15 yo son - protein powder, creatine powder

[TheOrigRights]

My 15 yo son is a keen footballer and in the last year has started going to the gym. He is NOT doing massive weights or anything, in fact the gym has an e-gym which sets the machines according to his age/weight/ability/training programme (he's chosen athletic) with some cardio and a bit in the weights room.

He has done lots of reading and spends a lot of time being influenced by social media.

I am really struggling to make my own informed decision because there is SO much information out there.

My instinct is that most people should be able to get what they need from their diet (I have been a keen and competitive runner since way before the days gels and sports drinks were around and when fuel was called food and hydration was called drink!) and that children really shouldn't need supplements.

I'm OK with him doing it if it's safe i.e I want to support what's important to him.

Can anyone advise or point me somewhere with unbiased studies?

as long as you go with reputable shops (i.e. not online) then it's reasonably safe.

however, unless he does sports to the highest level then it's not necessary and a waste of money if he has an otherwise sensible diet.

I think both creatine and protein are fairly well supported as safe (sorry, don't have links to hand) and as a woman in perimenopause I take both to get the most from my training as I am at an age and sex where putting on muscle is difficult. But a teenage boy is the opposite - their bodies are basically set up to put on muscle and they should be eating enough to get more than enough protein from their diets. Based on your description I feel he's trying to take the easy route to getting stronger by having supplements rather than doing some serious training. Could you book him in with a PT to get some coaching on safe and age appropriate technique.and volume?

Here's a creatine one:

jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z

Protein powder is just protein extracted from stuff we eat so it's easy to get in your body to increase levels.

I'm a lifter, taking creatine and supplementing with protein is completely normal and benign. I do both. Whether he needs to or not depends on how hard he's working at the gym. Creatine gives you an extra boost if you're working hard. Protein helps rebuild muscle if he's worked them hard. But it's totally part of the gym identity and stopping him wouldn't be a battle I'd think worth engaging in. And it's not a route to steroids or anything, it's entirely mainstream.

Here's something about protein. I've not read it but barbell medicine are my go to source for this kind of stuff.

www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/barbell-medicine-protein-recommendations/

DS is a powerlifter and takes creatine, although he didn’t start properly on weights until he was 16. He used to do protein powder but not sure he does any more (he lives away). He is very careful on nutrition and supplements and very anti quick fix substances.

Thanks all. Some useful info here.

Can you recommend a supplement for me to remember how old my children are? He's actually 14. 😬

Funnily enough there is some suggestion that creatine has benefits for cognitive function...!!

I use both creatine and whey protein, am also a weightlifter. Both are pretty mainstream and uncontroversial for lifters.

Funnily enough there is some suggestion that creatine has benefits for cognitive function...!!

Scarfs ALL DS's creatine

I use whey protein powder in pancakes and give it to my DC. I think a protein shake a day is no problem for a 15 year old and will probably benefit him.

One thing to add actually, it you take creatine you are meant to make sure you drink plenty. So it would be worth keeping an eye on it

Thank you for the responses. I have allowed him to continue with the protein powder, bars etc, but the creatine powder remains unopened.

I just listened to a podcast about this. It was a Zoe one with Prof Ben Wall.

Basically there is no need to take protein powders as long as you have a normal diet. Also no benefit from having protein straight after exercise, as long as you eat normal meals in the next two days.

0.8g per kilo of body weight for a normal person, up to 1.6g per kilo if he was doing extremely heavy weights, anything after that is pointless. Apparently that is usually easily met in a normal diet.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19056590/

I don't think 14yr olds are supposed to lift weights. My ds is now 16 and only now is allowed to lift weights in the gym. He wasn't allowed to lift weights in the gym before the one we're in now either.

All good advice here.

I would stress to him that supplements won’t do the work for you! At his age figuring out a balanced diet will probably be better and cheaper for him.

It is ok for youngsters to lift weights as long as they are taught good form and use appropriate weights.
I think that a lot of gyms allow teenagers in but they make them stick to cardio and assisted machines. IMO they’d be better off learning to lift free weights properly as the machines don’t develop your stabilising muscles and the route of motion doesn’t necessarily match your body. But that would mean having instructors who can actually teach free weights correctly.

for years it was advised children under 16 not to lift weights as it was thought could affect the growth plate and stunt growth however, evidence has now changed and shows a benefit to children weight training. Providing the form is correct and weights are sensible it’s safe and there’s actually weight lifting classes for children now in certain gyms!

it’s been shown now that the impact on joints from playing sports is higher than the impact from weightlifting but I suspect many gyms still limit to age 16 as they don’t wish to be liable / supervising kids.

OP protein powder is a great way of getting protein in and saving some money instead of costing you a fortune in chicken 😂

This has always been my view - most people are able to get what they need from their diet.
But you know what teenagers are like with their obsessions/interests/fads/influencing. If it doesn't do him any harm I'm happy to support him if it's all part of his gym thing.

Oh, that's interesting. He goes to a reputable gym and mainly uses the e-gym which is gearing precisely to him (age, weight, ability, goals).

OP protein powder is a great way of getting protein in and saving some money instead of costing you a fortune in chicken 😂

That's funny. I've been moaning to my sister about how much he wants to eat and she suggested getting in mountains of chicken breast. Any time he's hungry he can just bung one in the air fryer.

I hope I am doing that, both my by words and my behaviour. I am a competitive runner and bang on about show him that what I eat and drink the day or two before a race and then what I eat and drink afterwards influences my performance and recovery. I don't take supplements, or gels or energy drinks/gels.

That's why I started using protein powder despite thinking I wouldn't. I couldn't fill myself. So yes you could do that with chicken instead. Or big fat burgers. But the calorie:protein balance is much better with powder, it's cheaper, it's protein like in food. And it is also part of gym culture and that matters too if you want to feel part of that, which is better than many other youth cultures you could pick. I'd rather protein powder than masses of cheap chicken.

Yes I also listened to the Zoe podcast - no evidence for levels about 1.6g per pound.

Beef is a good source of creatine.

Kilo I mean!