I’ve been lifting for a decent amount of time and have been taking a number of supplements that seem to have had little or no effect. Im a pretty small guy (5’8 165) and Im just wondering what supplements I should be taking if im trying to put on mass. I was thinking about Methoxy-7 ? Hope someone can help…
Thanks
[quote]emk6 wrote:
I’ve been lifting for a decent amount of time and have been taking a number of supplements that seem to have had little or no effect. Im a pretty small guy (5’8 165) and Im just wondering what supplements I should be taking if im trying to put on mass. I was thinking about Methoxy-7 ? Hope someone can help…
[/quote]
emk6,
Oblivious to the supplements you’re already taking and your eating habits, I’ll make my suggestions. I’m a small guy as well - 0", 160lbs (can you say hardgainer?) - however just over a month after I started supplementing I started to get comments on my increased size. Through discussions on the forum and directly with my brother I came to learn that the BIGGEST thing to focus on is not so much the supplements; it’s your eating. You should be taking in about 4000 calories a day in 5-6 meals. If you’re not quite sure how much that is, it’s equal to one HELL of A LOT of food! As far as supplements go, my recommendations are as follows:
*a shake in water as soon as you get up with 20g of protein and 30g of sucrose (table sugar)
*2 fish oil caps, 1 multi-vitamin tab, and 200 UI of vitamin E; all right before your first meal
*a very dilute mixture of dextrose(corn sugar) in water during your workout
*a shake directly after your workout containing 30g of protein, 40g of dextrose, 3g of creatine, and a pinch of sodium (table salt) in water
*a shake before bed, in milk, containing 20g of protein, another 2 fish oil caps, another 200 UI of vitamin E, and 2-3 tablespoons of flax oil
*a shake, in water, containing 20g of protein when you get up to pee in the middle of the night (optional)
Note: I live in Canada so it’s harder for me to get Surge, but if you can get it, DO IT! There’s tons of information about Surge on the site, so check out some articles:
Consumer Alert: The NO2/Arginine Scam II(http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=556939), & The Naked Truth (http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=305nak2), both by David Barr, have awesome information on the stuff.
Hope this helps bud! Any questions; feel free to ask!
-DV
To gain weight, you need to eat a lot of food. Diet is the most important part in gaining muscle. You need to eat every 2-3 hours. This is essential to gaining muscle. If you process carbs well, make sure to eat a lot of carbs in the morning and especially PWO. Fish oil, almonds, and natural peanut butter are some cheap, healthy sources of quality fats. Make sure to look through the forums and cool tips archives for info. on fish oil if you need it. Buy low-carb Grow! and use it. Try to get between 250-300g of protein a day. Cottage cheese, chicken, lean beef, eggs, turkey, beef jerky, and tuna are good sources of protein. Old-fashioned oats, brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, and yams are good sources of starchy carbs. Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as well. Variety is good. Eliminate junk foods and “empty calories” from your diet. Read articles by Dr. John Berardi and Dr. Lonnie Lowery. Train hard 3-4 days a week using deadlifts, squats, chin-ups, bench press, rows, dips, good mornings, and other compound exercises. Read the science of 10X3 by Chad Waterbury and adopt is set/rep parameters. Finally, make wise life choices. Don’t drink alcohol or smoke. This really helps out a lot. Try to get at least 7-8 hrs. of sleep every night and if possible take a 20-30 minute nap within the first 3-4 hrs. after training. Read some articles about different recovery techniques and use the advice. There is so much information available to you, so spend time and look through the archives and the forums. If you educate yourself and apply the knowledge you gain, you will achieve great things. Good luck
Some great, basic supplements:
Buy Surge and use as directed. PWO nutrition is incredibly important for building muscle, losing fat, and improving strength. Surge provides an optimal amount of high-quality protein, carbs, and BCAAs. Definitely a great supplement. Low-Carb GROW! is the best protein powder I know of. It really helps when trying to eat 1.5-2g of protein/lb. bodyweight. Mixes well in cottage cheese for a pudding-like dessert, oatmeal, etc. Grow! shakes can be taken when eating a solid food protein source isn’t convenient or doable or if you just need to add some extra protein to your diet. I already mentioned fish oil capsules. Also, make sure you are taking a multi-vitamin, a good one too. IF you can afford to buy more: I would buy some ZMA. It’s cheap and a quality supplement. Vitamin C is good also. Spike, which is a new Biotest supplement is also good. Look at the different supplements in the store and read as much as you can about the ones that interest you. You need to make sure your diet, training, and life are in order before you consider supplements. Besides the 4 supplements I listed at the top, you don’t really need much else at this point.