Okay, so I have about $200 to spend and I’m looking to bulk while staying lean. I’ve got the diet pretty well mapped out, but I’m usure about what supps to get.
What supplements do you guys think should I spend this $200 on? What’s the best stack?
Basic sups in order of importance.
Fish Oil
PWO drink like Surge
Whey Protein
A greens sup (Superfood or Greens+)
Creatine
ZMA
The rest is going to be driven by your goals/budget. See the link the London Runner posted.
bulking while staying lean.
good idea.
it has been said over and over on this site; but i’ll say it again.
bulk OR cut
its ridiculously hard to try and gain muscle while losing fat.
either way; supplements won’t make or break your bulk or cut. your diet will.
for either bulk or cut; protien and fish oil.
I agree with B rock:
Whether you bulk or cut, supplements are still supplements. What will make or break your cycle, will be your diet.
3 tubs of Grow! and 3 Flameout, with $10 left over.
Use it for a night out or something as a reward for when you reach your goals. Use it for motivation, not something to burn through.
[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
3 tubs of Grow! and 3 Flameout, with $10 left over.[/quote]
I would put the protein powder over Surge. Plenty of research showing casein-whey blend is superior, but you have to ask how people made gains using whey only about 10 ten years ago when casein-whey wasn’t so popular. My point: they did make progress.
Get the Flameout and Creatine and Grow!, but ONLY if your grocery bill is already sexy. I would post your grocery bill here, first, so we can tell you if you’re eating enough for your goals.
I’m thinking on this “clean bulk” you’re going to be eating about 7 or more fish meals a week. So I would not bother with the fish oil at all, its a great supplement but to me is less important than Surge and proteins.
If I were you I would go with Surge for PWO and Metabolic Drive for before bed.
Eat plenty of salmon, tuna, tilapia etc. these are essential to the “clean bulk”, which is not an easy task.
Metabolic Drive, Surge, BCAA’s, Se7en, Carbolin 19, Creatine, TRIBEX, BETA-7. Provided nutrition is dialed in these will help build muscle.
D
[quote]B rocK wrote:
bulking while staying lean.
good idea.
it has been said over and over on this site; but i’ll say it again.
bulk OR cut
its ridiculously hard to try and gain muscle while losing fat.
either way; supplements won’t make or break your bulk or cut. your diet will.
for either bulk or cut; protien and fish oil.[/quote]
The OP never said he wanted to lose fat. He simply wants to build muscle while staying relatively lean, which makes sense as there’s no reason to get fat to build muscle. Sure, he’ll likely put on a little body fat in order to make gains, but there’s no reason for it to get out of hand.
[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
3 tubs of Grow! and 3 Flameout, with $10 left over.
I would put the protein powder over Surge. Plenty of research showing casein-whey blend is superior, but you have to ask how people made gains using whey only about 10 ten years ago when casein-whey wasn’t so popular. My point: they did make progress.[/quote]
Well, people made gains before protein powder was readily available as well, so I don’t quite get your point.
To the OP, go with protein powder (Metabolic Drive or Grow! Whey) if your diet is short on protein. Otherwise, go with Surge if you can’t afford both.
[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Get the Flameout and Creatine and Grow!, but ONLY if your grocery bill is already sexy. I would post your grocery bill here, first, so we can tell you if you’re eating enough for your goals.[/quote]
Also let us know if this $200 purchase is a one time thing or if you can come up with this money on a semi-monthly basis. My previous answer was based on the former, because the Grow! Whey and Flameout will last awhile. IMO there isn’t much point to getting all the fancy stuff if you can only afford one month’s supply.
If you can regularly come up with that money, then you can get some of the goodies that will help you lift harder and recover faster, like BETA-7 and Surge.
My biggest thing is trying to find the best protein/meal replacement supp for the best price. Everything varies so much with things like number of scoops, scoop size, protein per serving, protein quality, etc…Has anyone actually done all the comparisons and found the best bang for your buck protein? $200 one time, then I could probably spend $100/mo after the initial buy.
I almost always have these things on hand:
Plenty of milk (both skim and whole)
String cheese or slices
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Chicken breasts
Beef of some kind
Tuna
Other fish/seafood (salmon, tilapia, shrimp)
Eggs
Oatmeal (although I’m not a big fan)
Almonds
Peanut Butter
100% whole wheat bread (stone ground)
Brocoli
Spinach
Onion
Mushrooms
Apples
Bananas
Blueberries
I’ll usually mix up the fruits and vegetables and buy about 2 servs per week, i.e. 2 apples, 2 pears, 2 oranges, etc. to keep variety, but I always have spinach, brocoli, and blueberries on hand.
I’m sure I’m leaving some things out, but that’s my typical grocery list. I just mix and match things to make different meals and try to get 6 in a day, or at least 5. I was recording everything for awhile, but stopped once school started. I was getting over 3000 cals on most days and about 160 g of protein (I know, I need more. That’s where the supps come in)
Let me know if you need more info
Thanks for the responses!
Oh, and what I meant by “bulking while staying lean” was to gain lean mass without becoming a fat ass! Kudos HK
several lbs of a decent whey isolate
many bottles of extra strength fish oil (typically 400 mg EPA + 200 mg DHA)
What’s everyone’s opinion of ON Whey and Casein powders? Good price and quality?
[quote]Hawkguy wrote:
What’s everyone’s opinion of ON Whey and Casein powders? Good price and quality?[/quote]
IMO they are average, but I usually buy Biotest’s Metabolic Drive.
I’ll use other stuff if I don’t have MD available, but I don’t particularly care for it.