Supplement Input for Rookies

[BulletWoods]

Yo!
Been lifting for years but never really took much for supplements besides protein twice a day (one morning, one post-workout) and a pre-workout drink (NO Xplode and such). I have seen decent but very slooow gains and am sure if I was dosing proper supplements the whole time, I would have seen better gains. Can you guys give me some insight as to what I should be taking daily and how much? Right now I only use truenutrition.com custom protein (80% whey concentrate and 20% calcium caseinate), and religiously take two shakes per day at roughly 50g protein each.
Want to weed out the bullshit and unnecessary products out there. Thanks for any guidance you can give. Stats below.

36 years old - 6'3" - 200 lbs. - 10.3% BF

 

[BulletWoods]

Anyone?

 

[Tbills02]

Supplements honestly don't do much BCAAS help me for being sore and creatine gives me a little extra push in the gym but honestly your diet is 100Xmore important then any Shake you can drink there isn't any that makes gains come faster besides having nutrion on point. Steriods are really the only exception to this rule and thats because they raise your natural muscle building hormones no supplement does anything besides maybe fill some holes in your diet.

 

[BulletWoods]

Thanks for the info. People are always talking about all the stuff they take and I was wondering how much of it (if any) is actually necessary. If any of it can help, I would take a serious look at it.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Yeah, the diet is the most important part and theoretically you can avoid protein supplements all together (however if you're anything like me, you find them to be a bit cheaper, easier if you don't have the appetite to keep choking down more meat each day, or just need something to break up the taste of the same things over and over).

I use agmatine daily and think it's a great staple for increasing NO, vascularity and pumps (on sale right now for 4 months' worth for $25 at Mr. Supps, too).

I use a multivitamin with fish oil, creatine, and those pretty much round out my "staples."

On my 5 workout days I use BCAAs + electrolytes during my workout and use Pump Juice Extreme (which has my beta alanine, more agmatine, betaine, caffeine, etc.) + extra citrulline malate pre-workout.

But yeah, minimizing is better. It's fun when everything else is on point to try some different things out, though (just so long as you don't become or think you become dependent upon them).

 

[juced_porkchop]

Yo!
Been lifting for years but never really took much for supplements besides protein twice a day (one morning, one post-workout) and a pre-workout drink (NO Xplode and such). I have seen decent but very slooow gains and am sure if I was dosing proper supplements the whole time, I would have seen better gains. Can you guys give me some insight as to what I should be taking daily and how much? Right now I only use truenutrition.com custom protein (80% whey concentrate and 20% calcium caseinate), and religiously take two shakes per day at roughly 50g protein each.
Want to weed out the bullshit and unnecessary products out there. Thanks for any guidance you can give. Stats below.

36 years old - 6'3" - 200 lbs. - 10.3% BF

supps:

Taurine 2-4g ed
creatine 3-5g ed
vitd 2000-5000iu ed ( or 3x a week)
multi V/M ed
healthy fats, like flax seed
dhea type supp, like blue algae extract.
*research calorie dense foods*

 

[oldmusclemike]

Yeah, the diet is the most important part and theoretically you can avoid protein supplements all together (however if you're anything like me, you find them to be a bit cheaper, easier if you don't have the appetite to keep choking down more meat each day, or just need something to break up the taste of the same things over and over).

I use agmatine daily and think it's a great staple for increasing NO, vascularity and pumps (on sale right now for 4 months' worth for $25 at Mr. Supps, too).

I use a multivitamin with fish oil, creatine, and those pretty much round out my "staples."

On my 5 workout days I use BCAAs + electrolytes during my workout and use Pump Juice Extreme (which has my beta alanine, more agmatine, betaine, caffeine, etc.) + extra citrulline malate pre-workout.

But yeah, minimizing is better. It's fun when everything else is on point to try some different things out, though (just so long as you don't become or think you become dependent upon them).

This ^^^ all good advice. I guess I do that type of thinking. Supplements are good for on the run but diet is critical.

Also do you train for LMM and I mean train specifically to promote putting on more muscle as in more muscle fibers? Do you lift heavy to failure. Failure in three sets after warm up, and low reps.

 

[BulletWoods]

Yeah, the diet is the most important part and theoretically you can avoid protein supplements all together (however if you're anything like me, you find them to be a bit cheaper, easier if you don't have the appetite to keep choking down more meat each day, or just need something to break up the taste of the same things over and over).

I use agmatine daily and think it's a great staple for increasing NO, vascularity and pumps (on sale right now for 4 months' worth for $25 at Mr. Supps, too).

I use a multivitamin with fish oil, creatine, and those pretty much round out my "staples."

On my 5 workout days I use BCAAs + electrolytes during my workout and use Pump Juice Extreme (which has my beta alanine, more agmatine, betaine, caffeine, etc.) + extra citrulline malate pre-workout.

But yeah, minimizing is better. It's fun when everything else is on point to try some different things out, though (just so long as you don't become or think you become dependent upon them).

Thanks for the input! Researching these.

supps:

Taurine 2-4g ed
creatine 3-5g ed
vitd 2000-5000iu ed ( or 3x a week)
multi V/M ed
healthy fats, like flax seed
dhea type supp, like blue algae extract.
*research calorie dense foods*

Can you recommend what DHEA to get and dosage? Can I just get the DHEA capsules from my normal supplement site (DPS Nutrition) or is that stuff bunk and I need something specific? Anything to be worried about with it? With being 36, I am intrigued as to what DHEA can do for lifting and sex drive. Any input there? Thanks!

This ^^^ all good advice. I guess I do that type of thinking. Supplements are good for on the run but diet is critical.

Also do you train for LMM and I mean train specifically to promote putting on more muscle as in more muscle fibers? Do you lift heavy to failure. Failure in three sets after warm up, and low reps.

I didn't for a long time due to a long term hand injury, but over the last couple months have really raised my weight and lowered reps and it is helping.

 

[CYP11A1]

I guess it kind of depends on what you're shooting for. If you've got the diet and training dialed in I think there are actual data to support creatine and beta-alanine. Also, depending on how you feel about the subject, caffeine. It's my personal favorite 'supplement.'