Evaluation of the Drive to be Muscular and the Use of Nutritional Ergogenic Supplements in Athletes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the drive to be muscular (DM), and the use of nutritional ergogenic supplements in athletes. 440 male athletes who are active in different sports branches participated as voluntarily. In the study, the data were obtained using the “Impulse to Be Muscular Scale” developed by McCreary and Sasse in 2000 and adapted to Turkish by Selvi and Bozo (2019) and the “Attitude Scale for Use of Nutritional Ergogenic Supplements” developed by Argan and Köse (2009). When comparing dependent and independent variables in statistical analysis; the Kruskal Wallis-H test and the One-Way ANOVA test were used. Pearson chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between quantitative variables. Results: Athletes DM and sub-dimensions; Attitudes toward being muscular (ATBM), training behaviors toward being muscular (TBTBM), and use of eating and reinforcements to be muscular (UERM) mean scores were determined to be 43.2±12.3, 21.8±7.7, 12.2±4.0 and 9.1±3.9 respectively. In the attitude scale towards nutritional ergogenic supplements, the mean scores of benefits, side effects and ethical and natural nutrition sub-dimensions were determined as 3.5±0.8, 2.4±0.8, and 2.8±0.7, respectively. A statistically significant difference was found between the education level of the athletes and their attitudes towards being muscular. In addition, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the training behaviors to be muscular, the use of eating and supplements to be muscular, side effects, and ethical and natural nutrition sub-dimensions between sports branches (p<0.05). DM was found to have a statistically significant relationship at a high level with ATBM (0.86), TBTBM (0.76), and UERM (0.65); at a low level with the benefit sub-dimension of the attitude scale towards nutritional ergogenic supplement (0.26), and at a negative and weak level with a duration of exercise (0.23). It was determined that the drive to be muscular score was higher in men, strength/power athletes, and those with high school and pre-school education. “Freedom of access to the products and believing that there is a doping effect” are among the reasons for the use of nutritional support products by athletes.