Post by ECM on Jun 25, 2011 12:59:21 GMT -5
If you workout, of course.
Beyond this list, there's pretty much *no* good reason to take anything else since the benefit is either very negligible *or* there isn't really any consensus/science that they do much, if anything, at all (except empty your wallet faster than a holiday season binge at GameStop).
SO, without further ado, things you should be taking if you train regularly:
*Creatine: if God was going to make the perfect supplement, creatine would probably be it. At its most basic, it acts as a water magnet, sucking H2O into your muscle cells and 'volumizing'[footnote:1]Scientese for make them larger.[/footnote] them.
As a result you get a few, noticeable, benefits:
*Increased muscle mass[footnote:2]Not in the literal, more muscle fiber sense, but in the sense that they will become noticeably fuller as they balloon w/ water.[/footnote]. On average, most people gain about 5-7 lbs. within the first 7-10 days.
*Increased muscular endurance as creatine basically tops off ATP[footnote:3]Adenosine triphosphate, the stuff that keeps *all* living organisms supplied w/ energy.[/footnote] stores, allowing you to squeeze out more work per rep (and overall) than you'd be capable w/o it.
The net effect of these two improvements is that you're able to work out longer and harder so you can build more muscle than you would w/o it which allows you to work out longer and harder so you can build more muscle than you would w/o which allows you to work out longer and harder so you can build more muscle than you would w/o it...and on and on and on as you scale Mount Alpha Male[footnote:4]Starting in the Weakling Lowlands and moving slowly to the Pencil Neck Plateau before making the final assault on Powerlifter Peak.[/footnote], ever-upwards, toHulk CHI-like proportions.
Now, are there any downsides to this wonder 'drug'? Yeah, sort of/maybe/but probably not:
*SOME[footnote:5]Less than 10% in my experience.[/footnote] people get extremely bloated on creatine, such that not only do they get the muscle volumizing aspects, they get what looks like fat volumizing as well. This is actually just water being trapped under the skin but, yeah, it can be annoying if you're interested in being as lean as possible (BUT you still get the good effects as well, so you should still be taking it).
*Cramping: personally, I've never heard of anyone actually getting this side-effect, but I mention it if only because you *do* get it, it's not that you're having a heart attack or that it's doing any real harm to you.
Anyway, if you take no other supplement, you should be taking this (and it's dirt cheap, even the varieties that pair it w/ sugar[footnote:6]Sugar helps get the creatine into the muscles. Back in the day we had to mix creatine w/ grape juice or some other, sickly sweet, confection to maximize the benefits but now they 'bake' the sickly sweet right in so...yay?[/footnote] and you *will* see benefits from it within days.
More to come later...
Beyond this list, there's pretty much *no* good reason to take anything else since the benefit is either very negligible *or* there isn't really any consensus/science that they do much, if anything, at all (except empty your wallet faster than a holiday season binge at GameStop).
SO, without further ado, things you should be taking if you train regularly:
*Creatine: if God was going to make the perfect supplement, creatine would probably be it. At its most basic, it acts as a water magnet, sucking H2O into your muscle cells and 'volumizing'[footnote:1]Scientese for make them larger.[/footnote] them.
As a result you get a few, noticeable, benefits:
*Increased muscle mass[footnote:2]Not in the literal, more muscle fiber sense, but in the sense that they will become noticeably fuller as they balloon w/ water.[/footnote]. On average, most people gain about 5-7 lbs. within the first 7-10 days.
*Increased muscular endurance as creatine basically tops off ATP[footnote:3]Adenosine triphosphate, the stuff that keeps *all* living organisms supplied w/ energy.[/footnote] stores, allowing you to squeeze out more work per rep (and overall) than you'd be capable w/o it.
The net effect of these two improvements is that you're able to work out longer and harder so you can build more muscle than you would w/o it which allows you to work out longer and harder so you can build more muscle than you would w/o which allows you to work out longer and harder so you can build more muscle than you would w/o it...and on and on and on as you scale Mount Alpha Male[footnote:4]Starting in the Weakling Lowlands and moving slowly to the Pencil Neck Plateau before making the final assault on Powerlifter Peak.[/footnote], ever-upwards, to
Now, are there any downsides to this wonder 'drug'? Yeah, sort of/maybe/but probably not:
*SOME[footnote:5]Less than 10% in my experience.[/footnote] people get extremely bloated on creatine, such that not only do they get the muscle volumizing aspects, they get what looks like fat volumizing as well. This is actually just water being trapped under the skin but, yeah, it can be annoying if you're interested in being as lean as possible (BUT you still get the good effects as well, so you should still be taking it).
*Cramping: personally, I've never heard of anyone actually getting this side-effect, but I mention it if only because you *do* get it, it's not that you're having a heart attack or that it's doing any real harm to you.
Anyway, if you take no other supplement, you should be taking this (and it's dirt cheap, even the varieties that pair it w/ sugar[footnote:6]Sugar helps get the creatine into the muscles. Back in the day we had to mix creatine w/ grape juice or some other, sickly sweet, confection to maximize the benefits but now they 'bake' the sickly sweet right in so...yay?[/footnote] and you *will* see benefits from it within days.
More to come later...
