Which Supplements
- Thread starter hypnotic
- Start date
Food. You need more food if you want to grow big. No legal supplement is a magic pill to make you big. Supplements are called 'supplements' because they supplement your regular diet of whole foods.
aside from abear's recommendations, you could also look into creatine, for its cell volumizing properties...but again don't expect a 'world of difference' if you start taking it.
aside from abear's recommendations, you could also look into creatine, for its cell volumizing properties...but again don't expect a 'world of difference' if you start taking it.
Yeah... calories and protein. I have trouble getting 1 gram of protein per lb with food (even gearing toward high protein food) so I started consuming whey protein isolate/concentrate (tried the bars- waste of money and more fat than protein). I've thought about creatine as well but I'm on a budget so I'll just keep thinking about it for now.
I also take a 1-a-day because I never get enough A or C in my daily diet.
And as said, supplements are jsut that. I use them because I can't force myself to get everything I need in food. I dislike/distrust supplements in whole because of their standards and track record for misleading information (not that its any different from even conventional/traditional food in that respect). But they have their place... Just think "secondary" when you hear supplement.
I also take a 1-a-day because I never get enough A or C in my daily diet.
And as said, supplements are jsut that. I use them because I can't force myself to get everything I need in food. I dislike/distrust supplements in whole because of their standards and track record for misleading information (not that its any different from even conventional/traditional food in that respect). But they have their place... Just think "secondary" when you hear supplement.
yeah, think about Arnold back in the early 70's. They had egg protein powder...and that was it. No creatine, no NO2 dilators...sure they had steroids, but he didn't use them early in his career.
But he did eat like a starving bear! 5,000 cals a day just to maintain. And they knew less about 'proper nutrition' than we do in modern times.
Good supplements are just there to fill in the gaps that were left by eating mostly whole foods (mainly, EFA's and protein powders)
Bad supplments are just trying to squeeze more money out of you, regardless of whether the are helpful.
But he did eat like a starving bear! 5,000 cals a day just to maintain. And they knew less about 'proper nutrition' than we do in modern times.
Good supplements are just there to fill in the gaps that were left by eating mostly whole foods (mainly, EFA's and protein powders)
Bad supplments are just trying to squeeze more money out of you, regardless of whether the are helpful.
and who can trust the magazine articles, since they rarely cite the scientific journal that was their 'source'...and of course almost all the fitness mags out there are published by supplement companies.
the supplement industry is BIG business, especially with 60% of obese american's hunting for a magic pill to 'fix' their fat arses.
the supplement industry is BIG business, especially with 60% of obese american's hunting for a magic pill to 'fix' their fat arses.
Arnold definitely used steroids early in his career, and it's been public knowledge for at least 25 years as he's been fairly open about it. His only claim is that he didn't use steroids to GROW muscle, he used them to MAINTAIN muscle. Go figure.malkore said:
Given, also, while Arnold remains one of the most impressive bodybuilding athletes ever, modern bodybuilders far surpass him in size (if not form).
The Barrier to Clinical Trials in Nutrition
The thing about proof for supplements is that a clinical research costs millions of dollars to do. Believe it or not, and I know this from speaking to them myself, nutritional companies can't afford clinical studies of their products.
The medical industry has set up a system where they pay a MINIMUM of $12,000 for EACH test subject in one of their studies just to the institution that FINDS the subject. Private research institutions and universities sometimes turn up hundreds to thousands of subjects for each clinical study. All in all, a clinical study will cost a drug company numerous millions of dollars - but it doesn't matter because they stand to make numerous hundreds of millions of dollars off a particular drug.
By contrast, a nutrition company, especially one dealing in SPORTS nutrition, doesn't have this benefit. The sales for a particular product may be in the millions, but because sports nutrition is so competitive, the margins for manufacturers are razor thin. So even if a single manufacturer make $1,000,000 on a particular line, they're taking home a tiny % of that. At that rate, it would take them several years to make their money back.
For the higher-margin, more specialized sports supplements (Orastan-E, M-One T, etc.) it doesn't make sense to put that much money down. Because the nutrition industry doesn't (and can't, financially) go through the FDA approval process, these products are at risk of being taken off the market at any given time. To invest several million dollars into a clinical trial for a product, then requiring 5 - 10 years to make your money back on it, and then to have that product taken off the market after 6 months: the risk isn't worth it.
Rage Against the Machine
Don't blame the industry for the system we have set up in this country where drug companies and the FDA work together to force the nutritional companies out of the playing field. Supplements, even steroids, are often far safer than the bulk of drugs that you are allowed to buy in this country- but they cost a fraction of the price, and can get taken off the market WITHOUT clinical trials to prove that they're dangerous. It works both ways.
Not BIG Business
The supplement industry is good business, but it's not BIG business - where, like in drug companies or other big business, you have several major conglomerates who control the market - rather it's an industry where you have hundreds of individual manufacturers fighting for market space. No one company is making so much money that they rule the streets - unlike Glaxosmithklein, Pfeiser, etc. or your Microsoft's, or your GEs, or your Viacoms, or your Vivendi-Universals, etc.
Why the Nutrition Industry is Awesome
I think the nutrition industry (and yes, I work in the nutrition industry) is one of the best things we have going in this country, because it's one of the last bastions you people have for CHOOSING your healing. I'm not just talking about sports nutrition here, I'm talking the whole gamut.
If you want insurance companies, drug companies, and the FDA deciding that you can only take care of your health by giving them obscene amounts of money, then be part of the problem.
I'm going to support what good there is in the nutrition industry (and I admit that there is a glut of BAD in the nutrition industry) so that we can get affordable, safe nutrition and healing.
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I agree with most everything here. Got source of whey protein on top of your meals should give you a boost. Figure out your BMR and go over 500cals per day. Creatine is pretty good but its mostly water weight and once you stop you'll lose 5 to 10 pounds but it will give you a nice boost in recovery and max lifts, for most people at least.