The thing about supplements is just that fact, they are supposed to be supplemented to an existing diet regime or plan! they are not wonder potions or quick fix short cuts (despite what it says on the container)
it drives me nuts the amount of people over the years who are literally starting out with their training the very first question they ask is usually "what protein should I buy" now days I reply "3 dozen eggs 6 chicken breasts 4 liters of whole milk and 3 steaks that should see you through this week",
and they will stare back blankly as though protein is only available in 5lb tubs! more often than not they have already bought some form of protein supplement, not a thought about "maybe I should get a few sessions with a trainer so I can get started properly" oh no they are armed with this months copy of FLEX magazine and Jay cutlers Mr Olympia arm blaster 5000 routine! despite the fact that to survive the sheer volume of work for this single jointed marathon you will need more Juice than the man from Del Monte!
and Ill always ask "so how many times a day are you eating?" usually the response is something like "well I don't really eat breakfast Ill go to Mcd's for lunch then Ill have a big meal in the evening"
Wow! so your really packing in the nutrients then! NOT!
how much common sense does it take to realize if you want to grow you need to eat period! when your folks told you as a kid "now finish your dinner or you wont grow up to be big and strong!" they weren't f*#king kidding!
eat smaller balanced meals 4 to 5 times a day consisting of a quality protein and carbohydrate, don't get bogged down with macro nutrients how many grams of this or that just eat more! and if you want to bulk up carbs are your friends, yeah you are gonna put on some body fat but that's par for the course, like Dave Tate says anyone who says you can bulk up while staying lean is either full of shit or trying to sell an E book!
and beginners have the most to gain as they are pretty much starting from zero, any kind of resistance routine coupled with a daily calorific increase and sensible rest is going to net results,
Beginners, do yourselves a favor stop buying Men's health, Flex & Muscle and fitness, get yourselves a copy of Mark Rippatoe's Starting strength, and get a good solid understanding about the basic techniques and movements that will start you on your path to successfully reaching your goals!
Having said all this if you have been training a while have your basic nutrition in place, and are starting to plateau or stall with your gains then you can broach the subject of supplements,
over the years I have tried various supplements, and have had good results, but always when I have my basic nutrition on point, Whey protein being the obvious one Whey is fast acting and quickly absorbed this is used directly after your workout to stave off catabolism until your post workout meal,
Cassien, is a slower absorbing protein which is usually taken at night around an hour before you sleep, this will provide you with nutrients while you are technically in a fasting state,
Branch chain amino acids which are what protein is broken down in too,
Glutamine, which is the most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle and can help support your immune system,
and of course Creatine, this always works wonders for me, but not all creatine is created equal! I personally only use german micronized Creatine monohydrate, this means the Creatine granules are ultra fine and mix well in your beverage of choice, always check your Creatine supplement carries the Creapure logo! I never use those flavoured creatine supplements which are always advertised with advanced transport system which is basically just glucose, what this does is cause an insulin spike which drives the Creatine into the muscle tissue which you can achive just as well if not easier buy mixing it with a high fructose juice like grape!
But what a lot of people don't realize is that Creatine is very unstable in liquid form and should never be premixed as it quickly starts to break down in to Creatinine which is a toxic by product so only mix your creatine before you are going to take it,
and make sure you drink plenty of water while supplementing with Creatine as you can easily become dehydrated and this will seriously impair your performance and defeat the object, also I find that adding Alpha lipoic acid to Creatine supplementation works great,
Alpha lipoic acid works like an insulin mimicker and shuttle's nutrients where they are supposed to go rather than being stored as fat, and as we know insulin is anabolic.
I now always use fish oil daily if your not your missing out, fish oil is great in helping with a whole host of benefits a couple being lowering cholesterol and best of all aiding in recovery from your workouts which means the faster you recover the quicker you can get back to training and the faster you can realize your goals.
I am always talking with my friends and saying that with the internet so readily available there is a wealth of knowledge at your finger tips, there is so much information available to us now, granted not all of it is good but take the time do some research and reap the benefits knowledge is power!
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