Which Supplements to take and When

[DBart1004]

I currently work out in the morning. I take a pre workout (C4) added creatine and a post workout (R4) with added creatine. Also taking a T-Booster with Breakfast lunch and dinner. Looking to add BCAA to the mix as well as CLA any advise on when i should add these in? Also any redundancy in what i plan to take?

[gbullock32]

None of that is needed, BCAA, Test Booster, CLA, are useless.

SUPPLEMENTS

Remember one thing, supplements are only that; they supplement something and are never meant to be replacements. A multivitamin will not replace fruits and vegetables, a fat burner will not replace a caloric deficit, and a meal replacement is not meant to be your only source of calories.

This is a brief run down of the 'basics', for further breakdowns of specific ingredients (like Yohimbe, Forskolin, Glycerol, ect) more research on your part would be needed.

Protein

Spoiler!

Protein supplements are mostly derived from either Milk, Animal, Egg, or Plant sources. They are a powdered food item, made to be convenient to take. Their main purpose is to help you reach your minimum daily needs for protein if you cannot do so with whole foods, outside of that they provide no special benefit to muscle growth and are by no means 'required'.

Types
Whey- The most common, derived from milk and comes in either a concentrate or isolate. It is the cheapest and has a very high bio-availability, good stuff all around. Concentrate is the most common you will see since it requires less processing than an isolate. It is great and just fine for the majority of people. Isolates are another variety, they tend to have a few less carbs and fat, but cost more. They are best for people who have lactose issues.

Animal- Meat based protein, most come from the hooves and other parts that are not used in food; mostly collagen sources. These are usually not the best for bio-availability and are costly compared to a whey protein. They have the benefit of not being an issue to the lactose intolerant, but most prefer other sources for their protein needs.

Egg- From eggs, most are egg white powders. Again these cost more but have good bio-availability and do not aggravate lactose.

Plant- Best for the vegetarian/vegan, and those with very severe lactose intolerance (who still get issues even from isolate). These are sources from pea, soy, hemp, rice, and other plants. They often have multiple sources to form a complete protein source. Most cost more because of the processing involved.

Multi-Vitamins

Spoiler!

Multi-Vitamins are a good way to cover any gaps your nutrition may leave, they are not meant to (and never will be) a replacement for a wide variety of whole foods. Think of them as the spackle of the supplement world, great for covering imperfections, but you would not try and build a house from it.

Fish Oil

Spoiler!

Fish Oil is a good supplement for most, mainly because many do not eat enough fish to reach the minimum recommendation for EPA/DHA. For the most part you do not need to over complicate this one, just find a cheap and reliable brand and go for a dosage that covers your daily needs. These recommendations are 3 grams of EPA/DHA per day.

Creatine

Spoiler!

Creatine Monohydrate is the cheapest form of creatine and the most proven/studied. 3-5 grams a day, taken at any time with any liquid is all it takes and you do not need to load or cycle nor do you need to take it with sugar. Many types of creatine exist but just go with a plain mono- do not expect miracles though, creatine will barely have any noticeable effect, it may give you an extra rep or 2 but that is about it.

Bloating with creatine is actually very minimal, if it occurs at all, and usually only happens to those who load it (which is not needed). Creatine works by saturation, pulling water into the muscles and providing more endurance.

BCAAs

Spoiler!

BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids) are said to prevent muscle breakdown and aid in recovery- this is true but you know what already has BCAAs in it? Food, any source of protein has and is comprised of branch chain amino acids. Assuming you reach protein sufficiency in your day a BCAA supplement would do nothing to aid you. BCAA supplements may be beneficial if you take pre/intra workout only if you train in a fasted state, or taken between meals if you go 4-6 hours without food. If you do not fit either of those categories they are not needed at all, save the money.

Fat Burners

Spoiler!

Fat Burners primarily do 2 things, suppress appetite and provide energy and focus. They cannot and will not replace a calorie deficit or a proper nutrition plan. Some have other additions, such as Forskolin or Yohimbe which may aid in actual fat loss though, but again the end success of weight/fat loss is proper diet. Work on getting that in order and then, if needed, you may want to look into a fat burner for the final push you need.

Pre-Workouts

Spoiler!

These are designed to provide energy, focus, pump, and endurance; they do so most often with caffeine and other ingredients though there are also non-stimm pre-workouts for those who do not want the caffeine rush. These can aid you if the extra energy is needed but they are not required; if you are fine without them than you can just save your money.

Meal Replacements/Mass Gainer

Spoiler!

These are often little more than a protein supplement with a lot of cheap carbs added in to jack up the calories. Really, just eat more; make a homemade gainer from whole foods: Whole Milk, Oats, Honey, Ice Cream, Whey, Peanut Butter, Fruit; all can be blended up to make a far more nutritious and cheaper gainer than anything you could buy in a tub.

CLA

Spoiler!

CLA is useless, really... Unless you are obese and even then the effects are minimal at best.

Glutamine

Spoiler!

Glutamine is pretty much useless, save your money.

[Misctake7]

Return the test booser and disregard CLA. Most benefitial supplements you can invest in is a basic supplement stack of a multi, fish oil, creatine, and protein powder. Sounds like you have 1 of those covered.

[emergency]

I take my BCAA intra usually sip on it through out my workout. favorite of mine is Nutrabolics Anabolic State

[FormulaLT1poweR]

I currently work out in the morning. I take a pre workout (C4) added creatine and a post workout (R4) with added creatine. Also taking a T-Booster with Breakfast lunch and dinner. Looking to add BCAA to the mix as well as CLA any advise on when i should add these in? Also any redundancy in what i plan to take?

First and foremost what are your goals?

It appears you may be taking a lot of creatine, do you have how many grams you are taking in daily?

Are you taking any protein powder? How is your diet?

[DBart1004]

Diets pretty good. Looking to put in lean muscle. I do have a protein bar in the morning and casein shake before bed

[DBart1004]

3 grams of creatine daily

[fbcpastormk]

Creatine monohydrate is fine at 3-5 grams per day. You may consider a multivitamin and fish oil. People debate the use of bcaa's. I'm not sure if you really need it or not. Your goals require the proper calories and macro break down. The test booster may or may not help depending on what it is. What's the calories and macros break down for your day? What does your training look like? How much protein are you taking in?

[AfroPope]

You don't need a post workout, you don't need a test booster, you don't need CLA, you probably don't need BCAAs.

[TheFugitive]

OP, you're gonna have to experiment with these products to find out whats beneficial and whats not. Preworkouts, bcaa's, creatine and protein are all worthy supplements

[meilina]

Ancient Berry “Superfood Chews” (or “Crisps”)

This product was a “fortunate mistake”. This is just our regular Ancient Berry mix, only in this batch, we used Beet Juice Powder instead of Beet Root Powder – which made the product hard or chewy, instead of powdery like we had intended.

Note: About 75% of these are Chewy and 25% are more Crispy. Most people like the chewy ones better, but the crispy ones aren’t bad. We cannot guarantee which you will get.

Here’s the crazy thing … As a joke, one of the founder’s friend’s took a bite out of one of these packets and found that they actually taste really good (considering this is just pure superfoods with no sugar or fillers and designed them purely for nutritional value and not designed for taste).

This is mostly likely the healthiest snack ever created. Seriously. Because we didn’t design it to be a snack. We designed it to be a major health booster in a smoothie. It’s 100% pure superfoods with no sweeteners or fillers … and actually tastes good.

We will sell these until we run out of them. We likely will not be able to recreate this “fortunate mistake” – so this truly is “while supplies last”.

[showjo1josh]

Like others have said you will see your best results from just using your base supps and making sure your diet is on point:
TDEE Calculator

Calculating Calories and Macronutrients

Nutrition

The other supplements will yield results but nothing compared to a good diet and training program with consistency.

[DBart1004]

2050 calories 40% carb 30 protein 30 fat

[stad0203]

Sounds like you are getting things pretty well dialed in, and thanks for the C4 use!

Some great advice in here so far!

I would note that you can take your Creatine at anytime and no need to split it up during the day, 3-5g at at once is great.

I use BCCAs for a couple reasons: During a cut (summer) I often fast during the daytime and sip on them bewtween bottles of water until my first meal, during that time I'm drinking alot of water so it helps with flavor but alot of them also add in ingredients that help with that hydration. I don't normally take them during parts of the year that I don't do that fasting though (ex: on a bulk/winter).

I personally try and get all my macros or a huge majority from whole foods, also try and get micros there too. So, I rarely take a multi vitamin, fishoil, etc. I might take those just on days I know I'm not eating the heathliest meals.

I do take separate joint supplements (Cissus, MSM and Glucosamine)

How's your training looking?