Supplement Recommendation for a "light"-lifting 46 year old man

Hello

First time poster here looking for some advice from the experts on supplements.

First let me introduce myself. I'm almost 46 years old and I've never been a heavy lifter. I generally lift weights 3 months a year (generally January through March). I play softball and golf in the spring and summer and I just don't have the time. I've never been able to build much muscle mass and I can't lift a lot of weight (although I'm a pretty decent ball player with homerun power). I don't want to get bulky but I'd like to add some muscle.

My workout consists of about 13 exercises with a mix of abs, legs and arms. I only do 2 sets of about 10 on each one (more reps on abs of course) then I run on the treadmill for about 15 minutes. I try to do this 3 times a week (every other day if i can). The whole routine takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes. I should also note that I do the same exact exercises every routine. I see where people do different muscles on different days but I just don't have time for that and it's already hard enough to put together a routine (home gym) that allows me to move between exercises quickly without changing weights around too much.

So now that I'm getting older I was thinkg about adding some supplements to see if it helped. From reading this site I think I'll try the ON whey protein and maybe some fish oil pills. I eat a pretty well balanced diet so these supplements would be in addition to my normal diet.

I have some questions:

1. do you think these supplements will help me build muscle given my "light" workout?

2. Does it do me any good to take them during the months when I'm NOT lifting?

3. How much of the whey protein and fish oil should I take in addition to my normal diet and when should I be taking them. I generally do my routine after work but before I eat dinner.

Thanks!
 
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Supplements will NOT build muscle without proper stimulation, from exercise. They will help fill in any deficiencies in your diet so you get maximum benefit from your exercise routine.

First you need to understand your macronutrient breakdown (protien, cabs, fat). Most people shoot for 40/30/30. If you have a deficiency you can correct that with supplements. Most people tend to have trouble getting enough protien, which is why protien supplements are popular. Fish oils help with "good" fats.

You will never build much muscle without an intense resistance exercise regime year round. I would recommend you try to do some sort of reistance exercise year round, even if it is only a few sets of a few exercises. A pretty complete exercise session only requires 3 exercises from 6 major movements:
1. quad dominant (squat, stepup, etc.)
2. rear chain dominant (deadlft variations, good mornings, etc.)
3. horizontal push (bench press, pushup)
4. vertical push (military press, handstand pushup)
5. horizontal pull (row)
6. vertical pull (pull up)

If you do 3 of these in one session and 3 in the next session and alternate them you can get a complete workout in a very short time (20 minutes each session), 2 sets of 12-15 or 3 sets of 8-10 reps is all that is required to maintain and make progress.
 
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