Welcome back! If you haven't already, make sure to grab your copy of the Adonis Index Workout Systems before you leave...
There are lots of different muscle building supplements available on the market and you could easily spend $100-$200 per month on them.
But which ones are worth the money and which ones are a waste of money?
This podcast gets to the bottom of the muscle building supplement story.
John
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
{ 42 comments }
Hi men,
Ok nice talk about creatine.
Intresting.
What about Aplodan??
and how do you think about L-arginine and L-Orithine?? thanks!
Thanks for the clarification on caffine and creatine, I love my coffee
Hey guys,
Good discussion on creatine.
Is creatine like steriods in the sense that once you stop taking it any extra gains you’ve made with it will disappear?
So say I put on 10lbs of muscle while doing the Adonis Index workouts and taking creatine when if I had only followed the workouts I would have added a hypothetical 6lbs. If I stopped taking creatine would I lose some of that 10lb gain back to about 6lbs?
Thanks
Tim,
Sort of yes. The concept of muscle building and gaining weight is a bit tough to picture. Creatine add’s water weight to your muscles. So picture it like filling up a water balloon.
If you gain weight while using creatine some of that gain is due to filling the muscles up with more water, so yes when you stop using creatine your muscles will likely lose some of that water weight.
Difficult to say exactly what will happen and how much your bodyweight will change.
JB
Good work Brad and John. This is an excellent podcast. I have never recommended a podcast before but this one really picks up talking about the biofeedback info. I can’t believe that you are giving this away for free! Great introduction for someone who doesn’t know much about this information. Relating to biofeedback – one thing I see in the UK is that Creatine seems to be in a powder that is sold pre-mixed with Taurine (the same un-natural stimulant found in Red Bull). The Taurine is often not mentioned on the front label on the packet, but is in small print on the back. I wondered why that was. Your suggestions that it is the manufacturer trying to create a biofeedback “buzz” that you would associate with their “product” would explain it. I have reservations about the widespread inclusion of Taurine in drinks for children and adults. I have not heard of any research on the long term effects of Taurine, and I am not sure how good that would be long term if taken every day in a Creatine mix. I would say it is stronger and potentially a lot more harmful than any natural stimulants like Caffeine. Maybe an article or podcast on Taurine research could be quite interesting and might be quite controversial…
Also, considering the price of supplement products, especially the branded ones, if someone took half an hour out to listen to this podcast it could save them weeks in wages when you think about it!
Very informative. This actually came out when I was looking into buying a supplement to help me gain muscle mass without any negative side effects. Also kept in mind how buying supplements can be a wallet killer.
Great podcast!
how about glutamine? i hear its one of the top 3 things to use for muscle building
Hey Mark. Last year I did some research on Taurine. It’s a beta amino acid derived from Cysteine, and its fairly adundant in muscle tissue. The reason you see it in supplements is because there’s evidence that it preserves your ability to contract muscle under stress and postpones muscle fatigue. The reason they stack it with creatine is because it has certain muscle cell volumizing properties that are similar to creatine. I’d be happy to share the studies with you if you’re interested.
- John
Thanks for the info about N.O products
I always suspected NO products never have work.
These N.O products are so expensive!
It is all about marketing
We all know creatine is king!
Thanks John for this interview.
One question,
What do you think about Glutamine??
Does it really have a significantly effect on cell volumization??and recovery?
Thanks for the feedback John. I would be interested to know if you can point me to any long term research studies that have been made into the health impacts Taurine might have on long term use by children or adults. Your comment hit the nail on the head about why it is included in the creatine mix sold here. I guess caffeine, like Taurine postpones muscle fatigue too? but I was unaware Taurine would preserve the ability for a muscle to contract under stress. Does caffiene also do that? I’ve tried Taurine a few times, not for sports benefits, just in recreational drinks and i’d say it certainly made me feel “twitchy” but it was too disruptive on my sleep for my liking.
Hi!
I agree with Luis.
N.O products just leaves you with N.O wallet
Mark,
I have not done any extensive research on Taurine. The little bit I have done leads me to believe Taurine is also just ‘window dressing’ and doesn’t really do much as far as performance is concerned.
whether or not it produces some sort of feeling is also something I’m not aware of. The only way to know for sure would be to dose it by itself and see what happens…with that said I still don’t see any reason to ever take it.
JB
Luis,
Glutamine is another product that sounds like a good idea. But when you look at the research there is really nothing that it can do for you.
The research is all extrapolations from burn victims.
There really isn’t much research to support the use of glutamine for muscle building or recovery.
There has been research done using mega doses of glutamine (35-40 grams per day) and it still didn’t affect muscle gain or strength gain.
If 40 grams per day can’t help, then there is no chance the products on the market are doing anything (as they are usually only 5 grams per day)
Save your money on this one, and spend it on creatine instead.
JB
For anyone reading this blog who might not know…all I really know is that Taurine is the main active stimulant ingredient in Red Bull and all so called “energy drinks” aimed at workers, exercise market and clubbers as an alcohol mixer drink to keep people awake. Coca cola recently launched a drink called Relentless in the uk and perhaps elsewhere, it is also now mixed into many alcoholic drinks such as the VK range – a drinks can bearing tattoo style markings. Taurine and Relentless has also recently started being sold in small pocket sized “power shots” by the check outs and generally “hung up” in strips around the popular stopping points of supermarkets.
It is also included these brands of drinks: Rip It, Energy Fizz, Boost, Crunk, Pimp Juice.
These drinks sell for over $2 for a small can in the UK.
Any thouths on guarana as a source of caffeine?
Jon,
Guarana is a relatively weak source of caffeine. I think the highest percentage of caffeine available in guarana is about 22%.
Almost every supplement is made with pure synthetic caffeine. It’s way cheaper than guarana, and cleaner and better controlled for quality.
JB
Thanks for this great Podcast! Everytime I went to the vitamin store I had a lot of doubts about all those products.
Your explanation of It´s effects is just great.
Best Regards
Alex
Ok, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole muscle-as-water-balloon concept. I get that our muscles hold water. And creatine helps your muscles hold more water. But where does the adding of amino acides to muscle fibers (hypertrophy)come into play. Added muscle does have the correlation to added strength, correct? Even creatine is shown to add strength, correct? I can’t wrap that into the water-balloon visual.
Any help for me? Thanks.
James,
Imagine a water balloon that is only half filled with water, it still has room to expand, and the rubber of the balloon is not stretched to its full capacity yet. (this is like an untrained muscle)
Now imagine filling it up with as much water as it can hold. (this is like a trained muscle)
The actual mass of the rubber of the balloon is no different, but the water content it way higher.
This is sort of what happens to your muscles when you grow. You aren’t just making the rubber of the balloon thicker, you’re actually adding a significant amount of water inside the balloon as well.
Thats about the best I can describe it.
I hope that helps.
JB
John,
Thanks again for another eye-opening look into the real (business) side of the fitness industry. One supplement that seems to be gaining followers in recent years has been beta-alanine. I’ve tried it several times however always with creatine mono. Is this just another added “window dresser” or is there anything backing up the claims? Thanks.
Do we need to “deload” creatine or can we just keep taking in nonstop indefinitely?
I apologize if I missed it during the Podcast.
I’m wondering how often you take a dose of creatine. Just after workouts or everyday?
I know that they don’t count as supplements but what about these acai berries do you know if all the things that they’re said to do are true? And if they are true are they exaggerated or is acai really the ultimate food?
really enjoyed that. I dont think it was too technical. I think alot of adonis users will have some background knowledge, even if a little on chemicals , supplements and hormones etc. Good work!
Also, one thing I forgot to mention. “Quality” Weight Gainers, with decent ingredients in them. Are they worth it at all? I heard the podcast which basically negated the need for a caloric surplus, but just to be sure I wanted your opinion on weight gainers.
Also the other forms of creatine, although monohydrate does the job, what are your views on creatine ethyl ester and such. Yes or No? or is it based on value for money. thanks
Kiran,
This is enough for a podcast on it’s own which we will cover in january and we’ll go even deeper into this stuff at Adonis University in january. On the surface your questions seem very simple to answer, but in reality the answers takes hours to properly explain.
For now all I can say is a weight gainer is just like eating a big meal, and none of the other creatine forms have been studied or proven to do anything better than monohydrate.
JB
What about Creapure Creatine? Is it any better?
Joe,
I think creapure is a pretty reputable brand. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it, but if it’s available it’s one of the brands that I would buy if available.
JB
Hi,
So would it be safe for an 18 year old to take creatine? Also what happens after you stop taking creatine after a while, does all the muscle and strength you gained from it suddenly disappear? Thanks
To be honest with you that’s all you need – 5g per day of creatine is enough to keep it going through your muscles.
I would recommend taking the Max Powers Anabolic Stack before working out, or if you don’t plan on working out a day, take it in the morning with your protein when you wake up.
Those who look into this should really consider going on the creatine cycle, this is because your body gets used to creatine if you just keep taking it. After that, stop all creatine intake for 3 weeks straight. After those 3 weeks, repeat the cycle.
Hi John, may I know which creatine brands would you recommend ?
Jerome,
I have no preference, anything that is pure creatine monohydrate shoild do…I use GNC’s house brand whatever it’s called (pro performance I think)
JB
Hi John, thanks for the reply. I have another qn if you dont mind. How much water is required while on creatine maintenance ?
I have been lifting weights for about 3 years now and about a year ago I hit a wall. I was not able to really increase in any of my exercises for several months, so I decided to try a new type of pre workout stack to see if it made any difference.
I picked the Dr Max Powers Anabolic Stack – Long story short – the 6 months or so since I have been taking it before my workouts my bench has gone up 60 pounds, dumbbell press up 30, curls up 20, and so on.
I would highly recommend this if you are looking to make gains or at the very least keep what muscle you have already worked to build. But make sure you drink ALOT of water with it because it helps…
Colon cleansing? Try an enema.
what about nitric oxide which that new and popular “FORCE FACTOR” uses?
I came across an interesting article by Jon Benson: http://www.jonbenson.com/three_weapons_for_stubborn_fat_loss.php He gives tips on burning fat, controlling nighttime insulin, and fasted training. Go to the site to see the exact process. As part of his regimen, he suggests taking Glutamine, liver tablets, and several amino acid capsules. I was wondering, what is your take on these supplements and how he suggests taking them? Thanks!
Hello John!
I wanna buy Creatine, but I wanna make sure first. What about GNC Amplified 189, it says ( Creatine Hydrochloride ) on the supplement facts. Is it the same, or doI have to get the monohydrate one?
When I went there they kept telling me it’s better absorption and stuff. So I would need your help with that.
Thanks a lot!
Amado,
Monohydrate is fine, hydrochloride is ok too, but nothing has ever been shown to absorb any better than monohydrate so just stick with what is the best price.
First of all, thanks for a great podcast. I found it very informational and interesting, especially from the perspective from someone who has been in the supplement industry. Great job of covering when to take creatine, how much to take, what to take with, etc. The only thing I don’t think I heard was if you take creatine on your non-workout days? This is one of those things where I’ve heard different things, just as I’ve heard that you “have to take it right after your workout,” even though that clearly isn’t the case. The only other question is what about your “off-week,” where you take a break from lifting, would you still use creatine on this week as well to keep the muscles saturated? I really have no idea in this case. Thanks a lot once again for some great insight regarding supplements.
Hi, great podcast!
I just want to finalize a few things:
Do you need to cycle creatine as it says so on the packaging?
Do you need to drink more water whilst using it?
So just 5g per day is fine?
Cheers
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 5 trackbacks }