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Walking into a supplement shop can be one of those experiences where you feel like you spent a lot of time there but got nothing accomplished. Shelves all over the place holding different size bottles and canisters with all sorts of pills, powders, potions and liquids promising the world. Is it all real or total bullshit?
A little of each is the easy answer.
First of all, supplements are just that – use them as part of your regiment with real food to supplement the meals, not take the place of them. For example, protein shakes are a great source of nutrition, but a meal of grilled chicken is a much better choice. So drinking a shake in between meals is the way to go instead of as a meal replacement.
We’re looking to put muscle on, so you need a high caloric intake but a clean one, as well. So skipping meals is counter-productive to gaining mass; plain and simple. Eating shit is, too, so you have to plan out your meals in addition to supplementation.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the haves and have nots:
Nutrition Supplements You Should Buy
1 – PROTEIN POWDER – Whey protein is the most common and probably the one that you have been using all along. Casein protein is a great choice before bedtime due to the pace that it goes through your system, to put it in layman’s terms.
2 – PRE-WORKOUT – A good idea to give you a spark when you feel sluggish at the beginning of your workout, especially if you hit the gym first thing in the morning. Some can make you feel jittery and then experience a crash once it wears off, so you’ll have to find the right one for you.
3 – BCAAs – Branched Chain Amino Acids are an important part of your program and the three most important ones (leucine, valine and isoleucine) will help in recovery and endurance.
4 – CREATINE – Viewed as a Godsend when it first hit the market in the early 1990s, there is still a place for creatine to help your physique.
Nutrition Supplements You Should Leave At The Store
1 – POST-WORKOUT – Taking these will not hurt you, but why deprive yourself of the most important meal of the day and one when you should enjoy some complex carbs? Most people that use a post-workout formula will do so in place of the meal and this is the one that will do more for your muscles than any other.
2 – TESTOSTERONE BOOSTERS – The only thing that will boost your testosterone levels is testosterone. All of these products are a waste of good money.
3 – FAT BURNERS – Here’s another one of those ‘excuse’ supps, where people feel that they can get away with more frequent cheat meals because they took two fat burners 12 hours earlier. Want to burn fat? Do cardio. That’s the only way it is possible.
4 – HGH ORAL SPRAY
Another fallacy like test boosters. The only form of HGH that will work is injectable HGH, not oral sprays, patches or gels.