I've noticed you seem to be very privy to health knowledge. I've been thinking about taking a nitrous oxide supplement preworkout only. Any thoughts? Most of the popular brands come with creatine which i'm not too keen on so i'd have to get an alternative brand. Hell, what do you think about creatine too?
I'm not a big fan of commercial bo-dy-building supplements. Over the years, I've seen a lot of fad supplements come and go. In the end, nothing replaces discipline, hard work and a balanced diet.
I am in favor of
nutritional supplementation- especially if you have a busy life. And let's face it- after a while, eating chicken breasts and tuna all the time is boring. So nutritional supplements like protein shakes or amino complex are fine for
supplementation to help with a good diet. They shouldn't be a meal replacement and supplements shouldn't be used all the time- you should take them only when you need them and then cycle off.
Some of the new reseearch is saying that taking an amino acid complex supplement during the workout helps with fatigue.
By nitric oxide supplement, you mean something like NOXplode? BSN NOXplode has creatine and arginine and a big dose of caffeine. It also has a lot of B vitamins and trace elements, so keep this in mind since you're already taking a lot of vitamin supplements. In addition to the BSN product, there is Gaspari Nutrition's SuperPump and Labrada also has a one, too (one of these doesn't have caffeine but I can't remember which one).
If you want to try NoXplode: Start with 1 scoop with 1 liter of water
on an empty stomach about 30-45 mins before your workout . Don't eat or drink anything before or after- especially protein shakes- it will upset your stomach if you have a sensitive GI tract. If you tolerate it, you can increase to 2 scoops after a week. I believe the maker suggests 3 scoops but that's really for guys who are bigass serious bo-dy-builders. Some of the gyms sell bottles of pre-mixed NOXplode that you can try (the big tub of the dry stuff is like $50US). If you try the pre-mixed stuff, only drink about half of it when you're trying it out since it's a big dose.
With that said, I don't like these supplements for two reasons:
- In order to get things that are of benefit like amino acids, you have to consume shit that's not really good for you like caffeine.
- Most of the guys that are taking these supplements aren't taking them for the right reasons. I hear things like "I wanna get bigger, man" or "I wanna be shredded" which aren't really goals- they're just excuses to take shortcuts.
Keep in mind that what you're doing now
is working for you. You might do some thinking about what your goals are at this point. Do you want to continue to add muscle? Do you want to increase the weight you're lifting (and why)? Are you frustrated that your recovery time isn't good? Or do you get tired during your workouts and lose focus?
A reason why someone might want to take supplements is to help boost recovery and help with muscle repair/development. You don't have to buy expensive supplements to get the helpful amino acids that will help- just buy amino complex or glutamine or arginine or creatine and see which ones help you.
Think about why you want to take a supplement and then try specific nutritional supplements that help with that need. Everyone's body responds differently, so try arginine or creatine or amino acid complex and see how your body responds until you find one that helps. That makes a lot more sense than spending $50 on a big brew of a bunch of different stuff.
Not to endorse a particular brand, but there are companies like
Ultimate Nutrition that make very affordable amino supplements.
