10 Supplements Worth Taking If You're an Athlete (Ranked)

Fortunately for you, the overwhelming majority of mainstream nutritional supplements will provide you with some sort of benefit as long as you’re taking them as advised, at the correct times, and as long as they’re clinically dosed. So rest assured that you’re probably not wasting your money if the supplements in your daily stack have stood the test of time.

With that caveat out of the way, there is definitely a hierarchy to supplements in terms of their true value and effectiveness, and especially if you’re an athlete who requires your nutrients to contribute meaningfully to your performance, lest you lose more games, races, or tournaments than you should. 

In the spirit of helping you prioritize the supplements within your budget, here are 10 supplements that can all be of immense value to you if you’re an athlete, ranked from 10 to 1, with emphasis placed on their potency, their range of effectiveness, and their overall contribution to the physical improvement of athletes regardless of the type of sport they’re preparing for.

10. Bovine Colostrum

Even if bovine colostrum conferred no other advantages to the athletes who included it as a regular supplement in their rotation, it would still be a complete source of animal protein, and would therefore be advantageous for athletes to take solely for the purpose of muscle growth and repair, albeit in smaller and more expensive doses than most whey protein supplements.

However, the primary purpose for taking bovine colostrum has to do with its contributions to immune system support. In multiple studies, bovine colostrum proved capable of countering the post-exercise suppression of the immune system in athletes, making it an ideal one-stop shop for athletes seeking to preserve their immune health while also acquiring some support for muscle growth. (1) (2)

9. Probiotics 

Probiotics are among the most underrated nutrients, and play a crucial role in preserving gut health. For athletes, consistent doses of probiotics can be the difference between a workout with minimal interruptions, and a training session that is fraught with digestive discomfort. 

Additionally, the presence of probiotics makes several nutrients — like calcium, iron and zinc, along with vitamins A and D, and all of the B vitamins — easier to absorb. In short, the presence of probiotics can ensure athletes that they are retaining a higher percentage of the nutrients they are ingesting, and putting them to favorable use.

8. Multivitamin 

A multivitamin is a solid life investment under all circumstances simply because a quality multivitamin will enable you to flood your body with a profusion of vital micronutrients before you even settle into the business of eating your meals. However, if you’re an athlete, there are micronutrients that your body absolutely needs in order to function optimally during workouts, and failing to make up for shortages of these vitamins and minerals in your diet can be the difference between victory and defeat.

For example, a study of 240 overtrainted athletes, the mineral content of multivitamins helped them to restore an optimal hormonal balance. (3) In a separate study, the B vitamins present in a multivitamin were able to reduce fatigue and lactate in athletes and improve their endurance if their baseline levels of vitamin B were low. (3) For these reasons and others, a multivitamin can be very handy in making up for nutrient deficiencies.

7. Collagen Peptides

In an absolute worst-case scenario, a collagen supplement can be an abundant source of protein, albeit an incomplete one, because collagen lacks the amino acid tryptophan. This means that if you derived no other benefits from collagen whatsoever, you would at least be availing yourself of a massive influx of helpful amino acids.

It just so happens that collagen specializes in repairing tendons, ligaments, and joints, which is incredibly beneficial to athletes to deal with repeated strains to these areas, including anyone whose sport of choice requires them to spend a great deal of time running. On top of this, if your skin has been taking a beating due to exposure to the sun or other elements, several studies have proven that collagen is especially effective at rejuvenating your skin by restoring its hydration and elasticity. (4)

6. Electrolytes

For all of the endurance athletes complaining about the relatively low position of electrolytes on this list, they would absolutely rank higher if this list was dedicated exclusively to distance athletes, like runners who compete in events of distances longer than 10 kilometers. However, the overall value of electrolytes is somewhat blunted by the fact that they are of little to no value during workouts or athletic efforts that are shorter than an hour in duration.

If your workouts do extend beyond an hour, electrolytes are absolutely essential to include within your fluids if you want to maintain optimal muscle and nerve function, and keep fatigue at bay. A meta-analysis of 26 studies proved that electrolytes significantly increased endurance, lengthened time to exhaustion, and raised blood glucose and sodium levels, especially when taken along with a carbohydrate source. (5)

5. Magnesium

Sleep is such an essential part of total-body recovery, encompassing both mind and body, and yet it often goes completely ignored. In a classic study involving collegiate basketball players, extending sleep time and improving sleep quality resulted in reduced fatigue, faster sprint times, improved shot accuracy, and quicker reaction times. (6)

By consuming magnesium — and especially magnesium bisglycinate — you can relax your muscles and lower your body’s core temperature, increasing the likelihood that you’ll be able to fall asleep quickly, enjoy a more restful night, and maximize your recovery.

4. Omega 3s

For a single-source supplement, omega-3 fatty acids pack a major punch when it comes to helping you improve upon several of the outcomes that athletes tend to prioritize. Studies have proven its ability to reduce post-exercise muscle damage, decrease muscle soreness, and accelerate recovery. (7)

Furthermore, omega 3s appear to directly improve several of the factors involved in aerobic performance. This includes an uptick in VO2 max, oxygen efficiency, blood flow, and heart rate recovery. (8) Therefore, omega 3s are a great place to turn for athletes looking to improve aerobic performance on the front end, and muscle recovery on the back end.

3. Pre-Workout

Physical and mental readiness prior to the commencement of training is important, and on that basis alone, pre-workout shines for its ability to increase energy and optimize blood flow, ensuring that your muscles get the nutrients it requires to maximize the effort level of your workout. This is valuable to athletes engaging in workouts of all types.

As a bonus, most pre-workout formulas include a dose of caffeine (3-6 mg/kg body mass) that boosts the strength of your muscles before your workout even begins. (9) In essence, the totality of caffeine’s contribution transforms pre-workout into a huge performance-enhancer for athletes that can boost muscle output during both training sessions and athletic events.

2. Protein 

If your sport of choice requires the frequent exertion of your muscles, as most do, supplemental protein is a crucial tool in ensuring that the recovery needs of your muscles are addressed. By increasing your protein intake with protein supplements, you’re guaranteeing that your muscles will be restored to proper working order, assuring that none of the strength- and muscle-building potential of your training has gone to waste.

Countless studies have underscored the performance upgrades that athletes have made through supplementation with protein. In a meta-analysis of 49 of these studies that involved more than 1,800 test subjects, it was concluded that protein supplementation undeniably boosts strength and muscle mass in athletes who engage in resistance training. (10)

1. Creatine

In a nutshell, creatine takes every process that your muscles and organs naturally engage in and reinforces them by supplying your cells with a vast repository of energy. For athletes, this produces muscles that are stronger, more durable, and capable of faster recovery during their downtime. Furthermore, because creatine also supplies energy to your brain, it alleviates feelings of mental fatigue, which can help to provide you with additional motivation. 

According to the official position statement of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, in addition to being able to improve training performance and accelerate post-exercise recovery, studies show that creatine can also increase strength and muscle mass, reduce fat accumulation, minimize bone loss, enhance cognitive processes and reduce depressive symptoms. (11) All of these outcomes are eminently advantageous to athletes.

They’re all winners

Please don’t mistake this ranking as a system intended to disparage any of these supplements, or as a recommendation to avoid any of the products that were placed on the bottom half of this list. Every supplement presented here is capable of assisting your body and raising your athletic potential in one or more ways. 

Taking this into account, while we believe the nutrients in the top half of this list will impart a wider range of beneficial outcomes across a greater number of performance measurements that athletes are likely to care about, we are confident that you will be elated by the way your body responds to all of the supplements on this list.

Sources

1. Yalçıntaş YM, Baydemir B, Duman H, Eker F, Bayraktar Biçen A, Ertürk M and Karav S (2024) Exploring the impact of colostrum supplementation on athletes: a comprehensive analysis of clinical trials and diverse properties. Front. Immunol. 15:1395437. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1395437

2. Jones, A.W., March, D.S., Thatcher, R. et al. The effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on in vivo immunity following prolonged exercise: a randomised controlled trial. Eur J Nutr 58, 335–344 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-017-1597-6

3. Wiacek M, Nowak E, Lipka P, Denda R, Zubrzycki IZ. Vitamin Supplementation in Sports: A Decade of Evidence-Based Insights. Nutrients. 2026 Jan 9;18(2):213. doi: 10.3390/nu18020213. PMID: 41599826; PMCID: PMC12845069.

4. Pu SY, Huang YL, Pu CM, Kang YN, Hoang KD, Chen KH, Chen C. Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2023 Apr 26;15(9):2080. doi: 10.3390/nu15092080. PMID: 37432180; PMCID: PMC10180699.

5. Bravo-Sánchez, A.; Ramírez-delaCruz, M.; Sánchez-Infante, J.; Abián, P.; Abián-Vicén, J. Carbohydrate and Electrolyte Supplementation Strategies to Enhance Sports Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Appl. Sci. 2026, 16, 2967. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16062967

6. Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, Dement WC. The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. Sleep. 2011 Jul 1;34(7):943-50. doi: 10.5665/SLEEP.1132. PMID: 21731144; PMCID: PMC3119836.

7. Fernández-Lázaro D, Arribalzaga S, Gutiérrez-Abejón E, Azarbayjani MA, Mielgo-Ayuso J, Roche E. Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Post-Exercise Inflammation, Muscle Damage, Oxidative Response, and Sports Performance in Physically Healthy Adults-A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutrients. 2024 Jun 27;16(13):2044. doi: 10.3390/nu16132044. PMID: 38999792; PMCID: PMC11243702.

8. Jäger, R., Heileson, J. L., Abou Sawan, S., Dickerson, B. L., Leonard, M., Kreider, R. B., … Antonio, J. (2025). International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Long-Chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2024.2441775

9. Guest NS, VanDusseldorp TA, Nelson MT, Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Jenkins NDM, Arent SM, Antonio J, Stout JR, Trexler ET, Smith-Ryan AE, Goldstein ER, Kalman DS, Campbell BI. International society of sports nutrition position stand: caffeine and exercise performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021 Jan 2;18(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s12970-020-00383-4. PMID: 33388079; PMCID: PMC7777221.

10. Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, Schoenfeld BJ, Henselmans M, Helms E, Aragon AA, Devries MC, Banfield L, Krieger JW, Phillips SM. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Mar;52(6):376-384. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608. Epub 2017 Jul 11. Erratum in: Br J Sports Med. 2020 Oct;54(19):e7. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608corr1. PMID: 28698222; PMCID: PMC5867436.

11. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, Candow DG, Kleiner SM, Almada AL, Lopez HL. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017 Jun 13;14:18. doi: 10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z. PMID: 28615996; PMCID: PMC5469049.