Nutrition

The Sports Supplement Guide

Which supplements suit your training and your diet, and which do not. Per item: how much, when, how long, the food-first option and when to skip it.

In short

• Most of the shelf is not for you: total energy, protein and a varied diet decide far more than any product, and a supplement only earns its place when a real gap or a specific effort is there.
• Five things carry almost all of the training evidence — creatine, caffeine, protein, carbohydrate in long sessions, and fluid with sodium — and each belongs to a describable situation rather than to a sport.
• Vitamin D, iron, B12 and the rest are about supply and risk groups, not performance; iron in particular belongs behind a blood test, never behind a symptom.
• A dose is only meaningful for the active ingredient — elemental magnesium, EPA plus DHA — and the daily reference value, the studied sports dose and the safe upper limit are three different numbers.
• If you compete, contamination is the real risk: transparently declared, batch-tested products only, and nothing tried for the first time on a race day.

On this page

1. 1.Do you actually need a supplement?
2. 2.The five questions, in order
3. 3.What your training changes
4. 4.What your diet changes
5. 5.How to read the cards below
6. 6.Protein powder
7. 7.Creatine monohydrate
8. 8.Caffeine
9. 9.Carbohydrate during training
10. 10.Fluid, sodium and electrolytes
11. 11.Nutrients that depend on your diet
12. 12.Supplements for one specific goal
13. 13.What is usually not worth your money
14. 14.Four example days
15. 15.Safety, medication and anti-doping
16. 16.Where GetMyCoach fits in

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Do you actually need a supplement?

For most people who train, the honest answer is no — and that is not a fashionable thing for a fitness company to write.

Three things decide almost everything about how you feel and how you progress: how much total energy the day supplies, how much protein it contains, and how varied the food is. Nothing sold in a tub moves those three as much as a week of ordinary meals does. A supplement can only ever do one of three jobs:

1. Close a gap that your food is not closing — usually because of convenience, appetite or a diet in deficit.
2. Supply something your way of eating structurally lacks — vitamin B12 on a vegan diet is the clearest example there is.
3. Add a small, measurable edge for one specific kind of effort, where the research actually shows one.

Everything else on the shelf is marketing. So this guide is not a stack to copy. It is a way to get from your training and your eating to a short, defensible list — often a list of one or two items, and sometimes an empty one.

If the first of those three jobs is where you are — the day itself, rather than any product — start with sports nutrition by training goal, which shows what a plausible day of eating looks like for each sport we coach.

The five questions, in order

The order is the point. Almost every wasted franc in this category is a question-three purchase made while question one is still unanswered.

1. 1Energy and proteinThe foundation

   Is the day supplying enough total energy, and roughly 1.2–2.0 g of protein per kg of body weight? · If not, nothing on a shelf fixes it.

2. 2A plausible gapYour way of eating

   Does your diet structurally leave one nutrient short — no fish, no dairy, no animal foods, very few plants? · A gap you can name is worth acting on.

3. 3A specific goalThe session, not the sport

   Is there a concrete effort a supplement is actually shown to help — a heavy block, a 2-minute maximal effort, a three-hour ride? · No effort, no reason.

4. 4Safe for youHealth and rules

   Medication, pregnancy, existing conditions — and, if you compete, the rules you are bound by. · This question has a veto over the others.

5. 5Food or a doctor firstThe cheaper answer

   Would a change to your meals, or a blood test, answer this better than a product would? · Very often, yes.

If you get to the end of those five and nothing survives, that is a real result and not a failure of the exercise. Plenty of well-trained people take nothing at all.

What your training changes

Your sport matters less than most marketing suggests. What actually changes the answer is the session: how long it lasts, how hard it is, how much you sweat, and whether you are eating enough to cover it.

Every context in that table is one GetMyCoach coaches — the training plans index shows what a week looks like in each, and the HYROX and strength plans are the two where the supplement question comes up most.

What your diet changes

This is the half most people skip, and it is where the genuinely useful answers live. A supplement that fills a real hole in your diet does more than any performance product ever will.

How to read the cards below

Every supplement below answers the same eight questions, in the same order, so you can compare them honestly instead of comparing the confidence of their packaging.

Who for · Why · What · How much · When · How long · Food first · When not.

Each card opens with one of five verdicts:

Two rules run through every card, and mixing them up is the single most common dosing error:

Protein powder

Verdict: cover it with food — a product is a convenience for closing a gap.

• Who for — Anyone whose daily protein target is regularly missed: busy days, a small appetite, eating in a deficit, or a plant-based diet where reaching the number takes more planning.
• Why — Total daily protein is what drives the adaptation; supplementation only helps when it raises a total that was otherwise short. It is a delivery method, not an active ingredient.
• What — Whey, casein, soy, pea or a blend. The protein content per 100 g and the price per 100 g of protein are the only two numbers worth comparing.
• How much — Aim for roughly 1.2–2.0 g of protein per kg of body weight per day in total, spread over three to five meals. A scoop typically supplies 20–25 g; take as many as the gap requires and no more.
• When — Whenever it fits the day. The precise timing around a session matters far less than the daily total and an even spread.
• How long — For as long as the gap exists. When your meals cover the target, the powder has nothing left to do.
• Food first — Quark, skyr, milk, eggs, chicken, fish, tofu, tempeh, lentils. Cheaper per gram than most powders and it brings the rest of the meal with it.
• When not — If you already hit your target from food, extra protein does nothing except cost money. Kidney disease means asking a doctor before raising protein at all.

If you want the number for your body weight and goal rather than a range, the protein calculator does it in under a minute, and how much protein you really need explains where the number comes from.

Creatine monohydrate

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — the best-supported supplement there is for repeated hard efforts.

• Who for — Strength, muscle building, weightlifting, HYROX, racket and team sports, and anyone whose training contains repeated short maximal efforts. Also relevant for vegetarians and vegans, who carry lower baseline stores.
• Why — It tops up the phosphocreatine your muscles use in efforts of a few seconds, so the last reps of a set and the last sprints of a match hold up slightly better. Over months that difference compounds.
• What — Creatine monohydrate. The exotic forms cost more and have not been shown to beat it.
• How much — 3–5 g a day. An optional loading phase of roughly 0.3 g per kg per day for five to seven days, split into four or five portions, fills the stores faster; without it they fill over three to four weeks and end up in the same place.
• When — Any time of day, with or without food. The timing hype around creatine is not supported; consistency is.
• How long — Daily, on training days and rest days alike, for as long as you want the stores full. There is no need to cycle it.
• Food first — Red meat and fish contain creatine, but reaching 3–5 g a day from food alone means eating roughly a kilogram of meat. This is the one case where the powder is genuinely the practical route.
• When not — If your sport punishes extra body mass, note that the first weeks typically add one to two kilograms of intracellular water. Kidney disease, pregnancy or regular medication: ask a doctor first.

Creatine dosage by sport works through the grams at 60, 80 and 100 kg and what the first fortnight does to the scale.

Caffeine

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — a genuine effect, with a real cost if you get the timing wrong.

• Who for — Before a session that actually matters: a hard interval workout, a heavy top set, a race, a match. Not before every session.
• Why — It lowers perceived effort and sharpens alertness and reaction time. The effect is well established across endurance, repeated sprints and strength endurance.
• What — Coffee, caffeine tablets, or a pre-workout with the caffeine amount printed on it. If the amount is not printed, you cannot dose it.
• How much — Roughly 3–6 mg per kg of body weight, which is about 210–420 mg for an 70 kg athlete. Above 6 mg per kg the benefit does not grow and the side effects do. EFSA judges single doses up to 200 mg and up to 400 mg across a day as safe for healthy adults.
• When — Around 45–60 minutes before the session for tablets, a little earlier for coffee. Individual response varies a lot.
• How long — Session by session. It is not something you take daily for an effect that accumulates, and daily use does blunt the response somewhat.
• Food first — A normal coffee is a perfectly good delivery method, and one you already know how you react to.
• When not — Evening sessions: the half-life is roughly four to six hours, so a 6 pm dose is still working at bedtime, and lost sleep costs more than the session gained. Pregnancy: EFSA advises no more than 200 mg a day in total. Anxiety, arrhythmia, reflux, or medication that interacts: ask a doctor.

Carbohydrate during training

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — decided by the clock, not by the sport.

• Who for — Anyone training continuously beyond roughly 70 minutes, and anyone doing two hard sessions in a day.
• Why — Glycogen is finite. Past about an hour of sustained work, taking carbohydrate in holds output and protects the back half of the session and the next day.
• What — A sports drink, gels, dried fruit, a banana, or a bottle with sugar and a pinch of salt in it. There is nothing special about the branded versions except convenience.
• How much — Roughly 30–60 g per hour beyond about 70 minutes. Beyond two and a half to three hours, up to about 90 g per hour is possible, but only with a glucose-and-fructose mix, and only if you have practised it.
• When — During the session, started early rather than when you are already empty. Before it, a carbohydrate-containing meal one to four hours out does the same job better.
• How long — Only for the sessions that need it. A 45-minute gym session does not.
• Food first — Ordinary food works: a banana, dried dates, a jam sandwich. Gels exist for pockets, not for physiology.
• When not — For short or easy sessions it adds calories with no benefit, which quietly matters if you are eating in a deficit. Never trial a new product or a new amount on a race day.

Fluid, sodium and electrolytes

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — and the most individual item in this guide.

• Who for — Long sessions, hot halls and outdoor summer training, and anyone who finishes with visible salt on their skin or kit.
• Why — Sweat costs you water and sodium. Losing a lot of both without replacing either is the ordinary reason a long session falls apart in the last third.
• What — Water plus sodium. An electrolyte tablet, a sports drink, or simply salting your food well around long sessions.
• How much — Drink to thirst rather than to a fixed schedule. Sodium losses vary enormously between people, so the useful approach is to replace more if you are a heavy or salty sweater and less if you are not.
• When — During sessions over roughly 90 minutes, and in heat. Around shorter sessions, ordinary meals and drinks cover it.
• How long — Per session, as conditions require. Not a daily supplement.
• Food first — Salted food, a glass of milk, or a bottle of mineral water with a high mineral content does most of this for most people.
• When not — Drinking far beyond thirst during long events is genuinely dangerous — that is how exercise-associated hyponatraemia happens, and it is more dangerous than being a little dehydrated. Blood pressure or kidney conditions: ask a doctor before adding sodium deliberately.

Nutrients that depend on your diet

These are not performance products. They are about supply: whether your normal week of eating delivers enough of something. That means the answer comes from how you eat, not from how you train — and for two of them, from a blood test rather than from either.

Magnesium

Verdict: cover it with food — a small supplement is reasonable if your diet stays short.

• Who for — Diets low in wholegrains, seeds, legumes and greens; long spells of eating in a deficit.
• Why — Magnesium is involved in energy metabolism and muscle function, which is why it is marketed at athletes. No official body sets a higher requirement for training.
• What — Elemental magnesium. Citrate, glycinate and oxide differ in how much elemental magnesium they carry and how well they are tolerated.
• How much — The D-A-CH reference values used in Switzerland put adults at roughly 300–350 mg of elemental magnesium a day in total, food included. If you supplement, 100–250 mg of elemental magnesium alongside a meal is the useful range. The EU upper level for supplemental magnesium is 250 mg a day on top of food.
• When — With a meal. Timing is preference, not physiology.
• How long — For as long as the diet stays short. It is a supply question, not a treatment.
• Food first — Pumpkin seeds, oats, wholegrain bread, dark chocolate, beans, spinach, and mineral water with a high magnesium content.
• When not — Cramps are not a diagnosis of a magnesium deficiency, and the evidence does not support magnesium as a treatment for exercise-associated cramps. Kidney disease: ask a doctor first.

Magnesium and sport separates the three numbers that get confused — reference value, supplemental amount and upper level — and shows why 500 mg of citrate is only around 80 mg of elemental magnesium.

Omega-3: EPA and DHA

Verdict: cover it with food — reasonable to supplement if you do not eat fish.

• Who for — People who eat little or no oily fish, including most vegetarians and vegans.
• Why — EPA and DHA are the two long-chain omega-3 fatty acids the recommendations are actually about. The evidence is about general health and, at higher doses, recovery — not about a performance boost.
• What — Fish oil, or algal oil for a plant-based diet. ALA from linseed or walnuts converts into EPA and DHA only very poorly, so it does not substitute.
• How much — 250 mg of EPA plus DHA a day covers general supply. Sport studies typically use around 1–3 g a day of EPA+DHA for at least four weeks — an experimental dose, not a public recommendation. EFSA judged supplemental intakes up to 5 g a day of EPA+DHA to raise no safety concern for adults.
• When — With a meal that contains some fat. Split larger amounts.
• How long — Weeks, not sessions. Nothing about this works acutely.
• Food first — One to two fish meals a week, one of them oily: salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines.
• When not — Above roughly 1 g a day, discuss it first if you take anticoagulants or live with a heart-rhythm condition.

Omega-3 in sport reads EPA+DHA off a fish-oil label instead of the "1000 mg" on the front, and sorts the three dose levels so you can tell which one you are on.

Vitamin D

Verdict: only with a confirmed risk or a medical recommendation — but the risk is common in a Swiss winter.

• Who for — Anyone training mostly indoors, covering their skin outdoors, with darker skin, or simply living through a northern winter.
• Why — Most vitamin D comes from sunlight on skin, not from food. Between roughly October and March at Swiss latitudes, that route is largely closed.
• What — Vitamin D3, usually as drops or capsules.
• How much — The D-A-CH estimated value in the absence of skin synthesis is 20 µg (800 IU) a day. The tolerable upper intake level for adults is 100 µg (4000 IU) a day. High weekly or monthly "loading" doses are a medical decision.
• When — With a meal containing fat. The time of day does not matter.
• How long — Through the dark months, or year-round if your exposure genuinely does not change.
• Food first — Oily fish, egg yolk and fortified products contribute, but food alone rarely covers the gap in winter.
• When not — Do not self-prescribe high doses. Vitamin D can be over-supplemented, and a 25-OH-D blood test is the only way to know where you actually are.

Iron

Verdict: only with a confirmed deficiency — this one belongs behind a blood test, always.

• Who for — Menstruating women, endurance athletes with high running volume, blood donors, and vegetarians and vegans. Those are risk groups, not diagnoses.
• Why — Iron carries oxygen. A genuine deficiency shows up as flat sessions and poor recovery long before it shows up as anaemia — but so do a dozen other things, which is exactly why you test rather than guess.
• What — Ferrous salts, usually. The form and the dose are a medical decision once a test shows a shortfall.
• How much — The D-A-CH reference value is around 10–11 mg a day for adult men and 15–16 mg a day for menstruating women, food included. A therapeutic dose for a diagnosed deficiency is a different number entirely, set by a doctor.
• When — As prescribed. Iron absorption is affected by coffee, tea, calcium and several medications, so the instructions matter more than usual.
• How long — Until a follow-up blood test says otherwise.
• Food first — Red meat, liver, legumes, tofu, oats and dark greens. Vitamin C in the same meal raises absorption from plant sources substantially.
• When not — Never supplement iron "just in case". The body has no way to excrete a surplus, iron overload is a real condition, and haemochromatosis is not rare. Test first: ferritin, haemoglobin and an inflammation marker together.

Vitamin B12

Verdict: only with a confirmed risk — but on a vegan diet, that risk is certain.

• Who for — Vegans, without exception. Vegetarians who rarely eat dairy or eggs. Older adults and people on long-term metformin or acid-suppressing medication, in consultation with a doctor.
• Why — B12 occurs reliably only in animal foods and fortified products. A deficiency develops slowly and can cause irreversible neurological damage, which is why this is the one item in this guide that is genuinely not optional for one group.
• What — Cyanocobalamin or methylcobalamin, as tablets, drops or a B12 toothpaste.
• How much — The D-A-CH estimated value is 4 µg a day from food. Supplement doses are much higher — commonly 10–250 µg daily, or a larger weekly dose — because only a small fraction of a single large dose is absorbed.
• When — Daily or weekly, as the product specifies. Timing within the day is irrelevant.
• How long — Permanently, for as long as the diet excludes animal foods.
• Food first — Not possible on a vegan diet. Fortified plant drinks help but rarely suffice alone.
• When not — There is no reason to supplement B12 on a mixed diet with no risk factors. If you suspect a deficiency, test rather than mask it.

Calcium

Verdict: cover it with food — supplement only if your diet genuinely excludes the sources.

• Who for — People avoiding dairy without replacing it, and anyone eating in a long deficit with bone health at stake.
• Why — Bone loading from training only builds bone if the raw material and the energy are there. This matters most in the context of chronically low energy availability.
• What — Calcium carbonate or citrate, or simply a fortified plant drink.
• How much — The D-A-CH reference value for adults is 1000 mg a day in total, food included. The tolerable upper intake level is 2500 mg a day.
• When — Split across the day rather than in one dose; absorption per dose is limited. Keep it away from iron supplements.
• How long — For as long as the diet excludes the usual sources.
• Food first — Dairy, calcium-set tofu, fortified plant drinks, kale, sesame, almonds, and mineral water with a high calcium content.
• When not — On a diet that already includes dairy or fortified drinks, extra calcium adds nothing and competes with iron absorption.

Supplements for one specific goal

These three have real evidence for a specific kind of effort and none at all outside it. They are also the three most likely to be taken by people whose training contains nothing they could help. Every one of them has to be trialled in training, never first on a competition day.

Beta-alanine

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — for sustained maximal efforts of roughly one to four minutes.

• Who for — HYROX, rowing, middle-distance running, swimming, hard interval work — the efforts where the burn, not the breath, is what stops you.
• Why — It raises muscle carnosine, which buffers the acidity that builds during sustained high-intensity work.
• What — Beta-alanine, plain or sustained-release.
• How much — Roughly 3.2–6.4 g a day, split into several smaller doses.
• When — Timing within the day is irrelevant, because the effect comes from the level built up in muscle. Split doses with meals to reduce the tingling.
• How long — Four to twelve weeks of consistent daily intake before the effect is there at all. This is not a pre-workout.
• Food first — Not realistic; dietary sources cannot reach these amounts.
• When not — For pure strength work, for long easy endurance, or for anything under about 30 seconds, it has nothing to offer. Harmless paraesthesia — skin tingling — is common; sustained-release or split doses reduce it.

Nitrate from beetroot

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — with a clear caveat about who it works for.

• Who for — Recreationally trained endurance and mixed-sport athletes. The effect shrinks as training status rises, and is often absent in highly trained endurance athletes.
• Why — Dietary nitrate raises nitric oxide availability, which can reduce the oxygen cost of submaximal work.
• What — Concentrated beetroot juice shots, standardised for nitrate content. "Beetroot" on a label is not a dose.
• How much — Roughly 5–9 mmol of nitrate, which is about 310–560 mg, per dose.
• When — Two to three hours before the effort. Several days of daily dosing beforehand may work better than a single shot.
• How long — For the block or the event you are targeting. It is not a permanent addition.
• Food first — Beetroot, rocket, spinach and other leafy greens genuinely carry nitrate — a large beetroot salad is a real dose.
• When not — Antibacterial mouthwash removes the oral bacteria that make nitrate usable, so it cancels the effect. Stomach upset is common. Red urine is harmless and surprising.

Sodium bicarbonate

Verdict: can make sense in some situations — and it is the one most likely to ruin your session.

• Who for — Competitive athletes in efforts of roughly one to ten minutes at maximal intensity. It is an event supplement, not a training one.
• Why — It raises blood buffering capacity, which can delay the point at which acidity limits the effort.
• What — Sodium bicarbonate, ideally in a form designed to reduce gastrointestinal distress.
• How much — Roughly 0.2–0.3 g per kg of body weight.
• When — 60–180 minutes before the effort, with a carbohydrate-rich meal. The individual window varies enough to be worth finding in training.
• How long — Single use before the event.
• Food first — Not applicable.
• When not — Gastrointestinal distress is frequent and sometimes severe, which is why "never first on a race day" is not a cliché here. It also carries a meaningful sodium load: discuss it first if you have high blood pressure or a kidney condition.

What is usually not worth your money

None of these is dangerous by default. They are here because the gap between what they promise and what they do is wide enough to be worth naming.

BCAA and EAA

If your daily protein intake is adequate, branched-chain amino acids add nothing — a muscle needs all the essential amino acids to build protein, and a whole protein source supplies them along with everything else. EAA products come closer in principle, but for anyone eating enough protein they are an expensive way to buy what a meal already contains. Usually not needed for this goal.

Fat burners

Thermogenic blends move energy expenditure by an amount that disappears next to a single ordinary eating day. What you usually feel is the stimulant. Not recommended, and the stimulant load is a real cost.

Testosterone boosters

In men with normal testosterone, the common ingredients have not been shown to raise it in any way that changes training outcomes. If you genuinely suspect low testosterone, that is a blood test and a doctor, not a tub. Not recommended.

Detox products

Your liver and kidneys do this continuously. No detox supplement has shown a clinical benefit in a healthy person. Not recommended.

High-dose multivitamins

A multivitamin may be a reasonable safety net for a genuinely restricted diet. High doses are a different thing: there is no performance benefit in someone who is already replete, and large doses of antioxidant vitamins C and E around training can blunt some of the adaptations you trained for. Usually not needed.

Proprietary pre-workout blends

If the label says "proprietary blend 6.5 g" and not how much of each ingredient is in it, you cannot check the caffeine against a limit, cannot tell whether the beta-alanine is at an effective dose, and cannot compare it with anything. Undeclared contents are also where contamination problems concentrate. Not recommended — buy the ingredients you actually want, individually dosed.

Four example days

There is no universal daily routine, so these are four illustrations — one per kind of day. Read them as a shape, not as a plan.

The first thing to see is that the list splits in two: a few things are daily and time-flexible, and everything else is attached to a session. That is why a rest day is not an empty day.

Mon

Strength, afternoon

Daily items. Nothing else needed.

Tue

Easy run, 40 min

Daily items only — short and easy needs no fuelling.

Wed

Intervals

Daily items. Caffeine if the session matters.

Thu

Rest day. Daily items continue.

Fri

Strength, afternoon

Daily items. Nothing else needed.

Sat

Long session, 2 h

Daily items, carbohydrate during, fluid with sodium.

Sun

Rest day. Daily items continue.

An afternoon strength day

A morning endurance day

A HYROX or interval day

A rest day

Safety, medication and anti-doping

A supplement is a product with an effect, which means it is a product with risks. Four of them are worth naming explicitly.

Medication and existing conditions. Iron interacts with thyroid medication, some antibiotics and acid-suppressing drugs. Magnesium and calcium interfere with the absorption of several medicines. Higher omega-3 intakes matter if you take anticoagulants. Caffeine interacts with a number of drugs and is a poor idea with several heart conditions. Kidney or liver disease changes the answer for almost everything on this page. None of that means "do not"; it means "ask first".

Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Requirements change, several products are unsuitable, and caffeine has a lower limit. This is a conversation with a doctor or midwife, not a guide.

Contamination and anti-doping. If you compete under anti-doping rules, you are responsible for what is in your body, regardless of what a label said. Testing programmes have repeatedly found undeclared substances in supplements, and the risk concentrates in exactly the categories with the loudest claims and the vaguest labels — pre-workout blends, fat burners and "boosters". Batch-tested products reduce that risk substantially. They do not remove it, and nobody can honestly promise you they do.

Symptoms are not diagnoses. Tiredness, cramp, poor sleep and slow recovery are what under-eating, under-sleeping and over-reaching feel like. They are also what a dozen medical conditions feel like. What they are not is evidence of a specific nutrient deficiency. If something persists, that is a reason to see a doctor and test — not a reason to buy a tub.

For Swiss athletes, Swiss Sport Integrity is the national anti-doping body and the right first stop for questions about products and rules.

Where GetMyCoach fits in

GetMyCoach does not sell supplements and does not recommend brands. What the nutrition coach inside the app does is narrower and more useful than a generic list: it works from what you have actually logged.

• It reads your tracked days only — an unlogged day does not become a zero — and it says how confident it is. Too few days, or a missing field, and it says so instead of guessing.
• It gives you one prioritised action at a time rather than a wall of findings, and "everything is covered" is a real answer it is allowed to give.
• Supplements are handled as planned routines, not as a daily checklist. If two products contain the same active and state it in the same unit, it will tell you the combined planned amount and compare it with a cited reference. If one of them does not state an amount, it says the total is unknown rather than inventing one.
• A recommendation only appears when there is a concrete gap — a nutrient your logged days have been short of, or something your training context has cited evidence for that no routine of yours covers. It names generic types, never products, and always says how the gap could be closed with food instead.
• It will never tell you that you are deficient. That is a diagnosis, and it belongs to a doctor with a blood test.

The nutrition side works with no training plan at all, so you can use it purely to see what your eating actually looks like.

Sources

1. Thomas, Erdman & Burke — Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic PerformanceThe protein, carbohydrate, fuelling and hydration ranges used throughout this guide.
2. Maughan et al. — IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athleteBritish Journal of Sports Medicine; the framing of which supplements have evidence, and the contamination risk.
3. Peeling et al. — Evidence-Based Supplements for the Enhancement of Athletic PerformanceInternational Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism; the per-supplement effect sizes and protocols.
4. Australian Institute of Sport — Sports Supplement FrameworkThe A–D classification behind the verdicts used on each card.
5. Kreider et al. — ISSN position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementationThe 3–5 g daily dose, the optional loading protocol and the safety record.
6. Guest et al. — ISSN position stand: caffeine and exercise performanceThe 3–6 mg per kg range, the timing window and the habituation evidence.
7. EFSA — Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeineThe 200 mg single dose and 400 mg daily figures, and the 200 mg limit in pregnancy.
8. Morton et al. — A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of protein supplementation and resistance trainingBritish Journal of Sports Medicine; why total daily protein, not the shake, is what matters.
9. Wolfe, R. — Branched-chain amino acids and muscle protein synthesis in humans: myth or reality?The basis for the BCAA verdict.
10. Trexler et al. — ISSN position stand: beta-alanineThe loading dose, the four-to-twelve-week timeline and the one-to-four-minute effort window.
11. Grgic et al. — ISSN position stand: sodium bicarbonate and exercise performanceThe 0.2–0.3 g per kg dose, the timing window and the gastrointestinal risk.
12. Jones, Vanhatalo et al. — Dietary Nitrate and Physical PerformanceAnnual Review of Nutrition; the nitrate dose, the timing and why training status blunts the effect.
13. Hew-Butler et al. — Third International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus StatementWhy the hydration advice here is drink-to-thirst rather than a fixed volume per hour.
14. D-A-CH reference values (DGE), as used by the Swiss BLVThe daily reference values quoted for magnesium, vitamin D, iron, B12 and calcium.
15. EFSA — Dietary Reference Values and tolerable upper intake levelsThe upper limits quoted for supplemental magnesium, vitamin D, calcium and EPA+DHA.
16. Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (BLV) — NutritionThe Swiss reference point for nutrient recommendations and supplement regulation.
17. Swiss Sport IntegrityThe Swiss national anti-doping body — strict liability, product questions and the prohibited list.

Related guides

Keep learning with these related guides.

NutritionSports Nutrition by Training GoalOne plausible day of eating around training for every sport GetMyCoach currently coaches — bodybuilding, strength, general fitness, running, rowing, HYROX, ATHX, squash, boxing and Olympic weightlifting — plus what actually changes between them and what does not.Training FundamentalsHow Training Plans WorkUnderstand how individual training sessions, training weeks, multi-week blocks and long-term training phases fit together — microcycles, mesocycles, macrocycles and how a structured 12-week plan is built.Training FundamentalsTraining Volume, Intensity and FrequencyThe three dials every training plan turns — how much you do (volume), how hard you do it (intensity) and how often you train (frequency) — how they interact, and why more is not always better.