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The Best Supplements For CrossFit
When it comes to CrossFit, supplements should be the least important part of your success. They aren’t necessary, and in the grand scheme of things, you should be getting all of the nutrients you need from a balanced diet. However, many supplements will be marketed specifically for CrossFit athletes, and this can make the world of dietary supplements a difficult one to navigate.
We’re here to tell you that you don’t need a specific CrossFit supplement to get the most out of your workout. But, adding a few different vitamins and nutrients to your already healthy diet can support your recovery, and provide you with more energy throughout your exercise.
Do CrossFit athletes need supplements?
No one needs supplements. The most important thing when it comes to fuelling your body is eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, featuring plenty of fruit and vegetables. However, adding supplements can help to make up for any deficiencies in nutrition you may not be aware of – and this extra push can make a big difference to your workout.
What are the needs of a CrossFitter?
There are five areas to focus on when picking supplements for CrossFit:
- Strength: This is a measure of the absolute maximum force that a muscle can produce. This is crucial to every form of fitness, and not just CrossFit.
- Power: This is your ability to produce force within a certain time, and a direct result of strength.
- Endurance: This is the ability to perform prolonged bouts of exercise. This is a crucial factor for CrossFit, which involves combining various forms of exercises for different lengths of time.
- Short-term recovery: This is the ability to recover and perform well repeatedly within a session.
- Session-to-session recovery: The ability to recuperate between training sessions and perform at peak capacity in your next workout.
What are the best supplements for CrossFit?
As we’ve already mentioned, food always has to come first. Ensure you are eating a varied diet, but there are ways to support your performance through supplementation. Here are the best supplements for CrossFit:
Fish oils
When it comes to building strength and muscle mass, recovery is just as important as the workout itself. Fish oil is an excellent source of omega-3, and can help to optimise the recovery process. This supplement has a wide variety of benefits outside of just benefitting your CrossFit workouts, and for vegans and vegetarians, comes in a vegan formula. Omega-3 works to support a healthy heart, brain and vision, all of which are important for your workouts.
Multivitamins
A simple multivitamin is one of the easiest ways to supplement your diet, and get plenty of the vitamins your body needs. Multivitamins provide a variety of different health benefits, and will support every core need a CrossFitter might have.
CoQ10
CoQ10 isn’t something you often hear about in relation to athletes, but it plays a crucial role in the stimulation of blood flow and the function of the arteries. Strenuous and heavy exercise creates oxidation in the body, and supplementing with CoQ10 may reduce oxidative damage markers, all of which supports energy production to power you through all your training sessions and recovery afterwards.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency can be linked to a number of problems in the body. During winter, it can be difficult to get your recommended dosage of vitamin D due to the sun being less intense, and the skin exposed to it less. This will help with session-to-session recovery.