By: Chris Gates

If you want to be bigger, faster, and stronger — or if you simply just want to get the most out of your time in the gym — then let’s talk supplements.

While supplements aren’t NECESSARY, they can help you see progress in your fitness journey, while making the entire process a bit easier.

And in this article, I’m going to outline for you the three supplements I recommend to just about everybody to increase performance.

Because when you increase performance in your workouts, you put yourself in the best possible position to build muscle, burn fat, and dominate your health and fitness goals.

Among the thousands of options available in the supplement market, three stand out as the most effective and well-researched:

1. Creatine
2. Caffeine
3. Protein

These supplements have been proven time and again to offer significant benefits, making them the gold standard for anyone looking to boost their performance.

If that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will! 🙂

So, let’s dive into the three best supplements for athletic performance.

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The Three Best Supplements for Athletic Performance: Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in muscle cells — meaning your body naturally produces it.

So supplementing with creatine means you’re adding to the natural production already occurring in your body.

And that’s super helpful, because creatine produces energy for your muscles during high-intensity, short-duration exercises like weightlifting, sprinting, and jumping.

How Does It Enhance Performance?

Numerous studies have found that creatine supplementation can lead to significant improvements in strength, power, and muscle mass.

Creatine allows athletes to produce more ATP (energy) during intense activities.

For instance, A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that creatine supplementation resulted in a 20-30% improvement in strength and power performance in high-intensity exercises.

And what’s great is it’s perfectly safe, and pretty inexpensive.

Most people can see great benefits from creatine supplementation by taking a modest 3-5 grams per day consistently.

You don’t have to “load” it, even though many creatine supplements will tell you it’s necessary. Really, all you have to do is be consistent with supplementing creatine to get the benefits.

The goal is to saturate your body’s muscles with creatine, and then keep that consistent dose coming.

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The Three Best Supplements for Athletic Performance: Caffeine

Caffeine is up next, and I’m sure you’re probably pretty familiar with how it works 😉

1. Step 1: You drink caffeine.
2. Step 2: You feel super energized.
3. Step 3: You take that energy and put it into something productive.

Caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in coffee, tea, and various energy drinks. It acts primarily on the central nervous system, causing a cascade of effects that lead to you feeling more focused and energized.

How Does It Enhance Performance?

Caffeine is well-known for its ability to increase alertness, reduce perceived effort, and delay the onset of fatigue.

Think about that morning cup of coffee you have every day.

Easy for me to do, since I’m having mine while typing this article.

• ✅ Caffeine helps you focus on the task at hand, which is great for working out.

• ✅ It also gets you more energized to perform that task, which once again is fantastic for athletic performance.

When you increase the function of your brain, improve focus, increase reaction time, alertness, etc. it really snowballs into positive effects for training.

In fact, a review published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that caffeine ingestion can enhance endurance performance by 2-4%. Additionally, studies have shown that caffeine can improve strength and power output, making it a versatile supplement for both endurance and power athletes.

Now, it’s important to be careful with how much you supplement with caffeine, particularly if you’re taking a pre-workout supplement. It’s very easy to go overboard (trust me, I know from experience!).

You don’t need a MASSIVE amount of caffeine to see improvements in athletic performance. Having a cup of coffee, or one scoop of preworkout powder will get the job done, and then some.

The Three Best Supplements for Athletic Performance: Protein

Last on the list, but certainly not least, is protein.

And once again, I’m sure you’re at least somewhat familiar with this one.

Protein is a macronutrient composed of amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscle tissue. Adequate protein intake is essential for…

• Muscle repair
• Growth of new muscle tissue
• Recovery from your workouts

So that makes it a cornerstone of any athlete’s nutrition plan.

And while you can get all of the protein you need from food, having a protein supplement is often helpful from a convenience standpoint.

If you need to eat 150-200 grams of protein a day, and you’re used to only eating 50… That’s tough!

Easily downing 30 or so grams of protein in a shake is a nice, simple way to boost your protein intake.

How Does It Enhance Performance?

Consuming sufficient protein is crucial for muscle protein synthesis, the process by which muscles repair and grow.

Protein supplementation can accelerate recovery, reduce muscle soreness, and support lean muscle mass gains, all of which contribute to enhanced athletic performance.

It goes like this…

1. You complete a challenging workout.
2. Your muscles are broken down and fatigued.
3. You eat protein, which gets delivered through the bloodstream to the muscles in need of repair.
4. Your body gets to work, utilizing the amino acids to repair and grow muscle tissue.

This is obviously important for growth and improving athletic performance, but it’s also imperative for preventing injuries.

If your muscles are broken down and fatigued, and you don’t give your body what it needs to recover, your muscles will be susceptible to further damage and injury in the future.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that protein supplementation significantly increases muscle mass and strength gains in response to resistance training. Additionally, protein intake has been shown to reduce muscle damage and soreness following strenuous exercise.

Protein supplementation can be helpful for anyone and everyone. If you struggle to eat enough protein a day, grabbing a protein supplement may help.

A personal favorite of mine is Legion, and as a thank you for reading this article, you can get 20% off your first order by using the code CGATES!

The Proven Power Trio

Creatine, caffeine, and protein stand out as the three most scientifically proven supplements for athletic performance.

Whether you’re aiming to…

• Increase strength and power
• Enhance endurance
• Or support muscle recovery

These supplements offer well-documented benefits that can help you achieve your goals.

Backed by decades of research, they are essential tools in the arsenal of any fitness enthusiast or athlete looking to maximize performance.

I hope this article helped you learn more, and formulate a game plan for what supplements you’ll use moving forward!

And if you have more questions about supplementation, or you’re looking for help on your health and fitness journey, check out my coaching page to learn more about 1-on-1 online fitness coaching.

Thanks for reading!

~ Chris