İnvestigation of the knowledge level and usage frequency of individuals doing recreationalexercise at fitness centers about nutritional ergogenic aid. Antalya province example

The purpose of the research is to determine the level of knowledge about nutritional ergogenic aids and the frequency of use among individuals who exercise for recreational purposes in fitness centers. For this purpose, the literature on the subject was reviewed, expert opinions were taken and the survey method was used as a data collection tool. The survey asked questions about the level of knowledge and usage of nutritional ergogenic aids products among individuals. The questions were aimed to determine whether individuals exercising had sufficient knowledge about these products, whose advice they took to use these products, the purpose for which they used them, and whether they had undergone the necessary health checks. A total of 402 individuals, exercising in a fitness center in Antalya, (110 women and 292 men), participated in the research voluntarily. In this study, the data was analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 statistical program. Frequency and percentage distributions were calculated from the descriptive statistics, and the chi-square analysis was used to test the differences. Based on the findings from our study, 72.6% of the participants (n=292) were male and 27.4% (n=110) were female; The average age of male individuals was 26.84 while it was 24.80 for females. In addition, among the participants 74.4% (n=299) had a university degree, and in terms of their professions (n=151) the majority were private sector employees (37.6%). It was determined that 37.8% of those who exercised the most (n=152) had been exercising for 2-4 years. In this research, it was determined that 306 individuals exercise for health related reasons. Furthermore, it was determined that 55% of the participants did not have sufficient information about nutritional ergogenic aids products. Among the participants 60.2% used nutritional ergogenic aids products, and 47% of them obtained information about these products from internet. 40.1% of the users stated that they used these products to increase performance while 27.7% used them to increase muscle mass. It was observed that 33.1% of those who used ergogenic aids products started using them upon the advice of a coach. Additionaly it was understood that 63.2% of those who used these products purchased them online. Among the participants, who used ergogenic aids products in this study 53.3% stated that they did not undergo a medical check-up. A Statistically significant differences were found between the questions "Do you use any nutritional ergogenic supplement?" and the questions regarding exercise duration, exercise type and knowledge abouth ergogenic aids (P<0,000).