What Do Baseball Players Take ‘Legally’ To Enhance Performance

The use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) can change a baseball player’s career in an instant. Just look at New York Mets pitcher, Jenrry Mejia. First, he was the start closer for the team, and now, waiting out his 80-game suspension for taking a substance named Stanozolol, he’s not even sure his old team wants him back in the locker room.

The baseball world was exposed to the world of ‘PEDs’ in 1998 when a bottle of androstenedione could be seen in the locker of star player Mark McGwire. Since then, stringent testing and the threats of suspensions and fines have made ballplayers look longer and deeper into what they put into their mouths to help them get through ‘the grind’ what players call the 162-game season.

When I was growing up, players played ball and then went home to drink beer and smoke with their friends and family. Now, preparation for the new season, including exercise programs, diets and supplements, begin as far back as early winter.

And there are players like Lucas Duda, who just didn’t stop concentrating on staying in game-ready shape the entire off season. Duda played in Japan right after the season and returned to purchase a home in Port St. Lucie, where he moved and worked out at the Mets complex during the entire off-season.

Players approach the maintenance of their bodies in many different ways. Obviously, good old fashioned exercise is one, but more and more turn to outside programs to help keep their bodies strong and ready for what lies ahead.

Examples are:

Creatine – a legal dietary supplement that is not banned by Major League Baseball, is an amino acid that, according to studies, improves lean muscle mass and strength and is popular among baseball players

Omega-3 fatty acids – players build their diets around foods that contain these acids… like salmon and tuna 

Assault by MusclePharm  - the choice of many ballplayers as an overall supplement, it contains B vitamins, calcium, creatine and arginine

Arginine – it’s an amino acid that plays an important role in cell division, the healing of wounds, removal of ammonia from the body, immune function and the release of hormones.

Glucosamine – marketed to support the structure and function of joints.

Chondroitin – used as a supplement to treat symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee.

Whey Protein – a source of amino acids. There is a wide selection of whey protein at Supps R Us  http://www.suppsrus.com.au/protein

Another whey protein product is EAS 100%, by Abbot Laboratories. It includes caffeine and creatine.