Hi Traineo team,

Its been a while since I last hit the supplements, however I've set myself a goal to be the best I can be for next summer and I was looking into getting a little supplemental help. I've got a rough idea about the training regime, however I'm a bit hazy over the best stacks for the best results.

I was thinking of doing 3 months Lean Mass building using Whey and Creatine, followed by 3 months Strength and Power Training with Whey, ZMA and Tribulus possibly, followed by a further 3 Months Circuit Training/ HIIT to shred myself and hit peak fitness. In the last phase I was considering Whey, Glutamine and some kind of Increased Energy Supplement.

If I'm honest I haven't been hitting the gym this hard for a while as most of my gym work was a couple of years ago. Since then I've been doing a lot of outdoors, heavy bergen workouts, sprint training, rugby, football etc to keep myself in good shape. Doesn't appear that I've lost a great deal, though my maximal lifts are slightly lower. Expect to have that well and truly rectified beyond debate by next Easter though.

If anyone could clarify if I'm considering the right kind of supplements, or if it needs tweaking, or better still if I'm completely wrong and you can point me the right way please let me know.

Dean,

It's been a while since I've used supplements a lot, but this looks like a very solid plan. Though Whey is the best all-around protein, I would also recommend Casein protein at least during your Strength/Power building phase as a before-bed supplement. Because it is metabolized slower it will act as a sort of "time released" muscle food while you are sleeping and help with both recovery and adding muscle.

I also have a couple friends using the NO2 supplements and reporting excellent success in both the results and how they feel - might be worth looking into.

Good luck and hopefully around this time next year I will be posting a similar question

-dave

Thanks for the feedback Dave,

So what is this NO2 and what phase would be best to incorporate it? Is that similar to the Norateen stuff that LA Muscle used to supply? What can you expect from it?

Clarification would be appreciated, cheers

NO2 is a vasodilator. I was using NO-XPlode from BSN for a while. NO2 is actualy a highly unstable chemical, so what you're really ingesting is L-Citrulline which (theoretically) eventually metabolizes into NO2.

You do get a small energy kick, as you would with caffeine. I saw slightly more vascularization in my arms, but while that was cool it was really just cosmetic. I dropped it after a few months because I couldn't see any discernible difference.

I really liked Jim's supplement guide. I'm a hard-gainer like him and he's pretty honest about the supplements he takes. If you just want the quick run down, you can get his summary here -- but he basically does whey, creatine, and glutamine with everything else being optional. I take glucosamine with MSM for my creaky joints as well.

What Dave said about protein types -- I hear mixing whey up with slower release proteins like casein and egg white is good too.

You really can't beat professional body builders for advice on maximal muscle gain and minimal body fat. Try Googling for Tom Venuto's diet plans, including the 12-15 week cutting cycle he uses leading up to a competition.

The ultimate supplement?


I am sure you know it though. I find that nothing makes me feel like I earned a workout better than immediately consuming 3 gigantic chicken breasts, or 2 cans of the stinky tuna.

Eating gods delicious creatures aside, I just got back on creatine last week using the generic stuff from GNC that includes a couple grams of some miscellaneous amino acids. Working fantastically so far, but I hate how creatine monohydrate makes you gain weight. I mean, it's just water weight, and I should stop being such a nancy about it, but for the past two years my focus was to weigh 175lb and turn the earth with my rowing ability. It's a bit odd to watch 15 lbs get slammed on so fast, regardless of the gains.

Grab some creatine and stick with massive amounts of protein, whey and otherwise. I am still very leery of all the other stuff out there, I know not having the FDA stamp is nothing more than bureaucratic BS these days...but I still like knowing that the suits tell me it's ok.

That seems like a good plan. I can't really comment on the supplements, I only use whey and creatine. (like to keep it simple, and I can't afford alot!)




Unrelated I know but, consider doing the strength and power first? that way you can lift more weight when in your hypertrophy stage, thus gaining more muscle... dunno just a thought for you to ponder.

Good Luck with your goal

I've been using Six-Star Whey protein and Creatine, and in a few weeks I've gotten cut and I went from benching 120 to 145. They're really inexpensive (around $15 each 2lbs tub) and the Creatine has a nitric-oxide inducer to get more blood to your muscles.

Cheers for your feedback guys.

Looks like creatine and copious amounts of protein is a definite winner and the rest falls into grey areas. Anyone know anymore about ZMA and tribulus?

Also, whats the verdict with creatine and caffeine? I don't generally drink a lot of coffee, more tea, however I've been avoiding all caffeine as I've heard it flushes the creatine, and water you've been storing etc from your system. What do the characters out there who use supplements think of this, and do you guys cut caffeine out when using creatine? (Adam?)

Look here for answers, Dean: