Hi guys, new member here looking for advice

Gettinthere

New member
Hi guys, new member have some questions about supplements.

I have been looking into supplements for a few hours, everything from amino acids to peptides to HGH. Its easy to get lost to what works and what is a waste of money, im looking to cut and build muscle ( mainly cut as with my slow metabolism its hard to get lean while muscle building is alright rate of growth)

I am 26 have been training for about 6 years and 86 kg i am 5"10, the only regular supplements i take is protein powder daily, training 4 days a week (need to get more motivated to get back up to 6)

also, my diet is okay, 2 cheat meals a week and try to keep lower carbs on a day to day basis

So my question is what supplements made a big impact on your progression? which took you to the next level when you got stuck?


Much appreciated guys
 
Welcome to the site!
This is a great question.
Thinking back to when I was getting started I made sure that my diet was on point with high amounts of vegetables, fiber fruits, the more natural the better.
Supplement drinks always augmented by diet but was never my complete diet.
Alot of new bodybuilders try to take all the supplements and vitamin pills etc and that was their complete diet.
They depended on pills to make it all work. Without getting real food into their body.
Not how to do it I say.
Your gains will be from the effort you put into your workout regime.
 
I'm roughly the same height and weight as you are. 5' 10" and 85kg.

I found I needed a pretty high dose of calories and that most body building systems didnt work so good for me. Mike Mentzers HIT style gave me the fastest mass gains of any other system. I mixed in other workouts and different things. ut that was the foundation.
Compared to other construction workers I was stronger than I looked and had an amazing cardio. Currently I cant lift and dont really have the slightest idea how much I eat. I am truly not trying to put you down but any mass I have is from the past, over I think at least 2 years ago or something.

Specifically detailing your workouts and diet will get you excellent advice. Also, if you do cycle, itll be what's needed to actual mass gain amd not just the effects of the cycle that will go away once the cycle is over.

I'm far from the true knowledge filled mass givers but if your body looks like mine you need to eat more. Personally more carbs messed with my stomach so I used fats to up calories. Peanutbutter sandwiches with 2 servings of it on high quality, multigrain whole wheat bread.

I am on TRT due to side effects of epilespy medications but mostly do house cleaning.
 
Welcome to the site!
This is a great question.
Thinking back to when I was getting started I made sure that my diet was on point with high amounts of vegetables, fiber fruits, the more natural the better.
Supplement drinks always augmented by diet but was never my complete diet.
Alot of new bodybuilders try to take all the supplements and vitamin pills etc and that was their complete diet.
They depended on pills to make it all work. Without getting real food into their body.
Not how to do it I say.
Your gains will be from the effort you put into your workout regime.

Thanks for the advice man

i am definitely focusing more on my diet now and trying to eat clean as i can, my workout routine i would say is pretty good. I personally struggle more with dieting rather than training so this is good advice.
I currently feel like im missing out as i dont take many supplements (besides protein, but looking at how many there are im a bit lost.

While focusing on my diet as the primary would you say there are any supplements that made a huge difference to you? or the difference is small?

Also i was looking into peptides that look pretty good, but then you have SARMS, steroids and HGH. I would prefer not to take steroids at this stage but i would like to try out something to add to my regime
 
Hey man thanks for the reply

Ive been looking into the cycles, the thing that puts me off is it seems you have to keep taking or you will loose gains, but i could be wrong im new to this.

Ill research that HIT style and TRT, right now im pretty good at training, just my dieting is hard even though im eating 70% clean. With my metabolism i seem to put on muscle okay but man i can put on fat real fast if i eat bad
 
Basically if you look like me you need to eat more. A good diet is great but you need more. One thing I've learned from the truly experienced and knowledgeable members, including 3J that does it for a business, is you will gain a little fat to bulk.

Dont just add 2k calories a day but eat more calories than you need. Tue weight gain will go up with muscle mass and a little bit of fat. Once your gains stop and you possibly start to lean out add more.

I will go find the sticky and then copy and paste 3Js recommendation. . . .BRB
 
You need to figure out your BMR (this is the basal ********* rate of your body... which means if you were to do nothing all day, your body would burn these many calories)

Once you've figured out your BMR, you need your TDEE (this is your total daily energy expenditure, it's based upon your activity level)

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)*



In order to figure out your BMR, you need to know what your lean body mass is.. so, in turn, u need to know what your body fat percentage is...

If you don't know your body fat percentage, go to your gym and get tested (please don't use electronic scales to get your bf checked, they're horrible)

if you cannot find a gym to get tested at, please post up a picture for estimates on the forum

Total weight x bf in decimal form = total bf weight

Total weight - total bf weight = total lean body mass

if your total lean body mass is in lbs, u can divide it by 2.2 to get it in kilograms..

For example..

I am 6'4 275lbs at 14% bf... so I would multiply 275 by .14 (converted from percent to decimal)= 38.5lbs

275 - 38.5 = 236.5lbs lean body weight

236.5 / 2.2 = 107.5 lean mass in kg

370 + (21.6 x 107.5) = 2692 BMR (this is high for the average person, I'm a big guy)

TDEE

Once you have you BMR, you need to calculate your TDEE, this is simply done with some multiplication...

you can multiply it by an activity number to figure out your daily caloric expenditure, be honest here as this is the very cornerstone of your diet, if you are between two of the below activity levels then just multiply by a number in between them

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:


If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9*

Once you have your TDEE, we can make some simple choices.

If you're going to bulk start by adding 500 calories to your TDEE.

So, if I had a TDEE of 3000 calories, I would start my bulk at 3500 calories

If you're going to cut, you want to reduce your calories by 15 to 20%*
So, again if I had a TDEE of 3000 then I would start my cut at about 450 to 600 calories below my TDEE


Here are some simple tips for setting up correct macros:

For bulking, you want to keep two things high, protein and carbs. For example, at a 3000 calories bulk I would personally have my macros look like this

250-300g protein
300-350g carbs
70g fats

Now you have to fill out six meals a day. Divide the protein by 6 and average each meal to that number, at 300g 6 meals would average about 50g per meal.*
Divide your carbs into 5 meals; at 300g carbs you would need 60g carbs per meal. The last meal of the day should never have carbs. It reduces natural growth hormone production as you sleep.

When bulking on cycle keep in mind the calorie increase happens quicker.. i like to add about 150 calories (roughly) every other week after my initial 500 calories above my TDEE.. this ensures that your eating at the higher level of your bodies needs.. So that is correct guys, if you start at 3500 calories, expect to end around 4300-4500 calories


If you want to cut the ideal rule of thumb is to follow a PRN or as needed basis on the carbs. Carbs should be focused on breakfast, pre, and post workout

Ideally, your macros at a 2500 calorie cut should look like this
300g protein
150g carbs
80g fat

Again, divide the protein evenly throughout the day. Divide the carbs evenly into breakfast, pre, and post workout. Fill the rest of the meals with fats to get the necessary 80g fats that you need.
 
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