Supplements in Sports and Exercise

Overview

Supplements in sports and exercise refers to the use of dietary supplements and ergogenic aids by athletes and active individuals to support performance, training adaptation, recovery and overall nutritional adequacy. The category spans macronutrient products such as protein and carbohydrate preparations, micronutrients used to correct or prevent deficiency, and purported performance enhancers ranging from well-studied compounds to those with limited evidence. Their rationale is to complement, not replace, a sound diet by addressing increased nutrient demands, facilitating energy provision and tissue repair, attenuating fatigue, or targeting specific physiological adaptations to training. Within Sports and Exercise Medicine, the use of supplements is evaluated against criteria of efficacy, safety, dosing and necessity, with emphasis on distinguishing products supported by rigorous evidence from those promoted on weaker grounds, and on the risks of contamination, inadvertent doping and interactions. Decisions about supplementation are individualized according to the athlete's sport, training load, body-composition goals, dietary intake and health status, and are ideally guided by assessment of actual need rather than habitual or indiscriminate use. The field also considers how supplementation interacts with metabolic monitoring, hydration and recovery strategies, and how it fits within broader programs of conditioning, nutrition and injury prevention. Sound practice therefore frames supplements as one component of an integrated approach in which whole-diet quality, training and recovery remain foundational.

Research published in this journal

6 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 6 articles above have been cited 3 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

• Poor Motor Coordination Elicits Altered Lower Limb Biomechanics in Young Football (Soccer) Players: Implications for Injury Prevention through Wearable Sensors
  2021 · Sensors
• Poor Motor Coordination Elicits Altered Lower Limb Biomechanics in Young Football (Soccer) Players: Implications for Injury Prevention through Wearable Sensors
  S. D. Paolo et al. · 2021 · Italian National Conference on Sensors
• Efect Physical Activity and Nutrition During The Covid-19 Pandemic
  2021 · International Journal of Engineering Science and Information Technology

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Supplements in Sports and Exercise, linking to each citing work.

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.

Related topics