Bodybuilding supplement question

[EstrangedReality]

Hopefully there are some knowledgeable 'roid heads around these parts.

I got some creatine infusion today which I was told is very good to take if you're bodybuilding. I used to work out regularly but have been outta the game for a couple years due to relocating. But anyways... I used to just take whey protein.

My question is - should I take whey in addition to creatine? Could I even mix the two together in drinks and take them at the same time instead of drinking two separate glasses of milk/water with them? (Example: If I mix whey into a glass of water, can I put the creatine in as well?)

[Chris Axl]

you shouldent mix the creatin and protein.

But taking both is good.
But theres no point taking it if your not woring out.

And you must take creatin more often than protein

[Walk]

Ignore Chris Axl. Take 5g of creatine at most (yes, it's about a teaspoon, it's supposed to be that small) on training days, and don't bother with it on non-training days. Stick to very small amounts of the stuff. You don't need much of it. That little bit certainly works, though. Granted, a lot of people are believers in loading up a lot of creatine (a tablespoon or more) for the first few weeks of training, but I think that's mostly psychological: a placebo effect. A lot of people have slightly better mental clarity after taking creatine, so even if you don't work out, it's a supplment worth looking in to. Hell, a $13 tub of creatine from t-nation will last you over 3 months, so it's dirt cheap, too.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459369

Take the whey and creatine together after a workout, plus some simple carbs (I like sugar water ) and maybe even some BCAAs. All of that together makes up for a good post-workout recovery. After that, wait an hour or so and then eat a real meal.

As for protein, the 1g/1lb of body weight is a good general rule. Compared to creatine, protein is far, FAR more important to consume regularly, throughout the day.

[Chris Axl]

Compared to creatine, protein is far, FAR more important to consume regularly, throughout the day

You take protein when you get up, and after pracitice.

Creatin isnt some candy powder you take, you need to take it a same time everyday, regulary!
And when doing it for about 6 weeks you must take a break. Or else all the creatin in your body will be "overloaded" and the body will just get rid of it. So you take a break of it for like a week, then start aigen.
If you dont the weeks of creatin wont help as much as it should do.

[D]

Supplements I agree with Walk in my opinion are placebo's. They give u a feeling they are working so it inspires and motivates u to work out.


Like with weight loss supplements. They are suppose to be fat burners but if u eat and drink like a pig and dont work out u arent gonna burn anything.


Take in protein, eat healthy,drink plenty of water and workout and that alone should suffice in my opinion.

[Axl4Prez2004]

^^^Just remember there are also some dangerous supplements out there too.  When I was back in college, my roommate would use something called Ultimate Orange.  The stuff can't be legal anymore, it had to have been an ephedrine-based supplement.  The danger there (which was quite humorous to us back in the day) was that he would talk about how his heart would start beating really fast and he felt like he could lift any amount of weight he wanted.  Needless to say, me and the other guys didn't touch the stuff.Some would have called me chicken, I call it smart. 

D's right...lean meats, fish, lean chicken, etc.  Lots of steamed veggies (not soaked in oil unfortunately), fruits, nuts, avoiding high fructose corn syrup at all costs, all the common sense stuff.  Water instead of soda. 

Also, do the working out for the right reasons.  Do it for yourself.  Do it for your health.  Pace yourself.  At the end of the week, if you're 21, crack a brew or 2 and relax.   

[Olorin]

Read this Russian Roulette:

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/article-creatine.aspx

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/protein.aspx

A ?good variety of articles in here:

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/articles.aspx

Join up to the forum and ask anything you want to know, (search through the forum first as you would be asked to here, as people generally ask the same questions when they first join up). I am a member and the mods there know their stuff, as do many of the regulars. I dont post much to be honest as just looking through the forums and articles you can find out anything you want to know.

This is the homepage.

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/

Or check out this US based one:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/

A great site!! Not just the forum but the homepage has and endless supply of information.

My top tips to you are to read and read and read, you will soon become familiar with basic knowledge about bodybuilding, supplements and nutrition.

Remember creatine and whey supplements are "supplements" i.e. They supplement a healthy lifestyle, a good balanced diet and a good training program. There is no substitute for real food, a diet that has the right amount of proteins, carbs and fats for whatever your goals are, is paramount.

Diet. Training. Rest. Get these in order and you are on your way to getting the results you desire. Add in supplements to these elements and you can gain even more impressive results over time. Creatine and protein supplements used correctly are great.

Dont confuse supplements with steroids, roids are in a completley different ballpark from supplements and are a fucking no, no for a beginner. Anyone thinking about taking steroids is generally advised to do some serious research for about a year or so to really build up a broad understanding of the effects steriods have on the body and mind.

I spent a long time reading up and decided they wernt for me. But one day I thought what the hell and tried a cycle of some oral ones a a very low dose. 3 days in I stopped as the side effects were just to much to bear, as I knew they would be , all the reading about the side effects i had done beforehand had brought to my attention that many of the sides were things I had periodically experienced in the past without being on roids.
Na, they aint for me. I dont think they are bad, or even cheating, people on roids will usually work extremely hard on their physique and sacrifice many things in there life. Training can become an addiction.

And finally my last tip is to take anything you hear from other people you meet at the gym about training routines and supplements and steroids with a pinch of salt, it may be hard fact or it may just have a grain of truth or mabye even no bloody truth at all.

Chris Axl is a good example of this. Dont mean to be rude dude but you are handing out mixed up, inaccurate unsustansiated advice.

Do your research, find out things for yourself and build up your knowledge - its a training aid in itself. You would not believe the utter nonsense you can hear coming out of peoples mouths at gyms, not to mention the bad training form, abuse of equipment and ineffective routines. They make me laugh and make my blood boil at the same time.

Good luck and happy hunting.

[Chris Axl]

Olorin is just another name for Gandalf!

[Bodhi]

Ignore Chris Axl. Take 5g of creatine at most (yes, it's about a teaspoon, it's supposed to be that small) on training days, and don't bother with it on non-training days. Stick to very small amounts of the stuff. You don't need much of it. That little bit certainly works, though. Granted, a lot of people are believers in loading up a lot of creatine (a tablespoon or more) for the first few weeks of training, but I think that's mostly psychological: a placebo effect. A lot of people have slightly better mental clarity after taking creatine, so even if you don't work out, it's a supplment worth looking in to. Hell, a $13 tub of creatine from t-nation will last you over 3 months, so it's dirt cheap, too.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459369

Take the whey and creatine together after a workout, plus some simple carbs (I like sugar water ) and maybe even some BCAAs. All of that together makes up for a good post-workout recovery. After that, wait an hour or so and then eat a real meal.

As for protein, the 1g/1lb of body weight is a good general rule. Compared to creatine, protein is far, FAR more important to consume regularly, throughout the day.

listen to WALK..he knows what he is talking about...so does everyone else besides Chris Axl...his posts scare me....

[Edward Rose]

Here's some advice, just swim for excersize. You'll get a killer body and chicks will dig you just as much.

But if you INSIST on body-building to make up for something you're lacking, please don't post a picture of yourself with no shirt on as your myspace profile pic 

[COMAMOTIVE]

Slightly off topic, but I've been working out with light free weights for about 2 years now.
I try to get at it 2-3 times a week, and my goal has always been to get in good shape, and that's it.

The problem is this:

Because of my job , I have to wake up before 6:00am to get a work-out in. I usually wake up, drink a huge mug of coffee and bust my ass.

BUT, because I don't eat beforehand, after I'm done, I eat a bowl of cereal or something, but about an hour later I EAT LIKE A FUCKING ANIMAL - I'M TALKING ABOUT A DESIRE TO EAT A DOUBLE EGG SANDWICH WITH BACON/SAUSAGE WHATEVER - I feel my body is telling me it needs it. Is it better to get something in me before I workout or is it better to go as I am, and then eat like a slob the rest of the day. I don't eat junkfood, but I eat about twice the portions that I do on days that I don't work out. Anyone familiar with dietary needs, etc.

Thanks

[Walk]

Supplements I agree with Walk in my opinion are placebo's. They give u a feeling they are working so it inspires and motivates u to work out.

Like with weight loss supplements. They are suppose to be fat burners but if u eat and drink like a pig and dont work out u arent gonna burn anything.

Take in protein, eat healthy,drink plenty of water and workout and that alone should suffice in my opinion.

Lots of people have terrible genetics, though. I am slightly overweight, despite working out and eating healthier than most people I know. Even if a supplement is only marginally effective, it makes a huge difference to me. The difference between losing .4 lbs and .7 lbs a week is overall very small, but in my eyes, it's about 50% more effective, and I'm patient enough to find it acceptable. The slight boost or so from supplements can often translate into real gains over time. Of course, everything else has to be in place, first.

While the placebo effect exists, there is a small improvement to most supplements if they're used properly, and in the right conditions. Taking fish oil is a great idea no matter what, but if you're a wrestler or you lift very heavy weights, your joints will really benefit from it. In the right situation, supplements can make the difference between being top 3 out of hundreds of athletes (what diet and exercise can do), and being champion. That last bit is what makes the difference.

^^^Just remember there are also some dangerous supplements out there too.  When I was back in college, my roommate would use something called Ultimate Orange.  The stuff can't be legal anymore, it had to have been an ephedrine-based supplement.

The infamous ECA stack was popular for losing weight. Thanks to stupid people overdosing, ephedra is illegal now, but there are still a lot of watered down weight loss supplements out there. For better lifting strength, different supplements are better, like Tyrosine. Besides, people looking to lose weight should consider doing higher reps anyway, making strength boosting supplements somewhat dubious. I save them for one rep maxes, which I only rarely do. Some of them help you study, too.

BUT, because I don't eat beforehand, after I'm done, I eat a bowl of cereal or something, but about an hour later I EAT LIKE A FUCKING ANIMAL - I'M TALKING ABOUT A DESIRE TO EAT A DOUBLE EGG SANDWICH WITH BACON/SAUSAGE WHATEVER - I feel my body is telling me it needs it. Is it better to get something in me before I workout or is it better to go as I am, and then eat like a slob the rest of the day. I don't eat junkfood, but I eat about twice the portions that I do on days that I don't work out. Anyone familiar with dietary needs, etc.

I'm the same way: it's normal. I gained a lot of weight doing this before I decided to stop being cheap and get a decent post-workout recovery shake. You eat more than you need to if you want to bulk up your muscles, but eventually you have to do a cutting phase and get the fat off. You'll likely lose a bit of muscle when you do this, but not much if you lose weight in a healthy way. What you need after a workout is a good recovery drink. I enjoy Surge from the guys at t-nation, but I admit that it's more expensive than mixing up your own, and some other brands are cheaper, too. It tastes good, though, and that definitely has value: making BCAAs taste good takes some real voodoo chemistry.

http://ifitandhealthy.com/post-workout-drink/

Eat lots of small meals a day instead of 3 big ones. That helps a lot, too.

[Walk]

Here's some advice, just swim for excersize. You'll get a killer body and chicks will dig you just as much.

But if you INSIST on body-building to make up for something you're lacking, please don't post a picture of yourself with no shirt on as your myspace profile pic 

Swimmers, sprinters, and even baseball players work out to improve at their sport. Simply doing a single type of exercise isn't adequate, no matter what.

Slightly off topic, but I've been working out with light free weights for about 2 years now.
I try to get at it 2-3 times a week, and my goal has always been to get in good shape, and that's it.

By the way, you'll probably get better results from doing heavy squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and olympic lifts instead of doing light weights.

Finally, don't do roids. I'll just keep it that simple. It's not worth it for average joes. If you're fighting for a multi-million dollar job as an athlete, it's your body.

[mdttkk]

i dont use any supplements and ive managed to go from slightly overweight (for my height which i am almost 5'11  i was 185 pounds, now i am 162 with a lot more muscle) and i have a physique comparable to brad pitt in troy or daniel craig in casino royale.  i really dont think supplements are needed, depending on what results you want (in my case im on a high protein diet, so i get about 150-170g of protein in me per day, along with carbs cuz they are very important, cant cut them out) you just have to keep to a steady workout routine and diet.  you cant workout less and hope supplements will cover for you.  ive read a lot on creatine too, where if you dont mix it properly it just goes to waste. 

[Bodhi]

you have to eat big to get big...but dont eat shit....try to eat 6 times a day...what has worked for me is about 3 or 4 food meals per day and 2 shakes....sometimes 3 and 3.....a few years ago i was 6'2 151 pounds...now im up to 225...and my waist size barely went up at all....you have to want it...i know it sounds cheesy but its the truth....everybody is different...what works for one person might not work for everyone....

[SLCPUNK]

^^^Just remember there are also some dangerous supplements out there too. 

I've known two men who both died while taking supplements. One was in great shape in his early 30's and the other was in even better shape an in his 80's. Both dropped to the ground and died on the spot.

Be careful, and always do your homework.

you have to want it...i know it sounds cheesy but its the truth....

It's not cheese, it is the truth. It takes hard work and discipline. Period. Shortcuts are for losers IMO.

[Olorin]

Olorin is just another name for Gandalf!

Move to the top of the class.

[Chris Axl]

Olorin is just another name for Gandalf!

Move to the top of the class.

[EstrangedReality]

Thanks for the help guys.

Christmas 2003 I was getting overweight so I decided to start working out. I began lifting weights, jogging, and boxing regularly. By summer I had dropped over 60 lbs. and gained about 20 lbs. of muscle, and that was with no supplements or steroids - just eating right, exercising and (towards the end) some protein shakes. It was the hardest thing I've ever gone through because it was a cycle of boxing and running one day and weight lifting on the off-days, then having a day or two of rest. But when I moved here last year I got out of the routine because I have no equipment.

I would never take steroids - I was just joking with the 'roid heads thing. But I appreciate all the help with this, because creatine seems like a good thing to take on top of protein shakes from what I gathered from the links that were posted.