I’m 17 years old, and i was wondering if taking any of the supplements offered on T-nation would be okay for me. I always see the warning “Do not take if you are under the age of 18” on the backs of supplements. Is there a reason?
And if you think it’s okay for me to take some, what should I try? I’m 17, overweight, and work out 3-4 times a week. I’m trying to burn off fat and add muscle.
Because you are only 17 I would say that getting your diet in order should be top on your list because if its not, supps would just be a waste of money. Stick with the weights, a little cardio, and a great diet and see where you are in a couple months.
Dude are you kidding? I began working out at 21 at 265lbs. By the end of three months I was 240lbs on protein supps alone. Just eat right for chrissake. Save your money for all the dates you’ll have soon!
Two years later I’m 210 and EASILY maintaining my weight.
I agree the best thing you could do is read up and nail a solid diet and choose one of the effective programs on this site and hit the gym.
As far as diet is cocerned I suggest you begin with John Berardi’s “7 Habits” article, and than move on from there and read all you can by both him and Lonnie Lowery. As for an exact diet give T-dawg2 a look. It has a very proven track record for the goals you have in mind.
For training, well we all have our favorites so I will just suggest finding a program on this site that interest you. They are all great and have their place.
Hope this Helps, read up, and dont hesitate to come on back with any and all ?'s
Phill
Forgot, as far as supplements.
After you nail a good diet and training look into, and read up on both Red Bands and ZMA. Both of these would fit into your goals and age well.
One supplement I would suggest you look into right now would be Surge. PWO nutrition is something that no one needs to over look. Checj out the “Solving the PWO Puzzle” articles.
Then Grow. Once again after nailing a good diet this is a mighty tastey way to fill your quality protein needs.
Oh use the search function for finding all this as well as much of it can be found in the FAQ link.
Hope this helps
Phill
I’ll definately echo what Sasage wrote; supplements are the icing on the cake.
Getting your diet in line with your goals is the number one priority.
You should research some of the diets on this site that are conducive to your goals, which I assume is to muscle up and lose fat. I would honestly focus on one or the other, but if you’re relatively new to weight training and good dieting, you might be able to pull off both.
Have a look at T-Dawg 2.0 and Chad Waterbury’s Anti Bodybuilding Hypertrophy Program.
Read all the diet stuff here by Berardi and Lowery and you should be well on your way.
Durh…I guess I shoulda included the supps too.
Surge- to optimize your post workout nutrition. Wish I knew about this starting out.
Grow-Simply to help you get your protein and meal needs in a day. If you can get your protein all from solid food, hey so be it- GREAT. Most people can’t. This is just high quality convenience nutrition.
creatine-Just a good, reputable plain jane creatine monohydrate powder. Dumping it in your Surge will make a transport system that beats the heck off of any of those other bells-and-whistles creatine crap products out there, too, if you’re even concerned with that.
Here is your list of supplements:
Chicken
Eggs
Fruit
Vegatables
Red meat
Brown Rice
Poptarts (you need some fun)
Try this for about 2 years, then come back and ask again.
A multi-vitamin is a good idea as well. I’ll echo some of the sentiments already voiced above, use caution not to waste money when buying supplements as they are expensive, get into a good routine both in your workouts and your eating habits and the results you want should be in your reach.
I’m 17 as well, and I cut down big time last summer by just diet. Eat lots of green vegetables that are not entirely raw, but not mushy. The more fibrous stuff you put into your body, the better simply because it takes more time for your body to break the fiberous food down, hence you’re not hungry all the time. Stop drinking pop, drink lots of water, eat lots of salad and broccoli and learn to love tuna.
17? If I knew then what I know now… So instead I’ll just tell you. I agree with all of the above, first dial in your diet try for 4-7 meals/snacks a day. A diet that has worked really well for me is food pairing, carbs+protein=OK, fat+protein=OK, fat+carbs=not OK (it?s all right here http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460327 ). In terms of supplements use Surge for sure, a multi vitamin for sure, and GROW! if you have the $ and remember to change your training every 3-4 weeks. Good luck!