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The Best Supplement
I have spent a lot of money on supplements over the years. Some of that cash was well spent, and some of it... well, let's just say I popped a lot of HMB caps. Bill Phillip's got a little richer off me, and I got crap for results (Bill actually warns consumers to beware of fake HMB). Man, I'm sure glad I got the real stuff.
I'm here to talk about the best
supplement out there. I'm sure you're saying,
"why should I care, and who is this guy
anyway."
Listen for a second. I've got some credibility
when it comes to supplements and body building.
Not because I have a diploma on the wall
(although I'm currently two years short of my MD.),
and not because I'm an overwhelming presence in the
gym ( 5'7", 175 lbs, and not setting any
records in bench or squat), but because I've used a
lot of supplements, and I found a system of
training, nutrition, and supplementation that
produced dramatic results.
The truth is, I was damn small. I had a thyroid
problem as a teenager and at one point, when I
turned sixteen, I was 5'1" and 75 lbs. It's
hard to believe but those numbers are real.
And even as my endocrine imbalance was treated,
and I finally grew a little, I couldn't put on
weight to save my life.
I tried everything: creatine, pro-hormones,
weight gainers (Weider's Mega Carb Shit 2000),
calorie cycling diets with emphasis on the bulking
phase, protein bars, cell volumizing recovery
drinks, and the list goes on and on.
Despite my efforts, a year ago at this time I
weighed 148 lbs.
So what supplement made the difference? Where did
the 27 lbs. in one year come from, with 7 of those
lbs. in one week?
We'll, obviously there is no legal supplement
that produces gains like that by itself. But there
was a supplement, among other factors, that made a
big difference for me. I'll get to that supplement
later, but first, I want to talk about gaining
muscle in general.
How
To Gain Lean Muscle Mass training, nutrition,
and hormonal state
(maximizing anabolism and minimizing catabolism).
Training It never fails. There is always some jackass
lifting too much weight through too small a range of
motion, usually straining, bending, and cheating in
every direction just so he can say to his friend at
work the next day that he can bench this much, or
curl that much, blah, blah, blah.
I have a friend at school who claims to curl
about what I curl, except his arms are like
toothpicks.
The point is, weights are just a means to end. If
you want muscle growth, things like tempo,
variation, proper form, and full range of motion are
just as important as the weight that is used. Here's
an example.
A few weeks ago, I was watching these guys in the
gym doing seated over head dumbbell presses, a great
exercise for working your anterior delts.
The first guy picks up weights that he can hardly
carry to the bench, then precedes to rip off about 8
reps in 8 seconds, with his friend doing at least
half the work on the last 5 reps.
He then says to his friend, "I can't get a
burn on this one, I get tired too quick." I
felt like yelling, "cut the weight in half, and
slow the tempo by at least 5 times what your doing
now, and you'll feel a burn."
I first noticed impressive gains when I really
started to focus on tempo. If you've reached a
plateau, try extreme tempos like 7-8 seconds for the
eccentric, 4-5 for the concentric.
I bet you'll notice gains in just a few weeks.
I'm sure you've heard this before, so I won't bore
you anymore.
Just pay attention to effective training habits,
things you can find in a GOOD body building
magazine, or in any strength training book by
Charles Poliquin.
Nutrition I want to focus on post-workout recovery, total
protein and calorie intake, and the importance of
insulin sensitivity.
Actually, insulin falls under hormonal state, but
it's so dependent on dietary intake that I'm going
to talk about it now.
Insulin sensitivity, which primarily determines
glucose and amino acid uptake into muscle cells, is
at it's highest in the morning and after a workout.
So obviously, you should eat your highest
glycemic carbs at those times.
Post-workout recovery primarily involves carb
intake with a good protein source.
There are formulas you can use, but from what
I've seen, it's variable between two people, even if
they have similar lean body masses and workout
routines.
After some trial and error, I found that I need
about 700 calories (with 45-50 grams of protein)
following an 18-20 set workout.
You'll need to do some experimenting to find out
what works best for you. What about total calorie
intake?
A good rough guess is about 18 multiplied by your
body weight, but again, this is highly variable from
person to person.
See what works for you. Protein intake should be
about .8-1 gram per pound of body weight.
If you take in too much above this number, you'll
just up-regulate liver pathways that chew up amino
acids. Obviously, there's more to nutrition than
just calorie and protein calculations.
Make sure you get the vitamins and important
minerals (magnesium, zinc, chromium, etc.) that you
need, and avoid empty calories (beer, chips,
donuts).You've heard this before.
So you're doing everything I've talked about so
far: Yet your results aren't as impressive as someone
else with a similar program, or even someone who
doesn't work as hard as you.
Why
Nothing Works You can eat carbs at the right time to maximize
your insulin sensitivity, but it is still determined
by factors beyond you're control.
And as for the other primary anabolic hormones,
GH and testosterone, you're limited by genes there
too.
It is in the arena of hormones that in my opinion
supplementation can make the biggest difference.
Since we've already talked about dietary measures
that improve insulin sensitivity, let's talk about
supplements.
Alpha-lipoic (acid) taken with meals for a total
of 600 mg per day, will sensitize insulin receptors
and also acts an antioxidant.
Minerals like chromium and vanadium can also help
with insulin sensitivity.
I use chromium polynicotinate every day, and
occasionally like to throw in some vanadyl sulfate.
Next, we need to maximize thyroid function.
Guggulsterones have been shown to increase
thyroid activity, and can be found in supplements
like Prolab's Metabolic Thyrolean and Biotest's MD6.
As for naturally improving GH levels, there's not
a lot of good news at this time.
Most of the current stuff out there is bunk,
whether it's a liquid GHB analog or a sublingual
spray.
Glutamine supplementation might offer some help
with GH levels, and is certainly a good supplement
to minimize catabolism during times of stress, so I
would recommend it.
Testosterone Is The
Answer Maximizing test levels will do more for overall
anabolism than anything I've discussed so far.
Obviously, it's all important, and I went into a
lengthy discussion of those other components of
growth to emphasize that there isn't just one thing
that will transform a body.
But if I had to recommend a single factor, I
think the greatest possible benefit would come from
increasing testosterone levels, and the best
supplement for that is Andro-Shock.
Pro-hormones don't work very well, and they
eventually leave you with depressed testosterone
levels and increased estrogen.
In the long run, elevating testosterone levels
naturally is the best approach to health and
enduring success in the gym.
Andro-Shock works. Andro-Shock is the first product
I took that I actually felt.
I had all the classic signs of elevated test
levels when I took it the first time: insomnia,
aggressiveness in the gym, improved strength, and a
feeling of well being.
I noticed real gains in only a few weeks, and
even gained seven pounds in just one of those weeks.
For more go to Andro-Shock
You can divide the whole process of gaining lean
mass into three categories:
Let's talk about training first. Every time I go to
the gym I see something stupid, usually several
things that are stupid.
Now, when I say nutrition, I'm talking about
everything you take into your body, and also the
things you should take in but don't.
Good workout routine
Good nutrition
Plenty of discipline and effort
What's the deal? Well, unfortunately, your hormonal
state is as much dependent on genetics as it is on
anything you do.
Now that we have all that out of the way, it's time
to talk about THE REAL ANABOLIC HORMONE:
TESTOSTERONE.