Nutrition, training and health: how to turn supplementation into your best ally

|February 19, 2026

In this new Live Event in collaboration with Harbiz, we talk about what truly makes the difference when someone starts training (or starts back up after years): making it sustainable, understanding what changes in the body with exercise, and knowing how to support the process with nutrition, rest, and supplementation (without shortcuts).

The conversation featured Dr. Antonio Hernández (physician, co-founder, and medical director of be levels), Iñaky García (high-performance personal trainer and communicator, creator of Ky-fit Live), and Alex Márquez Mas (sports dietitian specializing in CrossFit and high-intensity sports, expert in supplementation).

Key moments

The problem isn't "lack of motivation": it's a sedentary lifestyle and context

The live session opened by focusing on the current moment: we are moving less and less, and that translates into poorer metabolic, cardiovascular, and mental health. The key idea: moving is not an extra, it is a tool for real prevention.

Before training "hard," you have to know where you're starting from

Iñaky insisted on something basic that almost nobody does: assessing your starting point (how you move, what limitations you have, what history you bring) before programming anything. And from there: seek consistency, not heroism. A nearby gym, a plan you can repeat, and long-term goals.

Don't train muscles: train patterns

Instead of "chest day, leg day," the proposal was to think in terms of movement patterns:

push
pull
hip hinge
knee flexion
midsection/core/hip stability

The message is clear: first "tighten the bolts on the wheels" and only then speed up.

Load vs. stimulus

A distinction that often confuses everyone was explained:

Load: what is quantifiable (kilos, repetitions, volume).
Stimulus: what that causes inside you (stress/adaptation).

The same 50kg squat can be a warm-up for an athlete and a shock for a sedentary person. That is why progress is individual.

Strength is not aesthetic: it's longevity

Dr. Antonio Hernández put it plainly: strength is a brutal marker of health. Maintaining strength (and functional muscle mass) protects over time:

bone density (key in postmenopausal women)
neuromuscular capacity
nervous system health
prevention of frailty and loss of autonomy

You change in 2–3 weeks (and there's no pill that does that)

One of the strongest points: for people who have never trained, in 21 days with 2–3 sessions/week they can improve significantly (energy, effort tolerance, stress response, even physiological markers).
Exercise generates rapid acute adaptations that are later consolidated.

Training also improves your "engine": mitochondria and metabolic flexibility

We talked about why training (ideally combined) makes the body more efficient at using energy:

better ability to use carbohydrate and fat
more stamina throughout the day
better tolerance to fasting (without depending on "snacking" all the time)
improved insulin sensitivity and low-grade inflammation

Nutrition: the typical mistake is doing it all at once

Alex brought up the classic pattern: going from "eating terribly" to "aggressive deficit + fasting + crazy workouts." Result: anxiety, binge eating, giving up.

The priority to start: nourish enough to tolerate training and make it sustainable.

Key points he repeated:

avoid overly aggressive deficits
increase protein if it's low (very common in women 50+)
don't demonize healthy fats (olive oil)
adjust carbohydrates to the type of training and prior context
often improving is more about "removing ultra-processed foods" than adding superfoods

Training while fasting: it can be done, but it's not always optimal

Practical answer:

if you are adapted, you can train while fasting
for maximum performance (high intensity), usually you need carbohydrates
during: if it lasts <60 min, water is usually enough; if it lasts longer, electrolytes come in, and then carbohydrates

The key to progress: minimum effective dose + recovery

Iñaky summarized it like this: don't look to wreck yourself, look for the minimum effective dose that allows you to adapt and train the next day.

Recovery is what "builds" what training "tears down." And here the reality was laid out: we live overstimulated, and that ruins rest.

Rest is where the magic happens (and overtraining is a real danger)

Dr. Antonio Hernández was clear: hormonal, metabolic, and immune adaptations occur during rest.

And he warned of the typical profile: motivated person, quick improvement, gets carried away, doesn't rest, caloric deficit, thousands of steps… and ends up with high cortisol, poor recovery, injuries, immunosuppression, and muscle loss.

The idea: without rest, training better is useless.

Supplementation: only when the base is solid

If you don't train well, don't eat decently, and sleep poorly, supplements won't fix your life. But when the base is there, they can be "the glue" to make the leap.

Products mentioned in this live

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