You should start your supplement program with a daily multiple vitamin. We’re not talking
about the kind named after some cartoon character, either. We’re looking for serious nutritional
supplementation to maximize general health and bodybuilding capabilities. Some of these will
be 10–15 times the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance but, then, that should tell you
something about the RDA’s. They’re simply not applicable to an increasingly diversified general
public, and certainly not to bodybuilders and other athletes.
The vitamin should include:
20,000 international units beta-carotene
50 milligrams of vitamin B-1 (thiamine)
50 milligrams of vitamin B-2 (riboflavin)
50 milligrams of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine)
50 milligrams of vitamin B-12 (cyanocobalamin)
50 milligrams of Niacinamide
50 milligrams of D-pantothenic Acid
.5 milligrams of Folic Acid
500 milligrams of vitamin C
400 international units of vitamin D
400 international units of vitamin E
20 milligrams of iron
200 milligrams of calcium
100 milligrams of magnesium
50 milligrams of potassium
10 milligrams of zinc
25 micrograms selenium
25 micrograms chromium
You’ll note there are no megadoses here. Though most go beyond the RDA’s, these are still relatively small dosages and certainly not excessive. You should be able to find a vitamin or devise a program that will provide them quite easily.
You’ll also note that I provide for the use of a number of “antioxidants.” They include vitamins like E and C and selenium and beta-carotene. These antioxidants have been the focus of a number of studies over the last decade, and there’s strong evidence that they can contribute mightily to overall health and longevity. In addition, and especially important to the bodybuilder, is the role antioxidants can play in reducing fatigue and the breakdown of muscle tissue during exercise and aiding recovery.
The enemy here, and the focus of antioxidant use, are substances in the body known as “free radicals.” Free radicals consist of highly reactive molecules that possess unpaired electrons. These radicals play a big role in the normal metabolism of food and the use of energy resources during exercise. But it’s also strongly suspected that they react with the components of body cells in a way that leads to molecular damage and the death of vital cells and, eventually, to aging and death itself. Chemical reactions involving free radicals in the body have been implicated in causing or contributing to cancer, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, immune deficiency, arthritis, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and various other diseases linked with the aging process. Studies, to this date, strongly show that antioxidants can protect the body from the high free radical concentrations that may lead to these diseases.
In fact, data from recent studies has strongly supported the role antioxidants play as protective agents in the creation of cancer, heart disease and limiting the effects of aging. Administration of antioxidants like vitamins C, E and A has also been found useful for preventing post-surgery complications in hospital patients.
There is also a growing amount of data of critical importance to the bodybuilder suggesting
that exercise can adversely affect muscle tissue by increasing the formation of free radicals. In
one study, muscular contraction was found to produce reactive oxygen that contributed to muscle
fatigue. It’s also been found that exercise can decrease the supply of antioxidants. The important
antioxidant Vitamin E can be severely decreased with training, thus depleting the muscle of its
major antioxidant.
Most researchers feel the issue here is stress. It’s now felt that stress, either emotional and
mental or physical, increases the amount of free radicals produced in the body. While the body
generally has the antioxidant capacities to handle free radicals, stress overwhelms the body’s
ability to neutralize them and they increase, largely unchecked. This, in turn, causes advanced
aging and breakdown of the body.
Many bodybuilders have chosen to ignore the possible benefits of antioxidants, but this is
not a wise thing to do. The anaerobic exercise performed by the bodybuilder in training puts a
great deal of physical stress on the body, and this leads to the increased formation of free radicals.
To fight the catabolic influences of these free radicals, YOU MUST MAKE A PLACE FOR
ANTIOXIDANTS IN YOUR DIET.
Antioxidants aren’t good only for the granola crunchers. When you add the increased mental
and emotional stress caused by modern living with the intense physical stress placed on the body
by the bodybuilder, antioxidant use becomes a necessity to control the damage that can be done
by free radicals. It would seem logical from the extensive research done on the topic to this point to conclude
that antioxidants lessen tissue damage, speed recovery, and increase performance over the long
term. They would also seem to provide long-term general health advantages.
With the above in mind, it’s clear that, when used correctly, antioxidants can give the
bodybuilder an added edge. As such, you may want to go beyond the minimum amounts
provided by the multivitamins to maximize the advantages antioxidants can bring. If so, I’d
suggest something along the line of the antioxidant program below:
800 international units of Vitamin E
1 gram of Vitamin C
50 milligrams zinc
25,000 units beta-carotene
100 microgram selenium
The above should be taken only on days that you train and used in addition to your daily
multi-vitamin. On the days you train, you will be taking this along with your multi-vitamin.
