You know's it brah
Supplements the debate/discussion thread
- Thread starter Freefaller
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You know's it brah
Man of Honour
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So I'm on a cut and have been for about 40-odd days. I've got another somewhere around a billion to go.
In order to not lose strength with my weight training I've upped my brotein intake massively and also started taking fish oil supplements. I've been taking creatine for some time too but I was doing that before I started cutting.
Is there anything else that people recommend for limiting muscle wastage during a cut? I don't want to go crazy with supplements but if something is simple and proven (by people other than broscientists) I may as well add it in.
In order to not lose strength with my weight training I've upped my brotein intake massively and also started taking fish oil supplements. I've been taking creatine for some time too but I was doing that before I started cutting.
Is there anything else that people recommend for limiting muscle wastage during a cut? I don't want to go crazy with supplements but if something is simple and proven (by people other than broscientists) I may as well add it in.
Man of Honour
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Yeah. I thought that would be the advice... and that's fine 
I just wondered if there was anything else that was worth trying.
I've been experimenting a bit with net kcal. 1600 was too low, 1800 felt a bit high, so I've settled on 1700. Seems to be working okay so far though I'm still yet to get round to re-weighing myself...
I just wondered if there was anything else that was worth trying.I've been experimenting a bit with net kcal. 1600 was too low, 1800 felt a bit high, so I've settled on 1700. Seems to be working okay so far though I'm still yet to get round to re-weighing myself...
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I've made this mistake before and have now resulted to either buying 1kg or 2.5kg bags and buying multiple flavours. Yeah it's a few bob more expensive in the long run but it stops me from getting sick of taking it like I did. Unless it's 5kg Banana Milk protein then then I'll be on that for everrr.
Just out of curiosity how often do people take creatine? Only on workout days or on off days also?
Man of Honour
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Every day. I think you're meant to cycle it but I haven't got round to doing that yet...
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Good, good. I just wanted to make sure that I was taking it properly as I tried to do some research into it but nothing I read was concrete on how to take it.
5g/day forever, with carbs.
You can load (20g/day for 1/2 weeks) and maintain (10g/day for six) but the general advice is the cycle off after this because of some cool biological precursors/stress management, but the net effect is (potentially) the asme.
I've tried many different creatines, different dosages etc and not a single one worked for me.
At the minute proten wise I'm using hydrapharm designer whey and it agrees with my stomach way more than ON gold standard (I had been using for over a year, then switched to mutant whey and now this).
Also to burn fat, walking the dog every morning on an empty stomach for 30min works alright for me. I'm on a high calorie diet (3900) but struggle to keep weight on because of sleep deprivation (joys of parenthood). Currently sitting at 14.2 stone with 14% bodyfat.
At the minute proten wise I'm using hydrapharm designer whey and it agrees with my stomach way more than ON gold standard (I had been using for over a year, then switched to mutant whey and now this).
Also to burn fat, walking the dog every morning on an empty stomach for 30min works alright for me. I'm on a high calorie diet (3900) but struggle to keep weight on because of sleep deprivation (joys of parenthood). Currently sitting at 14.2 stone with 14% bodyfat.
Some people get more than enough creatine from their diet so any extra from supplementation won't really make any difference, also it's not a real in your face supplement the effects from it are rather subtle so some people simply don't notice as they're expecting something magical from the way it's marketed by certain companies.
Define "work for me."
There are two headline effects imparted by creatine...
1) Water retention: assuming you drink plenty and consume carbs with your creatine, it will suck a lot of water into your muscles, making them appear bigger. This takes anywhere between 1-2 weeks.
2) Increase in strength/power and lean mass: a massive body of research shows that this can kick in anywhere between 6-10 weeks, depending on a large number of variables.
If you think creatine will revolutionise anything, think again. If you're looking for that extra couple of reps, then creatine will help. After it builds up to sufficient levels and starts playing with your biochemical pathways.
But then most people don't notice this as there is no 'control' to their own perspective: they just see their performance increasing over that 10 weeks, so who knows what is inherent vs. derived from creatine? Basically, the supplements we can discuss that work will not improve your performance in a way that you will notice. That doesn't mean they aren't working, however.
Yeah I know. I tried it a couple of times when it came free with my protein. I'm not bothered by it to be honest. Certain preworkouts I've used contained creatine monohydrate but not in significant dose.
To be perfectly honest, protein powders aren't necessary neither. Whenever I'm out, if I'm a bit short on cash I don't mind spending a month without any. As long as my lifts continue to increase I'm happy.
To be perfectly honest, protein powders aren't necessary neither. Whenever I'm out, if I'm a bit short on cash I don't mind spending a month without any. As long as my lifts continue to increase I'm happy.
Which is why they're called supplements.
Neither of them are necessary, at all. And sticking creatine in a pre-workout is the epitome of dumb (I'm aware that wasn't your choice, but that's never clever.
).Which is why they're called supplements.
Neither of them are necessary, at all. And sticking creatine in a pre-workout is the epitome of dumb (I'm aware that wasn't your choice, but that's never clever.
But it adds to the lovely list of worthlessly dosed ingredients they can plaster over the front of the tub so it must be good!
Don't get me started... the worst of these is beta alanine.
but again it's enough to make you tingle so it must be working right!?
It's a pity that most people get suckered into that sort of advertising and it's a poor show that supplement manufacturers are happy to take peoples money based on it.
I did, at around 4/5g per day (over the course of a day)... but forgot to order it. And won't pay for its delivery alone.
It's not that Beta Alanine isn't effective it's that the amount contained in pre workouts is completely worthless unless you're also taking extra to make it up to effective daily levels.