Multivitamins for a distance athlete

PlatinumFX

PlatinumFX

PlatinumFX

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Location
Exmouth, Devon
Road cycling is my main fitness activity and I am nearly at the end of my tub of Seven Seas "Multibionta" multivitamins.

Can any one recommend a good multivitamin which covers every base and is perhaps tailored towards aerobic efficiency and performance versus pure strength, if such variations exist? Are there any other considerations as a cyclist that I should consider? Opinions of distances runners, swimmers, rowers ect are all extremely helpful. I would prefer an all in one pill obviously but I don't mind taking multiple differing pills, even in varying intake patterns.



Are there any other suppplements that are beneficial yet economical for fat burning? After a 2 month spell of complete inactivity due to an injury, I have put on nearly a stone! I was losing weight when cycling but have found it really hard since I had to stop to reduce my eating.

Edit. I did do some searchs on vitamins, multivitamins and supplements but none of the threads I found came close to addressing my questions.
 
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Multivitamins are only good for the placebo effect, I highly doubt any sort of multivitamin would offer you anything on top of your regular diet (assuming that's decent).
 
PlatinumFX said:
Well thats the trouble, its not always. Pills that offered 25-50% of RDA to help ensure I am getting everything I need would be really helpful as I understand it.
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If I were you I'd sort your diet out first then, a vitamin's not a miracle cure on top of a bad diet especially if you're doing a high volume of exercise.
 
One More Solo said:
If I were you I'd sort your diet out first then, a vitamin's not a miracle cure on top of a bad diet especially if you're doing a high volume of exercise.
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Its not a bad diet, just that infrequently due to circumstances beyond my control, I get in only 2 or 3 items of fruit and vegtables. I still eat quite well, but as I understand it, there are certain chemicals that are scarecly prevalent in food these days.

Perhaps though I should turn this question on its head and ask for a comprehensive breakdown of everything my body needs, in what dose and from where I can get it. Ofcourse, I don't expect some one to type all that up. Refferal to relevant articles would be helpful.
 
One More Solo said:
Multivitamins are only good for the placebo effect, I highly doubt any sort of multivitamin would offer you anything on top of your regular diet (assuming that's decent).
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I don't really agree.

There's a huge difference in the quality of Multi vitamins and some offer more benefits than others. Very few people have a perfectly balanced diet, be it because of lack of time, lack of knowledge of just simply lazyness.

The best around by quite a big gap is ADAMS Superior Mens multivitamin, I strongly recommend this product over any other.
 
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I take lots of vitamin C (collagen building, helps vs colds) and then a multivitamin from boots for my daily vitamin intake (on top of a lot of fruit/veg of course). Probably not the best, and it would probably be worth researching a bit more.
 
Wardie said:
I don't really agree.

There's a huge difference in the quality of Multi vitamins and some offer more benefits than others. Very few people have a perfectly balanced diet, be it because of lack of time, lack of knowledge of just simply lazyness.

The best around by quite a big gap is ADAMS Superior Mens multivitamin, I strongly recommend this product over any other.
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The problem is most multivitamins are based on outdated RDAs which barely meet the minimum daily requirements let alone offer any benefits.
 
One More Solo said:
Multivitamins are only good for the placebo effect, I highly doubt any sort of multivitamin would offer you anything on top of your regular diet (assuming that's decent).
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Well, that's probably the case with most people, but some people will have calcium deficiencies, iron deficiencies etc etc, so sometimes they will help.
 
Wardie said:
The best around by quite a big gap is ADAMS Superior Mens multivitamin, I strongly recommend this product over any other.
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don't quite agree, I think the Sports-Nutrition.net multi vits are almost as good, Adam's are kinda padded out with things like ZMA that won't do a lot. But yeah, Adam's > *, I get them in from the US, £24 for 4 months worth :D.
 
One More Solo said:
If I were you I'd sort your diet out first then, a vitamin's not a miracle cure on top of a bad diet especially if you're doing a high volume of exercise.
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Incase you hadn't realise he isn't a bodybuilder. I know of many top level 'distance' athletes that don't have a set diet, they just eat whatever the **** they want and when they want it.

Michael Phelps (a swimmer) is one of them. His actual races may not last more than 4mins, but he trains upwards of 4 hours a day. He is one of example of a World Class athlete he just eats whatever he wants. Thereare two interviews of him on an American TV Show on YouTube where the interviewer asks why he was eating 2 burgers and 4 fries before he came on. His answer was that he had no set diet apart from eat whatever he wants when he wants.
 
Phnom_Penh said:
don't quite agree, I think the Sports-Nutrition.net multi vits are almost as good, Adam's are kinda padded out with things like ZMA that won't do a lot. But yeah, Adam's > *, I get them in from the US, £24 for 4 months worth :D.
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There's nothing wrong with ZMA if you don't think it's some miracle drug that will turn you into a monster. Nothing wrong with supplementing zinc and magnesium, but I know what you're saying.
 
Thanks for the information so far. No definitive answers but heres where my own research comes into play.

Im going to do some googling for specific nutritional information but it would save me a lot of time and be greatly appreciated if any one already has book marked some articles from professional bodies, sports nutrition publications / websites ect. Even just the name of these sources would give me a head start.
 
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PlatinumFX said:
Road cycling is my main fitness activity and I am nearly at the end of my tub of Seven Seas "Multibionta" multivitamins.
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Don't waste another penny on over-priced crap like that.
PlatinumFX said:
Are there any other suppplements that are beneficial yet economical for fat burning? After a 2 month spell of complete inactivity due to an injury, I have put on nearly a stone! I was losing weight when cycling but have found it really hard since I had to stop to reduce my eating.
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Green Tea, Cayenne Pepper, Coconut Oil, Fish Oil are among the best for your goal aswell as having a host of other health benefits. Be warned though if you take all of them you will notice body temp rise and sweat loads. No problem when training, not nice if you work in an office without AC.

No supplements will help you unless your diet is in order though. Don't think you can have these and then go eating whatever you feel like ;)

platypus said:
I take lots of vitamin C (collagen building, helps vs colds) and then a multivitamin from boots for my daily vitamin intake (on top of a lot of fruit/veg of course). Probably not the best, and it would probably be worth researching a bit more.
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A Boots multi? Dude I wouldn't give them to my dog, they're poor, avoid.
Phnom_Penh said:
don't quite agree, I think the Sports-Nutrition.net multi vits are almost as good, Adam's are kinda padded out with things like ZMA that won't do a lot. But yeah, Adam's > *, I get them in from the US, £24 for 4 months worth :D.
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I agree, I was very suprised at the sports-nutrition multi's. One of the best considering the price. Just the basics and not loads of unneeded fluff like the ADAM's. Though if you import the ADAM's from USA they really are unbeatable.

If I had to take one it would be the ADAM's first, sports-nutrition second, though I don't bother these days.
 
PlatinumFX said:
Thanks for the information so far. No definitive answers but heres where my own research comes into play.

Im going to do some googling for specific nutritional information but it would save me a lot of time and be greatly appreciated if any one already has book marked some articles from professional bodies, sports nutrition publications / websites ect. Even just the name of these sources would give me a head start.
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Thats going to be your problem, researching in the wrong places. Of course proffesional bodybuilders will drone on about magic pills and powders, they're paid to do so. Sports nutrition publications? again, look at them with suspicion because their "research" is usually paid for by supplement companies. The supplement industy is basically one big scam but if you want to believe in something bad enough, you'll believe it.

My honest advice is, don't let yourself become brainwashed with all the BS out there. Get your nutrition from the most natural source possible...food. The human body has done so for millions of years, thats what its designed to do ;)
 
Jeffstar said:
My honest advice is, don't let yourself become brainwashed with all the BS out there. Get your nutrition from the most natural source possible...food. The human body has done so for millions of years, thats what its designed to do ;)
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But food one million years ago was fresh, natural, pollutant and additive free.

In this day and age:

Tap Water - recycled endlessly (think female birth control pill)
Fruit - Pesticides
Veg - Soil pollutants
Man made food - Where do I start?

That's my tuppence anywayz. :)
 
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