For those of you that Lift/Work Out.

Layziebones

Layziebones

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I am interested in what you guys have found to be the best supplement for the fastest muscle growth. I usually have a Protein Shake the morning I plan to go to the gym and then a bar about 45 minutes after. I eat pretty good and maintain everything well. I am not a big guy, only 6' and I weigh about 170. I have next to no fat and fairly developed muscles but I want to get them a little bigger and i want to know what kind of supplements you guys like to use. I have GNC about five minutes from my house, so if I could get it there that would be great. Thanks.
 
Don't buy from GNC, they're insanely overpriced. I order stuff from Bodybuilding.com, they have pretty good prices and if you look around there they have some reviews about some of their good stuff.
 
GNC is not that bad. Yes they tend to keep other brands at MSRP to push their own product, however if you get their 20% discount card ($15 for a year) and time your purchases with other sales you get the same or better deals from bodybuilding.com. Shipping on large items really hurts their good prices at times and GNC can be more convenient when you run out of something.

OP theres no magic supplement to help you get bigger, certain ones can help attain your goals but unless you get on steroids nothing will give you amazingly fast results. To gain size, the fastest way would be a change in your diet. Basically eat a lot more (of good food) and your body will adapt and you'll gain more size/muscle as long as you're working out regularly.

Pick up a bodybuilding magazine like Muscle and Fitness or Flex, those magazines are all about gaining size and getting bigger. They have all the latest popular exercises, meal plans, and supplement tips in each issue. One of those magazines will really give you an idea of where to start from. Stay away from magazines like Men's Fitness/Health, those are more about living well and staying lean. Basically if the magazine has a huge hulk-like dude on the cover, it'll have all the info you want in it.

Happy lifting!
 
As far as I was taught, protein shakes and the like should only be consumed within an hour AFTER the workout, otherwise it mostly just passes through your system. Whether it's a shake or a peanut butter sandwich, it's efficiency is much higher after the workout.

~HotShotX
 
I use to try working out in H.S., but never saw any results. I have lifted weights since 2002. I wish I had the motivation to do it again TBH. I understand that my main problem was I didn't eat/drink the right foods and didn't eat all that much.
 
www.advantagesupplements.com is another good site to order from.

I like Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein. Pretty cheap, high quality, tastes ok, mixes easy in a shaker bottle.

I don't bother with other supplements since I'm not trying to put on much muscle. The real key is to just eat right. Have to eat more calories than you burn and they have to be good calories--veggies, fruits and most importanly lots of lean protein and complex carbs (whole grains etc.).

This is a useful tool for a starting point of how many calores (as well as grams of protein, carbs and fats) you should be eating based on your gender, height, weight, activity level and fitness goal.

http://www.muscletech.com/resources/tools/calculators/caloric.shtml
 
I also recently started a a month or two ago and need some tips..

My main goal is to make biceps bigger and lose stomach.. not sure how to go about it..

i have started to eat a little more and hav a protein shake every morning and after workout.

After a month or twp of off and on.. i can say i do feel a little stronger but my frame hasnt changed much..

Another board suggest that ON protein so that is what i have been having.. i see some proteins though that have up to 50g ... isnt that better compared to ON's 20-ish grams
 
ON is 23g. Use 2 scoops each time for 46 grams.

Don't do more than 50 grams in a single shake (or meal) as your body can't absorb more than that.

As for your goals, they're not really simultaneously obtainable. It's nearly impossible to gain a decent amount of muscle and lose a decent amount of fat at the same time. It's possible for overweight people just starting out, but only in the beginning.

Bodybuilders go through bulking cycles where they eat a ton and put on a lot of muscle and some fat, then cutting cycles where they eat less and lose the fat and try to maintain most of the muscle.

Especially with the stomach. It's very hard to get a six pack period (especially if you're older than you're early 20's as your metabolism slows down) and pretty much impossible for most people to get one while gaining any muscle.

So basically you need to pick a goal.

Build muscle--pound the weights with lower reps (3 sets 8-10 reps--meaning use a weight you can only do that many times, not counting warm ups), do only light cardio and eat a lot of good calories (see my link above).

Get ripped--go easier on the weights with reps in the 12-15 range, do more intense cardio, and eat slightly less calories than you burn (again see link above).
 
Thanks that was very helpful.

Jesus that calculator tool is telling me to consume 3000+ calories lol, 2600 to lose weight lol
 
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I was doing chest exercises yesterday and on my second set of the whole workout, on the bench press, I feel my shoulder do something not good... try to see if it's ok 3rd set and no, there is pain when i lift... stupidly, I try to work through the pain on exercises that I can't really feel pain in my shoulder...

needless to say, my shit is fucked right now and hopefully I didn't do any real damage to it...

this is kind of off-topic but kind of on, but, I learned a lesson yesterday... ugh.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']ON is 23g. Use 2 scoops each time for 46 grams.

Don't do more than 50 grams in a single shake (or meal) as your body can't absorb more than that.

As for your goals, they're not really simultaneously obtainable. It's nearly impossible to gain a decent amount of muscle and lose a decent amount of fat at the same time. It's possible for overweight people just starting out, but only in the beginning.

Bodybuilders go through bulking cycles where they eat a ton and put on a lot of muscle and some fat, then cutting cycles where they eat less and lose the fat and try to maintain most of the muscle.

Especially with the stomach. It's very hard to get a six pack period (especially if you're older than you're early 20's as your metabolism slows down) and pretty much impossible for most people to get one while gaining any muscle.

So basically you need to pick a goal.

Build muscle--pound the weights with lower reps (3 sets 8-10 reps--meaning use a weight you can only do that many times, not counting warm ups), do only light cardio and eat a lot of good calories (see my link above).

Get ripped--go easier on the weights with reps in the 12-15 range, do more intense cardio, and eat slightly less calories than you burn (again see link above).[/QUOTE]

I still dont believe the lower reps = bigger muslces and less weight w/higher reps = leaner muslces. Thats an old wives tale, simply put.
 
I doubt I have any good advice for the OP since I'm 5'11'' and only 150 pounds, but I just use a brown-rice protein powder to suppliment my otherwise low-protein diet. I've only been working out for about a year and I went from about 140 pounds with almost no fat to 150 pounds with almost no fat. I'd like to keep the fat off but I know if I want to see faster results I really need to bulk. Of course like stated above, my goals are a 6 pack and gaining muscle, which aren't really simultaneously attainable.
 
[quote name='HotShotX']As far as I was taught, protein shakes and the like should only be consumed within an hour AFTER the workout, otherwise it mostly just passes through your system. Whether it's a shake or a peanut butter sandwich, it's efficiency is much higher after the workout.

~HotShotX[/QUOTE]

This.

Also, negative weightlifting (focus on resisting when bringing the weight down, instead of putting the bulk of your effort into pushing up) is great for building strength - which, in turn, can be good for building muscle.

But I'm in a spot where adding muscle isn't an interest, and gaining strength is. So we may be in different spots altogether.
 
[quote name='Snake2715']I still dont believe the lower reps = bigger muslces and less weight w/higher reps = leaner muslces. Thats an old wives tale, simply put.[/QUOTE]

There's a good bit of research on different reps for different goals. I'm not an expert on it, just read several books on it a few years ago when I was considering doing personal training. But the fact that most body builders switch up their reps when going from bulking to cutting phases is enough to show it has validity to me.

These rep ranges mean use a weight that you can only do that many times.

6-8 Reps (or a little less) is good for strength. Myke is right that negative training is good for strength as well.

8-10 reps is ideal for building muscle.

12-15 reps is good when you're cutting. More reps and less rest time between sets will burn more calories, and more importantly it doesn't tire you out and keep you from not being able to do the cardio at the time and intensity you need to to really get ripped. Also prevents overtraining which is easy to slip into if lifting heavy and doing very intense cardio.
 
Ok I can see where it might effect the later parts of the workout and thus create different effects... The switch was always due to the inevitable plateua reached by builders. Just like its preferred to not get into a pattern , of same reps, same day, same time etc.

Good info, just I hear that soo much about less weight , and more times is a leaner muscle etc...
 
That's true, but that's not the reason body builders do it.

They mix up their bulking routines and their cutting routines for that reason, but they do bulking routines and cutting routines in general as one is good for putting on muscle (more weight lower reps) while the other aids in burning calories and shedding fat (less weight more reps). There's no old wives tale there. You simply burn more calories doing more reps with less weight and shorter rest times between sets as you keep your heart rate up more.

Doing less weights alone doesn't equal leaner muscle, that is a myth. But it does burn more calories and will help get fat off faster with proper diet and cardio than doing the same diet and cardio and doing more weight and fewer reps.
 
It's been a while since I've shopped for supplements, but I used to frequent Vitamin World. Their discount card would stack with my employee discount (I think it was Disney at the time, but they should offer for other employers) so I would get somewhere between 40-50% off. Personally all I ever used was protein power and creatine.

Protein shake in the morning isn't bad, but I don't think you really need that much protein pre-workout. I would go with more carbs & sugar so you have more energy to workout (I usually take a bowl of oatmeal and a banana).

To throw in my two cents when I was focused on muscle growth I always varied my workout switching from low rep, high rep, and muscle failure. It's all real personal preference how you go about it. A previous post mentioned before referencing magazines like Muscle & Fitness (I always thought it had the best information). They also tend to release contemplation issues with a good amount of exercises for reference.
 
Animal Pump taken with Animal Pak worked pretty well with me. Anadrox is another favorite of mine. And NoXplode has also had good effects. The trick is to take them responsibly and cycle them, 4 weeks on, 2 weeks off, or whatever you find works best for you. I don't recommend using them for more than maybe two months at a time though.
 
Reality's Fringe;4744651 said:
Food.
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from a fitness perspective, this is the best option. Your diet is the most important thing and you should avoid any supplements.

the problem with taking protein powder and stuff is while it does get you big real fast, you will shrink back down the moment you stop taking it or the moment you stop working out.

it happens to so many people; it's even happened to me. If your goal is jus to get big real fast then by all means go the protein route, but if you exercise for health and the future then just exercise for the sake of exercise
 
[quote name='JEKKI']from a fitness perspective, this is the best option. Your diet is the most important thing and you should avoid any supplements.

the problem with taking protein powder and stuff is while it does get you big real fast, you will shrink back down the moment you stop taking it or the moment you stop working out.

it happens to so many people; it's even happened to me. If your goal is jus to get big real fast then by all means go the protein route, but if you exercise for health and the future then just exercise for the sake of exercise[/QUOTE]

This is true. I see nothing wrong with using whey protein--but it must be used as a supplement to a proper diet for your goals, not in place of one.

I'd only use it post workout, you see better results getting fast absorbing protein into your body within the first hour after working out. Whey protein is as good as it gets for that as meat and other food protein is too slow digesting.

But I'm not a fan of those high calorie, meal replacement shakes etc. Just stick to low calorie, high protein whey shakes to get some extra protein and get all your calories from veggies, fruits, lean meats and complex carbs.
 
Eating right, as others have said is the most important thing you can do while building muscle. However, a little extra help in the form of protein and other supplements does not hurt. I use http://www.supplementwarehouse.com because they will beat anyones price by 5% instantly! I just went on google shopping, searched for the sup I wanted, found the cheapest price to a website I would never order from, and they matched and beat it.

I've used three different kinds of protein in the past couple of months. Dessert by BSN is great tasting but expensive. Body Fortress whey does not mix nor taste as good but it is very cheap. Like $13 for 2lbs cheap. I just bought 2 lbs of 100% whey by Optimum nutrition. Good taste, super easy to mix up and price is not that bad.

If you are looking to gain weight, check out muscle milk. Big caloric value per serving with tons of protein. Check out thesupplementrating.com for reviews on just about everything out there.

I would also recommend getting some creatine/glutamine. I take vassive ce right after my workouts and it has really helped me to recover fast after some intense lift sessions. The good thing about vassive is that it is no load and mixes/tastes great mixed with just water.

Oh and one more thing, pre workout igniters like no xplode have no affect on me whatsoever. There is a multitude of people out there that insist they improve their performance but I just get a little rush of energy and that's it.
 
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