A coach uses a cupcake analogy to explain athletic development: the cake is training and skill work, the frosting is nutrition, and sprinkles are supplements. Most athletes chase supplements before nailing the basics, which is backwards.
Athletes, your athletic development, athletic performance is just like this cupcake. The base of the cupcake, the cake, the actual thing that you need to build off of is your training and your skill work. Without those things, you're not an athlete. Then, no one likes a cupcake without frosting, or at least no sane person likes a cupcake without frosting. So the frosting is your nutrition. This is where it comes in and makes the cupcake worth it. It makes it all work. It puts it all together. So you need to dial in your nutrition in order to make this cupcake whole. You could end there and have an amazing cupcake, But sometimes people like to enhance it with some sprinkles, and that is where supplements come in. The number one mistake that I see athletes make is when they are trying to become a better athlete through taking some type of special pre-workout infused something, these supplements there, this, this influencer is talking about organ liver stuff over here. Like, the best thing that you can do is nail down the cake and the frosting and save the supplements for last.
