Protein Supplements - What Age ?

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Sandboy

Sandboy

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looking for advice from any of you fitter types, I gave up years ago and our teams idea of supplements were Regal at half time

my little'un ( 15 in Jan and 6ft 1 ) is a swimmer. Been doing it for a couple of years and turns out he's quite good. He's now competing at a national level.

He's only just begun strength and conditioning training under the tutelage of Durham Uni but when he rocks up at these competitions it's obvious that the other lads have been on the weights a while and he's keen to step it up a bit

A couple of the older lads at his club use these supplements for quicker recovery etc and he's wanting me to order some for him. I think he's too young but I know nowt, anyone have an opinion on the matter ?

Cheers
 


Protein supplements should be fine at that age, however steroids probably best to not take at most stages in life especially at the still growing stage whilst hormones are changing etc. However I have no knowledge or science to back that up :lol:
 
Sandboy said:
looking for advice from any of you fitter types, I gave up years ago and our teams idea of supplements were Regal at half time

my little'un ( 15 in Jan and 6ft 1 ) is a swimmer. Been doing it for a couple of years and turns out he's quite good. He's now competing at a national level.

He's only just begun strength and conditioning training under the tutelage of Durham Uni but when he rocks up at these competitions it's obvious that the other lads have been on the weights a while and he's keen to step it up a bit

A couple of the older lads at his club use these supplements for quicker recovery etc and he's wanting me to order some for him. I think he's too young but I know nowt, anyone have an opinion on the matter ?

Cheers
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Supplements work in pretty much exactly the same way as food. As in you take in proteins, carbohydrates and fats then your body uses these to repair damaged muscle fibre. So adequate food will do the same job as protein shakes for example. Supplements are good because they're cheaper and easier to get into your body than a piece of food which you have to chew.

Presumably if he's on a proper programme he's been given dietary advice and will know the calories he needs per day etc'?

To answer your question, he's not too young to use protein/carb supplements because it's not really any different to eating food. It's a really odd phenomena that parents seem to think there's age guidelines for these things.

Creatine monohydrate may be something he could look at supplementing. Again, fine for a 15 year old.

He shouldn't use steroids if he wants to compete in swimming because if he gets caught he'll get banned. Not sure why the above responses have mentioned them either.
 
That's fine.

Particularly useful if he has multiple sessions per day, or has to go straight to school after an early morning sessions.

They aren't magic, but it will likely help him physiologically and he'll get a nice placebo from it too.
 
Sandboy said:
Thanks chaps, you've reassured me. He works very hard, often twice a day
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A swimming session and a weights session? He'll be getting through some serious calories and if you're bankrolling that then whey protein and carb powders will save your wallet as much as anything :lol:
 
before you delve into supplements (which is important) you want to make sure he is eating enough food to grow muscle. If he is swimming and S&C his expenditure will be massive, especially at 6ft1.

He could do all the training and supplements in the world .... but unless you're giving him enough calories he won't grow muscle.

And a reply such as... oh he eat loads... yeah, but he spends loads, you gotta make sure he eats more than he spends to grow muscle. Calorie counting is the way forward

Hope this helps pal,

p.s I'd f*ck of S&C and just do strength training, concentrate on building muscle for a year then consider S&C. Just my opinion :)
 
Thanks lads, I know nowt about this stuff It's all very fragmented at the minute. He does training with his club and metafit once a week. He does further swimming with the NE Regional team and does the S&C with Durham Institute of Sport at the University. Fortunately he's been selected for an England talent camp and they seem like putting a structure around it.

No 1 on the list is to calculate his calorie intake
 
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