Supplements have gotten a bad rep over the years. The fitness community is divided on whether they are necessary for a person’s health or if they’re more of a placebo instead. Here’s the thing, it is and it isn’t. Not even 3 sentences in, and I’ve confused you already. But stay with me, I’ll tell you why that is.
Think of supplements as car accessories, and let me explain how these two completely random things relate to the point I’m trying to make. A couple days ago, I met up with a buddy of mine from high school. His obsession with cars is almost as bad as my obsession with supplements, and when I say he loves cars, he loves cars. To the point where he’d take a bullet for one if it came down to it. Anyways, he went on to tell me all the new fancy accessories he put in his car. A new stereo, Bluetooth-compatible no less. New speakers, new a/c unit, new tires and even new cup holders. I asked him if he really needed all this stuff, and to that he said “No, but it makes for a smoother ride.” Do you see what I'm trying to get at here?
Are supplements necessary? It depends on who you ask. If you ask your typical gym rat, they'll start listing supplements from every letter of the alphabet, with 1000 ingredients each! You're just left confused and wishing you didn't even bring it up, and you have the feeling that not all of what they're taking may be legal. If you ask your health guru though, they'll probably swear off supplements all together saying that they only eat 'real' food. That's all fair and good, but you don't have the time to make a kale, spinach, vegemite smoothie or focus on your chakra. And to add fuel to the fire, a lot of these so called 'natural' supplements don't even work in the end.
1. Makes you feel invincible!
Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit here. What I mean is that the proper supplements when used properly will give you that little boost to help you conquer the day. You’re probably saying to yourself “Sean, I'm not a bodybuilder. Why do I need a supplement to give me energy, when I can just get a cup of coffee?” Do you actually feel more awake after drinking coffee? And is it more than a couple minutes? I'm guessing, not really. With a supplement like a pre-workout or an energy booster, it'll help you to feel more energized for a lot longer. So now you can listen to your co-worker's boring stories without feeling the need to down 50 shots of espressos.
Not all supplements are created equal though, and it's important to know what to watch out for. I know we're casual gym go-ers and we know that if we have a little bit of sugar, it's not going to kill us. But, some supplements and especially pre-workouts are loaded with crazy amounts of sugar. You're just going to feel lazy and lethargic all day, and no one wants that. But the right pre-workouts will contain very little of it, and will help keep you going strong throughout the entire day. Here is some of my personal favourite pre-workouts that I strongly believe work the best
Mammoth Pump
MuscleTech Anarchy
SuppCo Maximum Drive
I like these supplements better than whatever else is out there because these 3 are simple. There's no proprietary blends (bunch of ingredients just thrown together), they don't contain crazy amounts of caffeine, and most importantly, they get the job done without making you feel like crap.
If you're still not sold on the pre-workouts that I recommended, try energy boosters. They're not as intimidating as pre-workouts and a lot of their ingredients are stuff you've actually heard of.
Nutratech Ampedrin Enhanced Energy & Mental Cognition
SuppCo Energy Gold
Centrum Specialist Energy Complete Multivitamin
2. Gains! (but not the like the Hulk )
For the regular joe, protein powder is this big scary thing that's seems to be only reserved for the insanely jacked bodybuilders, but the casually fit can use it too. Now we don't have to go all crazy with it and drink 6 scoops a day, but usually 2 will do just fine. And for those of you who are saying I'll just get my protein from real food, when was the last time you actually enjoyed eating chicken breast? It takes too long to chew and frankly, you don't got the time. You're busy with school and work and etc., that's why just chug a shake whenever you're on the run or in a hurry. You'll be able to feel fuller longer and you'll feel stronger too. These are my top 3 BEST Protein Powders on the market right now.
SuppCo Ultimate Whey
AllMax All Whey
MucsclePharm Combat Powder
3. Branched Chain Amino Awesome!
Branched chain amino acids are the single most under utilized supplement out there. Man, I love them. Not only do they help in muscle growth and muscle recovery, but it's probably the only supplement that I've mentioned that you really can't live without. Alright, so this is the part where I get scientific but don't doze off now, no matter how many times I throw science mumbo jumbo at you. This stuff's important. The body makes 9 essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of life. But 3 of those-leucine, isoleucine, and valine-can't be made from the others, and they have to be taken in from food such as beef and other red meats. However, let's say you're not really a beef person or a meat person, another option and which I think is the better one is BCAA's, which contains those 3 aminos.
Allmax Aminocore
SuppCo BCAA Revival
Evl Nutrition BCAA 5000
Hopefully, this has been an eye opening experience for you and if you liked what you read, be sure to subscribe to my blog and you’ll get notified about every time I make another post. Do that and I’ll also send you a FREE newsletter every month.
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