The Official Supplement Thread

[CharlieDontSurf]

What all should we be taking and why?

When should we take them and with what?

Etc Etc etc

I've seen countless different supp's mentioned by posters in every thread so I thought I'd start an official thread so newbs can go here and see exactly what they should probably be using and how to use it.

I figure the obvious ones are

Creatine

Protein Powder

Meal Replacement Bars/Drinks

Glutamine

Flaxseed oil

Fish oils

etc etc

So if anyone wants to list their daily supplement intake schedule or what they use and why..it would be awesome.

[AZK]

Cod liver oil - I use carlsons, take about 3 tsp. a day, thinking of upping this but want to read more before I go bonkers, I've read about people taking up to 10-20g of fish oil a day, but I'm somewhat skeptical. I might consider switching over to regular fish oil in the summer.

Whey shake post work out.

From what I've read everything but fish oil is more or less a waste for 99% of the people that consider supplements. These are the people that agonize over using 5g of creatine or 7g? None of this stuff really matters if you aren't already:

1) Eating lean protein, vegetables, fruit and good fat for your diet

2) sleeping 7-10 hours a night

3) Drinking mostly water for your beverage consumption

4) Staying away from boxed/processed/junk food

5) Setting realistic goals

6) Keeping a journal and staying disciplined with your routine.

If you aren't doing 1-6 who gives a [censored] about creatine, bcaa, glutamine, whey, casein, etc...

[Doug Funnie II]

I'll start with creatine.

Most supplements shouldn't be taken continuously for too long because you need to give your body a chance to return to normal, so when I supplement creatine its usually for a month at a time, then a month off. I take higher power creatine ethyl ester (CEE). The ethyl ester basically means that the creatine runs through your body twice, once as CEE and then once again after the ester falls off (or so I've been told). I like this supplement because it helps to build both strength and mass and unlike creatine monohydrate it doesn't cause you to bloat too much because CEE is more permeable through cell walls. So rather than sitting between cells it gets absorbed by them, thus causing less water retention.

The directions say to take 2.5 grams preworkout and 2.5 grams postworkout, which is not really a sufficient dose to see any results. I take about 4 grams pre and post workout at the beginning and gradually escalate to 6 grams preworkout and postworkout. That may seem like a lot but lots of people take 20 grams a day or more of creatine during a "loading phase" so I'm not worried about it. Just to make sure, I drink tons of water when I'm taking it, usually around a gallon and a half a day.

I'd recommend for anybody to try CEE, it tastes pretty terrible but the results are good if you stick to it. I've only taken it while lifting 5 or more days a week, so I'm not sure how much it would help somebody that only lifts twice a week. The only recommendation I have is that you do not take it anytime near taking glutamine. The two fight for absorbtion, so basically in taking glutamine you are lessening the positive effects of the CEE. That has always bothered me about NOXPLODE products because they contain both. Many protein powders also contain glutamine so that's another thing to watch for. I'm not saying that the two can't be taken in the same day, but I usually take glutamine upon waking and right before bed, and I take the CEE in the middle of the day when I workout so as to avoid problems with absorbtion.

[ImStraight]

Creatine can be taken every day for the rest of your life barring kidney problems. There is no reason to use anything but the cheapest powder that you can find. There is no reason to load or worry about timing it. Vegans should strongly look into creatine supplementation as they get almost none.


PWO:
2:1 carbs/protein
Malto/Dextrose 1:1 for carbs
Protein should just be fast acting whey. Hydrolyzed and isolate.
BCAAs and glutamine have some marginal benefits, and if you are taking them anyway can be added in at this point. But are not a reason to fret if you aren't.

[Doug Funnie II]

[ QUOTE ]
Creatine can be taken every day for the rest of your life barring kidney problems. There is no reason to use anything but the cheapest powder that you can find.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah I'm not worried about kidney problems or anything, its just that the effects lessen the longer you take it so rather than upping the dosages to really high amounts I'd rather just take a month off.

[ImStraight]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Creatine can be taken every day for the rest of your life barring kidney problems. There is no reason to use anything but the cheapest powder that you can find.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah I'm not worried about kidney problems or anything, its just that the effects lessen the longer you take it so rather than upping the dosages to really high amounts I'd rather just take a month off.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is no other way to say it: You are wrong.

[Doug Funnie II]

I'm open to new ideas, your contention is that the effects don't diminish as you keep taking it?

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
Cod liver oil - I use carlsons, take about 3 tsp. a day, thinking of upping this but want to read more before I go bonkers, I've read about people taking up to 10-20g of fish oil a day, but I'm somewhat skeptical. I might consider switching over to regular fish oil in the summer.

Whey shake post work out.

From what I've read everything but fish oil is more or less a waste for 99% of the people that consider supplements. These are the people that agonize over using 5g of creatine or 7g? None of this stuff really matters if you aren't already:

1) Eating lean protein, vegetables, fruit and good fat for your diet

2) sleeping 7-10 hours a night

3) Drinking mostly water for your beverage consumption

4) Staying away from boxed/processed/junk food

5) Setting realistic goals

6) Keeping a journal and staying disciplined with your routine.

If you aren't doing 1-6 who gives a [censored] about creatine, bcaa, glutamine, whey, casein, etc...

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed.

[Doug Funnie II]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Cod liver oil - I use carlsons, take about 3 tsp. a day, thinking of upping this but want to read more before I go bonkers, I've read about people taking up to 10-20g of fish oil a day, but I'm somewhat skeptical. I might consider switching over to regular fish oil in the summer.

Whey shake post work out.

From what I've read everything but fish oil is more or less a waste for 99% of the people that consider supplements. These are the people that agonize over using 5g of creatine or 7g? None of this stuff really matters if you aren't already:

1) Eating lean protein, vegetables, fruit and good fat for your diet

2) sleeping 7-10 hours a night

3) Drinking mostly water for your beverage consumption

4) Staying away from boxed/processed/junk food

5) Setting realistic goals

6) Keeping a journal and staying disciplined with your routine.

If you aren't doing 1-6 who gives a [censored] about creatine, bcaa, glutamine, whey, casein, etc...

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a good point this thread could be counterproductive if people aren't already following the 6 basics you outlined but there still may be a few people here who lift seriously enough that this could benefit.

[ImStraight]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm open to new ideas, your contention is that the effects don't diminish as you keep taking it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Creatine is present in meat so unless you plan on reducing your meat consumption you'll never fully "unload". Not to mention everything I've seen shows little benefit for advanced versions of creatine. Also the cheapness of monohydrate makes it an easy choice.

[Doug Funnie II]

I hardly eat any red meat, so I'm not getting much in diet and even if I were the numbers I've seen is that a normal diet may consume 1-2gs a day. Also the CEE that I have costs like 4 cents a gram, so I'm not really worrying about the differences in price.

[skunkworks]

This is a good source for info on supplements (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=769390).

Note is its assertion that glutamine is useless -- thought Kyle might get a kick out of that.

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a good source for info on supplements (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=769390).

Note is its assertion that glutamine is useless -- thought Kyle might get a kick out of that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seems interesting that L-Glutmaine is useless. I certainly don't swear by it, but it's cheap, and it doesn't taste bad in my bottles of water I take to the gym. If it's useless, that's alright. I never was an ardent fan of it anyway - I just had read on many forums (T-Nation, Bodybuilding, etc) that it was at least relatively effective. Oh well.

[CharlieDontSurf]

i think i may have been confusing glutamine with gluclosamine

[anklebreaker]

DF2, there is no need to cycle creatine, for the same reason that there's no need to cycle protein supplements. Yet, I know a bunch of people who do it.

As for L-glutamine, I'm surprised that it's being [censored] on recently. It has so many potential benefits; even if half of those are BS, it's still worth it IMO. Besides purported anabolic and immune-system benefits, clinical studies (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/61/5/1058) have shown it increases GH production. It's quite inexpensive and, all things considered, worth it.

[john voight]

any advice for "uppers"

I want some increased energy so that I am more outgoing and pumped up to do stuff.

[osyman]

I lifted, ate right, slept well, all that. But it wasn't til i started taking the n.o., creatine, protein, leucine, that i noticed my weight shot up (I'm a hard gainer) 35 lbs. I put over 100 lbs on my bench since i started no xplode. WTF is fish oil? get a real supplement

[chesspain]

[ QUOTE ]
any advice for "uppers"

I want some increased energy so that I am more outgoing and pumped up to do stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

You mean, like, helping out with the household chores?

[dirty moose]

i take N.O. explode and cell mass.
Cell mass has been great so far and has really made me stronger.
This is only after about a month and a half of taking it.

As for the N.O. im about to start my second bottle and some people are tell me to take a small break from it, what do you guys think.

i love working out with N.O. it really does give me alot of extra energy.

[Rearden]

[ QUOTE ]
I lifted, ate right, slept well, all that. But it wasn't til i started taking the n.o., creatine, protein, leucine, that i noticed my weight shot up (I'm a hard gainer) 35 lbs. I put over 100 lbs on my bench since i started no xplode. WTF is fish oil get a real supplement

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless Im being leveled...

:-( BAAAAAAAAAAAAD

-You talk about "eating well" then supplementing with protein which for a "hardgainer" its probably more of an issue of total calorie consumption. Put down the over priced and pretty useless NO explode and pick up something on basic nutrition. Previous posters hit the nail on the head.... 99% of people on this board dont need a large laundry list of sups because they are hardly the limiting factor diet, proper training, etc likely are.

-I am curious as to the timeline for your 35lbs of mass (bodyfat changes if youre talking a short time frame) and 100lbs on bench...

-Fish oil....google it (and its benefits)

[Doug Funnie II]

I've always wondered how many "hardgainers" are really just people who don't eat enough. I'd guess its >75%

[skunkworks]

Doug -- it's a large percentage. Obviously there are certain degrees of severity, but what I've learned about my own body is that it's not very good at building muscle or retaining it. Despite my inferior muscle-building genes, I've still managed to put on 20 lbs in the past year, about 14 of which is lean body mass.