Supplements
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mollyschooley
Posts: 9 Member
Hey Everyone!
I wanted to know what supplements have worked for you to; Build muscle mass and get stronger. What's the brand, what's your supplement supposed to do/what it does for you, and when do you use it/does it taste good?
I wanted to know what supplements have worked for you to; Build muscle mass and get stronger. What's the brand, what's your supplement supposed to do/what it does for you, and when do you use it/does it taste good?
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Replies
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To build muscle and get stronger, the best supplement is iron. In the form of plates, which go on the ends of barbells.15
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As per the diagram - makes sure you get the big ticket items in place, the rest is marginal gains. Remember it all sits on top of optimised training, diet supports progress - it doesn't drive it.
My only supplementation has been:
Whey protein when struggling to hit a sensible protein goal - I would put that under macros in the pyramid rather than purely supplements though.
To use your headings " What's the brand, what's your supplement supposed to do/what it does for you, and when do you use it/does it taste good?"
The Protein Works / tops up my protein when required / yes - what's not to like about a vanilla milkshake?
Creatine - sadly did nothing at all for me.1 -
Beyond meal substitution and convenience, non-pharmaceutical supplements are a waste of your money.
They are successful in making the sellers richer and you poorer though.
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What helped me put on muscle and tastes amazing. Food. Lots of food
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Protein. I’m on a low carb diet right now. I take in about 1.2gr of protein for ea. lb of bodyweight (222). 72/20/9 (pro/carb/fat). I’m taking Animal Pak, and whey protein. I can’t eat all the protein I want (cleanly) unless it’s with a powder. The AP - imo - gave me a bump in stamina and poundages. I upped my lifts by an avg of 5lbs for 12 reps at 3 sets. So, the next session, I upped my pounds (to 10) again but decr my reps (8-10) All in all, I felt good. My focus and intensity has been sharper, and sustained over a longer period. There are about 12pills per packet for 40packets. 9 are big, so if you are turned off by large pills, it might be more challenging to swallow. I’ve been using AP for about 10days now and I feel good, my lifts are up 10-15% and my BF is down 1.5%. I’m also taking ON (optimum nutrition) whey protein and blend it with water. It has sucralose in it and despite the sweetener effect, it’s tolerable for me. I personally avoid artificial sweeteners, and gag at them, but I found ON’s flavor profile to be well-digestable, and agreeable. Hope it helps.1
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A solid multi along with fish oil, creatine, and bcaas are a good place to start. Protein powders are helpful if your having trouble hitting your goal with whole foods.4
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As per the diagram - makes sure you get the big ticket items in place, the rest is marginal gains. Remember it all sits on top of optimised training, diet supports progress - it doesn't drive it.
My only supplementation has been:
Whey protein when struggling to hit a sensible protein goal - I would put that under macros in the pyramid rather than purely supplements though.
To use your headings " What's the brand, what's your supplement supposed to do/what it does for you, and when do you use it/does it taste good?"
The Protein Works / tops up my protein when required / yes - what's not to like about a vanilla milkshake?
Creatine - sadly did nothing at all for me.
I really don’t think that protein powder is a supplement. It’s just another food source to hit macros.
Unfortunately up to 30% of population may be non-responders to creatine.
I like e that chart by the way. A really good way to look at it.
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Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.4 -
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?1 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
Do your own pre workout, caffeine+beta-alanine is a perfect combo... beta-alanine is not necessary, but it is proven to work. You could also add citrulline mallate to the mix, but also not necessary, it all depends on your budget. Heck, just caffeine alone makes it a perfect pre workout. Most pre workouts are garbage and you pay alot for underdosed ingredients.6 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
Do your own pre workout, caffeine+beta-alanine is a perfect combo... beta-alanine is not necessary, but it is proven to work. You could also add citrulline mallate to the mix, but also not necessary, it all depends on your budget. Heck, just caffeine alone makes it a perfect pre workout. Most pre workouts are garbage and you pay alot for underdosed ingredients.
That's a really great point, thank you!2 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
The solution is to roll your own preworkout. Most pres are so underdosed in the stuff that actually works and add in things that you don't need just to up the price. My suggestion is buy in bulk. If you would like me to post a good pre workout plus costs etc let me know.
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Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
Do your own pre workout, caffeine+beta-alanine is a perfect combo... beta-alanine is not necessary, but it is proven to work. You could also add citrulline mallate to the mix, but also not necessary, it all depends on your budget. Heck, just caffeine alone makes it a perfect pre workout. Most pre workouts are garbage and you pay alot for underdosed ingredients.
Beta-alanine has merit but I would take it out since it needs to be taken daily for the effects to be realized, so I would do that daily instead just like creatine. I would add citrulline malate as well.0 -
I put it with creatine every day so I don't forget about it, so it's no biggie.Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
Do your own pre workout, caffeine+beta-alanine is a perfect combo... beta-alanine is not necessary, but it is proven to work. You could also add citrulline mallate to the mix, but also not necessary, it all depends on your budget. Heck, just caffeine alone makes it a perfect pre workout. Most pre workouts are garbage and you pay alot for underdosed ingredients.
Beta-alanine has merit but I would take it out since it needs to be taken daily for the effects to be realized, so I would do that daily instead just like creatine. I would add citrulline malate as well.1 -
I put it with creatine every day so I don't forget about it, so it's no biggie.Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
Do your own pre workout, caffeine+beta-alanine is a perfect combo... beta-alanine is not necessary, but it is proven to work. You could also add citrulline mallate to the mix, but also not necessary, it all depends on your budget. Heck, just caffeine alone makes it a perfect pre workout. Most pre workouts are garbage and you pay alot for underdosed ingredients.
Beta-alanine has merit but I would take it out since it needs to be taken daily for the effects to be realized, so I would do that daily instead just like creatine. I would add citrulline malate as well.
Good idea. Although I was wondering last night the value of doing several of these substances together. Creatine, Citrulline malate, beta alanine and other substances such as betanine are all supposed to basically do the same thing and that is allow you to add an extra rep or possibly two at a certain percentage of your 1RM. Even the substances that have been shown to work e.g. creatine and citrulline malate, have not really been tested together for obvious reasons. However, even if everyone of those substances does add an extra rep on it's own they aren't going to stack together so that 3 of them adds 3 more reps at 85% for instance. So perhaps it's just best to stick to one or two and save yourself a lot of money in the end. I'm thinking Creatine and either malate or beta alanine would probably give optimal results and wouldn't be horribly expensive.0 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
The solution is to roll your own preworkout. Most pres are so underdosed in the stuff that actually works and add in things that you don't need just to up the price. My suggestion is buy in bulk. If you would like me to post a good pre workout plus costs etc let me know.
I'm always open to suggestions!!!1 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
The solution is to roll your own preworkout. Most pres are so underdosed in the stuff that actually works and add in things that you don't need just to up the price. My suggestion is buy in bulk. If you would like me to post a good pre workout plus costs etc let me know.
I'm always open to suggestions!!!
OK, this is actually going to be a two part, a daily and an actually preworkout.
Daily:
4g Beta-Alanine -- Approx $20 for 500g
5g Creatine -- Approx $20 for 1000g
(Optional: B12 5000Mcg tablets -- Approx $15/120 tabs)
Pre:
6-8g Citrulline Malate 2:1-- |Approx $20 for 500g (for you 6g is fine)
200mg Caffeine -- Approx $15 for 300 tabs or just get coffee
These are really the only ingredients that you will need but probably won't give you the hyped up feeling of the ones in the stores but will give you more energy thought your workout. You can find everything here on Amazon (search for bulk powders or tablets) or look for deals in your local stores on bulk powders and tablets.
Let me know how you find these.2 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
The solution is to roll your own preworkout. Most pres are so underdosed in the stuff that actually works and add in things that you don't need just to up the price. My suggestion is buy in bulk. If you would like me to post a good pre workout plus costs etc let me know.
I'm always open to suggestions!!!
OK, this is actually going to be a two part, a daily and an actually preworkout.
Daily:
4g Beta-Alanine -- Approx $20 for 500g
5g Creatine -- Approx $20 for 1000g
(Optional: B12 5000Mcg tablets -- Approx $15/120 tabs)
Pre:
6-8g Citrulline Malate 2:1-- |Approx $20 for 500g (for you 6g is fine)
200mg Caffeine -- Approx $15 for 300 tabs or just get coffee
These are really the only ingredients that you will need but probably won't give you the hyped up feeling of the ones in the stores but will give you more energy thought your workout. You can find everything here on Amazon (search for bulk powders or tablets) or look for deals in your local stores on bulk powders and tablets.
Let me know how you find these.
Thank you, I appreciate this!1 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »
Agreed, I can't believe people still fall for the BCAA crap. Supplement companies know how to make money with worthless junk.
As for supplements, there's a reason they're called "Supplements", they assist you in your diet if food alone can't. Supplements alone won't build jack *kitten*. Can they be helpful, yes, but it's your diet as a whole and your workout that matters most.
I get the whole BCAA thing, but the preworkout I like also **happens** to contain BCAAs. Should I look for a new preworkout, or is it fine to keep using?
The solution is to roll your own preworkout. Most pres are so underdosed in the stuff that actually works and add in things that you don't need just to up the price. My suggestion is buy in bulk. If you would like me to post a good pre workout plus costs etc let me know.
I'm always open to suggestions!!!
OK, this is actually going to be a two part, a daily and an actually preworkout.
Daily:
4g Beta-Alanine -- Approx $20 for 500g
5g Creatine -- Approx $20 for 1000g
(Optional: B12 5000Mcg tablets -- Approx $15/120 tabs)
Pre:
6-8g Citrulline Malate 2:1-- |Approx $20 for 500g (for you 6g is fine)
200mg Caffeine -- Approx $15 for 300 tabs or just get coffee
These are really the only ingredients that you will need but probably won't give you the hyped up feeling of the ones in the stores but will give you more energy thought your workout. You can find everything here on Amazon (search for bulk powders or tablets) or look for deals in your local stores on bulk powders and tablets.
Let me know how you find these.
Thank you, I appreciate this!
No problem, I'm not sure if it will work any better than caffeine plus one of the other ingredients as noted above since the other ingredients, other than B12, tend to all have the same basic effect so the combining them likely will only have a small incremental effect is my guess. But in any event, let me know what you think after you've tried it a few times.0
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