I make my supplements AMA

ask me anything in regards to supplements, nutrition, compounds, or if you haven't found a specific study on something you are interested in please let me know and I will do my best to find any scientific articles in regards to it.

About ME:
years of experience in weight lifting and natural bodybuilding
nutrition hobbyist
minor in organic chemistry
like talking about science and the body

Purpose:
Help people realize the hype behind certain things as well as educate and give some good solid evidence behind the proof. I want everyone to learn and not waste money on things they don't need. Please remember diet has the biggest impact on your body composition.

Ask away when you feel the need
hopefully we all learn something :nuts:

 

Geez is a noob but has helped me a fair bit through choosing supplements, if you need help, I'd definitely go to him ^-^

But you never did give me your thoughts on citrulline malate? You said you'd look it up and see but talked about it again :L lols

 

thanks dun. ( i think )
and about the CM sorry i didn't get back with you and you never reminded me
heres the jist on citrulline malate (CM):

What it is:
The essential amino acid citrulline. (BCAA's FTW like alwayssss)

What it does:
help decrease body fat levels/CM is known to help promote aerobic energy/endurance. This is done by enhanced ATP production which will help out with muscle recovery. (IMO the main benefit of this amino acid)

human studies: " The changes in muscle metabolism produced by CM treatment indicate that CM may promote aerobic energy production. "

Reason: "...One way analysis of variance confirmed improved aerobic function, which may be the result of an enhanced malate supply activating ATP production from the tricarboxylic acid cycle through anaplerotic reactions..."

Adverse side effects:
None listed - **generally amino acid derivatives should not cause much as far as sides maybe some bubble guts that is generally about it.

dosage: 3-6g / day
**( 2x on empty stomach i would suggest 1x before pre workout meal and 1x directly after workout)

conclusion: I would see benefits in using this in powder form and drinking it during the entire work out in some water. IMO, 3g's about 20 mins on empty stomach - pre workout meal - (1 hr after ingestion of CM) workout -> drink other 3gs through out workout/after

As far as fat loss goes, I would not look at it towards that benefit. For fat loss I would defiantly stack it with Conjugated linoleum acid (CLA) as well as L-Agmatine.

Hope this gives you a good idea on Citruline Malate.

 

Is taking creatine a bad idea?

 

it depends on what exactly you are trying to do in your training routine and what you are trying to do with your body... could you give me some info about you as far as what you are trying to achieve?


thanks bud!

 

Your opinion on creatine? Its literally the cheapest bodybuilding supplements out there, and there must be a reason why its so popular. Whats your take on it?

 

EDIT: If anyone would like me to go more in detail on anything please ask :]

I WOULD LIKE TO STRESS THAT BEFORE SOMEONE SPENDS MONEY ON SUPPLEMENTS THEY SHOULD FIRST TRAIN THEMSELVES ON THEIR DIET. IF YOUR DIET IS ON POINT YOU WILL NOT GET THE FULL EFFECTS OF WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE.

well to understand first things first their are multiple forms of creatine. Creatine monohydrate, micronized creatine, creatine ethyl ester, serum, effervesce creatine, creatine citrate, tri-di/ creatine malate, creatine kre-alkyln, creatine orate, and a couple other mixes are popular out there. Long story short tons of different compounds doing the same thing with a couple different effects.

Creatine Monohydrate (Most common) this is what most people talk about.. I do not like it it is very effective though and i would use this in supplementation when trying to get a bulk going. You will retain water while on this meaning you have the ability to pump more nutrients to the muscle. This is a good creatine to cycle if you will. you will notice strength gains come up a bit as well. you will get bloating on this, it is the go-to as an additive in most supplements because this is the cheapest form.

Micronized Creatine - More pure than monohydrate, you will need to "load" it, it is good to stack with other supplements, some people will take creatine Monohydrate and not feel anything on it, normally Micronized will do the trick for these body types because it has a larger surface area than Monohydrate.

Creatine ethyl ester - great absorption compared to micro/mono, no pre-load for it also runs through the body a bit faster than the others ( less bloating).

Creatine serum - expensive, taken sublingual (under the tounge and directly absorbed into the blood stream, not something i recommend for most people.

Effervescent creatine - putting this in here for the sake of it. Anyone caring about astethics will avoid this because of high sodium intake and sugar. Sodium is always your worst enemy when it comes to astetchics

Creatine Kre-Alkyln- This is my favorite and personally what I use. It is a bit more expensive but worth it, better absorption rate than Monohydrate as well as shorter half life meaning less water retention but still get the same effect just not as "bloated"

Me personally I cycle Cre-alkyln and will occasionally use creatine ethyl ester when I am bulking. Different "creatines" if you will for different purposes. But it should be noted that taking a creatine supplement and glutamine SHOULD be a rule of thumb for anyone serious. In most studies males ranging in teens to mid-20s will benefit the most from these compounds. Although everyone will I would just like to note that :]

 

What i've seen from personal experience was that when you took creatine, your muscles tended to "swell" © but they didn't appear to be really "stronger".

what I mean by that is that it seemed as if their muscles were filled with water almost.

 

Taking creatine causes your body to retain water as it enters the muscle cells along with the creatine. Retaining water in the muscles may increase the size of the muscles. Creatine can increase muscle mass by increasing the synthesis of skeletal muscle. The idea behind the strength on the muscle is because the cells are able to be more "full" allowing for more size because of a bigger pump and strength to come along with it from being able to push more nutrients faster to the muscle during recovery. Keep in mind your diet will reflect your strength as well

NOTE: water intake should be upped when you are taking this.

 

I am 242lbs and I hit the gym 3-4 times a week, with each focusing on a specific muscle group.

I want to lose weight fast and am willing to go the extra mile to input cardio into my gym sessions. (I do 20 minutes cycling before every session) However at the same time, I want to grow stronger both aesthetically and literally.

What should I consume as supplements? I've spent the last month trying to cut by changing my eating habits, which is from consuming 5-6 hearty meals, including supper, to 2-3 meals a day with no supper. I'm also consuming omega 3 tablets and carbohydrate-blocking tablets daily.

Any advice would do great, thanks

 

Thanks for answering my question. I'll keep this in mind.

 

Mind if i ask your height and age?
cardio will help a bit, not as much as people think though although it will improve your cardiovascular system BIG TIME (which is great )
BEFORE we talk about spending money on supplements we need to work on your eating habits. 2-3 meals a day with no supper is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you want to be doing. Your body has what is called an "Anabolic window" and the eating habit you currently have is forcing your body to be catabolic ( you should think of this as a natural mechanism your body has for survival) ex: Bears store fat so when they hibernate the body uses this as fuel for the bear to survive.

When you are in a catabolic state and your body needs to feed the first thing it will start to burn is your MUSCLE NOT YOUR FAT. So this ideology is essentially taking one step forward 3 steps back because your body is not getting the nutrition when it is hungry so it will resort to eating the muscle, yes you will lose fat but at the cost of your muscle being lost.

When it comes to a diet and you are really just getting serious about making these kind of life changes you should start out simple, don't plan out 6x meals eating every 2 hrs because you will get burnt out. Focus on eating clean and it will all come naturally over time. You need to learn your body as well, what works for me may not work as well for you. Get back with me on your height/age and we can go more in-depth and I will write you up a meal plan after we chat a bit and i can find out more about your lifestyle/hobbies. I am here to help and all my knowledge is at your disposal. I tip my hat off to you for wanting to change and would love to help work with you on create the image that you would like to see yourself as! :]

 

I am 16 years old and 179cm in height. And man, I didn't know about that.. I just thought being hungry in between meals was a natural thing, sort of like when a drug addict goes through withdrawals.. By the way, I've stopped consuming fast foods 2 months ago. Sports-wise, I play rugby.

Also, should I be cutting down on carbohydrates and packing more on protein & fats? I read an article which wrote that endomorphs can not fully process proteins as endomorphs take more effort to process them.

 

i would say just eat as clean as you can, don't carb count yet , elevated protein will help the role in building lean mass and help in terms of burning fat and keeping muscle.. Are you truly and endomorph or have you just had bad eating habits and parents who don't care about diet so you have never had an option to truly eat clean? (biggest thing i find is people think they are a certain body type but this isn't always the case they just had a horrible eating habit and were never taught)

At 5'8 and 16 years old you are still very young, if you start lifting on a serious regimen you should not have any trouble because your test levels will start spiking (until about the age of 25). Do you have the ability to purchase your own food or have your parents help you out with it? We can start out simple on a meal plan and work our way from there. Remember this shit takes time and dedication... HOW BAD DO YOU WANT TO BE THE IMAGE OF YOURSELF IN YOUR HEAD

 

I think I'm a mix of both. I believe I look like an endomorph as described and I have horrible eating habits since young. When I was young, around the ages 7-12, I'd gain 8-10kg every year without fail. Now my weight is dropping slightly due to my efforts to cut.

Well, I don't look like a fat boy who can't run.. I'm told I look big and 'buff' but I very well know that I'm not. Yes, I have the ability to purchase and eat whatever I want. (Been doing so for the past 4 years).

Also, what do you mean by 'test levels'? I don't quite get that.

And this body of mine stemmed from childhood obesity. To lose weight and transform my body into another, I'd do anything just to reach it.

 

okay man, send me a Skype message and we will work on some meal plans for you! What i mean by test levels is referring to your testosterone/free-testosterone levels. Your at the age where your bodies LH and LF are firing off and tons of hormones running around because you are still growing and tbh, if you get into lifting seriously you will have a great physique because you are throwing on the ground foundation for it if you will. Basically what I'm saying is if you are disciplined enough to really go for it you will be able to achieve it because what ever we throw at your body (diet and supplementation wise) your body is going to love and use it to the fullest so to speak :]

 

Taking creatine is worth only when you have been working out 1year+. When you start taking creatine without muscle then it is a waste.

 

What is your reasoning for this? I disagree.. everyone has "muscle". However, if you are saying that taking supplements without having a proper discipline on your daily life/ exercise then I agree with you. You will be wasting money but saying a supplement will give 0 benefit is incorrect.

 

Could you check out my thread

 

sure