Teen athletes today are under incredible pressure to succeed. Gone are the days when participating in sports was just for recreation. Now high school teams, and even players, are routinely ranked. The chances are good that you’ve done time at an elite summer sports camp or clinic to try to improve your game, and year-round training is the norm. The bottom line is that stiff competition and high-level training now start at a much younger age, and the stakes to succeed seem higher than ever before. How you perform may get you that coveted college scholarship or even a tryout with a professional team. And let’s face facts — there are many more high school athletes out there today than there are college scholarships or opportunities in the professional ranks.
Everyone knows that it takes ability, good coaching, and hard work to be a success on the playing field. But that doesn’t stop even the best of athletes from looking for that competitive edge. Teenage athletes aren’t immune to the pressure to succeed or the desire to find that extra something that will help set them apart from their competitors.
Steroids, steroid precursors such as androstenedione, human growth hormone, creatine, protein and amino acid supplements, and stimulants such as caffeine and guarana all make the list of performance-enhancing substances — agents that have been tried by athletes for the performance benefits they may confer. You may not have tried any of these, but you’ve probably heard of them and may even know someone who has tried one or more. Unfortunately, some of what gets tried or experimented with is more hype than help, while others from this list may work but are harmful.
- Anabolic steroids are powerful synthetic compounds that mimic the hormone testosterone and are used by athletes to increase muscle size and strength. If you’ve paid attention to the home run record in Major League Baseball, you know that steroids are powerful and that they work. What you should also know is that they are illegal to obtain and use for this purpose, and that their adverse effects are devastating, especially to teenage athletes. Breast development, reduced sperm production, and shrinking testicles in males; masculinization in females; stunted growth; psychological disorders such as rage, aggression, and delusions; and a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, hepatitis, and liver cancer are just some of what can befall steroid users. Steroids are a no-brainer — steer clear of them.
- Steroid precursors or building blocks include compounds such as androstenedione, androstenediol, and dehydroepiandrosterone. These are sold as dietary supplements; as with steroids, their intended purpose is to build muscle. It’s what is unintended about their use that is worrisome. The danger with these substances is that their long-term effects are basically unknown because they haven’t been studied. Take a pass on these as well.
- Human growth hormone is another compound used for building muscle. True to form, its adverse effects can also be quite severe, and its use has been banned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the International Olympic Committee, and the National Football League. Here again, any possible short-term performance benefits are absolutely not worth the long-term health consequences or the legal and regulatory entanglements associated with its use.
- Creatine is one of the more commonly consumed performance-enhancing substances used by teen athletes. It occurs naturally in your body, supplies energy to muscles, and is used to build muscle mass, improve strength, and enhance post-workout recovery. Studies show that this substance, which is sold in health food stores, tends to be used by teenage athletes who compete in football, gymnastics, hockey, wrestling, track, tennis, and volleyball. While performance benefits of high doses have been seen in research studies, one concern is that no studies have been done to examine the short-term or long-term effects of creatine among high school athletes. Until such studies have been conducted and its safety has been established for teens, consult your health care professional before use.
- Caffeine and its herbal equivalent, guarana, are in the stimulant category of performance-enhancing substances. These agents act on the central nervous system to increase alertness, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate, and therefore improve athletic performance. The occasional use of caffeine to boost performance during an extended endurance event such as a triathlon or century ride is one thing — amping up on high amounts on a daily basis by guzzling energy drinks or downing energy shots can lead to side effects such as anxiousness, jitteriness, and problems sleeping that will ultimately undermine your ability to athletically perform at your best.
So where can you turn for a competitive edge?
Don’t be so distracted looking for a magic bullet that you miss out on the serious competitive edge that comes from using a solid sports nutrition program to its fullest advantage.
- Actively promote recovery. You put in hours every day in training, but that’s just half the battle. Training tears your body down and depletes your reserves. What you put back into your body after working out has a powerful effect on the gains you make from your hard work:
- Consume carbs within 30 minutes of your workout. Carbohydrates — in the forms of glucose in your blood and glycogen in your muscles and liver — fuel much of the training you’re doing. However, your carbohydrate reserves are in very short supply and they get seriously depleted with virtually every workout and practice. Once you hit empty, your muscles fatigue and your ability to perform plummets. By taking in easy-to-digest carbs as soon as possible after exercise, you’re able to jump-start the process of refueling your gas tank.
- Consume 15–25 grams of protein within 30 minutes of your aerobic workouts. No, you don’t need to indiscriminately add more protein or amino acid powders to your diet, but timing your protein intake in relation to workouts can make a difference in your recovery. The fact is that your muscle tissue fibers get damaged during exercise and they need to be repaired. Consuming 15–25 grams of protein as soon as possible after your aerobic and strength training workouts provides the amino acid building blocks needed to help restore damaged muscle tissue and to help build muscle in response to your training.
- Consume 20–40 grams of protein around strength training workouts. For strength training, you want to have the amino acid building blocks available both during and after workouts. Also, new research indicates that if the protein source you’re downing to support your training has the amino acid leucine, the rate of muscle protein synthesis revs up considerably. Capitalizing on these findings, PowerBar has developed a sports nutrition bar just for athletes interested in building muscle tissue. The PowerBar ProteinPlus® 30g protein bar pairs 30 grams of high-quality protein with 33 grams of carbs, and it features 3.5 grams of the important amino acid leucine. So if building muscle tissue is your goal, chow down on half a bar on the way to the weight room and the other half after your workout.
- Drink fluids to replace sweat losses. Your body cools itself during exercise by sweating. But in the process, you lose the very fluids and the key electrolyte sodium that are essential to keeping you properly hydrated. So weigh yourself before and after workouts and practices to gauge the extent of your fluid loss, and then replace this fluid by gradually drinking 16–24 fl oz (470–700 ml) of a recovery beverage, sports drink, or water for every 1 lb (0.45 kg) of weight lost. Consuming sodium sources along with your fluids will make your rehydration efforts more effective.
- Use PowerBar® Recovery beverage for rapid recovery after training. Just pour the powder into your sports bottle, add water, and shake. In seconds, you’ll have the carbs, protein, sodium, and fluids to start reloading, repairing, and rehydrating. And by drinking plenty of fluids, eating high-carb meals and snacks, and taking in a moderate amount of lean protein after training, you’ll provide your body with what it needs in order to maximize the gains from your hard work.
- Practice and train at your best. The better your workouts, the more you will improve and develop. To be at your best for every workout, you have to start fully hydrated and with your muscles fueled. And to sustain your effort through those workouts, you have to rehydrate and refuel during exercise:
- Drink 14–20 fl oz (400–600 ml) of water 2–4 hours before exercise. This will help ensure that you are starting your training sessions fully hydrated. Carry a water bottle or sports bottle to class, take sips regularly, and continue to hydrate right up until practice.
- Eat a high-carb snack about an hour before exercise. This will help top off carbohydrate fuel stores prior to workouts. Examples of high-carb snacks include fresh fruit, yogurt, fruit juice or a fruit smoothie, crackers or pretzels, a bagel or sandwich, a PowerBar® Performance Energy bar, or PowerBar® Energy Bites, and PowerBar® Gel Blasts™ energy chews.
- During exercise, keep pace with your sweat rate. During a training session you’re constantly losing fluids, and your sense of thirst doesn’t kick in until you’ve already become dehydrated. So you need a plan to consume fluids regularly during exercise. The ideal goal is to keep pace with your sweat rate. This generally requires about 13–26 fl oz (400–800 ml) every hour of exercise, preferably in smaller amounts taken in every 15 minutes or so. Water is generally fine for exercise lasting less than an hour. A sports drink is a better option for exercise lasting longer than an hour and anytime it’s hot or humid.
- For long workouts, consume about 30–60 grams of carbs during every hour of exercise. If you’re exercising for much longer than an hour, consuming carbs during exercise can help prevent muscle fatigue. The carbs have to be easily digested and absorbed. PowerBar offers some great refueling options that you can tailor to your specific needs and tastes, including PowerBar® Gel, PowerBar Gel Blasts energy chews, PowerBar Performance Energy bar, and PowerBar Energy Bites. For lighter workouts that last less than an hour, you probably won’t need to refuel during exercise.
- For strength training workouts, have some protein before and after. If you’re heading off to lift weights, make sure you have some protein on hand to provide the amino acid building blocks you’ll need to repair and build muscle in response to your workout. PowerBar ProteinPlus 30g protein bar is a convenient option for getting this protein along with the amino acid leucine and important muscle-fueling carbs. Down half the bar on the way to the weight room and the other half after your workout.
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