Bodybuilding
Supplements That Work
Protein Creatine Glutamine Antioxidants
or Multi-Vitamins
Protein:
NOT weight gainers, mass builders, MRPs, but good old simple protein. It
doesn’t have to be “top of the line” either, just clean and free
of sugars and ca-ca. If you want a weight gainer, a mass builder, a post
W/O shake...protein is your foundation. You can add back calories,
carbs, and fats, but in many of today’s products you can not take them
away! An example would be most mass market weight gainers. Some have
excellent protein sources, but they follow on the label right after
fructose and maltodextrin. You’d be so far ahead of those products to
take your protein powder and add, peanut butter, fruit, flax oil, cream
or whole milk (individualistic), etc and make your own, w/o all of the
SUGARS.
Note: The so-called Nighttime proteins are nothing more than casein. You
can achieve the same thing with milk, calcium casseinate...even the
addition of fat and fiber to a “fast burning” anabolic protein such
as whey, will make it digest slower and become anti-catabolic. The
science behind “nighttime” proteins is based upon the amino
L-leucine which stays in your system for 7 hours as opposed to 3-4 hours
with the other aminos.
Creatine:
Once you have been lifting 12 weeks or more...and your connective tissue
is up to speed (to avoid injury from rapid strength increases), Creatine
is the single most ergonomic aid next to protein. While it occurs
naturally in meat and fish, supplementation with creatine allows for
phenomenal progress, both in lean body mass and strength. There are no
studies, or supported incidents of cancer, fat deposits on the liver or
kidney damage. Even the occurrence of calf and hamstring cramping of
elite athletes in hot humid weather has been dispelled as “normally
occurring, even in those NOT on creatine.” Poor grades of creatine,
with chemical by-product residue, will cause the traditional
gastro-intestinal upset.
Glutamine:
We only suggest glutamine to enhance recovery. If you are excessively
sore, tired, and are unable to train several days in a row, glutamine
can change your world! On top of the cell volumizing,
anti-inflammatory effects, glutamine can also help repair and soothe “gut
problems” and reduce sugar cravings.
Antioxidants
or Multi-Vitamins: When we exercise, we create additional “oxidative
free-radical damage.” I can’t stress the importance of additional
vitamins, especially the antioxidants Vitamins C and E. While we derive
many of our vitamins and minerals from our food, hard training athletes
invariably benefit from supplementation. It is visible not only in
increase recovery ability, but also in the athlete’s capability to
push the envelope day after day, without compromising their immune
system.
Note: ALA, alpha lipoic acid, enhances antioxidant uptake
and increases insulin sensitivity, definitely a supplement to consider.
These are the “essentials”, there are many more, but those are the
basics. I could elaborate on Chromium, CLA, Liver tabs, Aminos, etc, at
another time. If this article were titled “Keep it Simple”, we would
stop here. There is a short list of things that work but are not cost
effective (such as ZMA, CoQ10, and HMB). Also there are supps that
prevent or reverse certain conditions associated with training (such as
Glucosamine Sulfate, MSM, EFAs, arnica and more), but are not within the
scope of this brief article.
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