What supplements should women take for fitness?

For the 90% of ordinary fitness women who practice 3-5 times a week for about an hour each time, they can count on two hands the supplements that are really worth spending money on. Vitamin D, protein powder, and caffeine are the first three products that are enough. The rest are basically premium products that are "useless if the diet is in place".

When I first started doing weightlifting two years ago, I followed fitness bloggers to stock up on supplies. I stuffed half a cabinet with branched-chain amino acids, fat-burning pills, and collagen peptides. Later, I went to eat with a friend who was on the provincial team for rehabilitation. I was laughed at and said that the half of the cabinet money could be used to buy fresh shrimp and beef, and the effect would be three times better.

First of all, I would like to say that vitamin D is not a gimmick. I have actually experienced the benefits of taking it myself. We girls usually do a lot of sun protection. Unless we run outdoors every day, seven out of ten people are deficient in D. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D in my last physical examination was only 12ng/ml, less than half of the qualified line. During that time, my hips, legs and knees always hurt when I practiced, and my strength did not increase for two months. I took supplements according to the dosage for three months and then checked again. The value soared to 38. Not only did the discomfort in the knees disappear, but the deadlift weight also increased smoothly by 5kg. There is nothing controversial about this. If you have a blood deficiency, you can make up for it. If you are not deficient, you don’t need to eat extra if you get enough sun for two hours a week.

Let’s talk about the protein powder that people ask about the most. Many people are afraid that they will gain “dead muscles” and become stronger after drinking it. They really overthink it. It is essentially just a convenient protein supplement pack. The sister around me who has a small appetite can't fit 2 eggs and a palm-sized chicken breast in one meal. After training, a spoonful of 30g of whey protein is much more satisfying than eating chicken breast for half an hour, and she doesn't have to worry about overeating. Of course, if you can keep up with your daily diet and eat enough protein at 1.2-1.6g per kilogram of body weight every day, for example, a 50kg person can eat 60-80g of protein a day, you don’t need to spend this money at all. If you are lactose intolerant, just switch to whey isolate or pea protein. Don’t buy the kind of muscle-building powder that adds a lot of sugar. We ordinary girls have not yet solved their daily calorie deficit. Drinking that will make it easier to gain fat.

As for those who want to improve their exercise status, there is no need to buy Internet celebrity pre-workout drinks that cost dozens of dollars a bottle. Ordinary caffeine is enough. I had been stuck practicing 40kg deadlifts for almost three weeks. One day before training, I bought an iced Americano and went to the gym and actually did 3 more deadlifts. After several interviews, as long as I am not used to drinking coffee, drinking about 100mg of caffeine half an hour before training can really improve my condition. But if you have a body that tolerates two cups of coffee a day, drinking it is basically useless. People who have trouble sleeping should not touch it. Otherwise, you will lie down with your eyes open until three o'clock, which will affect the recovery of muscles.

The remaining supplements that have been touted to the sky are basically in the controversial range of "useful but unnecessary". Take branched-chain amino acids, for example. One group of studies says that drinking them during training can reduce muscle loss. Another group of data says that as long as you eat enough protein every day, supplementing branched-chain amino acids is no different from drinking flavored plain water. I have been drinking it for more than half a year. Except for the sour plum-flavored one, I really don’t feel any real changes. You can buy it if you don’t have a lot of money and want to add some fun to training. There is no need to treat it as a must-have. There is also L-carnitine, which has been debated for many years. In fact, it is only effective for those who are L-carnitine deficient or do high-intensity aerobics for more than one hour a day. Ordinary girls run for 30 minutes and do half an hour of exercise every day. Drinking L-carnitine is no different from drinking sugar water. Several sisters around me feel flustered and trembling after drinking it. It is not worth the loss.

My best friend just got a fitness card a while ago, and was sold by a personal trainer a gift package of more than 2,000 supplements. She stuffed a bag full of creatine, nitrogen pumps, and fat-burning tablets. After practicing for half a month, she dared not eat them. She said that her heartbeat was so fast after eating. She later sold the salted fish at half the price. The money she lost was enough to get a three-month fitness card. There is really no need to spend money on supplements as soon as you start working out. Fix your diet, sleep, and training frequency, and any supplement will be more effective.