BBC's 'The Truth about Sports Products' Review

BBC's The Truth about Sports Products

Review

This is my OPINION on this program that i saw last night. My initial reaction as soon as it finished was, where has that hour of my life gone that i cant get back?!
I'll try and explain why...

I was really excited last week when i saw this advertised on the TV and immediately set hit my record button! Being a personal trainer, running New Body Nutrition which provides sports supplements and having used a wide variety of sports supplements in my own training for a number of years now with what i believe is a POSITIVE effect, i was extemely keen to see what type of a light they would shine of the multi million pound market that is 'Sports Products'.
Im not going to lie and say that all sports supplements and products will be the difference between running a 100m in 12seconds and 9.69secs or take your bench press from 100kg to 200kg as that would be ridiculous, but do i see tham as a valuble ADDITION to an athlete's (elite or recreational) training and nutritional programs?..well yes i do.
Whether the benefits are completely physical or Psychological there are millions of products and users of products that will have a better training session, run a better race, stick to a healthy eating plan because of these supplements and products.

Im going to try and put it into a few different examples that i have had and also i hope alot of people reading this may be able to relate to also.

I used to play hockey at a good level (well i like to think so..) and on the odd occasion i was known to be able to drag flick the ball from a short corner into the top of the net, this is a skill is mastered by Sohail Abbas of Pakistan and the highest goal scorer in field hockey history! For this reason i sough out and bought the exact stick that Sohail used and his signiture stick. Was this any better than a rivals company's stick that could of been half the price?... probably not. Did i feel my performance was increased by this piece of equipment over that of another stick?...yes without a doubt!
So whether this was a case of a phychological edge or benefit in my performance or a direct performance enchancement, it doesnt matter. The bottom line was that my performance increased by using this 'Sports Product'!

Now this is the major flaw that i had about the program on 'The Truth about Sports Products' was that it didnt deal with any of the phychological aspect of sports performance and yet during every interveiw that they had with an athlete who used sports product, each and every one commented on how they believed that it helped and aided there performance!

Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world, full stop! He has been for a good few years now and the success that he has had in a mix of many things. This includes the sports products he wears, the effort he puts into his training and the most important thing of any successful person, a stong mind!

 The 2011 World Champioships Usain Bolt was a guaranteed winner of the 100m, all he needed to do was turn up and run the race, what did he do? turned up and false started, was disqualified and Yohan Blake won with a time nearly half a second slower than Bolts PB.

Why did he false start? he said in his head his mind was saying go, go, go. Whether the gun had gone off or not his mind had given him the power to move, too early and cost him the world championship.

Poweraid and Lucazade!

There was also massive what seemed like attack on sports drinks that offered sodium replenishment durning exercise stating that 'unless you are an elite athlete doing and endurance exercise then these drinks will have no effect at all', i feel this is not necessarily the case as A, what do you class as an elite athlete and why if it can give them an slight edge would it not be advised by discretion for other athletes to use them and B, there may have been no substantial positive benefit to the regular athlete but there is also no substanstial negative effect. (obviously apart for over hydration which they discussed).

Water is passed into the blood steam pretty much immediately after consumption and my view is if this fluid containins soduim or 'electrolytes' to help what is lost through sweating then surly that is keeping fluid sodium/potassium levels stable.
That also goes to say that if your playing an intense game of chess then you probably don't need to be smashing the Poweraids to help replenish you fluid level!
As with all sports product and supplements, USE COMMON SENSE. If your running 100m of course you don't need 5 litres if water inbetween each run! But if you are sweating excessivly and competing in a marathon, the odd sip of water, with or without electolytes and glucose will be needed and make a difference!.

Barefoot Running
I nearly lol'ed when they showed some Dr running around a local park barefoot!

If you try and do that is some of the parks or open spaces around the country the only place you will be running is to Hospital! getting them to pull stones, glass and all kinds of crap out of your feet!

I think the reserch into the barefoot running was very interesting and think that based on the impact curves and the way society and changed our behaviour in everyday activity and running, that technique of running is the way we used to and is probably better in building back muscle in our foot arch a legs alike.
But then they go on to slam one of the companies who sell the shoes saying that all the studyies had been done into barefoot training had been done, with barefoot and not with the product. Here the shoe is purly acting as a protection for the foot so why does the panel of presenters in this program need to slam this company for not providing evidence that putting the protective sleeve around the foot will have a greater effect that a standard running shoe.
If the evidence is there for the barefoot running, what difference will a thin shoe around it make and why should they not be able to use that evidence, its COMMON SENSE.

Its the same as saying kicking a ball with the side of your foot will be more accurate than the top of your foot, but then saying if you change football boots you have to prove that same thing again. It doesnt seem necessary in my eyes that the sports products or companies should get such a slating over something like that.

Sports Supplements
Sports Supplements was the last thing in the program that they looked at and was also one the areas that i was most interested in as i run my supplement company New Body Nutrition and also have used these regularly for many years.

Sports Supplements are a 100 million pound business and it would be wrong to say that the companys are not making money from them. Of course there is a massive market and if people choose to believe that taking a certain supplement alone will transform them then into Ronnie Coleman or Wayne Rooney then they are mistaken.
Of course these athletes are getting paid to advertise and use their products and of course that it not the only product they are using to be at the top of their game....but they ARE using it.

To be successful in sport and fitness there is always 3 aspects, TRAINING, NUTRITION and RECOVERY. All these need to be achieved to hit an athletes potential. Sports Supplements CAN play a part in all 3 aspect of this. They dont have to of course but they CAN, with positive effect.

Take a tub of Protein powder that has 60 serving for example. It costs £30 for the tub and gives 20-25g of protein per serving costing 50p per serving. The equiverlant of protein in terms of chicken breasts would come in at around £60 so double that of the supplement.

I believe that supplements are just that SUPPLEMENTS to aid a healthy diet, but if your hitting a high protein diet or taking in 5000+cals a day which some of the top bodybuilders and strength athletes are doing, then you can either supplement your diet on occasion with these products or you better have shares in you local supermarket because chicken and beef aint cheap!
Again there was no NEGATIVE effect of these supplements so i would recommend that if you find they help your training and your ability to stick to a healthy eating plan consistantly then use them.

I will be and so will the top rugby, football, enduance, speed and fitness athletes as they can have a positive effect of your lifestyle.

Conclusion
In conclusion i would just say that the company selling Sports Products will keep putting out new, 'super effective products that will guarenteed you a better workout and amazing results', but do your own research, find what works best for you, dont believe all the hype, read the reviews, ask at your local gym what works and what people think, never stop learning, and if you feel you Perform better with that new pair of running shoes, football boots or protein shake then go for it.

Push your training to the limit, its as much about your mind as it is your body so train hard and win easy!

Thanks for reading, i know i went on a bit but remember if just my opinion guys. And everybody else will have theirs!

Nick Bell
Personal Trainer
New Body Fitness and Nutriton
info@new-body.co.uk






References
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_time_does_it_take_to_digest_water