I want to buy some supplements, but need some pointers. My budget is ~$100 so I was thinking:
HOT-ROX $45
Grow! Whey $33
Surge $33
Total = $110
I am 36 years old, 6’2", and weigh a flabby 205. I am cutting and lift 3x per week. I haven’t lifted in years and am trying to get back into things.
Is there something I could get that will give me more bang for my buck starting out?
How long are you cutting for?
I would replace Grow! Whey with Metabolic Drive =]
id buy the HOT-ROX and spend the rest on food
[quote]benmoore wrote:
How long are you cutting for?
I would replace Grow! Whey with Metabolic Drive =][/quote]
I guess until I hit my weight goal of 190lb. Maybe around 8 weeks.
I’ll look into your recommendation more. thanks.
[quote]thosebananas wrote:
id buy the HOT-ROX and spend the rest on food[/quote]
hmm. interesting. Thought i’d need to load up on protein though and protein powder seems to be a good component.
[quote]thosebananas wrote:
id buy the HOT-ROX and spend the rest on food[/quote]
Might be expensive getting 8 weeks of protein for a 200lb male from food only on a $100 budget.
What does your diet look like?
I’d get HOT-ROX, BCAA for when you can’t eat properly, and some cheap-o Whey. Doesn’t have to be bad quality; pretty generic product so you can just buy in relative bulk and mix your own flavours in.
[quote]Oquendog wrote:
What does your diet look like?[/quote]
finally getting things in order and have what most people would consider a good diet. around 2200 calories, 250-300g of protein. lots of chicken and tuna. oatmeal in the morning. followed one of the newbie diets posted on here for my guide.
[quote]G87 wrote:
I’d get HOT-ROX, BCAA for when you can’t eat properly, and some cheap-o Whey. Doesn’t have to be bad quality; pretty generic product so you can just buy in relative bulk and mix your own flavours in. [/quote]
I looked a bit at the BCAA and was interested in that. I saw people saying they take it during the night which seems to be pretty popular. I wondered if the Surge would be better since it seems like so many more people rave about that. I’ll check into the BCAAs more though. thanks.
No need to spend money on Metabolic Drive or BCAA’s. You will not see a difference results-wise between Metabolic Drive and Grow! Whey. Taste will differ though. Get at least a tub of Grow! Whey, but try to get your protein from whole foods so you stay full longer.
Anytime you’re cutting calories, it’s always better to get cals from solid foods, otherwise you’ll be starving all day, and that sucks. Go with fibrous, non-starchy veggies and lean meats. I’ve never tried HOT-ROX, so I couldn’t say if it’s worth the $ or not. Surge is not necessary either, just stick with pre and post workout whey.
Honestly, I’d just buy a bunch of BCAAs. Then use whatever you have left to buy some Green Tea extract.
[quote]drew1021 wrote:
No need to spend money on Metabolic Drive or BCAA’s.
[/quote]
…
[quote]esk221 wrote:
Honestly, I’d just buy a bunch of BCAAs.
[/quote]
so confused.
I’ve been reading on BCAAs today and don’t really have a good understanding of what they even do. seems the people who take them, pop them like mad all day. I guess they help w/ muscle recovery but if that’s the case I only lift 3x per week and don’t think muscle recovery is that big of an issue for me since I’m not sore by the time I work out again. I could see if someone was working out 6x week that this would be an issue. If I’m missing something, please correct me.
[quote]bwana devil wrote:
thosebananas wrote:
id buy the HOT-ROX and spend the rest on food
hmm. interesting. Thought i’d need to load up on protein though and protein powder seems to be a good component.
[/quote]
by this i meant… get your diet dialed in good before you go looking these magic supplements to do the work for you.
and yea get protein powder! something with about 20g of protein per serving and no more than 2g of carbs. im basing this on a 35g serving. so roughly 60% proteins and 6% carbs. i get mine for about £10/$20 for a kilo.
Scott
[quote]bwana devil wrote:
drew1021 wrote:
No need to spend money on Metabolic Drive or BCAA’s.
…
esk221 wrote:
Honestly, I’d just buy a bunch of BCAAs.
so confused.
I’ve been reading on BCAAs today and don’t really have a good understanding of what they even do. seems the people who take them, pop them like mad all day. I guess they help w/ muscle recovery but if that’s the case I only lift 3x per week and don’t think muscle recovery is that big of an issue for me since I’m not sore by the time I work out again. I could see if someone was working out 6x week that this would be an issue. If I’m missing something, please correct me.[/quote]
BCAAs are great for conserving muscle mass while dieting. If your diet is a true cutting diet, you’ll need them.
[quote]drew1021 wrote:
No need to spend money on Metabolic Drive or BCAA’s.[/quote]
The same can be said of any supplement – if you’re doing everything else correctly.
Still, while they are not “needed,” supplements can make a big difference.
If you’re dieting, I’d go with Metabolic Drive over Grow! Whey since the former contain micellar casein which will keep you full longer.
1 tub of Metabolic Drive only gives you 18 servings… and he needs it for more than 18 days !
Never mind P/W when the last thing his body needs is casien protein!
Cottage Cheese has nearly everything Metabolic Drive has, except some good stuff but not enough to warrent half his budget…
If it was me heres my list:
2)Grow! Whey: 5lbs (32.99)
For Breakfast and Post Workout use this, LOTS of it there.
Ok those 2 are the most important, you have around 40 dollars left.
So you can have
1)HOT-ROX Extreme (44.99)
OR
2)Another Bottle of Flameout (What i would take)
OR
3)BCAA’s (29.99) 2nd Preference
1)Instead of HOT-ROX i would buy Green Tea capsules and wolf them, believe me they work 
For your budget HOT-ROX is just outside it, so unless you can afford more then unlucky
2)Flameout: My preferred choice.
3)BCAA’s: Helps maintain LBM when cutting, it keeps your body anabolic (ie NON muscle wasting)
If you can get another 20 dollars you can afford 1 more bottle of Flameout and 1 bottle of BCAA’s
Theres my reccomendations
Also can you post your diet…
I presume you have different ones for the days in the gym and the 4 you are not …
[quote]bwana devil wrote:
drew1021 wrote:
No need to spend money on Metabolic Drive or BCAA’s.
…
esk221 wrote:
Honestly, I’d just buy a bunch of BCAAs.
so confused.
I’ve been reading on BCAAs today and don’t really have a good understanding of what they even do. seems the people who take them, pop them like mad all day. I guess they help w/ muscle recovery but if that’s the case I only lift 3x per week and don’t think muscle recovery is that big of an issue for me since I’m not sore by the time I work out again. I could see if someone was working out 6x week that this would be an issue. If I’m missing something, please correct me.[/quote]
My suggestions for buying only the whey is because of your limited funds. BCAA’s may be helpful if you are severely restricting your calories and cannot afford to consume the 100 calories in a scoop of whey. But if you’d rather go for bang for the buck, go with the whey.
Regarding the comparison between Metabolic Drive and Grow! Whey --again, it’s about the value. If you need some kind of sustained release protein, eat some meat. If you have to have it in the form of a shake, take 2 scoops of Grow! Whey, but split the servings 2-3 hours apart. Personally, I like having 80 servings of protein more than 18. That’s just me though, some people can’t deal with whey concentrates.
[quote]esk221 wrote:
BCAAs are great for conserving muscle mass while dieting. If your diet is a true cutting diet, you’ll need them.
[/quote]
that makes sense and fills the holes on what i read earlier. thank. I think I’m bumping BCAAs higher on the list because of this.