3. Conclusions and Recommendations This article is a review of 20 different categories of commercially available athletic supplements for bodybuilding. It was initiated out of a need to familiarise ourselves and others with supplements available to bodybuilders, but information provided here can be both appropriate and useful for other athletes as well. Our review includes some supplement categories (e.g. choline, ferulic acid, boron, dibencozide, Smilax compounds) given limited description elsewhere. The variety of supplements and their advertised performance claims are documented in our survey. Many performance claims made for the supplements are not supported by current research. In some instances, we found no published research to validate the claims; in other cases, research findings were extrapolated to inappropriate applications. For example, biological functions Of some nonessential compounds (e.g. inosine, carnitine) were interpreted as performance claims for the supplements. Claims for others were based on their ability to enhance hormonal release or activity. At the present time data do not support the supplementation of products examined in this review for ergogenic purposes. We were particularly concerned by comparisons of some supplements with anabolic steroids. With an increase in drug testing for athletes, supplementation may be increasingly viewed as a legal and possibly safer alternative to these drugs. These findings also highlight a need to conduct more research on this group of athletes. We found relatively little published research on supplementation in weight trained individuals, and bodybuilders in particular. The lack of available research may foster selfexperimentation and perhaps a climate for the marketing of supplements. Interest in bodybuilding as a sport and form of conditioning is likely to increase in the future which underscores the need for further research. Professional bodybuilders are featured in films, television shows and many popular books and magazines. Bodybuilding competitions arc common events in many cities and regions. Major organisations increasingly recognise the value of resistance training (American College of Sports Medicine 1990) and its health and performance benefits have recently been summarised (Stone et al. 1991). Also, as our society becomes increasingly technological, alternative forms of nutritional support will continue to become available to athletic individuals and others in competitive settings. The effectiveness and safety of nutritional supplements should be documented by well controlled research studies and made available for review by both scientists and athletes.
Originally appearing in Sports Medicine 15(2) 90-103. 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Adis International Limited. All rights reserved. Reprinted by Mesomorphosis with permission. Any duplication of this document by electronic or other means is strictly prohibited. |
