Dietary supplementation habits in international natural bodybuilders during pre-competition
Pablo Jiménez-Martínez,
Carlos Alix-Fages,
Eric R. Helms,
Sergio Espinar,
Henar González-Cano,
Eneko Baz-Valle,
Danica Janicijevic,
Amador García-Ramos,
Juan C. Colado
Affiliations
Pablo Jiménez-Martínez
ICEN Institute, Madrid, Spain; Research Group in Prevention and Health in Exercise and Sport (PHES), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Carlos Alix-Fages
ICEN Institute, Madrid, Spain; Research Group in Prevention and Health in Exercise and Sport (PHES), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; Applied Biomechanics and Sport Technology Research Group, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Eric R. Helms
Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ) at AUT Millennium, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 0632, New Zealand; Florida Atlantic University, Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Muscle Physiology Laboratory, Boca Raton, FL, USA
Sergio Espinar
ICEN Institute, Madrid, Spain; Faculty of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Murcia, 30107 Murcia, Spain
Henar González-Cano
ICEN Institute, Madrid, Spain
Eneko Baz-Valle
ICEN Institute, Madrid, Spain; University of País Vasco, Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, Spain
Danica Janicijevic
Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China; Research Academy of Human Biomechanics, The Affiliated hospital of medical school of Ningbo University, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
Amador García-Ramos
Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Department of Sports Sciences and Physical Conditioning, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Concepción, Chile; Corresponding author. Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada. Camino de Alfacar, 21, 18071 Granada, Spain.
Juan C. Colado
Research Group in Prevention and Health in Exercise and Sport (PHES), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Bodybuilding is characterized by high-rates of sport supplementation. This is the first study to compare the supplementation patterns of winners (WB) and non-winners (NWB) among international natural bodybuilders during contest preparation. Fifty-six natural bodybuilders (5 women) (age = 28.85 ± 8.03 years; final body mass = 71.50 ± 10.28 kg), 19 WB (athletes who had achieved victory in an official natural bodybuilding championship at least once) and 37 NWB (athletes who never achieved victory), from 18 countries (55.36% from Spain) responded to this cross-sectional online survey related to their nutritional habits, strategies and supplementation practices. WB were significantly older (p = 0.024), completed more competitive seasons (p = 0.027) and participated in more competitions in the last contest year (p = 0.011). There were no significant differences between WB and NWB for years training for bodybuilding (p = 0.055), weeks of dieting for competition (p = 0.392), and body weight at the start (p = 0.553) and end (p = 0.330) of the season. Beverage and supplement consumption, purchasing patterns, and information sources did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). In conclusion, natural bodybuilding WB tended to be older and had more competitive experience, but shared similar supplementation protocols to NWB. Athletes' supplementation patterns were influenced by different sources of information. However, these natural bodybuilders mainly purchased their supplements through the internet without guidance from a coach or dietitian.
