What Are Fitness Supplements? Svelte Protein

You push yourself through every workout, trying to move just a little bit past your previous limits.

But if you're not fueling your body, you could be setting yourself up for failure.

You could say that trying to attain optimal fitness nutrition through diet alone is a commendable goal, at least in the sense that doing anything difficult has an admirable quality to it. But you'll never be able to hone your body as efficiently as you could.

That's why workout supplements like Svelte protein are ubiquitous in the athletic world. To learn what they can do for you, check out our rundown on some of the most common types of supplements on the market.

Types of Workout Supplements

Not all fitness supplements are created equal. There's an entire industry that provides a wealth of options to meet a variety of different purposes.

After all, a powerlifter wouldn't be interested in losing weight, and a marathon runner usually doesn't want to build extraneous muscle. There are a lot of ways to be an athlete, and the optimal nutritional profile will vary depending on what a given person's goals are.

There are a few common types, however, that most athletes can make use of.

Pre-Workout

Pre-workouts, as the name suggests, are meant to be taken prior to a workout and give you a boost of clean energy to help you power through. That boost of energy may also slow the buildup of fatigue, allowing you to perform at a higher level for longer.

Caffeine is one of the most common ingredients in pre-workouts. In addition to providing a boost of energy, caffeine tends to help users maintain focus which is a good quality to have during heavy physical and mental exertion. There is also some evidence linking caffeine consumption to reduced body fat.

But quality pre-workouts are more than caffeine powder. The truly effective ones also contain amino acids that the body needs to perform at its best.

Beta-alanine is one such amino acid. Its main purpose is to reduce muscular fatigue. This quality may help you to push your muscles farther, getting in extra reps at the weight rack or sprinting harder for longer.

Another amino acid you want in your pre-workout is L-citrulline, as it may help encourage the growth of lean muscle.

Workout Recovery

Preparation is only one part of the equation. Equally important is giving your body what it needs to repair muscles after a hard workout.

A good workout recovery supplement needs to have two key components: a complex carbohydrate and a protein.

When we work our muscles, we use up our stores of glycogen, a form of glucose that we use to store energy from carbohydrates.

This energy helps your body to rebuild worn muscles and provides quick-burning energy during periods of intense exertion. Hence why having full stores of glycogen tends to encourage higher exercise performance. So it follows that a carbohydrate component both helps us to recover and have a great workout next time as well.

The use of protein to aid in recovery is straightforward. Protein is essential to building and maintaining muscle mass, and it tends to follow that the more muscle you have or try to build, the higher the needed protein intake.

Protein supplements come from a variety of sources with varying qualities. Whey protein, however, is the most popular by some distance.

Whey is sourced from cow's milk. It's water-soluble, allowing it to be quickly metabolized into its base amino acids. This speedy absorption is thought to help aid skeletal development as well as building muscle, essential for serious weight training.

Mental Focus

Finally, there is a variety of supplements that are meant to improve your mental cognition more than building the body directly.

The idea is that by improving the user's mood and focus, they'll be in a mindset to train more efficiently than they may otherwise.

Most of these contain a vitamin supplement that is designed to promote brain health while boosting energy. They're great if you tend to hit the gym after work and need something to alleviate the afternoon brain fog.

Do They Work?

So the million-dollar question: are fitness supplements actually worth the investment?

It's a question worth asking. Not only do supplements present a not inconsiderable financial investment, but an overreliance on a product that simply does not work can leave you in a worse position than if you had tried to avoid supplements altogether.

Well, the short answer is yes, though there is a considerable caveat.

Fitness supplements are not regulated to the same degree as medications. The bar that manufacturers need to clear before they can take their products to market is much lower.

It's a sad truth that many manufacturers will cut corners and stretch pennies by padding their products with sub-par ingredients. At best, this can lead consumers to waste money on mediocre supplements. At worst, those supplements may even contain harmful additives that can compromise your health.

Protecting yourself from unscrupulous brands and getting the results that you want hinges on you getting your supplements from a reputable source with a proven pedigree.

That's why our brand is committed to cultivating a culture of trust and transparency in every aspect of our business. Whereas some fly-by-night companies are satisfied with landing a one-and-done sale, we strive to develop a lasting relationship with every one of our patrons.

Maximize Your Results With the Svelte Protein Line

You work hard every time you step into the gym, and you deserve to reap the rewards of those efforts.

With dietary supplements like Svelte protein, you can prepare yourself for an explosive workout each time, and then treat your body to the nutrients it needs to rebuild itself better than before.

And one of the best parts about it is the convenience. To learn how to get all the supplements you need to perform at your best, check out our subscription service and see how you can have the entire Svelte line delivered to your door.