The Glade 4.0

Anyone take any legal supplements when working out?

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The conversation cannot exist on this forum without first strict definititions of the terms 'legal' and 'supplement'.. and for good measure, we should probably define 'working out' as well.

awesome

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Nothing crazy here. I take amino acid nutritional supplements post workout. Both whey protein and L-glutamine for muscle recovery and growth.

I've used creatine monohydrate for a while now. It really only works if you doing intense, max strength workouts. It doesn't have any negative side effects aside from increasing water retention.

I've used Jack3D before which is a pre-workout mixture containing caffeine, Dimethylamylamine and beta alenine. It makes you more foucsed and energetic, but honestly I don't think it does much and it was mostly the caffeine. Since I don't use caffeine, the effect of it plus the beta alenine which acts as a delivery agent just makes me hyper. It does taste good, tho, and it's a lot cheaper these days.

I've never messed with any of those OTC anabolic stackers like Asteroid Stack or anything.

Whey protein is probably the best, most important supplement.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Not really. I use whey but it was really only for flavor in my oatmeal for the past year or so. Used creatine and that's fine too but never used it for more than 1 or 2 months at a stretch.

If anything I'd get a good fish oil pill and take that. Really though good food and hard work = win.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

It is my belief that most supplements are snake oil.

If it works for you it may be the placebo effect. However, if it works for you and it is not harming you, let it.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

This is basically my concern but if others are having positive effects and no harmful side-effects I am willing to entertain the notion.

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In general, if you need supliments to recover well from a work out or be prepared for a workout, then you have dietary issues that you need to address.

Some athletes have a training regimen that dieting simply will not allow them to compete at. Professional fighters, for example, mostly plan around training as hard as physically possible without depleting their health before the bout. This is why PED's are so prevalent despite regulations against; not because they allow one man to rip another limb from limb, that's complete fiction. It's because most PED's (anabolics, TRT, insulin to some extent, HGH to some extent) boost recovery cycles to where athletes can train in marathon like environments day in and day out without slowly depleting their health. Think of running 8 miles, doing 2 hours of live grappling, strength and condition, drills, pliometrics, calisthenics, and live sparring. Most guys train 2-4 of those things for a total of 6-8 hours a day 7 days a week. It would be impossible without supplementation of some kind, even if it's only simple as concentrated sources amino acids or vitamins that can be eaten. Try eating 200+g of protein per day through food alone.

Now, if no one used PED's, then yes, athletes would train less strenuously and the level of competition would simply diminish across the board. Some athletes do compete without PED's and simply rest the interval and use sheer given athleticism, talent and skill to compensate for gaps in conditioning and strength. Some athletes are able to just destroy themselves and keep going at that pace if only for a few months.

Who is to define what a "supplement" is and what a natural food is? Are prepared foods "natural?" Should everyone eat a paleo-diet? What is the substantial difference between naturally occurring foods, prepared foods, dietary nutritional supplements and performance supplements? This is why the TRT debate is so tricky. Some people argue it's a way to replenish naturally depleted testosterone levels due to age to a "normal" level. But shouldn't that be the penalty of age? And what level is "normal". Should people be allowed to be medicated to the level of the most anabolic laden rookie athletes?

There are workout circuits some choose to engage in that are beyond the capacity for what is considered a "natural" diet to support.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones