Selecting bodybuilding supplements....WHO CARES!!!

One of the benefits of making lots of mistakes is you uncover truisms that become your guiding principles in body building. My coach Damon has certainly opened my eyes to the relevant priorities when it comes to training. One of the most obvious is understanding that supplements contribute little (relatively) to your physique goals.

Now when I started bodybuilding the availability of supplements was limited, Weider was king of the brands, creatine was unknown and protein powder was basically baby formula with a little flavouring and lots of sugar. Fast forward to 2010 to a multi billion dollar industry and a plethora of brands and formulas and lets be honest we are not much better off. Firstly let me outline a number of my supplement peeves:

1. Pre workout powders: the funniest thing is seeing guys fork out $80 bucks for an artificial pump and enforced diarrhea. This happens everytime, you see a guy come in shaking a suspicious lemon smelling drink and barely 5 mins later the caffeine and arginine induced shits has him driving the porcelain bus (toilet) for the next ten minutes. Now I do understand the buzz that a caffeine shot gives prior to training  but not sure that is worth having to keep your ass cheeks clenched for the rest of your workout.
2. Creatine: Ok yes creatine is great and it has a significant body of evidence on PubMed supporting its efficacy for training. However you can get decent creatine from a number of basic suppliers, you do not have to pay $90 + for the latest Muscle tech hard core,advanced blah blah blah. Does anyone really think that the premium brand will add an additional 5-10 kgs??? Please dont be that dumb, please tell me you realise thats not the case??
3. Protein..just the other day I witnessed to young guys prevaricating on the relative merits of the latest protein brands. I mean these guys were seriously debating which protein brand was better, I couldnt believe it. If they had instead spent that time working on getting their deadlift bench and squat up they would have found the extra 5 kgs of muscle. Lets get this straight the difference to your physique between brands is 2/5ths of sweet fuck all! 
4. The industry itself shits me. They constantly complain of the looming codex legislation and interference by big pharmaceutical companies but hey they still persist in making ludicrous claims on their labels, engaging in the odd spot of undisclosed ingredient substitution and generally indulging in practices that clearly will draw the attention of regulators. If you want to be left alone to self regulate then produce stuff that actually works and stop the crazy hype!
5. Provide full disclosure. Nothing is more annoying then the "proprietary blend" on the labels that confuse consumers and hide half of the fillers shit that is in the supposed cutting edge formula.
6. How about the famous before and after pictures. You know the ones subject a 10 weeks without steroids and with a free pass to MacDonalds. Oh and wow look at him 4 weeks later once he is back on the gear and running a ketogenic diet...he looks amazing but wait it wasnt the roids diet or training it was Mr Magics new supplement that you should buy right now so you to can look that good. Ohh but wait the small print on the adds tells you that these results arent typical...what the fuck!!! What a gip! 
7. Believing pro bodybuilder. When I started it was Lee Haney pitching products now its Jay Cutler following his Olympia wins.What these guys do should never ever dictate your requirements your DNA, work ethic are universes apart. Hey you know that though..dont you...you do dont you!!??!

Recently I did some research and located the manufacturer that produces the raw whey that is supplied to my chosen protein powder supplier. I approached the manufacturer bought the raw basic whey in bulk and saved 70% on the price. Also the raw product doesn't have all the filler rubbish and sucralose added by the name brands. Guess what my guts feel better and my gains are still coming!

I could go on and no doubt I will in a future post but it boils down to the simple equation, hard work common sense and careful programming of your training will lead to strength and mass. Yes creatine works, yes beta alanine has some effect (for higher rep workouts) and protein certainly is required just buy a half decent brand then forget about em and get back in the gym.

Cheers from Down Under