Teenagers and Supplements

Fruitbowl · November 18, 2006, 2:27am

Recently, a bunch of friends and I joined a fitness center in the hopes of either losing fat, building muscle, or both.

I have browsed these forums a bit and learnt a few things about building muscle, supplements such as Creatine and protein shakes such as 100% Whey Protein.

While I am aware that much of what I will need to know can be gleaned from the fitness trainers that the gym I have joined have on hand, talking to any of them is a while off and I would like to know as soon as possible if it is advisable for teens to use supplements such as 100% Whey Protein.

We are ranging from late 16 to early 17 years old. I myself an around 9 months off 18.

I would like to know if 100% Whey Protein and other supplements stunt your growth or have other undesirable effects on your body. If so, I would like to know what these are.

We bought 100% Whey Protein recently yet are still hesitant to use it. Upon reading the small print on the back, we discovered that under 18’s should not be using it. Is 17 close enough?

Thanks.

fallout188 · November 18, 2006, 2:58am

I’m sad now. I’ll have to do heavy squats tomorrow to get over this.

Phill · November 18, 2006, 3:48am

I would suggest training and diet being nailed first prior to any supps for any one. But if you are going to use one yes a protien powder would be it.

Tiribulus · November 18, 2006, 4:16am

Whey protein powder is just food in a convenient and concentrated form.

abcd1234 · November 18, 2006, 5:03am

Whey is fine. Creatine is safe also, but I’d wait a few months if you’re new to lifting. Other supps which are safe but not really necessary for teens would include BCAA’s and fish oil(actually, on second thought, this is a great supplement to start using early in your life).

Just avoid test-boosters as they’re basically useless until you’re in your late 20s at the earliest. Just get your diet/training dialed in before you invest in supplements. You’ll not only have bigger muscles if you focus on diet/training first, but also a much bigger wallet.

Phill · November 18, 2006, 6:38am

[quote]abcd1234 wrote:

Just avoid test-boosters as they’re basically useless until you’re in your late 20s at the earliest.
[/quote]

I would argue this if it were a teen who had been training bhard for years and had DIET!!! and training neiled solid for a FEW YEARS!!!. Then they can be useful. Many atheletes and hard training individuals have lower or suppressed T. So they can be useful.

That said I prob shouldnt even say that here due to the OP. He needs to yes get protein like Grow! or Metabolic Drive and Surge post w/o. Vut only after he and his buddies make sure they have the fridge PACKED.

Then train hard learn, as well as learn how to eat. Do that for a few years reep the benefits then worry about the other stuff.

No quick fox bro you gotta put the work in the fork and the Iron.

Phill

alownage · November 18, 2006, 6:57am

[quote]Fruitbowl wrote:
We bought 100% Whey Protein recently yet are still hesitant to use it. Upon reading the small print on the back, we discovered that under 18’s should not be using it. Is 17 close enough?
Thanks.[/quote]

ROFL. This whole sequence of sentences just conjures up an image of a few skinny kids huddled around a tub of whey asking “Should we open it?”

“No, it’s too dangerous. We better get some sort of parental authorization.”

Fruitbowl · November 18, 2006, 7:38am

Skinny kids?

Would you like pictures? Two of us have been working out for years, and have only really started at the gym recently. This does not go to say that we are new to working out, at least when it comes to the basic things you can do without any advanced equipment.

Do adults include such net slang as ROFL in their vocabularies? I posted here expecting some advice from people who knew what they were doing, not flame from a bunch of children. You could tell me to do my homework, certainly, but I would have thought that asking experienced people who have done it for years would be more beneficial than reading a book.

My only real hang up here is if we should be using something like Whey Protein, given that on the back of the container it says not to use if you are under 18, and despite the fact that it is a protein supplement, it is still a supplement.

As for dieting, my knowledge of nutrition goes far beyond my knowledge of using a gym, thanks. I know what I’m doing when it comes to dieting, although not necessarily when it comes to a diet suitable to my workout regime.

I am aware of the fact that we should not be using it after having just started. But we had a free voucher and thought we’d use it.

Thank you to those who have posted something productive and worthwhile that can be useful to a bunch of beginners like ourselves.

Forgive me if my question is a stupid one. This is, after all, the beginners section.

I’m going to cry now, this skinny little Asian body is aching from all the terribly difficult weights and cardio I have been doing this week.

Cloth · November 18, 2006, 8:10am

Get over yourself. If you want advice from an internet forum then you have to put up with what comes with it. Self righteousness is a terrible quality to display so proudly.

-Cloth

ah_dut · November 18, 2006, 10:46am

It only says only consume if over 18 for legal reasons. It doesn’t mean much. Protein powder is amazing stuff if you have the flu (which I have now). You can get something down, hopefully without throwing up.

Otherwise, just treat it as food. I would recommend fish oil though. My joints just feel better

jwillow · November 18, 2006, 10:51am

Whatever your age, you can still benefit from supplementing with whey protein, especially during or immediately after a workout. I make protein shakes for my nephews when they visit, and they’re all under ten years old. Like someone else said, it’s just concentrated food.

As for other supplements: a quality multivitamin/multimineral is good insurance against micronutrient deficiencies in your diet. Fish oil is also beneficial at any age (get a good one - Biotest Flameout, or one that’s labeled “pharmaceutical grade”).

Creatine is helpful (again, it’s just a concentrated food extract), as long as you keep in mind that it’s not going to magically transform your physique.

I’d avoid most other supplements for a while, until you’ve gotten to a point where your progress or recovery has slowed and you feel you need some extra help.

But again, focus on food first; supplements aren’t going to make up for poor nutrition. Read Berardi’s Seven Habits article for starters, if you haven’t already: http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=291seven2

Yes, adults use net slang. And what makes you think you’re only going to run into adults here? You’re posting here, aren’t you? Anyway, you’ll find that the “adult world” is full of people of a wide range of maturities, whether online or in the workplace. Ignore the flames, just like you ignore stuff that happens in school.

And you’re old enough to learn to question everything you read and everything you’re told. Authorities are not always right and don’t always have your best interests in mind. Much of the time they’re just looking out for their own self-interest, or trying to cover their own asses - like putting “over 18” disclaimers on canisters of whey protein.

There’s a lot of money to be made in the supplement business, and plenty of unscrupulous people promoting substances of dubious worth. Be sceptical. But as far as stunting your growth, steroids or prohormones are about the only thing that would do that. When intelligently used, steroids are extremely effective and relatively safe drugs that have been unjustly demonized by the government and the press - but use of aromatizing steroids before your bones have stopped growing is a very very foolish thing to do. (For that reason, I personally feel that if there’s any place for drug testing in sports, it’s at the high school and college level, not the pros.)

Anyway, welcome to T-Nation, and good luck and happy lifting.

Hanley · November 18, 2006, 1:45pm

Why are you even asking? It’s obvious you know everything already.

[quote]Fruitbowl wrote:
Skinny kids?

Would you like pictures? Two of us have been working out for years, and have only really started at the gym recently. This does not go to say that we are new to working out, at least when it comes to the basic things you can do without any advanced equipment.

Do adults include such net slang as ROFL in their vocabularies? I posted here expecting some advice from people who knew what they were doing, not flame from a bunch of children. You could tell me to do my homework, certainly, but I would have thought that asking experienced people who have done it for years would be more beneficial than reading a book.

My only real hang up here is if we should be using something like Whey Protein, given that on the back of the container it says not to use if you are under 18, and despite the fact that it is a protein supplement, it is still a supplement.

As for dieting, my knowledge of nutrition goes far beyond my knowledge of using a gym, thanks. I know what I’m doing when it comes to dieting, although not necessarily when it comes to a diet suitable to my workout regime.

I am aware of the fact that we should not be using it after having just started. But we had a free voucher and thought we’d use it.

Thank you to those who have posted something productive and worthwhile that can be useful to a bunch of beginners like ourselves.

Forgive me if my question is a stupid one. This is, after all, the beginners section.

I’m going to cry now, this skinny little Asian body is aching from all the terribly difficult weights and cardio I have been doing this week.[/quote]

ragingbassist · November 18, 2006, 3:19pm

Fruitbowl, your in high school, and you say you know everything about nutrition? That’s ridiculous!! I am 21 and started lifting when i was 17, reading all kinds of stuff from the magazines and thought I knew what to eat and when to eat, but I was soooo far off from what I know now.

Bodybuilding is all about experimenting and finding what works for you. You cannot possibly know everything about nutrition, because you are brand new to lifting. I mean Jesus christ dude, your scared about taking a whey protein, but yet you know everything about nutrition? You have no idea how many calories you need to take in yet, as well as the right protein-carb-fat ratio’s.

It took me 2 years of searching to figure out that I needed 4800 calories a day to build muscle as well as following 40 protein-40 carb- 20 fat ratio. This also goes with supplements. I never knew anything about dessicated beef liver tabs til a year ago, and you know what, those little F***kers make a huge impact on my growth and recovery.

The best thing for you to do is research this website as well as read books on nutrition and experiment on a diet for at least 3 months to see any postive or negative results. One book that i recommend to read is MHP’s Macrobolic Nutrition: Priming Your Body to Build Muscle & Burn Fat.

If you look for it on amazon, you could probably get it used for really cheap. It’s a book that taught me a lot about nutrition. Til then keep lifting, eating and learning. Don’t be a cocky jerk-off either, your brand new to the game, so take what you get and go from there

storeydp · November 19, 2006, 2:09am

Here’s my advice to skinny teenagers:

Bust your ass lifting weights.
Eat alot of food.
Get alot of rest.
Stay away from party drugs n’ booze.
Keep your trap shut.

(This is the exact advice I got from the owner of the first gym I joined when I was seventeen.)

Here’s my advice to fat teenagers:

Bust your ass lifting weights.
Get alot of rest.
Stay away from party drugs n’ booze.
Keep your trap shut.

alownage · November 21, 2006, 5:53am