Best Supplements for Soccer Players

When playing a competitive sport, it’s always important to be at the top of your game. Especially with a team sport such as soccer where you don’t want to lose focus and begin making mistakes that will let your teammates down.

However, it’s only natural that your focus and performance decreases as you get more fatigued and tired. Even the fittest guys on the field will lose that ‘edge’ towards the end of the game if they’re working as hard as they should be.

Here’s where supplements come in; they can help fuel your body, so you can keep working at the best of your abilities, even towards the final 90-minute mark, where you’d otherwise be slowing down. So instead of being subbed-off, you can continue making a big impact on the game.

In this article, we’ll be showing you which products can give you the advantage over the competition.

How do Supplements Improve Performance of Soccer Players?

It’s common knowledge that supplements improve sporting performance.

You wouldn’t see professional athletes around the world consuming them if they didn’t work; high level athletes are known for consuming a variety of products, ranging from multivitamins to protein powders, to make sure they perform well.

Not only that, there have been tons of studies proving the positive impact that supplements can have on sporting performance.

Is it necessary for soccer players to take supplements? 

Unless your diet is really on-point and you’re spending hours calculating your micronutrients (and macronutrients), then you usually won’t be maintaining the right levels of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates or protein that’s proven to keep you firing on all cylinders.

Professional athletes usually have the cash to pay expert nutritionists to plan their diets for them. But even then, you still see pro soccer players consuming supplements such as multivitamins.

This is for a reason; consuming the optimal dosages of certain nutrients can sometimes be extremely difficult to achieve naturally.

Nutrients such as Vitamin D are proven to improve performance of soccer players 

Let’s use the example of Vitamin D. If you live in a ‘less sunny’ country or don’t spend enough time in the sun, then it’s very likely that you’re not intaking as much Vitamin D as you should be naturally.

In fact, a study conducted by Kennel K et al.,[1] concluded that “It is now well established that many people have Vitamin D levels that are less than currently recommended for optimal health” – this shows just how common Vitamin D deficiency is.

But, why is this relevant to soccer players? Well, a clinical trial by Koundourakis N et al.,[2] showed that Vitamin D directly impacts neuromuscular performance and aerobic capacity in professional soccer players.

As a result, consuming nutrients such as Vitamin D through a multivitamin supplement can be very beneficial to athletes.  

What are the Best Supplements for Soccer Players? 

Alright, so we’ve established that certain supplements can help you work towards those ‘man of the match’ performances on the field.

But which supplements should you consume? Well, we’ve looked at many clinical studies and found products that we can safely recommend.

Take a look:

Multivitamin 

Whether you’re looking to enjoy playing football in a casual friendly team or for a scholarship at college, an effective multivitamin supplement should be at the top of your list.

This is because you can’t argue against the role that vitamin and mineral essentials make on your general health and sporting performance, with many studies having proven the link [3].

However, there is a big difference between budget and premium multivitamins. If you consume a cheap product, then it will contain only synthetic nutrients that will mostly be expelled by your body (through your urine).

On the other hand, if you choose wisely, you can obtain a multivitamin that offers much higher quality vitamins and minerals – so your body utilizes them better, to help you make the most of your cash.

Best Multivitamin for Soccer Players: Performance Lab Whole Food Multi 

We were surprised by how many low-quality multivitamins there are on the market. Even more expensive products that claimed to be ‘premium’ contained synthetic nutrients, so it really is important to research them as much as possible.

We found that Performance Lab Whole Food Multi is currently the best multivitamin on the market. This company has created their own ‘BioGenesis’ system, meaning your body treats their vitamins and minerals as actual food; this results in your body making direct use of them, instead of excreting them like it would with cheaper synthetic forms.

Not only that, the capsules of Performance Lab Whole Food Multi are made from their patented ‘NutriCaps’, which are vegan certified and prebiotic-infused to improve digestive health too.

The cherry-on-top is the fact that there are slightly different formulations for men and women, allowing women to consume the slightly higher dosage of iron they require due to various factors (eg. losing iron through menstrual bleeding).

All in all, a very well researched and clinically-backed multivitamin that we believe will improve soccer players’ performances on the field.

To learn more or buy, visit: www.performancelab.com/supplements/multi-men-women/

Pre-Workout 

Pre-workout supplements have become quite popular over the years. But you’ve probably seen the bad news in the media about products overloaded with harmful ingredients that have done some damage.

The main problem is that pre-workouts are mostly loaded with caffeine. And any coffee drinker knows that consuming to much caffeine leads to jittery side effects – and the dreaded energy crash.

As a result, we recommend avoiding pre-workouts that contain caffeine to ensure you avoid risks of the side effects mentioned above.

There are many other beneficial nutrients that you can’t obtain easily through your lifestyle, such as creatine, which is arguably one of the most effective nutrients for sporting performance available [4].

Best Pre-Workout for Soccer Players: Performance Lab Sport Pre-Workout 

It took a while to find a pre-workout supplement containing scientifically backed ingredients without caffeine. But after researching more about Performance Lab, we found that they’d created exactly what we were looking for.

We mentioned that creatine is one of the best nutrients that athletes can consume. Well, Performance Lab Sport Pre-Workout contains the highest quality form of creatine monohydrate; ‘Creapure pH10’ is a 99.5% pure form of this nutrient and boasts a higher absorption rate than cheaper forms of creatine monohydrate.

Not only that, Performance Lab Sport Pre-Workout also boasts other beneficial ingredients such as L-Citrulline, L-Glutamine, L-Carnosine and Maritime Bark Extract. The most impressive thing is that every ingredient in this supplement work in synergy with each other to create a powerhouse that helps you perform at your best every week.

If you’re wanting a ‘kick’ from caffeine, then it’s easy enough to drink a coffee before a game. This way, you’ll guarantee avoiding side effects such as jitters and energy crashes.

Performance Lab recommend taking their Pre-Workout supplement along with their Post-Workout supplement for best results.

To learn more or buy, visit: www.performancelab.com/supplements/pre-workout/

Nootropic 

While many people choose to take supplements that improve their physical performance, many don’t even think about boosting their mental performance.

Your body becomes tired after prolonged running, but so does your mind.

After more than 1-hour sprinting around a soccer pitch, you won’t be as sharp mentally as you were at the start of the game; even professional soccer players are seen making big mistakes because of a lapse in concentration towards the final whistle.

Ultimately, a nootropic supplement can help prevent a scenario like the one mentioned above and help keep you focused on your end goal – winning.

Best Nootropic: Mind Lab Pro 

In a soccer game, one killer pass can make the difference between win or lose. However, if you’re tired and not thinking properly, then you might miss that opportunity on the pitch. This isn’t something you want.

We began testing different nootropics out and found Mind Lab Pro to be the best for athletes. It helped us stay laser focused during each soccer game and taking Mind Lab Pro in the office benefitted us too.

This is due to the clinically-proven nootropic ingredients that make-up Mind Lab Pro’s supplement facts. The likes of citicoline, bacopa monnieri, lion’s mane mushroom, phosphatidylserine, acetyl-l-tyrosine, l-theanine, rhodiola rosea and maritime pine bark extract are shown to deliver improved mental performance every time [5].

To learn more or buy, visit: www.mindlabpro.com

Conclusion

There is a reason why the supplements industry is booming. Sometimes you need to provide your body with the extra micronutrients and macronutrients that it needs to perform at the highest level.

There’s no denying that the right multivitamin supplement will deliver optimal dosages of vitamin and mineral essentials to keep you performing at your best as a soccer player. We were very impressed by Performance Lab’s premium features; their ‘BioGenesis’ system allowing your body to utilize nutrients better, as well as their vegan friendly ‘NutriCaps’ mean everyone can use this multivitamin.

If you’re looking to take the extra steps to fuel you, both physically and mentally, then Performance Lab’s Whole Food Multi & Sport Pre-Workout, as well as Opti-Nutra’s Mind Lab Pro, will help you deliver the goods every game day.

References:

[1] Kennel, K. Vitamin D Deficiency in Adults: When to Test and How to Treat. Mayo Clin Proc. 2010 Aug; 85(8): 752–758.

[2] Koundourakis, N. Vitamin D and Exercise Performance in Professional Soccer Players. PLoS One. 2014; 9(7): e101659.

[3] Purcell, L. Sport nutrition for young athletes. Paediatr Child Health. 2013 Apr; 18(4): 200–202.

[4] Cooper, R. Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012; 9: 33.

[5] Fioravanti, M. Citicoline (Cognizin) in the treatment of cognitive impairment. Clin Interv Aging. 2006 Sep; 1(3): 247–251.