Heavy lifters: A joint support supplement necessary?

[JoshKukl]

Your thoughts on products like Animal Flex? I am doing frequent heavy lifting, something similar to Westside Barbell, but I can't honestly say my joints hurt or that there's even any discomfort but would a product like glucosamine possibly prevent any sort of damage to joints? or maybe even help me lift heavier?

[Hawks58]

Largely depends on the person and their genetics + age. A joint supp won't hurt. Flex is good stuff. But lifting heavy doesn't always mean messed up or achy joints. Especially if you are lifting properly.

[Montourage]

I talked to the doctor that did my shoulder surgery about those supplements. The scientific evidence to support it is pretty weak but it might help some people. In other words his recommendation was to try it if I had the extra money but frankly it can't be that great or they would prescribe it after people have joint surgery. Examine.com seems to give pretty good information of supplements and it seems there is a 50% chance it could help. I've been considering them too because of my shoulder and I'm also considering fish oil which has much more evidence to support it actually helps.

[Caponetta]

I talked to the doctor that did my shoulder surgery about those supplements. The scientific evidence to support it is pretty weak but it might help some people. In other words his recommendation was to try it if I had the extra money but frankly it can't be that great or they would prescribe it after people have joint surgery. Examine.com seems to give pretty good information of supplements and it seems there is a 50% chance it could help. I've been considering them too because of my shoulder and I'm also considering fish oil which has much more evidence to support it actually helps.

To be honest - . A large portion of MDs would rather push prescription drugs then suggest a dietary supplement. My brothers doctor told him he will have kidney failure if he supplements creatine monohydrate at 3-5g / day..


Excerpt from published studies done over the course of 22 years (500 seperate studies in one abstract) done by; Jean-Yves Reginster, MD, PhD, Bone and Cartilage Metabolism Research Unit, CHU–Centre Ville, Quai G. Kurth, 45, B-4020 Liege, Belgium (e-mail: jyreginster@ulg.ac.be).

"Objective - To assess the structural and symptomatic efficacy of oral glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate in knee osteoarthritis through independent meta-analyses of their effects on joint space narrowing, Lequesne Index, Western Ontario MacMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), visual analog scale for pain, mobility, safety, and response to treatment.

Methods - An exhaustive systematic research of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials published or performed between January 1980 and March 2002 that assessed the efficacy of oral glucosamine or chondroitin on gonarthrosis was performed using MEDLINE, PREMEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Current Contents, BIOSIS Previews, HealthSTAR, EBM Reviews, manual review of the literature and congressional abstracts, and direct contact with the authors and manufacturers of glucosamine and chondroitin. Inclusion, quality scoring, and data abstraction were performed systematically by 2 independent reviewers who were blinded to sources and authors. Conservative approaches were used for clear assessment of potential efficacy.

Results - Our results demonstrated a highly significant efficacy of glucosamine on all outcomes, including joint space narrowing and WOMAC. Chondroitin was found to be effective on Lequesne Index, visual analog scale pain, mobility, and responding status. Safety was excellent for both compounds."

If you'd like to read more: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/arti...809#qundefined

[thefleshlight]

Ex SM/PLer here with AC arthritis; I've used a ton of things on the market, none really work outside of Joint Force or a high fat diet for me. I hear Skeletal Balm is also good, but I've never used it. All oral supps I've used did nothing for me, and this was prior to my arthritis issue.

[Valhallabound86]

Necessary? No.

Useful? Potentially.

If you have nagging injuries (as most powerlifters do), they can be beneficial as preventative measures. I usually lift in the 3-5 rep range and take joint support mostly as a preventative measure, but I wouldn't deem it a staple in my stack. I would put it above stuff like fat burners, test boosters, preworkouts, etc.

[boardroom]

I think glucosamine with MSM and chrondoiton is a great thing to supplement if you have joint pains. Otherwise don't bother with it.

[Montourage]

To be honest - . A large portion of MDs would rather push prescription drugs then suggest a dietary supplement. My brothers doctor told him he will have kidney failure if he supplements creatine monohydrate at 3-5g / day..

I checked it out thank you and I would have to agree that some MDs might in fact be that way. I think I got this Doctors honest opinion and to my despair no prescriptions other than the initial pain killers. You did get me curious about this since I have a bottle of Osteo BI-Flex in a shopping cart that I haven't pulled the trigger on yet. Did a search on " glucosamine and chondroitin" in my graduate database and here are five of the top top ten results....four were informative about the industry etc and only one seemed to promote it....all published 2010 or newer.

MIXED RESULTS EFFECTIVENESS OF GLUCOSAMINE AND CHONDROITIN CONTROVERSIAL
Glucosamine and chondroitin separately or in combination appear to lack efficacy for improving pain in osteoarthritis of hip or knee.
Glucosamine, chondroitin have fans, but no proof.
More Evidence That Glucosamine, Chondroitin Won't Help Ailing Joints
Glucosamine, chondroitin? Think again.; Supplements flunk test, but many still use them for osteoarthritis

One supporting...and it wasn't that confident.
Does Joint Juice help against arthritis?
"a subgroup of people suffering moderate to severe pain who took a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin and reported a 20% reduction in pain."

It seems it could help for some people and admittedly I've taken it before and didn't notice anything ten years ago. Regardless my shoulder hurts not doing anything from time to time so I'd love to find something that helps...especially since I'm going to hit it hard these next 12 weeks.

[Caponetta]

It seems it could help for some people and admittedly I've taken it before and didn't notice anything ten years ago. Regardless my shoulder hurts not doing anything from time to time so I'd love to find something that helps...especially since I'm going to hit it hard these next 12 weeks.

Your studies definetly seem to point toward a works for some - some not so much result. I wish I could see some studies on supplementing Glucosamine and Chondroitin to prevent injury.

Do you know is the "reported 20% reduction in pain" is referring to a 20% drop in pain threshold, or 20% of the subjects tested in that subgroup?

[Montourage]

Your studies definetly seem to point toward a works for some - some not so much result. I wish I could see some studies on supplementing Glucosamine and Chondroitin to prevent injury.

Do you know is the "reported 20% reduction in pain" is referring to a 20% drop in pain threshold, or 20% of the subjects tested in that subgroup?

Yeah to prevent injury would be interesting... but most studies involve those with either osteoarthritis or the likes. They are referring to the GAIT studies and it's saying that they divided the groups into subgroups or those in high pain to low pain. I don't know how many groups but basically the ones in the most pain were the only ones that showed a statistical change in reducing pain by 20%. They said the subgroup was too small to say for sure. Here is a link to the government info on the studies....well I have too few posts to give a link... but "GAIT Studies" in google it's top result.

[boardroom]

Apparently Turmeric is supposed to help with joint pain in some people too... I have always had elbow/shoulder pain for years and the gluco+msn+chon helped me but turmeric did nothing... my gf took it though and within 3-4 days she said her knee pain went away completely.

[Jeff the Repper]

Joint support is part of my daily staples. with all the wear and tear I've been through over the last 25 years of lifting I would not go without them. I have been using fish oil and Osteo-Sport for a long time and and will contine to do so. along with creatine they are the only supplements that I don't change year round.

[mmafighterskiba]

I never used a joint product until after my joints started hurting and i regret it. Right now im using Iforce Joint Help and i love it. It has the cissus and a pain reliever. I felt the difference within a few days while it took me almost the whole tub of animal flex to feel better.

Look into getting one for sure!

[Mack411]

i never had any problems with joints until i got serious about training and started lifting heavy,before that fish oils kept my joint pains at a minimum.since my routine has picked up quite a bit,i started having extreme troubles in my wrists and knees,i found that supplementing with fish oils and SNS cissus xt to help me greatly with joint issues,and helps my mobility overall!

[UOFLcards2011]

I'm on a joint stack of Orange Triad/CL Fish Oil/Super Cissus.

Great joint stack.

[292831]

I really enjoyed Osteosport...worked wonders for my elbow!

[JoshKukl]

I never used a joint product until after my joints started hurting and i regret it. Right now im using Iforce Joint Help and i love it. It has the cissus and a pain reliever. I felt the difference within a few days while it took me almost the whole tub of animal flex to feel better.

Look into getting one for sure!

Which joints hurt? and from what?

[Nom Z]

Powerlifter here, and I'd consider cissus a staple for myself.

Using Cissus XT, 3g per day.

[Rhinoe]

Your thoughts on products like Animal Flex? I am doing frequent heavy lifting, something similar to Westside Barbell, but I can't honestly say my joints hurt or that there's even any discomfort but would a product like glucosamine possibly prevent any sort of damage to joints? or maybe even help me lift heavier?

As has been said, it depends on the person. I have never seen any sort of benefit from joint support supplementation, but I also don't experience joint pain. With that said, save your money.

[VaughnTrue]

I never used a joint product until after my joints started hurting and i regret it. Right now im using Iforce Joint Help and i love it. It has the cissus and a pain reliever. I felt the difference within a few days while it took me almost the whole tub of animal flex to feel better.

Look into getting one for sure!

Awesome review right there!

Immediate and long lasting joint pain relief