What to Look for in a Safe and Effective Sport Supplement

Using the right sports supplement can change the entire experience of your workout. You can give yourself better performance and, therefore, results, simply by choosing the right product or combination of products. Often, they will provide you with the energy you need, help you to keep fatigue at bay, and give you the drive to put more into each exercise you complete. 

How to Get the Most Out of an Effective Sport Supplement

To get the best benefits out of a sports supplement, you need to make sure you’re choosing the right one. That means that you need to know that you’re using one that is both safe and effective. The key to finding these ideal supplements has to do with gaining an understanding of the industry and the ingredients within the various formulas being offered. 

To start, sports supplements are meant to help you to improve the quality of your workout, thereby bringing you closer to your goal. This could mean boosting energy, providing your muscles with enhanced recovery, or helping you to burn more fat, among other possible benefits. That said, there are literally hundreds of products within this category, all with their own combinations of ingredients and each with their own way of promising you results. How do you know which ones you want and what you should trust? 

Getting Started

Begin by looking into various reviews online until you can make a list of some of the top sports supplement companies and the individual products that other consumers like the most. This can help you to narrow your research a little bit. Then, from that list, pick out the ones that include products within the categories you’re looking for. Are you looking for energy boosters? Protein supplements? Fat burners? Creatine supplements? Simply looking for diet pills that work? Find out who is offering what and refine your list to include only the types you’d like to take. 

It’s Not Just About an Effective Sport Supplement, It’s Also the Company Behind It

Next, it’s time to look into the companies behind the products. After all, it doesn’t matter what is promised or what is printed on the product label if you can’t trust the company behind the product. Head to the company’s official website and look to make sure it offers certain verifiable certifications. Check the About Us statement and make sure that the company’s core values reflect your own. Look at the Contact Us page and make sure there are several ways to reach the company, such as an email address and a phone number. A web-based form isn’t enough when it comes to taking a product that can affect your health. A company with its own toll-free number for customer service is always quite promising. 

Next, look at the different products offered by that company. You likely already have one or two on your list from the reviews and recommendations you’ve come across in your research until now. That said, have a look at the other products that are offered as you may find one that suits your goals even better. Once you’ve found the products that interest you, have a look at the ingredients in their formulas. 

A responsible company will not only list the ingredients within their formulas but will also provide a description of those substances, an explanation as to why they were selected for the formulation, and there will be reputable research cited to support the claims the company has made. The research should be published in industry journals and shouldn’t just link exclusively to general information sites.

Check into the Ingredients You’ll Be Using

Next, do your own brief research into the ingredients. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you’ll need to get a medical degree.  Just make sure you’re covering the basics. Look to reputable sites such as the FDA itself, WebMD, the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical and other sites written by experts and that aren’t trying to sell you pills.

You can even start by simply typing the names into Google along with phrases that can help you to know whether or not they are legal, banned by the FDA, associated with serious side effects, etc. Just be sure the sites you’re reading are trustworthy. 

Get to know the ingredients and what you can expect from them. If you come across a formula with dangerous or banned ingredients, don’t purchase that product or any others offered by that company. Any company willing to sell you a dangerous or banned product is out there to make money, not to help you. Regardless of how good the product may look, it’s not safe and it is not right for you. 

Find Out What Other Users Have Had to Say

Now that you have narrowed down your options to one or two fitness supplements, head back out on Google to read more reviews. Since your list is a lot shorter now, you can really dive into what people have had to say about the product. As helpful as it is to see reviews on an official website, keep in mind that the odds are that the company can moderate those reviews, so they might look better than they really are. Try to find reviews from a range of different sites to get a more complete feel about what customers think of the product. 

Finally, when you feel you’ve decided that you know what’s best for you, it doesn’t hurt to talk to a personal trainer or, even better, your doctor, to get another opinion. As much as you may have done your homework, there is still something (powerful) to say about the insight someone with a great deal of knowledge and experience in the industry can have to offer.