As Olivia Morgan, RD, a sports nutrition expert at Mass General Brigham, noted, nutrition is a key part of athletic performance. And high-performance athletes already know it. They tend to be health-conscious by nature, paying close attention to whether they're eating enough to meet their body's needs on both training and non-training days. Athletes competing at a professional or serious amateur level understand what's at stake without the right nutrients: performance drops, injuries become more frequent, and recovery slows down.
The biggest gains in sports performance still come from the fundamentals: adequate carbohydrate availability, diet composition, nutrition timing, and recovery. Supplements can't replace any of that. But layered on top of a well-managed routine, targeted supplements can move the needle, and for high-performance athletes, even a marginal improvement can matter.
Which Sports Nutrition Supplements are Useful for Athletes?
A review published in Frontiers in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, 2025 makes clear there's no single approach that works for every athlete. How effective a supplement is depends on the individual, the sport, and the specific dosing protocol behind it, which is why a nutrition plan only works if it's personalized rather than generic. A few ingredients have solid research behind them:
Caffeine for Endurance Athletes
Caffeine's effect on performance is one of the most studied relationships in sports nutrition, and for endurance athletes, it's one of the better-supported ergogenic aids. In a 2026 review of randomized clinical trials, performance improvements in endurance events are often noted at a dosage of 3-6 mg/kg, particularly when taken 40-60 minutes before exercise. At higher doses, around 9 mg/kg, researchers noted adverse effects.
To avoid these side effects and ensure consuming precise amounts, caffeine supplements, such as those from Pure Encapsulations, offer a standardized dose in a single serving, which takes the guesswork out of dosing. For athletes, caffeine may help lower the perceived effort and muscle fatigue during a session while sharpening focus.
Beta Alanine for Repeated Surge Athletes
Beta alanine may help by buffering muscle burn, essentially letting athletes hold their top speed longer before fatigue sets in. A 2026 review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition turned up an interesting detail: taking beta alanine in smaller amounts spread across the day, rather than one large dose, appears to support better power outcomes during intense training blocks.
If you're sourcing it, beta-alanine supplements from brands like Thorne and NOW Foods carry independent third-party certification, NSF Certified for Sport and Informed Sport, respectively, so you can trust that what's on the label is what's in the bottle.
Creatine for Mixed-Sport Athletes
Creatine usually comes up in conversations about strength and power training, but a 2026 review in Nutrients looked specifically at its role for endurance and mixed-sport athletes. The takeaway was that creatine is not a blanket endurance booster. Instead, the authors found that it benefits athletes in intermittent, explosive anaerobic sports where short, intense bursts of power matter most.
Top brands like Thorne, Klean Athlete, and Metagenics offer creatine supplements in easy-to-consume powder form. All Klean Athlete products are NSF Certified for Sport.
Conclusion
The ingredients we’ve highlighted above target a different demand, such as sustained focus, reducing perceived effort, delaying muscle fatigue during repeated efforts, and power output in short, explosive bursts. Which one makes sense for you depends on your sport, your training phase, and how your body responds, which is exactly why no single stack works for every athlete. Because individual response varies, consult with a healthcare professional before adding anything new to your routine.