Use Of Ergogenic Aids Research Articles

Effect of acute supplementation of hibiscus-ginger drink on university athletes’ aerobic power and blood lactate

Background: Sport training places significant demand on athletes, motivating them to seek strategies to enhance performance and maintain competitiveness. The use of ergogenic aids has become prevalent in sport, although not without potential risks. Hibiscus-ginger juice, rich in vitamins and minerals, has been suggested to improve metabolism, aid in post-exercise recovery, reduce inflammation, and enhance athletic performance. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effect of hibiscus ginger juice supplementation on aerobic power and blood lactate levels in athletes. Methods: A pretest-posttest experimental design was employed, involving 28 university athletes aged 20 – 37 years. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group receiving 500 mL of hibiscus-ginger juice daily after training for 24 days, or a control group. Physiological measures of blood lactate levels and aerobic power were assessed on three separate occasions during the study period. Results: Mixed model ANOVA showed no significant differences in blood lactate levels (p = .502) or aerobic power (p = .117). Daily consumption of 500 mL of hibiscus-ginger juice for 24 days did not significantly alter aerobic power or blood lactate levels of athletes. Conclusion: The findings suggest that consuming hibiscus-ginger juice may not provide a performance advantage for athletes compared to those who do not. Keywords: Acute supplementation, aerobic power, blood lactate level, hibiscus-ginger juice, university athletes.

Preferences in the use of ergogenic AIDS in regular strength trainees

Background: The ergogenic effect is a highly practical and relevant topic in sports research, particularly in strength sports where numerous strategies have gained widespread recognition. Despite reports indicating challenges in the simultaneous use of various ergogenic strategies, our understanding of how they are practically employed is limited. This study aimed to determine and evaluate preferences in the use of nutritional and non-nutritional means of eliciting the ergogenic effect of individuals regularly participating in strength training.Materials and Methods: A total of 108 participants completed an original, online questionary shared on social media sites and created using Google Forms. Significance of differences was determined with Chi-square test.Results: A significant majority of responders declared use of nutritional (90%) and non-nutritional (62%) ergogenic aids, however only insignificant majority declared simultaneously using more than one ergogenic aid (56%). The most popular nutritional means of eliciting the ergogenic effect were caffein, coffee and creatine; non-nutritional were listening to music and dynamic stretching; the most popular combinations of two means of eliciting the ergogenic effect were caffeine with music and caffeine with creatine; and the most popular combinations of three means of eliciting the ergogenic effect were caffeine with creatine and music. Only age of participants influenced preferences in use of ergogenic means, where group 18 – 25 declared using non-nutritional means of eliciting ergogenic effect significantly more frequent.Conclusion: Results of the study indicate that the majority of polish as well as foreign strength trainees employ ergogenic aids, typically favoring well-established options supported by scientific literature.

Use of ergogenic aids among Brazilian athletes: a cross-sectional study exploring competitive level, sex and sports.

239 athletes of 15 modalities, ranging from regional to international level, answered a survey online. Highly competitive athletes consumed nutritional and mechanical aids more (OR = 1.96 CI 95% [1.28-2.9]; OR = 1.79 CI 95% [1.29-2.47]), while the use of psychological EAs decreased [OR = 1.66 95% CI (1.18-2.94); p = 0.001]. Male athletes [OR = 1.44 CI 95% (1.11-2.88)] and individual sports practitioners [OR = 1.78 CI 95% (1.02-3.11)] used nutritional aids more. Triathlon athletes had higher nutritional EA use, while soccer athletes had lower. Combat sports athletes had higher pharmacological EA use. Athletes use nutritional and pharmacological aids more to improve performance and gain lean body mass. Mechanical aids were used for recovery and psychological aids for motivation. Self-prescription is common, especially for pharmacological aids.

Improvement of low-intensity long-time running performance in rats by intake of glucosyl hesperidin.

Recently, the use of ergogenic aids in sports by both athletes and fans has increased. Moreover, the overall demand for new ergogenic aids has increased. Hesperidin is a polyphenol that is useful for improving exercise performance by activating energy generation through β-oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation in skeletal muscles. However, it is difficult to use this compound as an ergogenic aid because of its poor water solubility and low bioavailability. Glucosyl hesperidin is formed when one molecule of glucose is transferred to hesperidin via glycosyl-transferase. It is 10,000× more soluble and has 3.7× higher bioavailability than hesperidin. In this study, we assessed whether continuous (14 days) intake of glucosyl hesperidin improves the aerobic exercise capacity of rats during long-term acute exercise. Although glucosyl hesperidin intake did not improve the performance of high-intensity running (30 m/min), we did observe improvement in low-intensity running (15 m/min) (p < 0.05). We demonstrate that in sedentary rats, glucosyl hesperidin intake increased β-oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation in the skeletal muscle (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Glucosyl hesperidin intake may have created a metabolic state useful for long-term exercise. In conclusion, the continuous intake of glucosyl hesperidin improved the aerobic exercise capacity of rats during long-term acute exercise.

The Neuromuscular Fatigue-Induced Loss of Muscle Force Control.

Neuromuscular fatigue is characterised not only by a reduction in the capacity to generate maximal muscle force, but also in the ability to control submaximal muscle forces, i.e., to generate task-relevant and precise levels of force. This decreased ability to control force is quantified according to a greater magnitude and lower complexity (temporal structure) of force fluctuations, which are indicative of decreased force steadiness and adaptability, respectively. The "loss of force control" is affected by the type of muscle contraction used in the fatiguing exercise, potentially differing between typical laboratory tests of fatigue (e.g., isometric contractions) and the contractions typical of everyday and sporting movements (e.g., dynamic concentric and eccentric contractions), and can be attenuated through the use of ergogenic aids. The loss of force control appears to relate to a fatigue-induced increase in common synaptic input to muscle, though the extent to which various mechanisms (afferent feedback, neuromodulatory pathways, cortical/reticulospinal pathways) contribute to this remains to be determined. Importantly, this fatigue-induced loss of force control could have important implications for task performance, as force control is correlated with performance in a range of tasks that are associated with activities of daily living, occupational duties, and sporting performance.

ERGOGENIC AIDS IN COMPETITIVE HANDBALL PLAYERS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Handball performance is a team-sport characterized by high intensity efforts interspersed with recovery periods. Due to high demands of handball performance, the use of ergogenic aids is a common strategy of handball players with the aim of enhancing handball performance, to allow more effective training, and to increase the rate of recovery. Although the use of ergogenic aids is generalized in the whole spectrum of competitive handball (e.g., from recreational to professional players), only a few ergogenic aids have been investigated to test their effectiveness to increase handball performance. In addition, no previous study has summarized the scientific literature on this topic to determine the ergogenic aids with good level of evidence regarding their effectiveness to increase handball physical performance. Thus, the aim of this narrative review was to describe the prevalence in the use of ergogenic aids in handball players and to analyse this information to identify which of these substances may increase physical performance in an intermittent sport such as competitive handball.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

A Brief Review of the Impact of Ergogenic Supplements for Athletes

Background: The study aims to investigate and evaluate the impacts of energy drink and ergogenic aid use among athletes and examine the possible results of these consumptions. Materials and methods: In the search for scientific literature related to this review the US National Library of Medicine (PubMed) used MEDLINE and Sport Discus data and the terms “energy drink”, “ergogenic aid”, “physical activity” and ‘’sports drink ‘’were used. The relevant literature has also taken its source from the research of relevant articles from reference lists derived from data studies. Results: Energy drinks are known to enhance performance. However, they also pose a possible threat to the athletes’ health. The consequences of energy drink use may result in a variety of disorders such as nervousness, headaches, nausea, organ damage, cardiac disorders, and even sudden death. Conclusion: Achieving top athletic performance is the primary goal for every athlete. For this reason, the use of ergogenic aids is a very common choice among athletes. Water and minerals lost by athletes during exercise and competitions should be replaced with water consumption and sports drinks.

The Aerob and Anaerob Performance Beta-Alanine Supplement and Ergogenic Aid Using to the Power Output Variables in Cyclists: A Cohort Studies Random Model Effect

Supplement the use of ergogenic aids in cyclist’s directly have been improved the body metabolism and hemodynamic factors that are micro supplement in chancing reactions on the body muscle mass and limb muscle. Mostly knowing that, muscle power development progressive fast glycolytic and short time oxidative systems reactions. Sport competition intervals, therefore, during periods has been used specific drinks supported to cyclists. But, be obtained during should be long race times. Athletes directly needed some drug and fluid intake to prevent from metabolic breakdown rapidly the dynamic physiologic performance factors. Beta-alanine supplementation can be direct muscle performance development affects the anaerobic metabolism and capacity. It should be determined how the cyclists will use the competitive and training period intervals can increase the cyclists specific sprint and endurance race performance. Science cyclist International Road doses will be created in which, intervals can randomly effectively investigate. This study random cohort study is examined the effects of beta-alanine supplementation on aerobic and anaerobic power output in specific cyclists. Therefore, we have been databases PubMed, Scopus, and Medline initial search 10 August 2020 were created prospective effect the quality of bias work concluded Effect Size (ES) 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were used in the participant. Participants (N=66) have an age range of 25 to 38 of the using beta-alanine in training periods to endurance muscle performance, aerobic power, anaerobic power, and sprint time trials. As a result of beta-alanine improved anaerobic and aerobic power output on 4-week time-dependent trial performance condition. Significant values are obtained level factor-alpha &lt;0.05 and p-value analysis pre-post interactive standardization.

Training, Supplementation, and Pharmacological Practices of Competitive Male Bodybuilders Across Training Phases.

Hackett, DA. Training, supplementation, and pharmacological practices of competitive male bodybuilders across training phases. J Strength Cond Res 36(4): 963-970, 2022-Bodybuilding involves the pursuit of muscularity and leanness primarily through the use of progressive resistance training in combination with other practices such as manipulation of diet and use of ergogenic aids. This study aimed to compare the training practices and ergogenic aids used by competitive male bodybuilders across training phases. An online survey was completed by 235 competitive male bodybuilders with a median age of 26.0 (interquartile range 23.0-31.3) years. Results showed that most respondents performed split-routines (85.5%), 4-7 sessions per week (95.7%), trained major muscle groups twice a week (>50%), and session duration being 60-90 minutes (55.7%). Off-season resistance training sessions mostly comprised of targeting 2-3 muscle groups (56%), 2-3 exercises per muscle group (60.4%), 3-4 sets per exercise (73.2%), 7-12 repetition maximum (RM) per set (71.6%), and 61-180 seconds recovery between sets and exercises (80.5%). At the precompetition phase (6 weeks before competition), there was a decrease in the number of muscle groups trained per session (p = 0.027) and a greater number of repetitions performed per set (p < 0.001). A significant increase in the reported aerobic exercise volume was found during precompetition (<0.001). Performance enhancing drugs were used by 53.6% of respondents who did not compete in natural bodybuilding competitions. Dietary supplements were used by 95.7% of respondents with the most common being creatine monohydrate (80.4%) and whey protein (65.8%). Findings suggest that competitive bodybuilders follow resistance training practices consistent with the broad muscular hypertrophy recommendations but a notable shift in practices occur in the weeks before competition.

Fueling for the Field: Nutrition for Jumps, Throws, and Combined Events

Athletes participating in the athletics (track and field) events of jumps, throws, and combined events (CEs; seven-event heptathlon and 10-event decathlon) engage in training and competition that emphasize speed and explosive movements, requiring optimal power-weight ratios. While these athletes represent a wide range of somatotypes, they share an emphasis on Type IIa and IIx muscle fiber typing. In general, athletes competing in jumps tend to have a lower body mass and may benefit from a higher protein (1.5-1.8g PRO·kg-1·day-1) and lower carbohydrate (3-6g CHO·kg-1·day-1) diet. Throwers tend to have a higher body mass, but with considerable differences between events. Their intense, whole-body training program suggests higher PRO requirements (1.5-2.2g PRO·kg-1·day-1), while CHO needs (per kg) are similar to jumpers. The CE athletes must strike a balance between strength and muscle mass for throws and sprints, while maintaining a low enough body mass to maximize performance in jumps and middle-distance events. CE athletes may benefit from a higher PRO (1.5-2g PRO·kg-1·day-1) and moderate CHO (5-8g CHO·kg-1·day-1) diet with good energy availability to support multiple daily training sessions. Since they compete over 2 days, well-rehearsed competition-day fueling and recovery strategies are imperative for CE athletes. Depending on their events' bioenergetic demands, athletes in throws, jumps, and CE may benefit from the periodized use of ergogenic aids, including creatine, caffeine, and/or beta-alanine. The diverse training demands, physiques, and competitive environments of jumpers, throwers, and CE athletes necessitate nutrition interventions that are periodized throughout the season and tailored to the individual needs of the athlete.

Suplementos nutricionales en la industria del fitness

In the last decades, the fitness industry has had an exponential growth, where the sportsmen at recreational or professional level look for an improvement in the performance, using diverse nutritional supplements or ergogenic aids. However, not all the substances offered by the market have scientific evidence to support their effectiveness, and on the contrary, if they can put health at risk. This means that health professionals in contact with the world of fitness, have a great responsibility in recommending effective and safe substances, even more so with the increase in the prevalence of the use of these substances among athletes. For this reason, the advice of a professional in the field of health and sport is recommended to ensure that the use of ergogenic aids is effective to improve performance, safe for health and within the parameters allowed by the WADA - World Anti Doping Agency (if required). This article reviews the main substances that meet these criteria, summarizing briefly the mechanism of action, effects on performance, recommended doses and adverse effects associated with their consumption

Micro-RNAs, Exercise and Cellular Plasticity in Humans: The Impact of Dietary Factors and Hypoxia

Physical exercise is a stress that modulates a plethora of cellular mechanisms to promote morphological and metabolic adaptations. Substantial efforts have been made to better understand the modulation of pathways involved in cell plasticity during exercise, but human explorations may be limited because invasive procedures are often required. In recent years, minimally invasive methods for the analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) modulation in response to exercise have been developed. miRNAs are small molecules that belong to a family of non-coding RNAs. miRNAs have a significant biological impact as they control more than 60% of human genome by targeting specific messenger RNAs. Recent studies conducted in human showed that miRNAs are detectable in a variety of biological fluids such as serum, plasma, saliva, urine and tears. Both endurance and strength exercises modulate the expression of miRNAs coding for actors involved in several cellular processes related to training adaptation. In this review, we discuss recent advances on the development of methods for miRNAs detection and the impact of acute and chronic exercise on their modulation in humans. We especially highlight the most recent studies on the factors that can impact miRNAs modulation during exercise, including the mode of exercise, the nutritional status, the use of ergogenic aids, and hypoxic exposure, and present recent findings on the potential to use miRNAs as biomarkers for anti-doping control. We finally discuss the importance of considering recent data on organelle turnover-related pathways, and current limitations in order to encourage further investigations on this area.

Performance Nutrition Guidelines for International Rugby Sevens Tournaments

Rugby sevens is an abbreviated version of rugby union, played by teams of seven players over 7-min halves. International competitions are usually played in a tournament format. While shorter in duration, the movement demands of rugby sevens per min of match time are greater than rugby union, resulting in an accentuated load on players. This load can be repeated up to six times over a typical 2- or 3-day competition period. The potential cumulative effect of inadequate carbohydrate, protein and/or fluid intake over the course of a tournament is the greatest nutrition-related concern for players. Nutritional strategies before and during competition are suggested to replenish substrate stores, maintain fluid balance and promote recovery between matches. The use of ergogenic aids known to enhance intermittent, high-intensity activity and/or the execution of motor skills may be advantageous to rugby sevens performance and is discussed. This review provides a best-practice model of nutritional support for international rugby sevens competition based on our current understanding of the sport combined with pragmatic guidelines and considerations for the practitioner.

Doping and Thrombosis in Sports

Historically, humans have long sought to enhance their "athletic" performance to increase body weight, aggressiveness, mental concentration and physical strength, contextually reducing fatigue, pain, and improving recovery. Although regular training is the mainstay for achieving these targets, the ancillary use of ergogenic aids has become commonplace in all sports. The demarcation between ergogenic aids and doping substances or practices is continuously challenging and mostly based on perceptions regarding the corruption of the fairness of competition and the potential side effects or adverse events arising from the use of otherwise unnecessary ergogenic substances. A kaleidoscope of side effects has been associated with the use of doping agents, including behavioral, skeletal, endocrinologic, metabolic, hemodynamic, and cardiovascular imbalances. Among the various doping substances, the most striking association with thrombotic complications has been reported for androgenic anabolic steroids (i.e., cardiomyopathy, fatal and nonfatal arrhythmias, myocardial infarction [MI], intracardiac thrombosis, stroke, venous thromboembolism [VTE], limb arterial thrombosis, branch retinal vein occlusion, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis) and blood boosting (i.e., VTE and MI, especially for epoetin and analogs). The potential thrombotic complication arising from misuse of other doping agents such as the administration of cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin, cocaine, and platelet-derived preparations is instead speculative or anecdotal at best. The present article provides an overview on the epidemiological association as well as the underlying biochemical and biological mechanisms linking the practice of doping in sports with the development of thrombosis.

One Step at a Time: Building Coach Ethics from the Ground Up

Ethical concerns regarding fair play, coach athlete relationships, use of ergogenic aids, and the power dynamic inherent in coaching have been raised by those inside and outside the profession. Standards of coaching behavior and written coaching ethics are a part of most youth through elite level sport organizations. For example, the ethics code of the National Federation of High Schools and the U.S. Olympic Code of Ethics for Coaches are posted on the organization websites. Unfortunately, the “sticky” or gray situations that occur in real life often are not clearly covered in coaching ethical codes. The pressure to make decisions for reasons other than “right thing to do” is immense. These situations often do not have a straightforward answer, and the skills necessary to navigate the gray areas are often underdeveloped. This presentation discusses three approaches to teaching and reinforcing ethical thinking and problem-solving skills within different coaching education models. Best practices for teaching ethical guidelines both in and out of the coaching education classroom are discussed, and an emphasis is placed on the role of coaching education in teaching the skills critical for positive coach behavior.

Ergogenic Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate

Athletes use many different strategies to enhance their performance, including clothing and footwear, training regimes, diets, and ergogenic aids. The use of ergogenic aids is believed to be widespread, with a variety of legal as well as illegal substances being used previously and currently. Among the more popular ergogenic aids is the use of sodium bicarbonate or sodium citrate, collectively recognized as "buffers." These substances potentially provide the body with added resistance against fatigue caused by deleterious changes in acid-base balance brought about by a variety of exercise modes and durations. The popularity of buffering has generated a plethora of research dating back to the 1930s, which continues to date. The issues surrounding buffering revolve around the dosage size, timing of ingestion, and the type of exercise to benefit from the use of buffers. We hope this review addresses these pertinent issues.

Doping in competition or doping in sport?

Since ancient times, competitive athletes have been familiar with the use of ergogenic aids and they will probably continue to use unfair and harmful substances in future, because their inclination to victory, along with the mirage of glory and money, will probably overcome health and legal risks. We searched PubMed using the term doping over the period 1990 to the present day. We also included non-English journals. By literature searching, it emerges that the phenomenon of doping is complex and multifaceted. It involves a number of causes and factors that do not originate solely in the athletic field, making universality its main feature. It is in fact observed in all ages and levels of competition, and it concerns all sports, even the most unpredictable. The high number of athletes testing positive for anti-doping controls attests that the current strategy might be analytically adequate to unmask most (but not all) doping practices, but it is probably ineffective to prevent athletes to dope and modify this upsetting trend. Growing points As doping parallels the use of medications, food supplements, alcohol and social drugs, a reinforced preventive policy is advisable. The current anti-doping policy should be replaced with a more efficient and practical strategy to identify and monitor abnormal and harmful deviations of the biochemical and haematological profiles.

Reply: Letter to Editor

The reason why caffeine was removed from the WADA doping list is that its presence is ubiquitous and because ergogenic effects can be obtained using doses resulting in concentrations far below the former threshold level of 12 µg/ml. As stated, doses between 3 and 6 mg/kg can result in ergogenic effects, especially in endurance performance [[1], [2]]. These doses generally do not result in urinary concentrations above the former threshold level of 12 µg/ml. However, following the results from this publication [[3]] and the results obtained before the removal of caffeine from the doping list [[4]], monitored caffeine concentrations in endurance sports and especially sports emphasising on muscle growth are significantly higher compared to other sports such as ball sports although the effect of caffeine on strength is not yet proven. Education of athletes, trainers, physicians, coaches, … should always be the first tool in the fight against doping. Despite these efforts, some athletes will continue in their use of ergogenic aids to enhance performance and a principle frequently used is that “the more they take, the better their performance will be”. This is for instance proven by the significantly higher concentrations observed in cycling and power lifting over a period of 11 years [[3], [4]]. This research has also shown that six samples analysed after the removal of caffeine from the doping list contained caffeine in concentrations exceeding 12 µg/ml of which 5 even exceeded 16 µg/ml. As the goal of doping control is to prevent the misuse of ergogenic aids, athletes abusing these drugs to enhance performance should be banned from sports. The results following this publication show that the threshold level of 12 µg/ml is capable of distinguishing use from abuse. Although not all cheaters will be tracked using this threshold, doping control authorities should try to minimize the number of athletes using performance enhancing drugs such as caffeine. Placing caffeine back on the doping list supports this principle.

Behavioral and Psychological Factors Related to the Use of Nutritional Ergogenic Aids among Preadolescents

The use of ergogenic aids is common in sport, even among preadolescent athletes (8,15,25). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between preadolescents’ use of nutritional ergogenic aids (creatine and amino acids) and gender, age, athletic participation, and sport-relevant psychological factors (i.e., sport success motivation, task and ego orientation, self-efficacy). Two thousand four hundred fifty 11- to 13-year-old children participated in this study. Results suggest that substance use increases with age, especially among male preadolescents; that gender differences are particularly marked among older preadolescents; and that a high commitment to sport training represents a risk factor of ergogenic supplementation only when it is linked to certain psychological dispositions, such as a high ego orientation and a low task orientation.

Dietary Supplement Use by U.S. Athletes Participating in the 2000 Summer Games

Introduction: The use of dietary supplements has been a common practice for US Olympians and Olympic hopefuls for well over two decades. However, data on dietary supplement use by US elite athletes is limited. Data that does exist indicate that use has increased, as has the variety of supplements used. Processing athletes for the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney offered the opportunity to collect data on dietary supplement use by athletes comprising the U.S. Olympic Team. Methods: Team processing was conducted at ASW Naval Base & Bayside Convention Center, San Diego, California from August 15 to September 13, 2000. Athletes were processed as teams, prior to departing for Sydney. One step of the physical exam process was completion of the Athlete Medical History Form. Three questions on dietary supplement use were included on the medical history form. A team physician or certified athletic trainer reviewed the self-reported data with each athlete after completion of the form. Questions elicited information on frequency of supplement use, types of supplements taken in the past year, and reasons for use. Each of the questions allowed for multiple answers. Frequencies were performed for all variables concerning supplement use, stratified by gender and sport. Correlations were computed to identify relationships between supplement use (frequency, type and reason) and sport classifications. Analysis of variance was used to determine differences in gender, sport, types of supplements and reason for supplement use. In 1988, 66% of the athletes on the U.S. Summer Olympic Team were surveyed on use of ergogenic aids (Miles, 1991). While the instrument utilized was different from the one used in the study reported here, some comparisons of data were possible. Results: There were 602 athletes from 28 sports on the Olympic Team roster who were processed for Sydney. Completed medical history forms were obtained on 543 (90%) of the athletes, 241 females and 302 males. Group size ranged from 123 athletes on the track and field team to one athlete on the badminton team. Two hundred and twenty-two female athletes reported using dietary supplements, whereas 272 male athletes said they did. This represents 92% of the females and 90% of the males, with a combined average of 91% from whom data were obtained. Responses to frequency of use ranged from “never” to “daily”. Reasons for using dietary supplements included: 1) to correct an inadequate diet 2) to increase muscle mass/body weight 3) to lose weight 4) to prevent illness and disease 5) to treat a medical condition or an injury 6) to increase energy 7) to enhance performance and 8) no specific reason. Of surprise to the investigators was that 33% of the athletes who reported taking supplements reported taking herbals. In 1988 only 1% of those completing a supplement survey reported taking herbals. Discussion: It is known that elite level US athletes have historically reported a higher use of vitamin/mineral supplements than the general public. Prior to this survey, it was not possible to estimate, with any degree of accuracy, the percentage of Olympic athletes taking dietary supplements. Comparing this data to data from surveys on limited numbers of Olympic athletes and a 1988 survey conducted during team processing, indicate that not only has the use of dietary supplements increased, but also the number of substances taken.