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My Top 7 Supplement List
Posted April 21, 2010
Without knowing most of you that read this, there are only two recommendations that I will make that are universal across the board: TAKE A QUALITY MULTIVITAMIN and USE A PROTEIN SUPPLEMENT!!!
I want to start this post out by stating that everyone needs a multivitamin. It does not matter how healthy you may think you eat, you need to be taking a quality multivitamin. The multivitamin that you take also has to be a two a day vitamin. There is no value in one a day vitamins, for they leave you undernourished at the end of the day. You need to take one with breakfast and one with dinner. It is important to take your vitamins with food for it will help with the digestion.
In fitness, the multivitamin is considered to be the foundation. It does not matter what your goal is, be it fat loss or muscle gain, without the multivitamin it will be a lot harder to reach your goal.
When trying to lose fat you are obviously going to cut down on the amount of food that you eat. When you cut down on food intake, being that you get your nutrients from food, you cut back on your nutrient levels as well. Now add in exercise. Exercise requires more nutrients. If you are exercising and your body does not have the amount of nutrients needed for the workload your body will pull nutrients right out of your muscle (nutrients are stored in the body’s muscle tissue) which is exactly what you do not want. This will cause you to burn muscle instead of fat, giving you a total negative result. If you take a good multivitamin your body will feed off of that and preserve your muscle tissue while burning fat.
Now I will be the first person to tell you that it is better to eat a well balanced whole food meal than any form of meal replacement bar or shake. However, life often gets in the way-especially with today’s hectic schedules. Protein Powders have two main purposes. First is convenience. Too often people cannot stick to their nutrition plans due to lack of time. This is where these powders play their greatest role. Example: You are at work planning to take lunch at noon. Something comes up you have to work through your lunch. You have three options.
- Option A-Order take out or fast food.
- Option B- Skip lunch.
- Option C- Eat a meal replacement bar or shake.
Which would be the best choice. If you chose either A or B just log off and get back to your Doritos. Of course that is the best time for a meal replacement or protein shake.
The second purpose is ensuring you meet your daily protein intake needs. If weight loss and/or muscle building is high on your priority list, than protein is the macronutrient that forms the background behind your nutrition plan. Simplicity!!
Note: do not confuse protein drinks with meal replacements. Meal replacements will have a greater distribution of proteins, carbs, and fats while a protein powder will be high in protein, low in carbs and fat.
Your Next Level of Supplementation
There are many other supplements that can help as well, I will educate you on some that have proven to be beneficial to my clients as well as myself and you decide what is best for you.
3. Thermogenics (Thermophoric Lypolytic Acceleraton Blend)
Thermogenics work by helping to break down and metabolize fat. You see, when people become fatty it is not just inbetween your muscle and your skin. It is internal as well. It surrounds everything-muscle, organs, tissue-everything. Now this can cause a shut down in your body's way of breaking down fat. You lose some of your major fat burning tools. What Thermogenics help shed fat and allow the the body to start burning fat for you on a 24 hour basis. This supplement is great for people initially trying to lose fat. It is very cost effective and on average people using the supplement versus those who don’t lose an extra 4-6 pounds per month.
4. Thermophoric Lypolytic Accleration Blend (Thermogenics 2.0)
There is a whole array of supplemental compounds that are well researched and have been shown to increase energy and fat loss up to 48%. In addition they have been shown to minimize lean tissue loss while you are losing fat, which means you will maintain your muscle while burning fat. Studies also indicate a drop in LDL cholesterol levels (bad cholesterol) while taking these supplements. Your metabolism may also increase which will make you process food at faster rate. Now that all sounds complicated but, what it amounts to is results. The only down side to these compounds are that they are expensive when taken at the proper dose and in its pure form. But, if price is not an issue-this is the best choice.
Note: I DO NOT recommend taking this simultaneously with the Thermogenics mentioned in Number 3. In fact, DON'T DO IT! For any new client of mine who's goal is fat loss, I generally recommend alternating these two different compounds. Take the Thermophoric Lypolytic Blend one month, then follow up the next month with the Thermogenics to further your fat loss.
This is what I consider to be the real original intra-workout creatine drink. As clinical research advances, so does the supplement industry! You can now find many of the products in this category using a high quality whey hydrosylate that contains over 50% di and tripeptides as well as a large array of anabolic promoting ingredients such as a high dose of L-LEUCINE (5 grams) to allow for unparalleled support in athletic performance, skeletal muscle recovery, explosiveness and most notably, immediate increases in muscle size WHILE YOU ARE STILL TRAINING. Furthermore, researchers have harnessed the power of pterostilbene - a patent pending and brand new insulin secretagogue - picked specifically to work in concert with the universally acclaimed and patent pending Outlast™ carbohydrate blend. This powerful combination initiates and promotes muscle volumization and anabolism to levels never seen before in a sports nutrition product. To top it off, you will often find cutting-edge, ammonia scavenging amino acid salts of L-Ornithine and L-Aspartate to help battle fatigue.
This is a HUGE breakthrough in the supplement industry! Now you can get all of the benefits of our #5 supplement on this list. But for those who have a fat loss priority goal, this is the version for you. Low Carb...low calories...no sugar!
Here we are looking at products that use around 12 grams of a high quality whey hydrosylate that contains over 50% di & tripeptides as well as a large array of anabolic promoting ingredients such a high dose of L-Leucine (5 grams) to allow for optimal athletic performance, skeletal muscle recovery, explosiveness and most notably, increases in muscle size WHILE YOU ARE STILL TRAINING. To top it off, they will often include cutting-edge, ammonia scavenging amino acid salt of L-Ornithine and L-Aspartate to modulate fatigue. The bottom line is that the supplement world has once again outdone itself and yet again redefined the very category that helped to build it.
In the Pre-workout category, nitric oxide is the reigning King of dramatic effects. Athletes who try NO products virtually never go back to any other pre-workout supplement, and its effects are so profound that the thought of training without it is simply out of the question for most users. In the independent clinical trials, increases in lean muscle mass nearly tripled in a single workout with just 1 dose as compared to not taking the supplement. If that's not enough, body fat percentages simultaneously dropped as opposed to no changes in body fat recorded without the supplement. Consider all this with the added effects of explosive energy, mental focus and strength, and you're left with seemingly very little to consider. Ask anyone who tries this super anti-catabolic powerhouse and you'll hear the same answer over and over - you're going to look and feel incredible!
IMPORTANT: Make sure that when you choose a NO product aht it is not just another high caffeine/nitric oxide product. Make sure it's a comprehensive, Leucine-based stimulant cocktail.
Conclusion
The most important thing I can tell you when choosing a supplement is that it is more important to make the proper decision on the brand you are purchasing rather than the product itself. All supplements are not created equal! Do you no that there are hardly any regulations on supplements. More than half of the stuff out ther if tested would not contain what it says it does on the label. And even more so they do not have proper delivery systems to get where they need to go in the body for proper absorption. Some supplements need to be absorbed in the stomach, some in the intestines, and some even in the colon. Most supplements out there will simply get broken down by the stomach and never reach their site of absorption.
When choosing your brand of supplement make sure it is made by a pharmaceutically licensed company. Personally, I recommend Gaspari Nutrition, Labrada Nutrition, and AST Sports Science brand supplements. I in no way shape or form benefit from telling you this, but all of these companies are unmatched by any other in the industry. They gaurantee the purity, potency, and delivery of all their products. You can learn more about them at www.bodybuilding.com.
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