Staple Supplements YOU should be taking!

ShredMN

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10+ Year Member
This is a short list of staple supplements that will help both the natural and the synthetic lifter with their goals. The sorry state of the sports nutrition industry in this country is that the majority of formulas put out there are using ingredients that aren't backed by any human clinical studies, and most certainly are thrown together in a "proprietary blend" where you're left wondering if any of the ingredients that will actually give you an ergogenic edge are not under-dosed. Fear not, I can assure you that more than likely, those ergogenic ingredients will be under-dosed, and therefore useless.



Staples:



-Whey protein (doesn't matter if it's a concentrate or an isolate... Ignore the mass-marketing machine)

-Creatine Monohydrate

-A high quality Multi-Vitamin (Don't go with any sports nutrition brand, they usually use garbage forms of both vitamins and minerals)

>Top two recommendations for a multi:

1) Garden of Life: Kind Organics Men's Multi (for a whole-food organic multi)

2) Life Extension: Two Per Day (for a synthetic vitamin that looks to optimize nutrient intake, rather than staying at the minimal 100% DV)

-Pure Non-GMO Dextrose Powder (Pre/Post carb source)

-Betaine Anhydrous ((trimethylglycine) for added strength on top of the creatine)

-Citrulline Malate (Nitric oxide/endurance)

-Beta-Alanine (Endurance)

-BCAAs ( Must be in a 2:1:1 formula with a minimal amount of 2g L-Leucine, and 1g each of L-Isoleucine & L-Valine)



Optional:

-DAA (3g a day for a natural test booster)



There are more good supplements out there such as stand-alone vitamins and minerals (not combined into a multi-vitamin), but what I listed above are great staples for anyone, whether they're natural or synthetic.



Enjoy!
 
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Obviously, that wasn't my intent of the post. This is for people that are looking into supplementation. Supplementation does not replace food, it supplements it.
 
-Whey protein (doesn't matter if it's a concentrate or an isolate... Ignore the mass-marketing machine) Whey protein is the king of the protein world for one reason alone... It contains the highest amount of Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). What that translates to is you need the lowest amount of whey protein (grams) to maximize muscle protein synthesis compared to all other protein sources known to man (including chicken). Obviosuly maximizing muscle protein synthesis is the key to maximizing muscular growth, and whey protein can do just that in a quick and convenient way (no pun intended).
-Creatine Monohydrate: Creatine Monohydrate works by increasing creatine phosphate levels in your body, which in turn increases ATP production. If you don't know what ATP does, you probably shouldn't even respond to this post in a negative fashion.

-A high quality Multi-Vitamin (Don't go with any sports nutrition brand, they usally use garbage forms of both vitamins and minerals) The reason I recommend a multi-vitamin is because you're more than likely not even getting 100% of the DV of essential vitamins and minerals that help sustain life through diet alone. To go further into depth on the DV (daily value), 100% of the DV doesn't mean the maximal amount you need, it is actually the minimal you should be getting to ward off any disfiguring dieases that might try to kill you. It's not maximal, and it's not even remotely close to optimal. To give you a better idea of how important vitamins and minerals are to sustaining life, we can use magnesium as an example, a common mineral. Magnesium alone is required for over 300 different functions in your body.

>Top two recommendations for a multi:

1) Garden of Life: Kind Organics Men's Multi (for a whole-food organic multi)

2) Life Extension: Two Per Day (for a synthetic vitamin that looks to optimize nutrient intake, rather than staying at the minimal 100% DV)

-Pure Non-GMO Dextrose Powder (Pre/Post carb source) Dextrose is glucose, plain and simple. Anytime you ingest a carbohydrate, whether it be a simple or complex-carb, the end result is glucose. Glucose is needed to illicit a insulin response, which in turns shuttles a slew of different nutrients into your muscles to begin the recovery process.

-Betaine Anhydrous (trimethylglycine) Betaine's purported benefits mainly stem from it acting as a methyl donor. Methyl donors are any molecules that can transfer a methyl group, or a carbon atom attached to three hydrogen atoms, to another molecule. The most important reaction where betaine performs this function is in the methylation of homocystein, an amino acid, to form methionine, another amino acid. Methionine fuels your body's own synthesis of creatine. What's more, methionine also plays a critical role in muscle protein synthesis, specifically the process of translation. More methionine available for this process equates to an increase in the rate of muscle protein synthesis, thus boosting the potential for strength gains and muscle growth.

-Citrulline Malate (Nitric oxide/endurance) Increases levels of arginine in your blood beyond supplemental arginine alone. Arginine is a direct precusor to nitric oxide, and is essential for the synthesis of creatine.

-Beta-Alanine (Endurance) Beta-Alanine works by increasing carnosine levels in your muscles. Carnosine assists in stabilizing muscular pH by soaking up hydrogen ions. During exercise, hydrogen ions are released at an accelerated rate. When your muscles are in a more optimal pH range, they can continue to contract for a longer period of time (that's an increase in muscular endurance in layman's terms)

-BCAAs ( Must be in a 2:1:1 formula with a minimal amount of 2g L-Leucine, and 1g each of L-Isoleucine & L-Valine) BCAAs, particularly L-Leucine, have been shown in rat studies to positively effect the mTOR pathway. mTOR is a serine/threonine protein kinase, which among several other things, regulates protein synthesis.



Couldn't edit my original post
 
I'm sorry but this is not a list of supplements one SHOULD be taking.

1) whey protein is completely unnecessary if you already are getting adequate protein from other sources. If you're deficient In protein great, take some and up your intake. If you're not deficient in protein adding whey will do nothing for you.

2) creatine is great and has plenty of science to support it's efficacy. It's hard to get the same level of creatine through diet as with supplementation but this alone doesn't mean you should take it. Would it help, sure if you're a responder to it, but that alone doesn't mean you should take it.

3) most multis are worthless. Even the decent ones aren't worth much/overpriced considering if you simply eat a balanced diet you're already getting what you need. You're making the fallacy of assuming more is always better which is not the case. Just bc Mg is needed for over 300 bodily functions doesn't mean you need anymore of it than you're currently getting. You have no idea what's optimal in terms of vitamin intake since it can vary dramatically through the diet. Without focusing on dietary deficiencies or sufficiencies youre simply throwing shit on a wall and hoping it sticks. Again, not something that SHOULD be taken or even considered a staple.

4) dextrose is poor way to spend your money and worthless. Yes glucose elicits an insulin response but that doesn't mean buying dextrose is warranted. He'll any carb source or protein source will elicit an insulin response. You fail to mention why dextrose is needed as a pre or post workout carb source, why it's beneficial for any reason, etc.

5) your betaine anhydrous claims are based on insufficient research. A few studies have shown potential benefits while many others have shown none. You mention one benefit as increasing synthesis of creatine yet before that you mention creatine supplementation. Creatine supplementation will already FULLY SATURATE skeletal muscle tissue with creatine if taken 2-5g daily. Meaning even if you increase it's synthesis in the body with betaine, it cannot be stored bc you're already saturated with it. You also say it's for added strength on top of creatine but that's funny bc studies have shown no additional benefit of betaine supplementation with co-intake of creatine in regards to ergogenics.

6) citrulline mallate has the same argument as betaine, it helps creatine synthesis but you already mentioned supplemental creatine which makes this a moot point aka waste if money. What exactly are you proposing that nitric oxide does that warrants it being a staple supplement? To date there are only two studies showing positive ergogenic effects of citrulline and one of them is a finger flexion study....yes you read that correct, finger flexion.

7) BCAAs are worthless when consuming adequate protein. And if you are protein deficient, whey has many benefits over bcaa making them that much more a waste of money. Yes mTor is responsible for protein synthesis but it's also responsible for lipid synthesis as well. Catch 22 anyone? Not only leucine activates mTor though. Oxygen levels, energy levels, growth factors, and amino acids activate mTor. With adequate protein intake there's absolutely no reason to need BCAAs. You also neglected to mention how glutamine levels are essential to leucine activating mTor since glutamine acts as the transporter for leucine into the cell.
 
I take a lot of sups but the more education I'm doing I have to agree Docd. I supplements industry is one of the best mass marketed scams in America!
 
I take a lot of sups but the more education I'm doing I have to agree Docd. I supplements industry is one of the best mass marketed scams in America!
Totally concur with this...why so much money people waste on this crap its ridiculous. All it takes to get big is to get your fat ass into the gym regularly and working out on a consistent basis as well as eating decently.
 
Totally concur with this...why so much money people waste on this crap its ridiculous. All it takes to get big is to get your fat ass into the gym regularly and working out on a consistent basis as well as eating decently.

The funnier thing is I know people that will spend $200+ a month on "magic pills" and mass marketed supplement products but tell me it's to expensive to eat healthy??? Seriously? Are we that duped? The equation is easy and has been around since forever - eat better calories, eat less calories, burn more calories.
 
I see people on the internet who spend thousands on cycles with the greatest details of how they are going to do it.. They never even have a diet plan or know what one is...(shrugs) ..Fat people spend thousands on weight loss as well and follow no diet plan...Hrmmm to my knowledge everything revolves around what you eat...
 
I see people on the internet who spend thousands on cycles with the greatest details of how they are going to do it.. They never even have a diet plan or know what one is...(shrugs) ..Fat people spend thousands on weight loss as well and follow no diet plan...Hrmmm to my knowledge everything revolves around what you eat...
Even most weight loss fads are a scam too
 
HCG is a scam period...urologist friend of mine laughed at me when I tell him what I see people say about it on aas forums
 
Yea I wasn't serious about the diet lol. The concept is pretty funny though: take some HCG and eat 500calories a day and you "magically" lose weight :rolleyes:
 

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