A review of 12 strength training supplements

aakaakaak

Here's a recent interview of Kurtis Frank and Sol Orwell on StrongLifts that Medhi seems to be pushing. I don't know the two involved, but the advice appears to at least pass my limited smell test.

Keep in mind that the only way to really do things properly by eating the right kinds of foods and exercising appropriately. There are no major shortcuts. You're the one that has to put in the work.

http://stronglifts.com/12-strength-training-supplements-dissected/

Cliff notes:

Glutamine - Waste of your money, unless you have serious intestinal issues.

Protein powders - A great way to get more protein into your diet, but no type of protein is significantly better than others. The speed of digestion may not be relevant.

Creatine - It’s safe and it works. Especially potent for vegetarians.

Beta-alanine - Works, but the benefits are small.

“Testosterone Boosters” - There are promising ones on the horizon, but the current batch are mostly useless. Many of the T-boosters increase your libido without increasing your testosterone levels enough to appreciably build muscle.

Branched chain amino acids, aka BCAAs - If you are getting ample protein via your diet/supplementation, BCAAs likely have little benefit. They are a low-caloric source of protein.

Fish oil - Mostly useful in helping you achieve a 1:1 omega 3:6 ratio (or close enough). If you eat ample amounts of fatty fish and not too much omega-6, you likely do not need it. It can help with inflammation and joint pain.

L-Carnitine - Ineffective as a fat burner. Only helpful if you are deficient in it.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) - Great example of something that was very promising in rats/mice, but did not translate to humans. Highly unreliable results, and thus can be stated as being ineffective in fat burning.

Nitric-oxide boosters - While L-arginine is the common choice, L-citrulline works better (on a per-dosage basis). Beet roots are a great food-source for nitric oxide, and agmatine holds a lot of potential.

Caffeine - Helps keep you awake, and in non-habitual users has a definitive increase in power output, but only at higher doses. Cannot be used regularly or the increase in power output is lost.

Mass-gainer supplements - A very expensive way of just getting extra calories into your diet. A smarter solution would be to add food products into a shake made with basic protein powder.

Sarauk2sf

To add to the list and as it relates to claims of increasing testosterone and I have seen it mentioned quite a but recently:

ZMA: contains Zinc, Magnesium and Vitamin B6. There is no evidence to suggest that it helps increase test in those who are not deficient in zinc or magnesium - all it does is raise otherwise deficient levels to normal and therefore can have a downstream impact on testosterone, but only if people are deficient in the first place.


So, again to the point, if you are getting sufficient amounts in your diet, there is no benefit.

Foods that are high in zinc include: oysters, toasted wheat germ, dark chocolate (yay), meat, especially liver, nuts and seeds, seafood, dairy, and beans and peas.

Foods that are high in magnesium include: dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, fish, beans, whole grains and lentils, avocados, dairy, fruit, dark chocolate and wheat germ.

aakaakaak

Aren't a good portion of those considered libido enhancers? Oysters, dark chocolate, etc.

Note: Half of that article seems to be geared directly at you Sara. Everything seemed to be saying "good if you're vegetarian".

Personally, I'm probably going to play with the fish oil to see how well it helps with my joints. I see the glucosamine/chondroitin you've started using. I picked up a cheap bottle of it a week ago. Have you seen any results with it yet?

Alphastate

Great article. I always wondered if creatine would have a more dramatic effect since I'm a vegetarian. I also wondered the same thing for BCAAs.

Sarauk2sf

Aren't a good portion of those considered libido enhancers? Oysters, dark chocolate, etc.

Note: Half of that article seems to be geared directly at you Sara. Everything seemed to be saying "good if you're vegetarian".

Personally, I'm probably going to play with the fish oil to see how well it helps with my joints. I see the glucosamine/chondroitin you've started using. I picked up a cheap bottle of it a week ago. Have you seen any results with it yet?

I started taking that as I am old Not sure if it will do anything as I do not get achy joints usually anyway. I was getting them a bit when on a higher frequency lifting program, but that was probably due to me still adapting and not being good about mobility work.


Chondroitin is iffy as to it's efficacy. Glucosamine is more of a long term benefit and the efficacy is debatable. However, as a natural source is fish, which I do not eat, it is more a CYA.

Sarauk2sf

Great article. I always wondered if creatine would have a more dramatic effect since I'm a vegetarian. I also wondered the same thing for BCAAs.

FWIW, I believe creatine does. It is also recommended to take a slightly higher dose if you are a vegetarian - 7g as opposed to the 5g. We need more 'topping up' than meat eaters do.

With regard to BCAAs - it would be the same as for meat eaters, assuming that your are getting enough EAAs.

waldo56

I'm surprised Yohimbe wasn't mentioned.

Dosed correctly and used in the right context it is a very effective fat burner. Most would not see it as beneficial, but if you are lean with only a couple problem spots left, it can be a great aid.

Sarauk2sf

^^I think it is strength training focused, not fat burning.

aakaakaak

They only mentioned a few because they're trying to sell their book on supplements...through Medhi from Stronglifts fame. They didn't go into the fat burners too much. Yes, it was focused on bodybuilding supplements.

Thanks for popping in Sara.