What Supplements Do Strongman Take?

We often wonder about how the World’s Strongest Men fuel their bodies to take on a long day of training and other work to stay strong. In another article, we researched about the strongman diet and the amount of calories they consume. This article, we are going to list out the supplements the strongest Strongman athletes take to stay massive and powerful.

Most common supplements Strongman athletes take

When we take a look at most athletes’ supplements list, we can always find:

  • Creatine
  • Pre-workout
  • Glutamine
  • Whey Protein
  • Multivitamins
  • BCAA

We researched the supplements used by Brian Shaw, Thor and Eddie Hall and found that they all have these supplements in common. These supplements are actually very normal and can be found in athletes that engage in other sports such as powerlifting and bodybuilding. Let us take a look at some special supplements and explain why they may help each strongman get stronger!

1. Creatine

Creatine is the most common supplement used by athletes across disciplines. It helps bring water to your muscles which helps muscle recovery. It does make athletes heavier as their muscles gain more mass overall. But the water mass obtained by creatine will fade once athletes “get off” it. It is not a steroid.

2. Glutamine

For normal people, we get enough glutamine in our diet. Glutamine helps remove excessive amount of ammonia (toxin) in our bodies and help proteins do the repair work. It helps muscle building and recovery after a workout.

  • Side effects: muscle or joint pain, headache, dry mouth, runny nose, increased sweating

3. BCAA

BCAA is also known as Branched Chain Amino Acid. It helps break food down which allows athletes to find more energy from consuming food! Some athletes like the Stoltman brothers claim that BCAA helped them recover quicker from a harsh workout too!

  • Side effects (very very rare): nausea, pain, headache

4. Pre-workout

Many pre-workout nowadays contain a lot of different kinds of stimulant. You may find a lot of caffeine, taurine and green tea extract in pre-workouts. Such amount of stimulants may create nerve issues or worsen symptoms of anxiety. So, we do not recommended to take pre-workout for every workout session!

More uncommon supplements

For the Stoltman brothers, they included two other supplements on their list that may be deemed as unconventional. The two supplements are Dioralyte and CBD. Yes, they use diarrhoea medications for their gains.

1. Dioralyte

As the strongman athletes have a huge frame and size to work with, they also need to consume a lot of salt to avoid the cramping. Cramping may happen due to dehydration and low sodium levels. Dioralyte tackles this problem as it holds hydration and contains salt to prevent cramps from happening!

2. CBD

The brothers use 100mg of CBD before bed every night. They believe that CBD helps them recover as they get better sleep. Luke mentioned that he has tendinitis and CBD alleviated the pain beyond his imagination! They also feel calmer while being on CBD.

Do I need to take all these supplements to get stronger?

No. These strongman athletes have tested many different supplements to realize what substances work the best for them. As we see on the list, most of them help build and repair muscles or alleviate the pain that comes with being a strongman. You should always try out the substance to make sure you do not experience adverse effects that may hamper your workout or motivation!

For example, creatine and dioralyte may cause constipation on their own, and when they are used together, we cannot imagine how some may suffer!

Final Thoughts

The list of supplements used are not very excessive as most athletes already use creatine, BCAA and pre-workout. It is interesting to see that most athletes across disciplines use the same substances to keep themselves strong and ready for competition. However, as we see in the same, they are merely supplements. It is more important to have a healthy working diet that fuels your workout and keeps you strong!

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