Hey guys, I was hoping you could throw some advice my way on supplements. Below is a list of my current supps and when I take them. I know some supps contradict other supps (such as calcium and ZMA) so I wanted to make sure there wasn’t something I was taking that negated the effects of my other supps.
Also, if there is something I’m missing let me know. I’m not a bodybuilder by any means but am just trying to stay in athletic shape as well as good overall health. I’m 6 foot 3 in. and 210 lbs @ approx 10% BF (caliper measured). Thanks in advance.
Morning with breakfast (6:30a.m.):
-GNC Megamen Sport 1 tablet
-Vitamin D 2000 IU
-ON fish oil 3 softgels (3000mg)
-Caffeine 200mg
-Nature Made Vitamin C 1000mg
-1 scoop ON whey
-1 scoop ON casein
Pre-workout:
-Creatine Mono 5g
-BCAA’s 5g (sip on during workout)
Post-Workout shake:
-1/4 cup oats
-2 tbs Honey
-1 scoop ON casein
-1 scoop ON whey
-Creatine Mono 5g
Night before bed (10:30p.m.):
-GNC Megamen Sport 1 tablet
-Melatonin 6 mg
-ON fish oil 3 softgels (3000mg)
-Nature Made Vitamin C 1000mg
-Vitamin D 2000 IU
-1.5 scoop ON casein
I also have ZMA but I haven’t been taking it because I have a hard time taking with no calcium on an empty stomach since I eat dinner at about 7p.m. and have my casein shake at about 10:30p.m. Thanks again in advance!
Take all your vitamin D at once, either in the morning or at night. Even better would be to do a large bolus dose (i.e. 50,000-100,000 IUs) 2x per week, as opposed to every day.
Its pointless to take caffeine with vitamin C. Vitamin C speeds up the detoxification of caffeine. Take your caffeine pre-workout and your Vitamin C postworkout (2g-3g)
5g of BCAA is not much intra-workout. I know BCAAs are expensive, but the best results are with high doses. 40g-50g intra-workout. Its better to save your money and get great results with the high dose, rather than piss away the little doses.
Post-workout protein should only be whey. Use the casein exclusively at night and not at post-workout. Why? You want to spike insulin post work (which whey is great for; casein not so much).
Post-workout protein should only be whey. Use the casein exclusively at night and not at post-workout. Why? You want to spike insulin post work (which whey is great for; casein not so much).[/quote]
Whey or Hydrolysate Casein.
I would change oats for a faster carb too, dextrose or maltodextrin.
I’ve never heard of doing the Vitamin D as a large bolus dose, I’ll check that out. And for a fast carb in my post-workout shake I use Honey (38% fructose and 31% glucose) 3 tbs is approx 35g of carbs to spike insulin. But thanks on the tip for Vitamin C and caffeine, I’ll definitely switch that up. Speaking of that, I have also read that Caffeine and Creatine are counter intuitive to eachother. Is this true or just some misguided research? Thanks ahead of time.
[quote]theycallmebear wrote:
I’ve never heard of doing the Vitamin D as a large bolus dose, I’ll check that out. And for a fast carb in my post-workout shake I use Honey (38% fructose and 31% glucose) 3 tbs is approx 35g of carbs to spike insulin.[/quote]
I’m not a fan of fructose post workout but I guess it won’t kill you.
Your pre workout shake looks like it could use some work, add some carbs and whey.
Post-workout protein should only be whey. Use the casein exclusively at night and not at post-workout. Why? You want to spike insulin post work (which whey is great for; casein not so much).[/quote]
Whey or Hydrolysate Casein.
I would change oats for a faster carb too, dextrose or maltodextrin.[/quote]
That and I would use leucine instead BCAA’s.
You want protein AND an energy source (fat and/or carbs) before you workout so you aren’t turning the aminos into glucose. You can even change your “post” drink to a during shake.
Creatine timing really doesnt matter but I just throw it in my pre workout shake.
Just b/c it should be said, this is all minutia compared to the rest of your diet…
Personally I’d replace the Honey/oats with Dextrose/Maltodextrin Post-workout(immediately). The only time I would ever want to put that shit Fructose in my body is from fruit. Also I’d ditch the Creatine pre-workout as your already taking 5g post-workout.
[quote]hungryone wrote:
3. 5g of BCAA is not much intra-workout. I know BCAAs are expensive, but the best results are with high doses. 40g-50g intra-workout. Its better to save your money and get great results with the high dose, rather than piss away the little doses.
[/quote]
what were your experiences with regards to this? I know Poliquin suggested a protocol of 20-40g of BCAAs Peri-workout but when I tried that with BCAA powder all it gave me was the shits and a waste of money. Something like Extend might be better digested but holy hell if you wouldnt need a ton of water to dissolved that amount in!
[quote]hungryone wrote:
3. 5g of BCAA is not much intra-workout. I know BCAAs are expensive, but the best results are with high doses. 40g-50g intra-workout. Its better to save your money and get great results with the high dose, rather than piss away the little doses.
[/quote]
what were your experiences with regards to this? I know Poliquin suggested a protocol of 20-40g of BCAAs Peri-workout but when I tried that with BCAA powder all it gave me was the shits and a waste of money. Something like Extend might be better digested but holy hell if you wouldnt need a ton of water to dissolved that amount in![/quote]
Some of the best muscle building of my life! Unfortunately, it was also quite expensive, mostly because you have to find a BCAA that doesn’t have a ton of crap fillers, which many do.
Furthemore, I believe I saw someone in this thread suggesting to put carbs into the pre-workout window. I’d highly advise AGAINST this! Why? Carbs raise levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is a relaxation/happiness neurotransmitter. This is great post workout, but not necessarily what you want going into a workout.
Preworkout you want to raise acetylcholine and dopamine. Your best bet here is with proteins and high qualty fats (caffeine helps too).
Thanks for the advice so far guys. I’ll definitely check out the dextrose/maltodextrin for post workout carbs, I just use oats and honey because it was cheap and I thought it covered the quick and slow carbs to go with the quick and slow protein.
Also, I typically eat within a half hour to 15 mins of working out if not within an hour for sure of the gym. My meals on a typical day are approximately 40g of carbs. Should I still eat more carbs directly before the gym?
As far as my diet goes, I’m trying to cut a little weight right now because I will be going on a cruise in a month. I do Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri/Sat with about 2200-2500 cal with a 40-40-20 carb-prot-fat breakdown (with a little extra carbs on Monday to replenish glycogen); and Wed/Sun low carb (less than 50g) with about 1200-1400 cal which are my off days from the gym. I am a grad student currently, so my activity level is low besides the hour and a half I’m at the gym. I basically sit in class for 8-10 hours a day. I realize diet is MUCH more important than supps but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on my diet as of lately and have been keeping food records to fine tune it.
[quote]hungryone wrote:
Furthemore, I believe I saw someone in this thread suggesting to put carbs into the pre-workout window. I’d highly advise AGAINST this! Why? Carbs raise levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is a relaxation/happiness neurotransmitter. This is great post workout, but not necessarily what you want going into a workout.
Preworkout you want to raise acetylcholine and dopamine. Your best bet here is with proteins and high qualty fats (caffeine helps too).[/quote]
I agree with this too. I backload all my carbs after workouts and go into training with a gut full of chicken and some coconut oil for energy. Works really well. I swear by coconut oil prior to workouts now. The difference is staggering!
Alright guys, so I changed the list around a little bit taking some of your suggestions into account. How are we lookin now? Anything else? Thanks again in advance!
-Cody
Morning with breakfast:
-GNC Megamen Multi (1 tablet)
-CLA (2000mg)
-Vitamin D (4000 IU)
-ON Fish Oil (3 softgels, 3000mg fish oil, 900mg O-3)
-ON Whey Protein (1 scoop, 24 gram protein)
-ON Casein Protein (1 scoop, 24 gram protein)
Pre Workout:
-Caffeine (200mg)
-Glutamine (3g)
-ON Whey Protein (1 scoop, 24 gram protein)
Night Before Bed:
-GNC Megamen Multi (1 tablet)
-ON Fishoil (3 softgels, 3000mg fish oil, 900mg O-3)
-Vitamin C (1g)
-Melatonin (6mg)
-ON Casein Protein (1.5 scoop, 36 grams protein)
Take glutamine 5g at a time, on an empty stomach for gut health.
Take 5-10g leucine 10 mins before your shake, otherwise it’ll just get jumbled up with the other stuff… If it were me, I would take away the glutamine, leucine, BCAA and creatine from the post workout shake and at it to the ‘during’. Then just whole proteins post.
GNC products are usually over priced. If your multi is a tablet, chew it.
Supplemental CLA is a no-no. It has artificial isomers that are inflammatory and negate most of the positive effects of CLA. Only way you should get CLA is from food.
If you stop dropping weight, I would cut the post workout carbs in half.