandha might be the first supplement in these rankings that you haven’t heard about, but its effects are very intriguing - especially if you care about muscle, strength, or testosterone. People in India have taken the ancient medicinal herb for thousands of years and studies have shown that it may:

Support healthy hormone levels and increase testosterone (51, 52).

Reduce stress (cortisol) levels (53-57)
Improve fertility (58-60)
Increase muscle and strength (61-63).

Although many of the studies were conducted on a small sample size and some effects were only observed in specific populations (i.e. improved fertility in men with low sperm quality), the positive effects are enticing enough for me to include Ashwagandha in my supplement rotation.

Personally, just as with fish oil, the pros outweigh the cons.

The pros:

1000s of years of support
Improved hormonal profile (increased testosterone and decreased cortisol)
Potential increases in strength and muscle size
Improved mood and reduced anxiety

The cons:

Smells like a horse (literally, ashwagandha means “smell of horse”)

I don’t take it every day, all year long. However, in times of increased stress or when enduring an intense, high volume period of training, I trust the 1000s of years of use, pinch my nose, and take my horse pills.

Final Grade - Mid round wildcard.

4. Beta Alanine

What is it supposed to do?

Improve endurance and work capacity
Increase strength
Promote muscle growth

Does the research support it?

Many people take beta-alanine, a non-essential amino acid, to improve performance in the gym. The “why” behind beta-alanine’s effect can be explained in three steps:

Combines with l-histidine and gets converted to carnosine in the body
Carnosine reduces acidity (i.e. lactic acid i.e. the BURN during exercise that makes it feel like everything is on fire and we’re dying)
Less burn means that we can work out harder and gain more muscle and strength

Simple, right? If you’d like to know more, check out this awesome, short video that illustrates beta-alanine’s performance-enhancing effects. (64).

Beta-alanine supplementation has been shown to:

Improve performance for sets lasting 1-4 minutes (65, 66)
Might improve your strength in shorter sets of 6-12 reps (67, 68)
Improve aerobic endurance (69)
Improve body composition, independent of workout performance (70-74)

In contrast to these positive findings, other studies have found that beta-alanine does not improve body composition (75, 76) or increase strength in sets lasting less than 60 seconds (77, 78, 79).

At best, it might allow you to:

Perform more reps, especially in high rep sets
Perform more volume overall
Gain slightly more muscle over time

Beta alanine is not nearly as effective as creatine but may improve your performance and ability to build muscle to a limited degree. If you’re an experienced athlete trying to squeeze out every ounce of your potential, supplementing with beta-alanine may be worth a shot.

Final Grade - Bottom of the mid round barrel.

Wrap Up

I don’t know. Nobody does.

That is my #1 takeaway from hours and hours (and years and years) of supplement research. If anyone tries to convince you that hey do know for sure, they’re either sadly mistaken or trying to sell you supplements.

There are simply too many variables to account for to understand the true impact of any supplement. The study of nutrition, especially supplement science, is nuanced. Until multiple studies are performed that include:

Large sample sizes
Diverse populations (age, race, BMI, socioeconomic status, exercise history, etc.)
Well controlled design
Adequate doses
Sufficient length
So on and so on

…there is absolutely no way to know the overall effect of a supplement.

And if you don’t know how a supplement affects the general population, you certainly won’t know how it will impact you. Because we all have different genes and backgrounds, everyone’s experience will be slightly different.

My supplement rankings are not set in stone, they are fluid. As new research is published I will continuously adapt and update my stance. Who knows? Maybe in 20 years Ashwagandha will be the new Advil. Stranger things have happened.

Next time, we’ll head into the wild west and cover the third tier of supplements - ones with:

A moderate amount of research supporting it with mixed results
Moderate to small positive effect
No to moderate side effects

If you have any questions or concerns, or just NEED to tell me that I’m totally wrong, feel free to drop me a line below ⬇️

Sources:

GIF Source: Moe Charlie Dancers This is Fine Horse Monica

(giphy.com)

Fitness Supplement Rankings - Second Round Steals (Find Out What 75+ Studies Say)

Key Takeaways

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