Supplement Advice/Suggestions?

Diet and Nutrition
1

So I’m going to ask what supps you guys totally rate; but first…

My goal is to squat 405, bench 315 and pull 485 under 220 bodyweight by the end of the year (best to date 385/300/485 at higher bodyweight). I’m just over halfway through the v-diet which I’m doing first, and I’d expect to be 200 to 205 at the end of the V-Diet (at 6’3)

I’m happy with my training methods and I’ll bust my ass to the best of my capacity. I’ll do some walking and some conditioning work just cos I should.

I’m happy with my eating; I understand the need for sufficient calories and protein, that good fats are important and to time carbs carefully (mainly at breakfast and peri-workout), and to drink water.

What I wanna ask you guys are what supps you think are absolutely worth the money. My budget is actually not super tight or anything but I don’t want to stuff around taking forty pills and powders every day. I also don’t want to pay twice as much for something that delivers a 3% performance improvement because I’m not a professional athlete. I just want to get some solid help from my supps to be strong, lean and healthy. Simple. I won’t include regular protein powder cos that’s a given.

My thoughts are:

Surge Recovery (servings peri and post workout)
Superfood
Flameout
Creatine (post workout plus a bit more sipped through the day as per CT)
BCAA (sipped through the day with the creatine as per CT)
L-Leucine (with 2 or 3 meals each day)

I’m also considering:

Alpha Male (contains Carbolin 19 and TRIBEX - seems like good value)
Beta-7
Se7en (I understand it’s marketed to women but still great for men)
ZMA
Z-12 (Is it really beneficial to have 2 sleep supps? These days I sleep pretty well…)
FA3 (Isn’t Flameout enough? How terrible is it for one’s fat intake to be skewed towards certain types of good fats over other types of good fats?)

So…What do you think? Looking over this post I can see that I’m kind of into ‘nutrition’ supplements over ‘chemically magicky’ kind of supps in my mind. The first list is pretty much locked in but I’m interested in whether you guys agree with those choices, and what you think of the maybe list? Cheers boys n girls

2

Definitely doable goals right there, I’m guessing you will hit them sooner than you expect.

Although I don’t really know the difference between ‘nutrition’ supplements and ‘chemically magicky’ supplements, aside from social opinion, I’ll take a stab at your consideration list.

Beta-7 would be great for higher workloads where lactic acid would be a problem, it would definitely benefit all work, but regarding a significance vs. value rating, I’m not particularly sure how it would affect workload where lactic acid isn’t a main concern.

FA3 is a great supplement to be paired with Flameout, I’m not sure if it would correlate to the gym all the noticably, but it would be great to add in (Price is a bit high IMO, however)

Never tried Alpha Male, but have had Carbolin 19 from HOT-ROX and TRIBEX by itself and liked them. Have also heard good things about them.

And if you really sleep fine (Not just time, but quality as well), then you don’t really need a sleep supplement.

Have you considered Vitamin-D, Zinc, and Magnesium for good measure?

3

Not to bash you, but you sound just like my younger brother. He’s trying to figure out what supps he should take. When I ask him what he ate today and his macro breakdown he never has a real answer. I’m not big on supps (I use whey, zinc, magnesium, vitamin d, and fish oil.) The only other supp i would consider is creatine. I say worry about lifting like a mad man then worry about supps. If you take every supp from Biotest you may improve 5%. It’s all about forcing a change with physical activity. Just my take.

4

Ummm, thanks a lot mate, super helpful

5

[quote]tomcoves wrote:
Surge Recovery (servings peri and post workout)
Superfood
Flameout
Creatine (post workout plus a bit more sipped through the day as per CT)
BCAA (sipped through the day with the creatine as per CT)
L-Leucine (with 2 or 3 meals each day)
Alpha Male (contains Carbolin 19 and TRIBEX - seems like good value)
Beta-7
Se7en (I understand it’s marketed to women but still great for men)
ZMA
Z-12 (Is it really beneficial to have 2 sleep supps? These days I sleep pretty well…)
FA3 (Isn’t Flameout enough? How terrible is it for one’s fat intake to be skewed towards certain types of good fats over other types of good fats?)[/quote]

I’ve used all of these products at one time or another and think that they all have a legitimate purpose and are effective, but I think it’s a major mistake to start with so many new-to-you supplements at once. How will you know the effects you’re getting from any one product?

I recommend starting with the core supps like Surge Recovery and Flameout in order to gain an understanding of how you respond before adding just 1 or 2 additional products at a time.

FWIW, I think Creatine monohydrate, Leucine, and BCAA are a bit redundant now we have Anaconda and MAG-10. I’ve significantly simplified my supplement protocol since the release of the Anaconda Protocol.

6

There’s nothing more helpful than attitude. Make a goal. Grab that goal by the balls. And then f#cking attain your goal. Results come from 113% intensity in the weight room. I think Poliquin did a study to get this number. No amount of effort in the supplement department will get you there any faster if your attitude in the weight room aint at or near 113%.

Attitude even trumps nutrition. 80% intensity in the weight room won’t do it. Not even 102%. You must master your attitude about the weight room and get it to 113%, then you can worry about supplements. Getting to 113% may take a month or even two or pure intense lifting. Stick it out. You’ll know when you get there. Do that for a couple months at this intensity, and then you can add some of the supplement thingys you speak of.

7

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
Results come from 113% intensity in the weight room. I think Poliquin did a study to get this number. No amount of effort in the supplement department will get you there any faster if your attitude in the weight room aint at or near 113%.

Attitude even trumps nutrition. 80% intensity in the weight room won’t do it. Not even 102%. You must master your attitude about the weight room and get it to 113%, then you can worry about supplements. Getting to 113% may take a month or even two or pure intense lifting. Stick it out. You’ll know when you get there. Do that for a couple months at this intensity, and then you can add some of the supplement thingys you speak of.[/quote]

WTF are you talking about?

Do you even train?

8

U serious? I’ll unfurl my d*ck now and see how it measures against yours. Yes I train. Why do you ask?

9

2592×1936 634 KB

Five minutes ago fyi

10

hai!

11

[quote]tomcoves wrote:
My goal is to squat 405, bench 315 and pull 485 under 220 bodyweight by the end of the year[/quote]

I’m not at all trying to rain on your parade… but… looking at your log, you’re currently squatting 265x7, close-grip benching 175x6, and stiff-leg deadlifting 175x8.

Goals are awesome, but they also need to be realistic/achievable, and that’s a tall order you’re setting yourself up for. Just sayin’.

[quote]I just want to get some solid help from my supps to be strong, lean and healthy.
…
Surge Recovery (servings peri and post workout)
Superfood
Flameout
Creatine (post workout plus a bit more sipped through the day as per CT)
BCAA (sipped through the day with the creatine as per CT)
L-Leucine (with 2 or 3 meals each day)[/quote]

Those are solid staples. If anything, you could consider dropping the BCAAs, since it’d be a bit redundant with the separate leucine. Also, consider using the Surge Recovery pre-workout and during, rather than during and post. This is more in line with the 3rd Law of Muscle and would let you take better advantage of double dosing. To get the most benefit from creatine, I’d use it when your training is more strength-focused, rather than hypertrophy-focused.

Since you’re over 30, you might benefit from this as a staple supplement. Definitely worth trying a bottle to see what difference you notice.

This is optional. If you’ll be doing frequent cardio/conditioning, then it might be more appropriate.

Would be more beneficial while you’re cutting, not so much when building size/strength.

[quote]ZMA
Z-12 (Is it really beneficial to have 2 sleep supps? These days I sleep pretty well…)[/quote]

ZMA gives a deeper, better quality sleep. Z-12 helps actually get you to sleep. Some people take them both, some don’t. I always take ZMA, and I can sleep three hours and still wake up peppy as a squirrel. On nights I’m too amped to sit still and fall asleep, I’ll also take Z-12 to help me wind down.

FA3 is complementary to Flameout. Christian Thibaudeau did a good job of explaining the difference here:

12

What up B rock. Looking good dawg.

13

just poppin’ in to say hai!

14

[quote]tomcoves wrote:
So I’m going to ask what supps you guys totally rate; but first…

My goal is to squat 405, bench 315 and pull 485 under 220 bodyweight by the end of the year (best to date 385/300/485 at higher bodyweight). I’m just over halfway through the v-diet which I’m doing first, and I’d expect to be 200 to 205 at the end of the V-Diet (at 6’3)

I’m happy with my training methods and I’ll bust my ass to the best of my capacity. I’ll do some walking and some conditioning work just cos I should.

I’m happy with my eating; I understand the need for sufficient calories and protein, that good fats are important and to time carbs carefully (mainly at breakfast and peri-workout), and to drink water.

What I wanna ask you guys are what supps you think are absolutely worth the money. My budget is actually not super tight or anything but I don’t want to stuff around taking forty pills and powders every day. I also don’t want to pay twice as much for something that delivers a 3% performance improvement because I’m not a professional athlete. I just want to get some solid help from my supps to be strong, lean and healthy. Simple. I won’t include regular protein powder cos that’s a given.

My thoughts are:

Surge Recovery (servings peri and post workout)
Superfood
Flameout
Creatine (post workout plus a bit more sipped through the day as per CT)
BCAA (sipped through the day with the creatine as per CT)
L-Leucine (with 2 or 3 meals each day)

I’m also considering:

Alpha Male (contains Carbolin 19 and TRIBEX - seems like good value)
Beta-7
Se7en (I understand it’s marketed to women but still great for men)
ZMA
Z-12 (Is it really beneficial to have 2 sleep supps? These days I sleep pretty well…)
FA3 (Isn’t Flameout enough? How terrible is it for one’s fat intake to be skewed towards certain types of good fats over other types of good fats?)

So…What do you think? Looking over this post I can see that I’m kind of into ‘nutrition’ supplements over ‘chemically magicky’ kind of supps in my mind. The first list is pretty much locked in but I’m interested in whether you guys agree with those choices, and what you think of the maybe list? Cheers boys n girls[/quote]

You say you dont want to be taking many pills and powders all day long??? then why do you have 12 differnt supplements listed?

stick to the basics…fish oil, protein, creatine, and Surge. after a while, IF you feel it is neccesssary start adding in other supps 1 at a time. if you start taking 12 differnt supplements at once your not going to have any idea what works and what doesnt.

why are you even considering a sleep aid if you have no problems sleeping?

15

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
U serious? I’ll unfurl my d*ck now and see how it measures against yours. Yes I train. Why do you ask?[/quote]

Not to take the thread any further off topic, but not long ago you mentioned that you were 20+% BF and hadn’t trained for a significant length of time. This might have been in CT’s or the Anaconda Protocol forum.

That and your posts make it seem as though you have little real life training experience.

My apology to the OP.

16

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
There’s nothing more helpful than attitude. Make a goal. Grab that goal by the balls. And then f#cking attain your goal. Results come from 113% intensity in the weight room. I think Poliquin did a study to get this number. No amount of effort in the supplement department will get you there any faster if your attitude in the weight room aint at or near 113%.

righto, got it. Train hard. Will do ta.

17

My point above about increasing lifting intensity is completely on point. That’s more than I can say for HK. All he said was to take it slow with adding supplements, which there is nothing wrong or flawed with that advice; I actually agree with it. But the OP wants to add like 100 pounds to all his lifts – hence my advice on lifting intensity. Go figure that someone would attack that advice.

OP I wish you the best in the pursuit of your goals. Keep learning as much as possible, keep a high level of lifting intensity, and add the supplements (just don’t focus on them too intently; those supps you listed are all quality and recommendable for your goals), and you’ll achieve your goals.

Side note: 1) HK - you’re just made that I found out that HK stands for Hugs and Kisses. Don’t be bitter. 2) I go out of my way on a daily basis to help people here. So does HK I will admit, and his advice is usually good. Neither he nor I need to post our credentials on an internet site to prove the validity of our advice. You can ignore my advice or block me altogether so you don’t have to ever be bothered by me again if you wish. While I have no need to post credentials, I also have no fear of posting pics. Credentials and pics aside though, many on this site will tell you that I know my shit. But anyways, my photo above clearly shows that I am not above or near 20%. And if I ever really was at that level and I’m where I’m at now, well then, that only goes to show that I do know what I’m talking about. Sheesh. Just because HK stalks me (J/k) and thinks he knows my physique doesn’t mean anything, and shouldn’t take away from the validity of the point I made above. On that note, I also don’t know anything about HK’s credentials or what he looks like, so I won’t rag on him or his advice unless there is something I can definitely disagree with. But I can say that he has no pics in his profile… Just saying. I would suspect his physique is as average as mine is, so take that for what it’s worth. No disrespect to the OP for this little hijack. I hope you attain your goals. /hijack.

18

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]tomcoves wrote:
My goal is to squat 405, bench 315 and pull 485 under 220 bodyweight by the end of the year[/quote]

I’m not at all trying to rain on your parade… but… looking at your log, you’re currently squatting 265x7, close-grip benching 175x6, and stiff-leg deadlifting 175x8.

Thanks Chris
I’ll just point out that my numbers at the mo are all on a restricted calorie diet with lower carb intake (i.e. v-diet) and with 30 second rest intervals. I pulled 440 and squatted 355 pretty comfortably only three weeks ago. Let me tell you those 30s rest intervals are murder! Plus I’m giving myself the best part of a year to get there.

All that aside, thanks for your input. Just one point; I do sleep ok but I’ve read about the potential 30% increase in t levels using something like ZMA which is why I considered it but I’m happy to give it a miss too. The only other reason I was looking at it is that it’s so friggin cheap. All these sorta supps cost triple here in Australia!

Anyways I might start with what I outlined to start and maybe add Alpha Male in a couple months

19

all2ez - thanks mate. i hear ya but this was my point - are any (not necessarily all) - of the supps on my ‘considering’ list worthwhile? i tend to agree with your line of thinking but i am at least going to stay witth Superfood. i can’t believe how healthy it’s kept me feeling on the V-diet, when it’s pretty much just protein powder, fish oils and Superfood. anyways thanks for your input