The supplement industry is notorious for misleading information and shady marketing. There are products out there that are effective, however there are also plenty that are not. Supplements can run you a considerable amount of money and just about every supplement product out there tries to convince you that their product should be a necessity in your regimen. This is not the case, it's marketing. Certain supplements can be beneficial, but it is important to remember that they are supplementary to an already dialed in training program and diet in nature, it's literally in there name.
Protein powder is probably the first supplement anyone thinks of. If you'd rather just eat food in the form of protein and not spend money on a powder, that's fine so long as you can actually eat enough protein in your diet. Protein powder simply makes things more convenient. Whey protein and other vegan proteins are the most common and widely used.
Key things to look for when selecting a protein powder are protein content per scoop and BCAA profile. Any valued protein powder should have about 20-25 grams of protein per scoop. BCAA stands for Branched Chain Amino Acids. These are the building blocks of protein. The most important one for muscle protein synthesis is leucine. If a protein powder doesn't have at the very least 2 grams of leucine per scoop, you may want to look for another one. Two brands of Whey Protein I recommend are PES Select and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard.
Creatine is probably second to only Whey Protein in terms of popularity in the supplement industry. Creatine monohydrate is one of the most well researched supplements of all time. Time and time again creatine monohydrate has been shown to increase strength and muscle mass in combination with resistance training. Creatine allows your body to produce more ATP, which will increase your performance during resistance training.
95% of creatine is stored within skeletal muscle. Creatine is naturally produced in the body and small amounts of creatine can be consumed from eating meats but not a significant amount to warrant any boosts in performance or muscle. This makes creatine supplementation very practical. Creatine is simple to buy as it just one ingredient creatine monohydrate. Do not buy any form of creatine other than creatine monohydrate and you'll be set.
Unlike the previous two supplements, pre-workout is a bit more complicated. Protein and creatine are simple because they are singular things. Pre-workout supplements contain a multitude of ingredients and are notorious for being inadequately dosed or just flat out missing key ingredients that should be in a pre-workout supplement. Here's a list of ingredients and dosages you should expect to see in most good pre-workout products.
Note that not all ingredients have to be present in order for a product to be effective. All ingredients can have their place but chances are you won't find a product with literally everything in it, so you have to pick and choose. Some ingredients are not totally essential and may provide other benefits not specifically tied into pre-workout effects. Caffeine dosages are also dependent on tolerance. If you have a low tolerance, maybe opt for something with less caffeine.
Caffeine (150-400 mg)
L Citrulline (6-10 g)
Malic Acid (1500-3000 mg)
Beta Alanine (3.2 g minimum)
Betaine (2.5 g)
L-Tyrosine (750-1500 mg)
Taurine (750-1500 mg)
Alpha GPC (300 mg)
GlycerPump (1500-3000 mg)
Creatine Monohydrate (5 g)
L-Theanine (200-350 mg)
Full Breakdown of Gorilla Mode, a pre-workout I use and highly recommend
A few things to watch out for when looking at a pre-workout label are the type of creatine if included, proprietary blends, and the ratio of citrulline to malic acid. Creatine should always be monohydrate. If you see creatine hydrochloride, or any special trademarked form of creatine, that's a red flag.
Many pre-workouts will list an ingredient called citrulline malate. This is a combination of L citrulline and malic acid. L-citrulline is a nitric oxide precursor that supports blood flow. When paired with malic acid, L-citrulline is more effective. The problem here with this way of listing these ingredients is that it can be misleading. An efficacious dose of L-citrulline is typically 6-8 g. Listing the ingredients as citrulline malate can be used to obscure the actual dosages so that the company can undercut you, using less product than they claim to be in order to save money.
Proprietary blends are also a big red flag. This is a collection of ingredients that the company has mixed together and given it's own name. The supposed reason for this is to not let competitors in on there "secrets."In reality, this is almost always another way for a company to underdose their products and save money. They fool the customer and still cash out, so they keep doing it. Don't fall trap to proprietary blends. Next time you see something like "SuperPump Mass Complex" with a list of ingredients with undisclosed dosages, you'll know you're being lied to.
These 3 are the most popular supplements within the industry. There are certainly more and a few others that may be worth your while. Remember supplements are beneficial, but not nearly as beneficial to your overall progress as good training and diet. They should be supplementary to your foundation. If you want to check out some other supplements that have some practical use, here is a short list.
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