The word ‘supplement’ gets thrown around a lot these days. You always hear it in health and fitness circles, but it can also describe products that help us look after our skin, improve our rest, or reduce signs of aging. In this first edition of the supplement series, we’re looking at vital micronutrients and other supplements that you can add to your diet or regime, to help to create a younger feeling, healthier-looking you.
Supplements 101: What Are They Used For?
Supplements are designed to – wait for it- supplement something that we are currently missing. From vitamins and minerals to sunshine and toothpaste, there are products and solutions to help keep your body in optimal shape, inside and out.
Normally, when people hear the term supplement they go straight to sports supplements. Most of us are aware that you can add protein to your diet when strength training, and many of us already use a daily multivitamin to supplement our body with micronutrients we aren’t getting from our diet.
However, the supplement industry reaches much further than that, and with a solution to almost anything you want to change or improve, finding the right products is really about your personal goals. Are you trying to:
- lose weight?
- Increase muscle?
- Boost your immune system?
- Look younger?
- Improve focus?
- Stay hydrated?
- Have more energy?
- Recover quicker?
These are just some of the options that supplementing can help with, whether it’s a skincare product or vitamin boosting superfood mix.
It’s no secret that exercising can help us to feel good, but the right supplements can ensure that we are supplying ourselves with enough of the ‘good stuff’ to perform the tasks we require. By unlocking the full potential of a range of supplements, we can complement the energizing power of our exercise regimes, and bring positive change to our lives.
Not All Supplements Are Created Equally
When a lot of people first go to a gym, they enter with the goal of losing X pounds. But in most cases when you dive into the details, it isn’t actually about losing weight. It’s about feeling better, having more energy, or being happier with the face that looks back at you in the mirror. Losing weight may seem like the solution, but it’s usually just the side effect!
Whilst many products will claim to solve X, Y, and Z they can often have nasty side effects, or be full of unnecessary and unnatural ingredients. The best supplements are not only reputable and bio-available, but they’re also the ones that are best suited to your health and wellness goals.
There are a number of supplements used and recommended by the Turnfit family to help us to feel healthier and have the energy and vitality we need to get you the most out of your training sessions. We have recently made these products available through our online store, and want to share some of them with you today.
Anti-Aging Supplement: Life Pak
A real anti-aging supplement doesn’t actually reverse the signs of aging. Nothing can turn back the clock on that one. However, quality anti-aging products will provide your body with essential micronutrients and restorative elements that give it the tools needed to regenerate lost and aging cells.
On a molecular level, supplements like Life Pak are loaded with phytonutrients, vitamins, omega’s, antioxidants and adaptogens which help to fight free radicals – one of the primary causes of cell degradation and aging.
Not only do these essential elements improve your immune system, but they also have vast reaching cognitive benefits. The addition of coenzyme Q10 (see below for more info) has been shown to have positive effects on neural plasticity, slowing the mental effects of aging, and reducing stress and anxiety to boot!
Digestive Supplements: Pharmanex Digestive Formula
Research has shown that the gut now accounts for 70% of your entire immune system. Although this system has evolved with us over millions of years, up to 50% of the population still experiences some sort of internal discomfort as a result of their diet, intolerances or other mitigating factors.
As such a number of ‘digestive aids’ are now available on supermarket shelves, but they aren’t all created equally. Rather, many products focus on increasing your fibre intake- which is not a bio-available substance, and whilst it may make using the bathroom a little easier, it doesn’t actively work to fix the problems in your gut.
One digestive supplement that the Turnfit team has really gotten behind lately is the Pharmanex Digestive formula. This digestive aid contains a unique blend of natural extracts that can help to:
- Reduce bloating and cramps
- Process and digest foods, ensuring we are improving the amount of nutrient absorption from our diet
- Process and eliminate waste by improving the liver-bile system
With naturally occurring enzymes (proteases) this digestive aid can help your body to breakdown proteins and peptides, converting them into usable forms and protecting our gut biome at the same time.
Cardio-Vascular and Cognitive Support: Co-Enzyme Q10 Nano
Although the name makes it sound like a science fiction character, coenzyme Q10 Nano (or CoQ10 for short) is a bioavailable enzyme that promotes good heart health. Otherwise known as Ubiquinone, this cognitive and cardiovascular supplement uses nanotechnology to make the enzyme 10 times more bio-available than it’s predecessors.
Although some research has been inconclusive, ubiquinone has also been used to treat a wide range of conditions, including:
- Heart failure
- Blood pressure
- Migraines and headaches
The most promising studies, however, have shown that it is effective in reducing the risk of heart failure (by up to 31%), whilst also increasing our capacity for exercise. This is likely due to CoQ10’s role in facilitating the production of ATP, which is directly proportional to the amount of energy we can produce on-demand.
Sports Supplement: Overdrive
Finding a sports supplement that actually helps to boost your results, without being full of caffeine and other nasties can be tough. Although many will claim that ‘more energy’ is what you’re after, a real and effective sports supplement actually assists your body in its energy production, protein synthesis, recovery, and most importantly- rest.
That’s why at Turnfit, we’re happy to recommend Pharmanex Overdrive as an all-in-one performance-enhancing sports supplement. Loaded with vitamins from natural extracts, Overdrive helps to support your immune system, convert food into energy, and supplement our body’s natural systems to get more from your workouts. The addition of sea salt adds micronutrients and, combined with the magnesium, helps the body to stay hydrated, and improve our recovery.
These are just some of the supplements now available in the TurnFit’s online store, and over the coming months we’ll be diving deeper into some of the key ingredients to help improve your understanding of supplements in general, and how you can use them effectively regardless of your health and wellness goals.
About Turnfit Personal Trainers
Turnfit Personal Trainers is founded by David Turnbull or “Coach David” – an experienced and successful Personal Trainer who strives to build happier, healthier lives every day.
With a focus on holistic health, we pride ourselves on making a difference and were recently awarded the 2019 Top Choice Award for Personal Trainer in Vancouver.
Every trainer at Turnfit is committed and relentless in our pursuit to help you reach your health and wellness goals. It’s our mission to help you to build the skills, and mindset, it takes to feel successful in all areas of your life.
For more information, please visit Turnfit.ca, join our communities on Facebook and take advantage of all of our FREE content by subscribing to our YouTube channel.
We look forward to hearing from you!
-David Turnbull
