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Supplement
Guide
Walk into any nutrition store these days
and you will be bombarded with bodybuilding supplements
ranging from the basic to the mysterious. Many novice
bodybuilders get caught up in the supplement craze and
end up spending all their money on supplements that they
don't even understand and often don't need. "The guy
in the store told me I would get huge from this one so I
bought it." To help simplify the often ominous task
of figuring out which supplements work, which don't and
which are right for you, I thought it would be helpful to
write a breif supplement guide. Since Body Sceience
doesn't sell any supplements, manufacture any
supplements, or own any stock in any supplement
companies, I feel that I can give you a more honest,
straight forward opinion when it comes to buying
bodybuilding supplements.
The essentials
All bodybuilders should invest in the
following supplements. They form the basis of any good
bodybuilding program and go hand in hand with a sound
diet and solid workout routine.
| Protein powder |
If there is only one supplement you can
afford, invest in a good quality protein powder.
Protein forms the building blocks of all muscle
and without enough of it, you aren't gonna grow.
It's that simple. There are a million companies
selling all kinds of protein powders and pretty
much every one of them will tell you that their's
is superior to the competitions. Don't be fooled.
There are only a couple of differences between
most protein powders. I would suggest buying a
powder that offers a balance of whey isolate,
whey concentrate and either egg or milk protein.
Why these proteins in particular? Because they
all are good qulaity proteins and they all have
slightly different absorbtion rates. Meaning,
some will get into your blood fast while others
will take longer. The combined effect of these
different forms of protein is an anabolic and
anti-catabolic enviroment. Studies have show that
a fast spike in blood protein levels is highly
anabolic while a continuous flow of protein into
the blood protects you from muscle tissue
breakdown and thus is anti-catabolic. Don't be
fooled by all the very fancy sounding names most
supplement companies put on their ingredient
lists. As a general rule, protein is protein.
Some are slightly better then the others but
don't be fooled into thinking that one is twice
as good or twice as anabolic as another. The only
excepetion to this rule is soy. I would stay away
from most supplements that contain soy protein
because it is in my opinion inferior to animal
protein and it has also been shown to increase
estrogren levels. If you want to make sure your
protein powder contains the kind of protein you
want in the amounts you want, check out The
Protein Factory at www.proteinfactory.com.
They allow you to customize your own protein
blend and are extremely cheap when comapred to
any other company. Just in case your wondering, I
do not have any financial affiliation with
Protein Factory but I have been a customer of
theirs for some time now and am very happy with
their product. Every bodybuilder should get
between 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body
weight everday. Its best to get betwen 20-40
grams of protein every 3 hours. |
| Carb powder |
Most bodybuilders neglect a good carb drink
from their supplement regiment because they think
that they can get their carbs from normal food
alone. Basically this is true except for one
particular time where a carb powder is essential.
This time is right after a workout. Right after a
heavy workout your body is depleted of glycogen
and needs to be replenished quickly if its to
start the recovery process. The most important
supplement you can take right after your workout
is done (even more important then protein) is a
very high glycemic carb (click here to see the
glycemic index) powder. For this purpose I would
suggest maltodextrin (this can also be purchased
through The Protein Factory). A very high
glycemic carb like maltodextrin gets into your
blood fast and causes a nice big insulin spike
which means it gets into the muscles fast and
helps to flush the post workout cortisol out of
your blood. The good news it maltodextrim is
extremely cheap (you can get it for about $3 a
pound) so it won't break the bank for you. For
more information on post workout supplementation
check out "The
post workout meal" article. |
| Multi-vitamin |
Although it is possible to get all the
vitamins you need from regular food most people
(especially North Americans) don't. Thats why
taking a multi-vitamin is essential. Vitamins and
minerals carry out and assist in so many
important body functions that a defeciency in one
or a number of them can bring your progress to a
halt. It silly not to invest the $10-15 required
to ensure your body has all the vitamins and
minerals it needs to function efficiently. |
| Anti-oxidants |
Even though you will get some anti-oxidants
in your multi-vitamin, it won't be nearly enough
to clear out all the free radicals caused by a
heavy workout. Free radicals not only inhibit
your bodies ability to heal but then also its
ability to function efficiently and that includes
muscle contraction. The biggest benefit of
anti-oxidant supplementaion (and one you won't
notice for a long time) is their ability to slow
down the aging process. Over the years, free
radicals slowly break down your bodies cells, a
major contributor to the visible signs of aging.
By taking a good anti-oxidant formula you can
help keep yourself young and healthy. I would
suggest taking 1-2 grams of vitamin C a day
(broken up half in the morning and half right
before bed) and 800iu's of vitamin E (again taken
half in the morning and half before bed). You may
not notice the benefits of anti-oxidant
supplementaion now but you will thank me in 50
years. |
Conditionally essential
The following supplements are essential if you can
afford them. They will provide genuine results but are
not necessary if you're limited on cash.
| Glutamine peptides |
This is truly a great supplement but it is
rather expensive especially when dealing with
peptides as opposed to l-glutamine. A lot of
supplement companies will try and sell you on
their glutamine supplements but watch out and
make sure you know what your buying. Most
glutamine supplements feature l-glutamine and not
glutamine peptides while others will provide you
with a combination of the two. The reason most
supplement companies include l-glutamine in their
supplements instead of just glutamine peptides is
cost. Peptides cost a lot more to make so they
try and sell you on the much cheaper to make
l-glutamine by telling you they are the same.
They aren't. Glutamine has a hard time making the
journey from the gut into the blood stream. Why?
Because glutamine competes with other proteins
for absorbtion. To avoid this problem glutamine
is broken down into smaller glutamine peptides
and is bound to another protein which helps get a
lot more of it into your blood. If you can't
afford glutamine peptides then don't bother with
glutamine at all because l-glutamine is just a
waste of your money. The reason glutamine is so
important in a bodybuilders supplement plan is
because of its anti-catabolic and recovery
properties. Muscle cells are made up of 60%
glutamine. The immune system and other vital body
processes also depend on glutamine to function.
Because so many vital systems depend on
glutamine, the body will break down muscle cells
for its glutamine in order to power its other
more important functions. Muscle cells will also
feed off the glutamine stored in other muscles
cells in order to replenish its own gluatime
levels after a hard workout. By supplementing
with glutamine peptides you ensure that there is
always enough glutamine in your blood so your
body never has to break down its own muscle cells
to get some and you also help speed up your
recovery after a hard workout. I suggest 10 grams
of glutamine before a workout, 10 grams
immediately after and 10 grams before going to
bed. You can also take glutamine throughout the
day in times of increased physical or mental
stress in order to inhibit catabolism. Note, do
not buy any glutamine that is combined with
creatine because the two supplements compete for
absorbtion in the gut. Also do not buy glutamine
supplents that come in a water base because
glutamine breaks down quickly when wet. |
| Flax seed oil |
Really this one should be
essential but I wanted to make the essential list
things that no bodybuilder should ever go without
and although you can technically go without flax
seed oil I wouldn't if you can afford it. Flax
seed oil is an essential fatty acid also known as
an omega-3 fat. Basically its required by your
body to carry out a whole range of vital
functions one of these being the production of
hormones, namely our favorite muscle building
hormone - testosterone. Essential fatty acids
also help your body burn stored fat and prevent
it from storing new fat. They help conteract the
effect of bad fats such as trans-fatty-acids. I
would suggest taking a tablespoon (14 grams of
flax seed oil) with each meal. The easiest thing
to do is to mix it in with your protein shakes.
Do not use flax seed oil for cooking cause it
will degenerate in the heat. Do not worry about
eating too much fat in the form of flax seed oil.
Essential fatty acids do not make you fat in the
same way bad fats do, if anything, they will make
you lose fat while keeping your body anabolic. |
Non-essentials
These supplements are good but not necessary in
anyway. All will work to one degree or another but
results very from bodybuilder to bodybuilder. Although
they can be very helpful for some, you can acheive great
results without them.
| Ephedrine-caffeine stack |
I personally use this one all the time
because when taken an hour before my workout it
gives me a serious burst of energy and enhanced
mental focus. Others hate it because they claim
it makes them shaky and nervous. For this reason
I consider this supplement combination to be
non-essential even though I beleive it can help
out a lot of bodybuilders super charge their
workouts. 25-50 mg's of ephedrine combined with
200-600 mg's of caffeine (1:8 ratio is best)
taken before a workout works for most
individuals. I suggest taking it on an empty
stomach and try waiting 20 min after taking it to
eat. Within about 15-30 min you should feel its
effects, namely a heightened sense of mental
accuity, increased energy level, and possible
anxiousness and a slight trembling in the hands.
Ephedrine can slightly elevate your blood
pressure so do not try and take more then the
recommended amount in order to get an even bigger
boost. Also people with a pre-existing high blood
pressure condition should avoid the EC stack.
Many supplement companies sell various forms of
the EC stack by many different and often creative
names but most are the exact same thing. If you
want to save some money, go out and buy yourself
pure ephedrine and pure caffeine tablets and make
your own stack. You will probably save 50% doing
it this way. Make sure you buy the real ephedrine
and the real caffeine and not their herbal
equilants as these often cost more and are not as
effective. |
| Creatine |
Although many bodybuilding guru's and
bodybuilders alike have fallen madly in love with
creatine and swear it is the best thing since
sliced bread, I find creatine to be highly over
rated and its benefits exagerated. Most
supplement companies will tell you how their
creatine can put 10 pounds on you in 2 weeks.
Often this is true. What they don't tell you is
thats its pure water. Creatine works by
increasing the level of creatine in your muscles
cells and by pulling water in with it. Its the
water retention that causes the dramatic weight
increase in the first couple weeks. Although
creatine can help you put on muscle, it can only
do so by helping you lift more. The increased
weight and the increased number of reps you can
do while supplementing with creatine is what will
make you bigger (maybe). This real muscle
increase will take time however. Creaine in
itself does not build muscle. It only assists in
the process. I would suggest taking Biotest's
Ribose-C as it combines creatine and ribose in a
very effective liquid delivery system. If you
can't afford it however, don't bother with
creatine. |
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