Official Supplement Thread for Health & Fitness

• Best Multi vitamin is Animal Pak. Do a search it is everywhere. Best multi for the $ is Optimen by Optimum Nutrition.
• For preworkout there are two types. The kind that gives you a mental buzz and insane clarity and focus, and the kind that tends to make your muscles swell with blood (in a good way). The mental buzz workout drinks tend to be in smaller containers while the muscle pump workouts are in about 2 pound sized containers. I like both and have never settled on one brand as I try different types constantly.
• For postworkout there are the proprietary premade types that are very good products such as Aftershock, Dark Matter, Anabolic Halo. They tend to be more expensive but they also have more ingredients. Think of these products as the prespray that has everything in it, citrus, oxygen, enzymes, etc. For a simple yet still very effective and much cheaper post workout drink you can take one scoop of whey protein and one scoop of weight gainer. Lately I have been mixing in the scoop of protein into a fruit smoothie instead of the weight gainer.
• IMPORTANT. Wait 30 minutes after the workout before taking your postworkout drink. Why? When you are under stress (from working out) your body is releasing growth hormone and teststerone. This continues for up to an hour after activity OR until you eat again. It is a hunting survival response. When you are hunting your body is working to get and kill prey so the body releases those hormones. If you eat right afterwards your body senses that the hunt was successful and so it stops releasing the hormones. If you wait longer then an hour after the workout your body releases a hormone called Cortisol which inhibits muscle growth and encourages fat storage. It is doing this because your body is sensing that the hunt was not successful and is now trying to conserve energy. So the best time to eat is right at 30 minutes.
• Whey protein first thing in the morning upon waking before breakfast, wait 15-30 minutes if you can before eating breakfast so your body can absorb the protein faster. Whey protein 30 mins after the workout. Milk based protein or a protein blend at night before bed. Cottage cheese can also work for an economical source of protein. Milk protein digests the slowest and can help keep your body in an anabolic state during the over night fast.

I basically just buy whatever products are on sale at www.supplementwarehouse.com Whey protein is whey protein pretty much. The only differences are price and taste.

chocolate skim milk after a workout and a multivitamin everyday

Do you run or do any sort of cardio Frank? Like, for the purposes of working out? And cleaning carpet doesn't count.

I didn't know how to word it. I meant does he do some sort of planned cardio along with his workouts. I know carpet cleaning is a workout, but I meant like a real, planned workout. Like "Oh, today is Tuesday, I'm supposed to run 3 miles".

I would PAY to see a picture of you power walking dressed like Richard Simmons. Fanny pack and everything.

LOL, can you imagine seeing that coming down the street at you? And I bet no one would say a word.

I have softened my stance on HFCS. I don't think it's as bad as we've been told. Chocolate milk is a good mix of protein, carbs and sugar. But most importantly for me, I can actually drink it. Whey shakes and smoothies are hard for me to gag down, especially after running 3 miles in the middle of July.

Now, the multivitamin, I think is important. But I have a medical condition and I take it on the advice of my doctor. I could actually use a prescription I have and get a multivitamin from the pharmacy, but I just use a generic one from Wal-Mart. It's not supposed to provide any miracles, it just fills in the gaps.

I just wondered. I can't put any weight on. If I run or do any cardio I shed weight like an Olsen twin.

Crap. I guess this bowl of cookie dough ice cream was a bad idea.

The supplement companies would have you believe that you need way more protein then you really need. The most crucial time to get protein is after your workout. Whey protein is the fastest digesting highest bioavailability protein of them all. It can take your body a couple hours to digest and break down meat based protein but whey gets into your bloodstream the fastest and into your muscles to start the recovery process. I only take two scoops of whey a day, one post and one at breakfast.

If someone isn't getting results in the gym even though they are going the first place to look at is what their diet is.