The Revolution Of Bodybuilding Supplements

By Kyle Heier


Bodybuilding supplements tend to portray mixed feelings among any crowd of individuals. To those who are familiar with them, the questions are "What are you using?", "Are you going all-natural?", and "how do you like them"? Among others of course. To the crowd who looks in from the outside, you may get anything from pure curiosity, to the looks typically reserved for those deemed out of their minds. And that is just the thing, there is far too little information out there on the growing industry of bodybuilding supplements. If one thing is for certain however, is that it is indeed a vastly growing industry.

There are still those who are uneducated or unwilling when it comes to bodybuilding supplements or supplements in general. This number is dwindling steadily. While there are quite a few companies that sell various types of supplements, there is certainly one that stands out from the rest. The Vitamin Shoppe is a publicly traded company and have been growing steadily every year. Among this group, there is also GNC and Popeye's Supplements. These groups sell most every brand manufactured supplement to-date. While there are many, the fact the The Vitamin Shoppe is publicly owned gives everyone a great insight to part of the industry. While the industry is vast, this group in particular holds some of the largest market share.

In 2008, the sports nutrition supplements business was marked in at $4.2 billion in sales. The Vitamin Shoppe annual report for 2012 marks sales at $950.9 million in which 53% of these supplements were specifically connected to sports nutrition. The average year over year growth for this organization from 2007 - 2012 has been just over %10 having a slight lower year in 2010, which can very easily be connected to the financial meltdown at the time. Nevertheless, folks have been seeking to train hard in spite of the monetary hardships, as the industry continued to grow at a steady rate.

While the numbers don't lie the problem still exists. Various companies have tried their best to eradicate the poor and still rampant mentality towards bodybuilding supplements. Some companies have begun to succeed as well. If you have ever watched a recent mixed martial arts event, you may see some athletes sporting shorts with the Muscle Pharm brand. This raised a few questions among people. The most common one is, "how is that even allowed?" It's funny what a little education can do when it comes to a small lacking in understanding. Even Olympic athletes will have their favorite brands that have been cleared for use in the games.

Bottom line, whilst there nevertheless exists in the short-term, a stigma that might be unfavorable to supplements and people who may use them, it is a growing business. With the push a lot more not too long ago in our culture to get match, it's only going to grow to be a lot more well-known. While supplements do not do each of the work for you personally when you are training for whatever it's you're wanting to attain, they do lend a helping hand. It's a lot more about understanding what supplements are going to most advantage you, and why.




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