Vitamins in Bodybuilding

In the human body, vitamins work primarily as "coenzymes" - substances that increase the activity of enzymes by which most chemical processes, including protein synthesis, are conducted. In bodybuilding, vitamins[1] are important because almost all members of this class of essential substances are required for the formation of contractile protein and muscle growth. Like coenzymes, vitamins are components of the activity of many enzymes - in their absence, the body's enzymes cannot perform their function. You will not be able to build muscle - your body will not be able to convert the substances it receives into the cherished elements that build muscle. Scientists state that in bodybuilding and any other sport, the need for vitamins increases because athletes' metabolism proceeds at a higher rate than normal people. Vitamin intake during exercise can increase one and a half to two times, which is why vitamin doses in bodybuilding are higher than usual.

Practice shows that it is impossible to achieve good results in bodybuilding, fitness or powerlifting without taking additional sports complexes with vitamins and minerals. Athletes, especially those of mature age[2], often experience training plateaus (both in gaining muscle mass and in losing fat), even with an abundant diet and systematic training, and this may be due to lack of vitamins. The body's needs are not always fully met from food sources, especially in bodybuilding, as it requires large amounts of high-calorie foods that often contain few vitamins. Bodybuilders are simply unable to include enough fruits and other sources of vitamins in their diet, as this would lead to digestive distress. This dictates the need to take special sports vitamins.

"Warning" Read the main article: Vitamin and Mineral Complexes which details the best sports vitamins available today.

Minerals in bodybuilding

Minerals are substances of inorganic origin, which means that they are not produced by animals or plants. That said, they can be found in foods. Minerals are essential to the normal function of the body. They provide nerve conduction, muscle contraction, water-electrolyte balance, and energy production, all of which are important in bodybuilding. Many minerals also act as building blocks of human body tissues. For instance, calcium and phosphorus are components of bone tissue, and zinc is involved in testosterone synthesis.

Minerals are divided into macronutrients and trace minerals according to how much the body needs.

Macronutrients are calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. The body needs at least 200 mg of these minerals per day.

Micronutrients: chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, selenium, silicon, zinc and others, the need for these minerals is less than 200 mg per day.

"Warning" Minerals, as well as vitamins, are required in bodybuilding in larger quantities than in a normal lifestyle.

Our body tissues contain fluid both inside the cells (intracellular fluid) and in the intercellular space (extracellular fluid). Both fluids dissolve minerals (electrolytes), electrically charged minerals or ions. Minerals work in concert to regulate the water balance on both sides of the cell membranes. Minerals also contribute to muscle contraction by ensuring that signals are transmitted across cell membranes in nerve tissue. Electrolyte balance is essential to maintaining normal health and achieving optimal athletic performance. The two major electrolytes are sodium and potassium. Sodium regulates intercellular fluid balance and potassium regulates intracellular fluid balance.

Sodium comes mostly from salt and processed foods. The average American eats 2-3 teaspoons (12-18 g) of salt daily - too much for a healthy person. A safe dose of sodium would be 500 mg (minimum requirement) to 2,400 mg per day, or no more than 1 1/d teaspoon (1.6 g) of table salt per day.

Although some sodium may leave your body with sweat during exercise, you do not need to consume it in the form of supplements. Your regular diet includes enough sodium to make up for this loss. What's more, your body stores sodium on its own.

However, significant sodium deficiencies can occur during sports activities that require increased endurance, such as triathlons that last more than four hours. By consuming U2- 3/4 cups (119-178 ml) of a sports drink every 10-20 minutes and including salty foods in your diet, you will replenish the sodium needs of the athlete. Thus, during a strenuous sporting event lasting more than three hours, you will need a sports drink containing 200-300 mg of sodium per 237 ml. To ensure that you have the same fluid balance during the recovery period, you need to drink a beverage that contains sodium after the strenuous exercise is over, as it helps water to enter the cells.

However, drinking too much water (hyperhydration) can lead to strong dissolving of sodium and other electrolytes. And this has a negative effect on the performance of athletes.

Potassium acts within cells to regulate fluid balance. Potassium is also involved in maintaining a normal heartbeat, aiding muscle contraction, regulating blood pressure, and carrying nutrients to cells. There is no "depot" for potassium in the body, so even a slight lack of potassium, caused by insufficient intake of potassium with food, can provoke many disorders in the nervous and muscular tissue, weakness, reduced reflexes, hypotension, intestinal obstruction, polyuria, retain water in the body. Potassium is not stored in the body, so you should make sure that your diet includes plenty of foods rich in potassium, such as bananas, oranges, dried fruit, avocados and tomatoes. You need to consume 1600-2000 mg of potassium per day, which you can easily do by eating lots of fruits and vegetables.

To lose excess weight, some competitive bodybuilders use diuretics, drugs that increase urine production and excretion. This is a dangerous practice because diuretics can flush potassium and other electrolytes out of the body. Then there can be a life-threatening imbalance of it, and there were cases when some professional bodybuilders died during competitions as a result of abuse of these drugs. I see no rational reason for taking diuretics during competition. The potential health risks are much more serious.

A list of vitamins used in sports

"Warning" Read more about the functions of specific vitamins in bodybuilding in separate articles.

Vitamin Name Solubility

G - fat soluble

B - water soluble Consequences of avitaminosis Upper allowable level Daily requirement Doses in bodybuilding

Vitamin A Retinol G Chicken blindness, dry eyes 3000 mcg 900 mcg 1200 mcg

Vitamin B1 Thiamine B Beri-beri no data 1.5 mg 10-20 mg

Vitamin B2 Riboflavin B Ariboflavinosis no data 1.8 mg 10-20 mg

Vitamin B3 (PP) Niacin, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide B Pellagra 100 mg 20 mg 50 mg

Vitamin B4 Choline B Liver disorder 20 g 425-550 mg 1-3 g

Vitamin B5 Pantothenic acid B Joint pain, hair loss, limb cramps, paralysis, nervous exhaustion, impaired vision and memory. no data 5 mg 15 mg

Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine B Anemia, nerve damage 100 mg 2 mg 20 mg

Vitamin B7 (H) Biotin B Skin lesions, loss of appetite, nausea, swollen tongue, muscle pain, lethargy, depression no data 50 µg 200 µg

Vitamin B8 Inositol B no data no data 500 mg 700 mg

Vitamin B9 Folic Acid B Folic acid deficiency anemia, developmental disorders of the spinal tube in the embryo 1000 µg 400 µg 600 µg

Vitamin B12 Cyanocobalamin B Pernicious anemia no data 3 µg 10-50 µg

Vitamin B13 orotic acid B Various skin diseases (eczema, neurodermatitis, psoriasis, ichthyosis) no 0.5-1.5 mg 5 mg

Vitamin B15 Pangamic acid B no data no data 50-150 mg 200 mg

Vitamin C Ascorbic acid B Cinga 15000 mg 90 mg 2000 mg

Vitamin D Cholecalciferol G Rachitis, osteomalacia 50 µg 10 µg 20 µg

Vitamin E α β γ Tocopherol G Neuromuscular disorders: spinocerebellar ataxia (Friedreich's ataxia), myopathy, anemia.    1000 mg 15 mg 100 mg

Vitamin F Omega-3 and Omega-6 G Atherosclerosis, retardation, accelerated tissue aging no data 1 g 2-3 g

Vitamin K Phylloquinone G Hemorrhagic diathesis no data 120 µg 150 µg

Vitamin P Bioflavonoids B Capillary fragility, venous hypotension no data no data no data

Vitamin N Lipoic acid B no data no data 30 mg 40 mg

The benefits of vitamins

For the body, especially the growing body, the presence of vitamins in the diet is extremely important. Although here, as everywhere else, you need to know the measure. Their excessive consumption can cause considerable harm, up to and including poisoning. In addition, the constant increase in the dose of vitamins leads to a relative deficit in the transition to normal physiological doses.

Vitamins from food are essential elements, because they are not formed in the body or are synthesized in the body in minimal, insufficient amounts for humans. Nevertheless, these extremely important nutrients are required by the body in relatively small quantities.

Daily requirements depend on various factors, including the individual qualities of the athlete, his nationality, the intensity of physical and mental work, neuropsychological stress, as well as climatic and other external conditions.

In areas with a harsh climate (due to increased energy expenditures) the need increases sometimes by 30-60%. In conditions of high altitude and in exhausting heat (more than 40 ° C), this need sometimes increases by 1.5-3 times.

The higher the caloric intake and the more proteins in the diet, the higher the body's need for vitamins. If the main components of the diet are carbohydrates, do you need an increased intake of vitamin B1?

An optimally balanced diet, as mentioned above, does not cover the increased need for vitamins in bodybuilders, especially during the winter-spring period. That's why it becomes necessary to take additional vitamins (sports supplements and preparations). And this should be done taking into account the individual qualities of the athlete, the type of diet, the intensity of training, as well as the time of the year, climatic conditions, the possibility of colds, etc.

The most productive is the combined use of vitamins, in which there is an interaction of individual vitamins, i.e. a simultaneous effect on several biochemical processes, which is now called the synergistic phenomenon.

Such interaction is noted, for example, when the following vitamins are combined:

B1, B2, and PP;

B1, B2, B6 and C;

B12, B6 and C;

C and P.

In bodybuilding sports vitamins (drugs and supplements) are used most often for the prevention of vitamin deficiencies, as well as to influence the optimal course of anabolic, regenerative processes. The choice of drugs in the latter case is determined by the preferential effect of each of the vitamins on a particular type of metabolism:

B12, B9, B5, B6, E have a major impact on protein metabolism;

B12 (cyanocobalamin) enters the body only with food, as it is synthesized by intestinal microflora not in the small intestine but in the large intestine, where its absorption is not possible. It is essential for normal growth, hematopoiesis and epithelial development and is also involved in fat and carbohydrate metabolism;

B9 (folic acid) also comes with food and is synthesized by intestinal microflora. Like cyanocobalamin, folic acid is necessary for normal hematopoiesis;

B6 (pyridoxine) enters the body with food, is partially synthesized by gut microflora and regulates the most important metabolic processes. It interacts well with vitamins B12 and B9. With heavy exercise, low temperature, vibration and other negative external influences the need for vitamin B6 increases twofold;

B5 (calcium pantothenate) is an important regulator of metabolism. It enters the human body with food, and is also produced in significant quantities in the intestines. The need for pantothenic acid at high physical and psycho-emotional stress and exposure to adverse external factors also doubles;

E (tocopheryl acetate) not only ensures optimal functioning of the circulatory system, but also normalizes functioning of genital organs, skeletal muscles and heart. In bodybuilding, vitamin E is used in a variety of multivitamins that protect the athlete's body from overexertion and accelerate recovery processes.

C, B1, B2, B5, PP and B15 are essential for the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism;

B6, B15, B5, PP, B12, lipoic acid contribute to proper fat (lipid) metabolism;

B1 (thiamine) comes with food. If it is deficient, the entire metabolism suffers. The need for this vitamin depends largely on the quality and quantity of food consumed. The predominance of carbohydrates and proteins in the diet increases the need for thiamine, and vice versa. Indispensable during periods of intense physical and mental stress, because it speeds up recovery processes and protects against overexertion. Thiamine plays a major role in the treatment of asthenia, chronic fatigue syndrome;

B2 (riboflavin) is also involved in almost all types of metabolism (protein, fat and carbohydrate). It can ensure good eyesight, normalize the condition of the skin and mucous membranes, and is involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin. In bodybuilding, vitamin B2 is used not only to prevent hypovitaminosis during periods of great mental and physical exertion, but also to treat overexertion and anemia;

PP (nicotinic acid) is a powerful vasodilator, its effect is mainly directed to the surface vessels. The predominance of plant proteins in the protein diet may increase the need for nicotinic acid. Nicotinic acid is also used for preventive purposes during periods of great physical and mental stress;

B15 (calcium pangamate) increases the activity of respiratory enzymes, contributing to better oxygen uptake by tissues, and has a beneficial effect on overall metabolism. Vitamin B15 consumption leads to the accumulation of glycogen in muscles and liver and increases the amount of creatine phosphate (energy storage) in muscle tissue, which is very important for bodybuilders. Athletes commonly use it to regulate lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, to stimulate energy processes and in cases of hypoxia (oxygen starvation);

Lipoic acid helps to improve carbohydrate and fat metabolism and energy storage in the body;

C (the well-known ascorbic acid) is not synthesized in the human body and enters it exclusively with food.

Ascorbic acid plays such an important role in human life that it makes sense to pay a little more attention to it than to other vitamins by listing its main positive qualities. So, vitamin C:

Plays an important role in providing oxygen to organs and tissues;

Is necessary for the normal absorption of glucose and the formation of glycogen stores in the liver;

participates in the synthesis of steroid hormones, in the regulation of blood clotting, in metabolism (particularly protein);

provides not only the formation of connective tissue basic substance, but also the synthesis of its main component - collagen, thus preventing such undesirable phenomena as damage to bones, teeth and capillary walls.

In addition, bodybuilders successfully use ascorbic acid for hypovitaminosis, for the prevention and treatment of colds and infectious diseases.

Very effective for the recovery of the body sports vitamin complexes containing in addition to multivitamins, minerals and trace elements also necessary for the metabolic process.

Regardless of the systematic reception of vitamin complexes, after consulting a doctor in advance, you can take individual vitamins (C, PP and B,5), but you should note that increasing the dosage of one vitamin causes its accelerated excretion, and excretion of some other related nutrients, which can cause symptoms of deficiency of these nutrients when taken adequately. If there are problems with the nervous system during exercise (signs of overexertion), it is better not to take individual vitamins, but a complex of B vitamins or B group vitamins + vitamin C.