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DIETARY AND SPORT SUPPLEMENT USE AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION AMONG CROSSFIT® PARTICIPANTS: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Abstract

Samuel Kramer1, Matthew Brisebois2, James Kamla2, Kelvin Wu2, Taylor Morneault2, Jerold Corpuz2, Katherine Fowler2, Keston Lindsay3. 1International Vitamin Corporation, Greenville, SC. 2The University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, SC. 3University of Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO.

BACKGROUND: CrossFit® is a popular high-intensity functional training program. CrossFit® participants may consume dietary and sports supplements to support their health and physical pursuits, but current intakes remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to survey CrossFit® participants on the dietary and sport supplements they consume. METHODS: The survey was adapted from previous research and pilot tested. The final survey was distributed to CrossFit® gyms via local flyers, email correspondence, phone calls, and advertisement in a CrossFit®-related news outlet. The data were collected and are currently undergoing analysis. RESULTS: Of the 3,260 recorded responses, 681 complete responses have been cleaned and analyzed (female 56%, age 38.9 ± 10.5 y, body mass index 25.9 ± 4.0 kg/m2). Respondents had been performing CrossFit® 4.1 ± 1.1 d/wk for 5.6 ± 3.0 y. Two hundred eight (30.5%) respondents were CrossFit® coaches and 58.3% reported actively participating in fitness competitions. Five hundred eighty (85.2%) of the respondents reported using supplements at least two days per week over the past 6 months, with an average of 2.88 ± 2.61 supplements. Supplements were organized into 36 broad categories from a list of 2,015 unique reported supplements. The ten most reported categories of supplements were protein (53.7%), creatine (26%), pre-workout (23.5%), omega fatty acids (18.5%), multivitamin (17.5%), vitamin D (14.2%), amino acids (13.8%), fuel (i.e., electrolytes and carbohydrates; 11.2%), collagen (10.4%), and magnesium (8.2%). The top five reasons for using supplements were to improve recovery (58.1%), improve overall health (55.2%), increase muscle mass/strength (44.9%), improve CrossFit® performance (44.2%), and increase energy levels (34.9%). The top five sources of information on supplements were the internet (57.3%), coach/trainer (29.4%), academic journals/peer-reviewed research (23.2%), nutritionist/dietitian (21.3%), and social media (17.3%). CONCLUSION: A large proportion of CrossFit participants report using dietary supplements to improve their health and physical performance. Reported usage is larger than many previous studies involving gym goers and athletes. These findings may support future research on the effects of supplements on CrossFit® performance and help form empirically driven recommendations to support the health and performance of CrossFit® participants.

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