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Runner’s Guide to Supplements

Are you a runner or looking to incorporate running into your exercise routine? If so, to begin with, be sure to read our Health Guide for Running.

You might, however, have questions about running supplements and the best supplements for runners. While it’s always recommended to consume most of your required nutrients, sometimes, a fitness supplement can help you achieve your running goals faster and with more precision.

What nutrition does our body need as a runner, though? Read our Ultimate Guide to Sports Nutrition and Performance Supplements. It goes through the nutrition our body needs to thrive during exercise, as well as an overview of the different sports supplements on the market.

But what are the supplements runners should take? This guide educates you on this specific question, touching on areas like:

• Best Performance Supplements for Runners
• Best Recovery Supplements for Runners

To begin with, running is all about endurance and having the energy to keep pushing these limits.

Best Performance Supplements for Runners

Multivitamins

Make sure to read our sports nutrition post above and if you did, you will now know the range of vitamins and minerals our body needs. What about vitamins that help with endurance?

• Antioxidants: Vitamins C and E help delay muscle fatigue, fight muscle damage and help cardiovascular health while helping fight free radical damage.
• Vitamin B12: Does B12 help with running? Vitamin B12 helps combat weakness and fatigue.
• Vitamin D (D3): Needed for maintaining healthy bones, and is needed for processes like muscle contraction, nerve stimulation, immune system and better anti-inflammatory response, all systems crucial for best athletic performance.
• Calcium: Repeated impacts to feet and joints when running put a lot of stress on our skeletal structure, and can even result in fractures and other injuries. Since our bones rely on calcium, calcium supplements can help our bodies withstand the rigours of running, making it one of the best supplements for runners’ joints.
• Zinc: Needed to metabolise energy.
• Magnesium: This mineral helps move energy to our muscles and helps with muscle contraction.
• Iron: As our feet are constantly hitting the ground when running, this can contribute to muscle loss and a reduction of red blood cells, especially if we burst veins on our feet — it’s why good footwear is so incredibly important when running! Iron can help improve our red blood cell count and improve physical performance, stamina and muscle recovery.

Multivitamins are particularly useful if you’re a vegan or vegetarian athlete who finds it hard to get enough of certain vitamins in your diet.

What is the best multivitamin for long-distance runners? Any multivitamin that contains these vitamins and minerals, plus others mentioned below, will help you maintain your endurance levels.

L-Carnitine

L-Carnitine helps us burn fat effectively and can provide runners with an extra boost of energy. Due to this, it’s also a popular weight loss supplement. Other than this, it may also protect against muscle breakdown and improve lean muscle growth. Take 1.4–3g L-carnitine twice a day for 12 weeks or longer with a meal containing carbohydrates.

Nitrates

These may boost running performance by improving blood flow and increasing nitric oxide levels in the body. When our muscles have enough oxygen, they can perform at their best! It may also enhance muscle power, sprint and high-intensity intermittent exercise performance. Short- to mid-distance runners will generally benefit more from nitrates, with supplement effects lasting for about 5 to 30 minutes.

How to get nitrates naturally? Beetroots are packed with nitrates, so you can add roasted beets to your diet or blend them into a drink, or, you can take beetroot supplements like juice shots and concentrated powders.

It’s recommended to take 300 to 600mg of nitrate per day, about 2 to 3 hours before exercise.

Caffeine

For runners, particularly sprinters and marathoners, caffeine can boost running performance, speed, power and endurance.

How can runners benefit from creatine? There are different times you can take caffeine to improve your performance. Studies have shown that taking a caffeine supplement before your run can improve endurance by 7 to 9 per cent when combined with carbohydrates, can increase leg power by up to 7 per cent, and can even reduce a 1500m run time by 4.2 seconds. Taking an additional caffeine supplement during a long-distance run may also enhance these benefits. Rather than supplements for running faster, you should be looking for those that provide you fuel or improve your endurance, and caffeine is one of the best supplements for running stamina.

It's recommended to take 3–6mg/kg of body mass up to 60 minutes before your race. To optimise caffeine's performance-enhancing benefits on race day, try cutting back on your intake to 50mg per day or giving it up seven days beforehand.

Beta-alanine

This amino acid reduces lactic acid build-up in muscles caused by high-intensity exercise. A build-up of lactic acid can significantly reduce running performance and worsen fatigue. This means a beta-alanine supplement may improve one’s anaerobic threshold, time to exhaustion and muscle fatigue, especially for older athletes and sprinters.

Take between 3.2 and 6.4g per day of B-alanine for periods between 4 to 24 weeks. It’s recommended to take 1600mg with each meal and the largest snack each day.

Sodium Bicarbonate

Bicarbonate of soda, or baking soda, may improve short-distance runners’ athletic performance by preventing the build-up of lactic acid in muscles during intense exercise, like sprinting. Take between 200 and 400mg/kg body mass with a small, carbohydrate-dense meal, about 120 to 150 minutes before exercising. These come in capsules and tablets. It’s best to only use this supplement every so often, as it contains a lot of sodium.

BCAAs

When the body needs energy, it doesn’t always take it from the same place. It can break down muscle tissue rather than focusing on your fat reserves, which is what we don’t want to happen as athletes. We need our muscles.

Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) promote protein synthesis, or muscle growth, and can help increase the time it takes to get fatigued. They’re also one of the best recovery supplements for runners as they may reduce muscle soreness and speed up recovery. They also help in the building of lean muscle mass and are both an endurance and recovery supplement.

Best Recovery Supplements for Runners

Whey Protein

We’ve all heard about protein and how it can help with weight management and muscles, but what about specific types of protein? Whey protein is absorbed directly into strained muscle tissues and is used for repair and strengthening. It is often taken as a running supplement drink and can increase blood amino acids, including BCAAs. It’s also used for muscle recovery and for building lean muscle mass.

Runners should take whey protein in the morning to keep their body on its muscle-building trajectory.

Glutamine

Running can deplete glutamine levels in our muscles and in the bloodstream and since glutamine is used as fuel for immune cells, our immune system can begin to decline, causing us to get sick. So, while it’s not specifically used as an endurance supplement, it can protect us from getting sick which can decrease our endurance capabilities. It may benefit runners looking to speed up recovery between runs during peak training periods. Take between 0.21–0.42g/kg.

Pomegranate Extract

Pomegranates are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory polyphenolic compounds. Pomegranate extract may improve performance, reduce pain, soreness and inflammation and also improve strength recovery after strength and endurance exercises. Try out Xandro Lab’s POM-Q10 supplement today, or learn more about pomegranate’s scientific benefits.

Creatine

Endurance athletes, like runners, may benefit from taking a creatine supplement due to its recovery benefits. Creatine may increase muscle protein synthesis, improve glycogen creation and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness. It’s best for runners who mainly require strength or who do sprints, as it has a muscle-building benefit and may increase water retention and slight weight gain in athletes. Take a dosage of about 0.3g/kg of body mass for 5 days, split with each meal. Then, take a maintenance dose of 0.03g/kg body mass once a day afterward.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids, or fish oil, help our bodies fight inflammation and reduce lactic acid buildup in our muscles. This helps runners as it means less soreness, longer runs and quicker recovery times. Taking 2g of omega-3s per day is safe and beneficial for reducing inflammation, while 3g/day can help reduce muscle soreness after exercise.

End Note

Before adding any new supplement to your diet, whether it be a dietary supplement or other compound, make sure to speak with your doctor first. They will be able to go over your medical history and determine if the supplement is right for you or if it will interact with any medications you take.

Also, for athletes, make sure the supplements you take are not banned by any organisations running the events you’re participating in. None of the ones listed above are, but it’s essential you speak with your team to make sure you’re training and competing legally.

Ever wondered what is a good supplement for runners or what supplements do elite runners take? Well, now you know some that you can do your own research on, if interested! There’s so much to learn about running supplements, so be sure to check out our blog to continue learning more about how to improve your body!