Workout Supplements

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VG008

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Hello :)

I'm looking for advice to improve my strength training.

A little background, I've started strength training in Nov '21 so 5 months to date. I am skinny and my goals are to improve my overall fitness and increase my strength.

Currently, I'm struggling with leg day where I lose too much energy quite early on. A pre-workout was suggested as well as whey protein for muscle growth.

Question...
What does one check for when choosing a pre-workout & whey protein?
Which pre-workout and whey protein should I try?
Anything I should be concerned about?

I tried the USN whey protein sachet which did not go down well. I am sort of lactose intolerant, so apparently whey isolate protein is the way to go.
 
Eat better. I use to take supps but stopped because it messed up my gut a bit. If you suspect you are lactose intolerant, you might make it worse. You can build a decent body with normal food. If you feel you are not getting enough protein eat another egg and a piece of steak. For energy increase your consumption of rice, sweet potato or nuts.
 
Good advice by randomcat, to add to that:
• Eat plenty of nuts and fruit. Peanut butter and a teaspoon was my friend when busy and switch between fresh and dried fruit. You want to eat like a Gorilla!
• Eat cold oats/porridge/pap, anything hot will leave less room to fill up your tummy.
• Eat lots of red meat/chicken and fatty type fish. Sardines in a tin are awesome-sauce!
• Make yourself protein shakes mixed with collagen when on the go or between meals. Consider balancing liquid food throughout the day
• Try aim for 5-9 smallish meals per day.

The goal is to exceed your calorie intake compared to what you burn. With the hustle and bustle it is difficult to eat small frequent meals, so perhaps try cooking large batches of meals and freeze them in tupper-ware containers that you can defrost/warm up when ready to eat. Rather invest in wholesome fresh foods vs protein/whey shakes.

Careful with these protein or mass gain shakes, most are full of sugar and don't really offer the nutrients your body needs to build mass and muscle. Can even make your own shakes with mixed fruits and milk substitutes/powder!

Train progressively like a mofo and be consistent! Your body resists change so force the body to change with your will and determination.
 
Are you training fasted in some way? First thing in the morning maybe or skipping lunch and then training after work perhaps?

You might just need a few carbs to top you up a few calories a short while before your workout - orange or apple 20 or 30 minutes before or maybe a smallish amount of Energade or full fat cool drink 10 or 15 minutes beforehand - your going to burn it right off in your workout so if you're going to have a little refined carbs for short term energy, now's the time!

All the decent whey protein products aimed at muscle building are going to contain whey protein isolate and I don't think they are going to have much in the way of lactose unless this has been added in some way. Read the ingredients carefully to see if there's anything you find objectionable. There's always plant based protein options to try if you're worried about whey
 
Fasting increases HGH secretion, you can have one meal a day and potentially have more optimal muscle growth than the dudes eating six meals. So long as you hit your calorie/nutrient targets.

For strength training I like creatine but I agree that food > supplements. Eat healthy. There’s more to muscle tissue than isolated protein.
 
Carbs carbs carbs!

Creatine monohydrate (cheap stuff find the cheapest lure creatine mono you can find they all exactly the same with different price tags, most researched supplement there is and best benefit to muscle growth, endurance and recovery.

Preworkout ultimately depends on your focus, yah sure some offer good ‘pumps’ but it’s really just a big injection of caffeine depending on sensitivity of aim for 200-300mg before workout.

If you want to grow you must he in a calorie surplus, count your macros (fat secret app is great for this), protein shakes isn’t a must but for convenience sake it helps. There are plenty of milk free options out there like pea, soy even potato protein.

Lastly, unless you’re on gear adjust your goals. Realistically you can only put in 1 - 2kg muscle a year. Be consistent and try to always train harder than last time.

You’ll achieve your goals in the end.

Good luck
 
Pre-workout with caffeine loses its effect after a couple of days and if you come off of it for your body to resensitize, you will be weaker for a week or two. Not worth it.

I know carbs are great for endurance athletes but I’d rather rely on fats for energy/ calories. You needs fats for hormone production anyway, which is why I used to pour lots of cream on to my oats.
 
Thanks everyone for responses, this is very helpful.

I ate two bananas and tea spoon of peanut butter, which seems to have helped today's workout.
I'll see how tomorrow goes, which is leg day.

I've also purchased the biogen isolate whey protein, which seems to be more friendly to my gut. I'm going to focus on improving my eating & use the whey protein for shakes on those busy days.
 
VG008 said:
Thanks everyone for responses, this is very helpful.

I ate two bananas and tea spoon of peanut butter, which seems to have helped today's workout.
I'll see how tomorrow goes, which is leg day.

I've also purchased the biogen isolate whey protein, which seems to be more friendly to my gut. I'm going to focus on improving my eating & use the whey protein for shakes on those busy days.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear! Also most of the comments here have been pretty great advice (except the klap the roids)

I am a skinny person who went through the same thing of trying to increase my strength and actually gain a little bit of weight.

The best thing for me was Creatine Mono, got it from Nutritech. Now I don't eat enough but also struggle with time, this is where protein shakes are a little shortcut. If you actually have issues (I have stomach ulcers and a bad stomach 24/7 due to stress) then you can go on the Vegan options or check out MyWellness. These have had zero effect on my stomach.

Also water, people underestimate how much water you drink and my bloody head still hurts from not drinking enough. If you are active 2L of water is great but I had to aim for 3L a day. On Creatine its also around 3+L a day, seems excessive but you will know due to the headaches of creatine if you ever go down that road.

Lastly for my weight gain. I went on Nutritech Hulk Gainer (stuff is rough) and in about 3 weeks of it I managed to put on 6KG's and drop from 24% body fat to 16%. It's crazy stuff and I wouldn't recommend it as a constant meal replacement, the thing is 800 Calories a shake and it's 2-3 times a day.

But the basics: Pushups, Sit Ups, Pullups, crunches. Chris Heria makes amazing training videos to follow on YouTube and it's all based around a more natural and strength.
 
+1 on the creatine
Pre-workout, depending on the person but not a must. If you're weary of the caffeine in pre-workout, there are stimulant free ones that help with intensity and endurance, and of course those good old pumps. I'm using a stimulant-free workout myself: TNT Intense Pump.

Nutrition is also key, especially in terms of carbs if you have low body-fat. You'll typically want some high GI foods before a workout, so if you're having oats with peanut butter, or eggs and whole wheat bread, you'll need to also add some high GI carbs such as fruit and some honey.
If you're low body fat then some sugar during workout is very beneficial, perhaps some Energade. On leg-days I would almost say its a must.
Post-workout just try and get in a good amount of protein and carbs.

Coming from personal experience training from low body fat, its really been about trial and error, so be patient with yourself. If you're noticing no muscled gains, or perhaps loss of strength or muscle mass, increase the carbs and fat in your diet bit by bit.
 
Oats (100g) + a scoop of protein (23g) an hour before workout....

Black coffee (no cream or sugar) 30 minutes before workout...

1 x teaspoon pink Himalayan salt with a glass of warm water for a pump (15 minutes before workout)

ZMA, 1 hour before bedtime on an empty stomach.....

8 hours of sleep....
 
Madhawk said:
8 hours of sleep....
Click to expand...
The most important part of this.

You will only see changes in your body if you allow it to rest and do its job. I knew it was like that, but not to the extent I thought I would. When I fixed my sleep schedule and saw that one-weekend break with some good sleep resulted in major slightly visible changes to my body. I was bloody shocked at how much sleep can boost your overall health. (mental too)
 
Just eat real food bro.
If you don't hit your protein needs then a protein shake is fine and don't forget the creatine.
 
JasonK said:
Lastly, unless you’re on gear adjust your goals. Realistically you can only put in 1 - 2kg muscle a year. Be consistent and try to always train harder than last time.
Click to expand...

The rest of your post was good, but this is woefully inaccurate 1-2kg muscle a year, that's only for guys who already have years of solid training under their belts.
As a novice, healthy young man with decent genetics and if you're willing to eat and you're on a good program you can gain plenty more than that.
 
ghostRgg said:
Glad to hear! Also most of the comments here have been pretty great advice (except the klap the roids)

I am a skinny person who went through the same thing of trying to increase my strength and actually gain a little bit of weight.

The best thing for me was Creatine Mono, got it from Nutritech. Now I don't eat enough but also struggle with time, this is where protein shakes are a little shortcut. If you actually have issues (I have stomach ulcers and a bad stomach 24/7 due to stress) then you can go on the Vegan options or check out MyWellness. These have had zero effect on my stomach.

Also water, people underestimate how much water you drink and my bloody head still hurts from not drinking enough. If you are active 2L of water is great but I had to aim for 3L a day. On Creatine its also around 3+L a day, seems excessive but you will know due to the headaches of creatine if you ever go down that road.

Lastly for my weight gain. I went on Nutritech Hulk Gainer (stuff is rough) and in about 3 weeks of it I managed to put on 6KG's and drop from 24% body fat to 16%. It's crazy stuff and I wouldn't recommend it as a constant meal replacement, the thing is 800 Calories a shake and it's 2-3 times a day.

But the basics: Pushups, Sit Ups, Pullups, crunches. Chris Heria makes amazing training videos to follow on YouTube and it's all based around a more natural and strength.
Click to expand...

This is not improbable, but impossible. There is simply no ways you can put on 6Kg and lose 8% BF in 3 weeks.
 
Last edited:
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