Well...I'd have to disagree about the extent to which supplementing is in this sport as compared to others. Other than caffeine, which is a performance enhancer when used properly, I don't see a huge amount of other enhancers used or marketed.

Granted, there are plenty of artificially produced products like gels, powders, bars, etc...marketed to multi-sport athletes, but the majority of them focus on getting your body essential calories while your in action or to aide in recovery. Most of them tend to not have a great deal of herbal extracts and other magical ingredients that boost metabolism, build muscle, and all the other crap they are said to do.

I think that sports where power are more focused on lend themselves to these supplements much more than endurance sports. Now I'm not making excuses and there is obviously supplementation in multisport (as with all sports)

Myself, I try to get my nutrients and energy from natural ingredients and from the general nutrition advice I see given here I'd imagine most triathletes are in the same boat. The supplement market is basically unregulated, so god knows what your actually getting and since it's a relatively new market, the long term effects of supplements are basically unknown as well. I'll let others be the lab rats to determine those effects.

I usually just turn the page because the only supplements I use are:

Sports drink(s), eg. Gatorade, GU2O, Infinit
Multi Vitamin
Occasionally protein

But like any sports related magazine, the magazine is there to make money, and the people with the biggest advertising budget are the supplement manufacturers. If they can get a few thousand suckers to buy their next 'miracle' product, they have done their job.

I too stick with the usual suspects - gels, drinks, and coffee. I teach elementary school and have a cycling club and a running club I work with. One of the biggest issues I see is the energy drinks that are consumed. I think it's the trickle down of the pro boys in all sports (hockey, ball etc) influencing them as well as the pressure to make rep hockey teams and be the best kid in the school at something. It used to be only the few hard working kids wanted to be athletes, but now it's every child that will play in the NHL or MLB. I have French Immersion, where the kids and the parents are more driven and more type A, so my kids are doomed if they aren't a+ and the all star of every sports team and the soloist in the choir. I don't know how to combat it, I can only be the best role model possible with my healthy snacks and ban of Red Bull in my room (even for me on a Friday morning!). Neat topic, keep it comin!

You are 100% correct. It is all about buying performance and taking the easy way out.

i agree people are trying to buy their way onto the podium, not that training and waork is mandatory, but something extra certainly helps...however, finishing towards the top knowing that you got their on your own; no enhancers or anything is one of the best feelings!!!

I started Hammer's regimen with their 'daily essentials'. A few months later I added another pill, then 2 months after that I added yet another. Then I noticed the company started adding products fast and marketing them hard with LOTS of mailers so I began to wonder, how much of my (and my wife's) money is actually going towards nothing more than MARKETING? Not only that, why am I taking close to 10 pills in the morning, another 4-5 in the afternoon, and 4-5 in the evening, and 2-3 before a workout??!!??

I think their Foot Powder was a clear indication of the company 'jumping the shark', but then they introduced a hand sanitizer which was clearly beyond necessary. Sorry Hammer, that's just the way I see it. If it's any consolation I still drink Heed and Perpetuem.

Watch your diet closely, maybe see a nutritionist (who doesn't sell anything other than their services), and take a multivitamin.

i'd like to agree with SueR. the 'energy drink' craze is pretty disgusting. one of my friends literally drinks 2-4 red bull type drinks a day. I am not even sure his body is capable of producing its own energy anymore. the way these drinks are marketed is disturbing and sueR's elementary school observations are really interesting. what are these children going to be like as adults? so much sugar in the diet, low energy when they come off the drink and the feeling that the way to feel energy is to find it in a can? i don't really know how to articulate how I feel about this whole fad, but i do think that giving up soda and especially energy drinks was one of the best things to happen to my training. i'm not against a cup of coffee before a workout or a long night of studying. sorry for this rant.

I don't get the concern; the advertised "suppliments" are for the most part natural but at a higher concentrations. I mean I have never seen anything that is illegal. So I look through my Tri Mag and there is nothing that I would tell my kid "Absolutely not" with. I also flip through the pages of an Old "Runner's World" mag and there isn't alot of difference. Pages of suppliment adds. Adds sell magizines - period.

Coach, your job is to teach - do that, explain that eating a well balanced diet is just as good as these suppliments. Don't just tell them how many miles to log, but how to take care of themselves - for the season and for life. I think back to my high school CC and Track days and if you told me that I could eat real food and alot of it instead of a paultry protien bar or shake, there wouldn't be a question of which I would choose. Oh wait, that IS what my coach told me.

Wrong message - probably, but no different than the crap that is advertised during an Episode of SpongeBob Squarepants or a sporting event on ESPN or CBS for that matter.

I stick with the basic Sports drinks like gatorade, gels, and thermolyte for my electrolytes.

Day to day I try and eat properly and have some basic vitamins.

practice what you preach and see who comes around.

Irving Mallory once wrote; "If you can't plan an expedition on the back of an envelope, things have gotten out of hand."
Basics are better... I supplimented quite a lot some years ago...and it didn't help me much.
For races...Gatorade and water...Pepsi for long stuff, gels and blocks and Succeed! caps for my salts.
Chocolate milk for recovery, a good diet and my daily old guy vitamin and once in awhile, bee pollen.

Fish oil and glucosamine am and pm. Heed and perpetuam with gels and e-caps for long workouts.
It is amazing how many different supplements are offered by Hammmer and some other companies. I am very skeptical about most so I don't buy them. The energy drink craze is somewhat out of control with kids. I tried a Red Bull once and hated it. Seems over the top to me so I told my CC runners I didn't want to see any of it at lunch, practice, or meets.