When I first heard of 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement , I was intrigued and excited. As a marathon runner with numerous food allergies, one of which being any type of milk protein including whey, I find it difficult to ensure that I’m getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals needed to facilitate my training and aid my recovery. 7 SYSTEMS® advertises that they provide “[a] simple daily formula of vitamins and minerals with anti-oxidants to help maximize performance and recovery for endurance athletes.” Finally a supplement that would take the guesswork out of my diet, and ensure that I was getting everything I needed. Composed of 9 pills in all, they are tidily put together in single packs for each day, which you are encouraged to divide up into two doses: the 4 tablets with breakfast and the 5 capsules with dinner.
The good folks at 7 SYSTEMS® spent 18 months researching and creating their System Specific Sport Supplement Process ™. Their research led them to identifying over 60 different ingredients that are essential to ensuring that our bodies get the necessary nutrients, minerals and micro-nutrients that our bodies need to order to ensure that we perform at our best levels and recover that much more efficiently. Beyond the natural whole body support that 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement provides, it has been tailored to ensur
e that it targets seven bodily systems that are crucial to endurance athletes: muscular, immune, respiratory, digestive, nervous, skeletal and cardiovascular systems. Each system has a specific supplement included to target it – L-Glutamine for the muscular system, ginseng for the immune system, Glucosamine with MSM for the skeletal system and so forth. The idea being that these in addition to the Vitamin C & E, Beta-Carotene, Selenium and other vitamins and mineral included to ensure bodily health, endurance athletes will find that 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement provides them with an “extra competitive edge”.
With great anticipation, I was eager to start my one-month trial of 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement. I timed it to coincide with the last complete month of training before a marathon, when I typically find that I’m most exhausted and feeling the effects of training the most. It also happened that this coincided with the return to work after the summer holidays and a period of time when I’m typically run off my feet even without the training. I thought that 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement might just be the extra kick I need to get me through until race day.
Day One and I’ve no sooner popped the cap of the container but to read my first problem; 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement is not to be taken with 3 hours of other medication. Now I can’t take it at breakfast since I’m on medication that I take upon waking which is typically within 30 minutes of eating (I try to be the good little athlete when I can and feed my body frequently.) That means that given the time line and that 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement is supposed to be taken with food, I’ll have to take the first dose of 4 tablets at lunch and the second dose of 5 capsules at dinner. It’s not ideal, but it will have to do. I shove the days pack in my pocket and off to work I go. Lunch comes and goes, and I’m so busy that I barely remember to eat, never mind about the little package in my pocket. It’s not till about two hours after lunch that I remember, and by then it definitely falls into the way too late category. I figure I’ll wait until I have a snack later and launch the trial then. I snack, remember to take the first four tablets, and promptly feel nauseated. This could be due to any number of reasons: not enough food, not enough liquid with the tablets, or just my system not liking something new being introduced. The nausea passes soon enough and I do remember to take the rest at dinner that night with no ill effects. Day One done and now on with the trial.
Unfortunately, during the rest of the trial, my compliance did not get much better; actually it got worse. Most days I ended up having to take the entire daily dose in one sitting, as I would completely neglect to take them otherwise. They had a foul aftertaste, which if you’re sensitive to, made it increasingly difficult to swallow them. On more than one occasion, I totally forgot to take the daily dose, meaning that my month supply carried out for almost 5 or so weeks.
As for the promised benefits, I honestly can’t say that there were any noticeable gains to qualify the $70 spent for a month of supplements. In all fairness, this may significantly be in part to my difficulty complying with the directions provided on the canister. However, I do believe that in all probability one month is not enough time to evaluate the impact that 7 Systems® endurance sport supplement can have on ones performance, and would recommend anyone willing to pay the money, to evaluate the supplement over a period of two months, in order to get a true idea of it’s effects.
