Supplements, do you take them?

[KnightsAnole]

I’m getting older, 47, and recently been hitting the gym pretty hard. Amazing how the bod is not recovering or improving the way it used to. So past few days I’ve been looking at supplements, which I’ve never really got into aside from a protein shake and multi-V. So for the next 4 months I’m going to give them a shot and see if I feel and look better. Along with shakes Im taking creatine, branched amino acid, l-glutamine, coq10, magnesium, milk thistle, multi-V and super omega3, and 2 doses of cigars morning and evening. Anyone else use supplements and how do you feel about them?

[Bill Hayes]

Be careful with the creatine. You need to drink lots of water. From what I gathered it uses a lot of potassium in your muscles so make sure you don't get dehydrated, especially if you've been drinking alcohol. It does put on muscle mass and basically helps you recover quicker. I personally think a simple whey protein drink after a workout is enough. Taking magnesium at night can help muscles relax and recover and sleep easier I've found. All the best.

[benfica_77]

I think i've mentioned it before I recommend looking up supplements and its efficacy on examine.com Upon a lot of research I take the following: 

I take :

• one multi-vitamin daily the Optimum nutrition Opti-men upon a ton of research i found it to be the best one for me. I only take 1 (they say to take 3) since I consume a very balanced diet. 
• One fish oil tablet - it has 600mg of EPA and 300mg of DHA. I find it helps with inflamation https://www.amazon.ca/Webber-Naturals-Strength-20-Percent-120-Count/dp/B00L3WS0Y2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1535586471&sr=8-3&keywords=omega-3+triple+strength
• I consume about 140grams of protein a day (0.8-1 gram per pound of overall weight) to achieve that I usually consume whey protein as a "meal" to hit that target 
• I haven't found BCAAs alone to make a tangible difference on its own. 
• I take pre-workout before working out (it contains 5gr of creatine, 200mg of caffeine, 1 gr of taurine, 5gr of L-citrulline, 1.5 gr of beta-alinine (this does cause a tingly sensation) and 3gr of L-Leucine (only part of the BCAA which is known to help put on lean muscle mass aka feed the muscle). All of these supplements work synergistically and give me good pump and focus while working out. 
• If you have joint problems you might want to consider taking Choline studies do suggest some help in that regard. 

If anyone has questions I am not a medical professional but have quite a bit of experience with supplements and would be happy to answer your questions. 

 

[HopeUgood]

I take a similar setup, sometimes a bit of pre-workout (mostly for the caffeine) and the tingly caused by the niacin and beta-alanine.  I find the BCAA's to work well for me when I am feeling a bit of a slump during workout, a couple capsule's pick it back up (even if only a placebo, it works for me).  I was lucky enough to work with a world class professional body builder (albeit from the old school) who set me up with a bit of his knowledge.  He recommended everything you have listed outside of the coq10, magnesium, and cigars (although that might of been his secret weapon, that or steroids).  He also added a vitamin B10 to your mix.  I find supplements help me to some degree, but it is negligible if diet is not there.  Also, as we get older, keep that form good. Nothing sucks more than injuring ourselves and having to take it easy for months on end. 

[Cayman17]

Creatine works great, especially in conjunction with a bit of l-glutamine about 20 minutes before weight training. 

I also take a daily multivitamin, vitamin d in winter, and a pill to prevent macular degeneration (eye problem)  

 

[Gary/khrma1]

Only for fellow cigar lovers here's what I take. I am a supplement nut age 65.  Ubiquinol more absorbable form of Coq10. Vitamin d with k which helps absorb ability. Curcumim which is in tumeric for inflammation. Astaxanthin for cellular ptotection. A couple of Thorne brand multi vitamins. PQQ-pyrroloquinoline Quinone. And sometimes CBD oil.  Nitric Oxide before workouts. 

[El Presidente]

Powders: 

Citruline

Magnesium 

Taurine 

Chlorela Spirulina

Ginger

Pills

Top end Multi

2000mg C

Ubiquinol. 

 

 

[Ciscojohansson]

I take vitamin D, ZMA, fish oil and vitamin K. At the gym I drink a BCAA powder. I have a herniated disk, so I don’t train as hard as i used to but hope to be back before the end of the year.

I find it hard see the point for anyone other the serious lifters or athletes to use creatine and whey protein. This will make you gain weight unless you have a very good diet and training regiment. The best supplement you can take is to limit sugar intake.

[RyviaUSA]

I also have a herniated disk in my back L4/L5 and my left knee is basically the knee of an 80yr old despite the fact I'm not even 40 yet.

Daily vitamin and a vitamin D are nice - since I was always low in vitamin D.  Brought my levels up to acceptable.

My favorite supplement is Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM with OptiMSM.  4 Glucoasmine pills a day.  Helps with joints.

I also like Melatonin every night for sleep.  It doesn't knock you out, but it helps keep you asleep for a nice 7-9 hours.  Good for those that can't sleep well anymore.  

With all of this stuff, make sure you drink plenty of water.  This crap can block the kidneys.  1oz of water per 2lb of weight or about 1oz per 1kg of weight.  Yes, it's a lot of water LOL.

[dominattorney]

17 hours ago, KnightsAnole said:

I’m getting older, 47, and recently been hitting the gym pretty hard. Amazing how the bod is not recovering or improving the way it used to. So past few days I’ve been looking at supplements, which I’ve never really got into aside from a protein shake and multi-V. So for the next 4 months I’m going to give them a shot and see if I feel and look better. Along with shakes Im taking creatine, branched amino acid, l-glutamine, coq10, magnesium, milk thistle, multi-V and super omega3, and 2 doses of cigars morning and evening. Anyone else use supplements and how do you feel about them?

Most people don't want to hear this, but literally most (legal) supplements won't do jack to help your progress in the gym.  The sole exception appears to be creatine, which I've found will make me look  bigger, but will have a bloating effect and anyway not do much by way increasing strength performance.  Your mileage may vary.  I eschew creatine because most of the powders are heavily sugared, and I'm in the iron game for strength rather than aesthetics anyway. 

I think supplements have a place on the recovery side of things, but then again I hesitate to use the term "supplements" to begin with.  I've found that the substances that have helped me the most are coffee as a pre-workout, turmeric, black pepper ginger and beets as a post-workout recovery enhancer.  The coffee is self-explanatory.  I work out at 6 AM and I need it to motivate my CNS before a heavy set of snatches or cleans.  The turmeric, black pepper, ginger and beets are taken in juice form once a day.  I'll juice about 3 beets, a mess of turmeric and ginger, along with some leafy greens, carrots and celery every sunday and keep a jug of it in my fridge.  The turmeric and ginger have natural anti-inflammatory properties.  The beets have a mess of magnesium in them, and the black pepper, which I add to the jug of juice afterwards, I've heard makes the nutrients in the afore-mentioned vegetables more bio-available.  I've tried taking these things in pill form and I'd previously written them off as bunk.  Juice theses same foods, or better yet just eat them if you can (I hate beets in non-juice form), and the nutrients apaprently are more readily available for your body to draw upon. 

The takeaway I got from  this is that if you are looking for a supplement for a specific reason, look first to where that supplement comes from.  If you're looking for CoQ10, buck up and eat some offal or liver.  I was looking for curcumin, so I turned to turmeric and ginger.  Where the pills failed to yield the desired result, the food from which the substance or "supplement" itself is derived proved a boon.  Protein shakes never really did much besides make me fart extra.  WHat did help was an extra 4-6 oz protein from steak or chicken

I used to have nagging joint pain in my knee from squatting and Oly lifting, which  is a lingering tendonnitis issue from my water polo days.  The juice cocktail has completely eliminated that issue.  I would bet that the turmeric,ginger, beet and pepper would be your new best friend if your body is aching after lifting heavy.  Hope it works for you. 

[Hookmaker]

In my experience there’s no need to spend tons on supplements (in stead use them on cigars). But you will come a long way with heavy dose potassium - you can’t really overdose, it is essential to muscle replenishment and build and if you experience minor or even major cramps during or after training it is a certain sign of potassium depletion. Remember the words of a fellow BOTL: No pain, no gain. ?

[Thig]

Interesting, my most recent blood work about 3 weeks ago came back that my potassium was too high. The doctor just told me to drink more water. I Googled it and there are problems that can occur with too high potassium.

[cigcars]

     *I take supplements every day. They're probably the reason I'm walking, functioning, and able to still work part time after retirement. I have crippling, end stage osteoarthritis in both my knees, which I didn't go into detail with on the other "Pet Peeve" thread to the guy who criticized people who want that parking space real close: I don't have a choice. Doctor's are recommending knee replacement but I don't want to go through that, and the horribly painful physical rehab I've been advised by them will occur. I take Tumeric, Omega-3 Fish Oil capsules, Liver Thisilyn, sprinkle cinnamon in my coffee (great for fighting back Diabetes - which I don't have, thank God), and keep various herb capsules on hand for various ills and ails as needed. I'm dead set determined to walk and use my legs no matter what - I refuse to be bed ridden, need any walker, scooter, etc. And so far, so good. I'm still truckin'.

[rp99pts]

Interesting posts.....Here is the bottom line, You want results in the gym, get your testosterone level checked by your doctor.  If you are over 45 good chances it is low and replacement therapy works wonders and is safe if you have a Dr that knows what they are doing.    it's not some "steroid Cycle" its just you take enough to put to put your body in the high level of the normal testosterone range for Adults.    Google "Genes Nitric oxide stack" for work out supplements.  most are otc but a couple are prescription only.   Not trying to promote anything but you have a Test level of 150 you will not get results in the gym.  

[El Hoze]

I take protein powder, that’s it. I also have a Norwalk juice press that I juice a ton of various stuff with. Kale, mustard greens, beets, ginger, turmeric, lemons/limes, just try to keep it lower in sugar (ie, not a ton of apples, etc). 

[RDB]

I’m a rock climber, and the one thing that makes a quickly noticeable difference to joint soreness and recovery is turmeric. I take it in capsule form with black pepper after doing the research on bioavilability.

[Zigatoh]

As seen above information or knowledge on supplements is,  well, chaotic. 

Just a note on turmeric though,  the active component is Curcumin,  which is roughly 3% of turmeric.  as mentioned it is also not very bio available,  bioperin (black pepper extract)  helps as does taking it with fat, or as a phytosome where the curcumin is combined with a lipid.

As an example a phytosomal curcumin can increase absorption by 29x over standard curcumin,  which adds up to nearly 1000 more bio available curcumin than just taking turmeric (29 x (100/3)).

[dominattorney]

8 minutes ago, Zigatoh said:

As seen above information or knowledge on supplements is,  well, chaotic. 

Just a note on turmeric though,  the active component is Curcumin,  which is roughly 3% of turmeric.  as mentioned it is also not very bio available,  bioperin (black pepper extract)  helps as does taking it with fat, or as a phytosome where the curcumin is combined with a lipid.

As an example a phytosomal curcumin can increase absorption by 29x over standard curcumin,  which adds up to nearly 1000 more bio available curcumin than just taking turmeric (29 x (100/3)).

I've experimented with all the different ways of getting curcumin, and to me, nothing compares with juiced turmeric and black pepper.  Can you elaborate on the phytosomal curcumin?  Is that something other than just buying the tablet labeled as such, which i have tried?

[Zigatoh]

8 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

I've experimented with all the different ways of getting curcumin, and to me, nothing compares with juiced turmeric and black pepper.  Can you elaborate on the phytosomal curcumin?  Is that something other than just buying the tablet labeled as such, which i have tried?

AFAIK it's curcumin linked with a phospholipid,  as curcumin is more bio available when taken with fat due to it being fat soluble. 

This seems to be a catch all for fat soluble components.

Black pepper has an extract,  bioperine (trademark name of pipeline),  from memory this helps absorption a lot of useful substances by basically stopping the liver from marking them to be excreted (note this can be a bad thing with some things that Should be pissed out!)

As always tho, do what works for you! 

[RyviaUSA]

5 hours ago, cigcars said:

 Doctor's are recommending knee replacement but I don't want to go through that, and the horribly painful physical rehab I've been advised by them will occur. 

Hey there fellow arthritis sufferer.  I'm 36 and a TKR is in my future.  In fact, since I'm young, if I'm lucky enough to live a long life I'll be looking at not only 1 but 2 knee replacements on the same knee!  Yay me!  I was actually just at the docs today getting another round of lube shots.  My left knee started going downhill at age 19.  I blew my ACL.  Multiple injuries later, and the outside compartment of my left knee is wearing faster.  That means the lower part of my leg is starting to angle out and I'm gaining a knock kneed deformity.  How fun is that?

For the past 8 months I've learned more about knee replacements than I ever wanted to know.  I'm fighting to make it in to my 40s before I have to do it.  But, I'm now at the point where I'll accept it when the time comes.  I know so many people that have done it, and they almost all say "I wish I had done this sooner."  Yeah, it sucks because for at least a few weeks you're in hell.  But the result is 20-30 years or more of a new lease on life.  No more of that horrible arthritis pain in your knee.  

How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

[Frozen North]

I’m almost 57. Haven’t taken any kind of supplement, ever. Feeling like I’m 40.

[cigcars]

5 hours ago, RyviaUSA said:

Hey there fellow arthritis sufferer.  I'm 36 and a TKR is in my future.  In fact, since I'm young, if I'm lucky enough to live a long life I'll be looking at not only 1 but 2 knee replacements on the same knee!  Yay me!  I was actually just at the docs today getting another round of lube shots.  My left knee started going downhill at age 19.  I blew my ACL.  Multiple injuries later, and the outside compartment of my left knee is wearing faster.  That means the lower part of my leg is starting to angle out and I'm gaining a knock kneed deformity.  How fun is that?

For the past 8 months I've learned more about knee replacements than I ever wanted to know.  I'm fighting to make it in to my 40s before I have to do it.  But, I'm now at the point where I'll accept it when the time comes.  I know so many people that have done it, and they almost all say "I wish I had done this sooner."  Yeah, it sucks because for at least a few weeks you're in hell.  But the result is 20-30 years or more of a new lease on life.  No more of that horrible arthritis pain in your knee.  

How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

   *I'm 61, Ryvia. They're talking about another supposed experimental medical alternative to knee replacement - and that's use of Stem Cells injections. NOT stem cells from aborted fetuses, but where they take YOUR OWN blood, mix it around, separating corpuscles, etc. then injecting it back into that affected part of the body...it's called PRP treatment, or something like that. As I only have VA medical coverage, apart from vision and dental, I don't have health insurance that would cover that cost. Otherwise I'd be tempted to try it. Maybe YOU can consider that, Ryvia!? 

[BG1165]

I began taking supplements based on family medical history of cholesterol and prostate. Since that time and a double back fusion later, I've also added Bromelain(this was a switch over from curcumin which I did not think absorbed well) for muscle tension and soreness. This puts me on a daily regimine of a male focused multi-vitamin, Sunflower Lecithin, Saw Palmetto, Zinc and Bromelain. For stress, I take a cigar or three a day. I haven't seen my doctor in years.

[RyviaUSA]

9 hours ago, cigcars said:

   *I'm 61, Ryvia. They're talking about another supposed experimental medical alternative to knee replacement - and that's use of Stem Cells injections. NOT stem cells from aborted fetuses, but where they take YOUR OWN blood, mix it around, separating corpuscles, etc. then injecting it back into that affected part of the body...it's called PRP treatment, or something like that. As I only have VA medical coverage, apart from vision and dental, I don't have health insurance that would cover that cost. Otherwise I'd be tempted to try it. Maybe YOU can consider that, Ryvia!? 

Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve actually looked in to the platelet rich plasma. My private insurance doesn’t cover it either. They are expensive! I’ve read it helps pretty well with tendinitis, but not so much with arthritis. Bummer right? 

I don’t want to push you on the knees, but just one thing from what I’ve read. At 61 you’ll have them for the rest of your life. You’re also young enough that you’re still strong. Recovery will be easier for you than someone 70+.  My best friends crazy mother was 58 and had them done at the same time.  18 days later she was back at work driving a school bus.  She’s obviously crazy but it shows you can do it.

In any case I wish you the best. Life with busted knees is no fun at all. 

[RyviaUSA]

1 hour ago, BG1165 said:

I began taking supplements based on family medical history of cholesterol and prostate. Since that time and a double back fusion later, I've also added Bromelain(this was a switch over from curcumin which I did not think absorbed well) for muscle tension and soreness. This puts me on a daily regimine of a male focused multi-vitamin, Sunflower Lecithin, Saw Palmetto, Zinc and Bromelain. For stress, I take a cigar or three a day. I haven't seen my doctor in years.

I tried bromelain but didn’t notice a difference. Are you just taking a pill?