I know some people are going to give me flack for this, but whatever. 🙂
If you get into the world of weightlifting, without a doubt you’ll be hit with the avalanche of supplementation. All sorts of promises to help you get bigger, stronger, faster, and shed fat, be sexy, feared and envied by men, and women will swoon at your rippling pecs… if you just take our product.
And of course, most of it is hype and bullshit. I mean, not just the marketing, but the products too.
On the whole, you don’t NEED supplements because they are just that: supplements. They are not and should not be the core of your intake. Eating right, eating a lot (in my case, to gain muscle and strength), is really the core of it. Nevertheless, there are some things one can and should do, if you can, to help that out.
A multivitamin is good, just to ensure there’s no shortage of anything. Plus, you likely need extra to help do all you do.
Fish oil is well recommended for numerous reasons. In this realm, it’s especially recommended due to the anti-inflamatory properties, which is helpful for your joints. I used to take just one or two 1000 mg capsules a day, but once I jumped up to 6000 mg (which gives you a little over 1g of the EPA and DHA), I did notice a marked improvement in how my joints felt. I’ve been experimenting with amounts and taking 3 capsules in the morning and 3 in the evening seems to work for me.
Whey protein. Because it digests fast, so it’s good pre- and post- workout to get some stuff in me. I use it mostly for that, tho sometimes if I’m crunched for time I might just swig some down because it is fast.
Creatine monohydrate. CreaPure stuff. Because there’s enough research out there to say there’s little reason not to do it if you can.
Those really are about the core for one to take. Beyond that, it all gets gray.
I thought about trying some other things, like glutamine or BCAA’s, but reading things like this and some other things well… I’m not sure if there’s much benefit beyond the copious amounts of protein I’m taking in as it is, both from whey and from beef, chicken, pork, venison, fish, etc..
And really… I have to admit that after a couple of decades of being inundated by the more esoteric stuff well… damnit, I think I’m just going to satisfy some curiosity after all these years. Yeah, I reckon most of it is crap because there’s minimal science, a lot of promise and hype, and it’s mostly bro-science. But I’d like to try, and I’m willing to be semi-experimental and semi-scientific in it. I say semi because it won’t be strict, I only have me so there’s only so much “control” and comparison here. But hey, why the hell not. Life’s short and I finally wish to scratch this itch after all these years. It’s the 16-year-old in me, I guess. 🙂 I’ll be honest: if something can improve performance, why not? I don’t want to do anything harmful, but as humans we’re always looking for an edge. I will say there’s a difference between “edge” and “shortcut” and I know there are no shortcuts: you still have to eat well and lift heavy. But if something can help, we humans are always looking for an edge.
After much poking around I figured hey… let’s try a pre-workout supplement, like Jack3d. I do figure a lot will be bunk, but why not.
I’ve been taking it slowly. Start at 1 scoop, see how I feel. Then go up 1/2 scoop at a time and see how it goes. I’ve even been taking it on non-workout days just to see how it makes me feel. I’m certainly not overdoing it, but I am curious to watch and feel the effects and if it’s doing anything for me.
I’ve only been using it a couple of weeks now and well…. I’m not sure I’m sold on it, tho I think it’ll take a few more weeks and maybe a second tub before I’ll feel I have enough personal data. Today I tried 2.5 scoops and well, I think that’s why I felt “odd” during my workout. I did feel like I could move mountains, but then, I put the bar in my hands and felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I was there, but I was out to lunch. It’s hard to describe, but 2.5 scoops put me in a realm that seems like “too much”. But as well, I’ve been a bit off, slept a lot over this past weekend, so maybe I’m just out of it otherwise? It’s hard to say, need more data.
I certainly don’t feel the marketing hype, which I expected. I would have been surprised to get those “sick pumps” where it felt like my muscles were ready to rip out of my skin. Frankly I’m getting good pumps, but it doesn’t feel any more or less than without the stuff. Could I be moving more weight? That’s still to be determined, once I go off the stuff. The jury is still out, but data so far is… interesting, mostly in terms of how it makes my head feel.
Who knows. I am probably a fool parting with my money, but that’s ok. Life’s short and I’m curious. Once I’m done with this stuff, I do plan to try some other things because well… I’m curious. What? I don’t know. Figure that out when I get there.
