SUPPLEMENT body building

The “pre-workout” category of bodybuilding and fitness supplements has completely exploded over the last few years.

It seems that every supplement company (and that supplement company owner’s dog) has come out with their own “breakthrough” pre-workout formula promising huge increases in strength, performance, muscle growth and fat loss.

And although I always take a “No B.S” approach to every single supplement I review, there’s one very interesting fact about these products…

95% of them really DO work.

Yes, despite the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of different variations of pre-workout products lining the shelves at supplement stores across the country, the vast majority of them really DO increase muscular performance, mental focus and energy levels.

Amazing, right?

Well, not so fast.

See, there’s one common denominator here that makes this so. One very simple, anti-climactic fact…

Virtually all of them contain 100-300 milligrams of caffeine anhydrous in each serving.

No, the effectiveness of the majority of these products is not due to the “latest breakthrough research” in sports supplement science being released to the public for the very first time… It’s not the magical combination of ingredients hidden behind that top-secret “proprietary blend”… and it’s not the fact that it was formulated by alien-hybrid Russian scientists in an underground Siberian bunker…

No, in most cases, it’s mainly just the caffeine.

Before I go further, let me make this clear…

I am NOT saying that caffeine is the only ingredient research-backed to deliver acute effects on strength and performance in athletes. And I am NOT saying that there are no effective pre-workout formulas out there for a reasonable price that include other ingredients beyond caffeine. (Though I can only think of a couple off the top of my head)

All I’m saying is that the majority of the effects you feel 30-45 minutes after sipping on that Radical Rockin’ Raspberry Rush (or, whatever) pre-workout drink is simply a combination of the study-dose of caffeine anhydrous (here is a good summary of the research on caffeine’s positive, measurable effects on strength and performance) and the basic placebo effect you experience when you consume a product with the positive expectation that it’s going to work.

Yes, I think l-tyrosine is a good pre-workout ingredient as well.

ALCAR can have some noticeable effects.

Citrulline malate may provide a small boost if you prefer a non-stimulant.

And yes, there are a few others out there that might be worth experimenting with as well, but they are few and far between.

However, none of these compare to basic caffeine – not in effectiveness, not in price.

And this is where the real problem arises…

It arises when any supplement company out there (or some random dude off the street – literally) can slap together 10, 20, 30 ingredients or more into a bottle (most of which are either totally ineffective, or somewhat effective but under-dosed), toss in a couple hundred milligrams of caffeine, hype the ever-living dog crap out of their product and then charge $67 a bottle for it.

Yes, the product theoretically “works”, but unbeknownst to the person using it, they could have replicated most or all of its effects by just purchasing a bottle of caffeine anhydrous tabs for $4.

People often become defensive when I try to point this out, because they don’t want to hear that they’ve essentially wasted $40 a month or so for the past 3 years on the pre-workout product they’ve been using.

That’s understandable, but my only goal here is to help, and it should be seen as a positive thing since you can now use that $40 a month on things that actually matter… like food or your gym membership.

And as someone who has been researching bodybuilding and fitness supplementation for the last 12 years and who has owned a small supplement company in the past as well, I can tell you with certainty that most (definitely not all, but most) of the pre-workout category is a straight up hustle.

People often cite “flavoring” and “convenience” as benefits of using a pre-workout supplement…

But c’mon, flavoring?

Mix your pre-workout ingredients with some Crystal Lite, MiO or juice and it’ll taste just fine. Many of them are in pill form anyway.

And given that there are only a VERY small handful of pre-workout compounds even worth bothering with in the first place, I don’t see how “convenience” justifies the insane increase in price.

Besides, if you buy your pre-workout ingredients separately it will allow you to experiment with different dosages, or modulate the potency if necessary depending on your mood, energy levels or on the specific type of workout you’re performing.

I get that the marketing, fancy packaging and all that makes it “feel good” to use the product - but let’s come back to reality here.

Simple truth: The best pre-workout supplement available, by a good margin, is basic caffeine anhydrous at 100-300mg 30-45 minutes prior to training.

And the best part is, it will literally cost you a couple cents per serving.

If you want to create a small pre-workout stack and boost the effects further, add in 1-3 grams of l-tyrosine (also very inexpensive) as this amino acid works downstream from caffeine to increase energy and mental focus further.

If you still want to push things a bit further, acetyl l-carnitine (ALCAR) might be worth adding at a dosage of 1-2 grams.

Finally, if you’re sensitive to stimulants OR you want a full-on pre-workout stack that completely maximizes your performance, you can experiment with citrulline malate at 6-8 grams. (Though the research here is not extensive)

All of these ingredients would be taken 30-45 minutes before your session, ideally on an empty stomach. I’d also recommend only using them a few times per week, and taking a full 2 weeks off after 6-8 weeks of continued use.

What you personally decide to do will depend on your budget, sensitivity to stimulants, the effects you experience etc.

Many of you won’t even want or need any pre-workout ingredients at all (besides your pre-workout meal and perhaps a strong cup of coffee)… and all of you certainly don’t need an over-hyped, over-priced, under-dosed, under-researched (I could keep going here but you get the point) fairy-tale pre-workout blend that does not benefit you beyond 1 or 2 dirt-cheap ingredients and that may even be potentially dangerous to your health when used over the long term.

WHY AREN'T You GAINING MUSCLE RIGHT NOW

So you’re putting your time in at the gym… you’re following what you think is a proper diet… you’re taking the supplements… you’re getting your rest every night…

There’s just one problem: you’re not gaining any noticeable muscle.

Yes, there’s nothing more frustrating than committing yourself to a muscle building program and not seeing any appreciable changes to your appearance as each week passes.

But I can tell you this with certainty…

If you truly aren’t getting any return on your muscle building efforts right now, the immediate fix is likely very simple and straightforward.

Before I give you the 3 simple reasons why you aren’t gaining muscle right now, let me first clarify that achieving significant gains for an average natural trainee takes time and patience.

If you’re idea of “failing” to gain muscle is that you haven’t put 2 inches on your arms in 4 weeks, it’s time for a reality check.

This whole thing is a gradual process, and if you’re gaining somewhere around 0.5-1 pounds of relatively lean body weight per week and your lifts are going up in the gym consistently, you’re definitely on the right track and just need to give it more time.

However, if you’re truly in a place of complete stagnation and your body weight, strength and muscle measurements are not budging at all, you are guaranteed to be making at least 1 of the 3 following mistakes…

“Why Can’t I Gain Muscle?” – 3 Critical Mistakes

Mistake #1: You’re Not Training Hard Enough, Period.

Muscle growth is an adaptive response to stress. If you aren’t using up a sufficient percentage of your muscle’s available momentary resources on each individual set, your body has NO incentive to build upon its existing resources by increasing the size and strength of the muscles.

Your body has no idea that you’re standing in an air-conditioned gym lifting barbells, dumbbells and cables. All it is doing is responding to the direct physical demands placed upon it. And if it already has enough available resources to respond to those demands with relative ease, there is no need for any change to occur.

So buckle down, and get serious.

Every single set should be a fully focused effort, and those last few reps should be downright uncomfortable and tough to perform. If they aren’t, you’re just not training hard enough.

My recommendation is to perform every set within the 5-12 rep range, and to continue the set at least 1-2 reps short of concentric muscular failure. Concentric failure is the point in the set where you cannot complete an additional rep using proper form despite a 100% all-out effort.

This level of intensity will be sufficient to stimulate hypertrophy to an optimal level.

Mistake #2: You’re Ignoring The Law Of Progressive Overload

Putting forth a good hard effort in the gym is the foundational first step, but it’s only half of the equation.

That’s because in order to see continual, ongoing gains in muscle size over time, you must be continually progressing in the amount of weight you lift and/or number of reps performed on all of your major exercises.

This is known as the “law of progressive overload”, and it is absolutely central to your entire training program.

If you’re bench pressing 150 pounds today, and are still using the same weight 8 weeks from now, your body will again have no incentive to adapt further, and your muscle gains will stagnate.

Solution: keep a training logbook, and for every workout that you perform, write down the exercises utilized, weight lifted and number of reps executed.

Then, center the entire focus of your workout program around “beating the logbook” by either adding extra weight to the bar on the following workout (usually 5-10 pounds for big compound lifts and 2.5-5 pounds for smaller isolation lifts) or squeezing out a few extra reps with the same weight (while staying in that 5-12 rep range).

You’ll be amazed at how quickly this adds up over just a few months.

This simple combination of training 1-2 reps short of concentric failure on every exercise and progressing in weight/reps every single week is a sure-fire, 100% guaranteed recipe for ongoing muscle growth.

If you aren’t seeing measurable progress right now, one or both of these factors is off.

Mistake #3: You’re Not Eating Enough.

Assuming you are training with sufficient intensity, and you are focusing on getting stronger in the gym each week, the solution to your muscle building plateau is even simpler…

You’re overall calorie intake is too low.

I’ve talked about this a million time before, but if you aren’t creating a consistent “calorie surplus” every day by consuming more calories than you burn, you are NOT going to gain any appreciable amount of muscle.

Your body already has energy demands in place in order to sustain your current body weight, and it must be provided with the extra fuel necessary in order to build new muscle tissue.

If your overall body weight isn’t budging, you can be guaranteed of the fact that you’re simply not eating enough.

Why Can’t I Gain Muscle?” – Wrap Up

I’m certainly not claiming that these 3 points are the be-all-end-all of building lean muscle, but they do make up the foundation of the entire process and are by far the most important principles to be aware of.

Yes, there are many other things you can do to optimize your gains, but if you just employ these 3 strategies consistently, you WILL gain muscle on an ongoing basis. It would be physically impossible not to.

And on the flipside, if one or more of these elements is not in place, it will be physically impossible for you TO gain muscle, or at least to gain any significant amount over time.

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protein powder

Whey protein is one of the very few fitness supplements out there that gets a definite thumbs up from me.

It’s a very high quality source of natural protein with a top-notch amino acid profile and high bio-availability, and that helps you hit your overall protein and calorie needs in a more convenient, streamlined way.

It certainly isn’t mandatory, but for most muscle building and fat loss trainees, it can definitely help out.

But with whey protein production costs continually on the rise, and with literally thousands of different brands to select from, you need to choose carefully in order to ensure that you’re truly getting a high quality product.

Aside from the outright label fraud we sometimes see with smaller brands, a common tactic now being used by even some of the biggest companies out there is the practice of “amino acid spiking”

What Is Amino Acid Spiking?

As you probably already know, amino acids are the individual building blocks that make up a complete protein. There are 22 standard amino acids that are recognized, with 9 being considered essential, since your body cannot make them on its own.

Amino acid spiking is essentially the practise of dumping high amounts of the cheapest, least valuable amino acids into the powder in order to cut costs while keeping the total protein content elevated.

For labelling purposes, the total protein gram amount listed on the product is based on the total nitrogen content. As a result, even though these isolated amino acids are technically not “protein”, they’ll still contribute to the total.

This means that you’re not getting a complete protein source when using these products, and it means you’re getting higher amounts of some of the least effective amino acids when it comes to supporting muscle protein synthesis.

The specific amounts that are used will certainly vary from product to product, but to my knowledge some companies are currently spiking as much as half of their total protein content with these low quality aminos.

In other words, you might think you’re getting 30 grams of high quality, complete whey protein in every scoop, when in reality you’re only getting 15 grams along with a bunch of nearly worthless filler.

Even for the companies that do this on a small scale with just a few grams of cheap amino acids per scoop (in which case it probably won’t impact your bottom line results), 

why would you purchase a spiked protein powder when there are so many other legitimate options available? Why not get your full money’s worth? And, why support a company that is being blatantly dishonest with you?

How Do I Know If My Protein Powder Is Spiked?

Just take a look at the ingredient list on the label.

The first thing you’ll usually see is the type of protein listed, whether it be whey concentrate, whey isolate, a blend of the two, or a mix of other proteins like egg, casein, milk protein etc.

Then, simply scan the rest of the ingredient list to look for singular amino acids that have been added in.

For the purposes of amino acid spiking, the two that you’ll almost always see are l-glycine and/or l-taurine.

 These two are dirt cheap, non-essential aminos that cost far less than the actual whey protein. Since they’re also tasteless, adding them in high amounts helps to improve the overall flavoring of the product.

Another thing to look out for is added creatine. Creatine is also far less expensive than whey protein, and since it’s a combination of 3 amino acids (l-glycine, l-arginine and l-methionine) it will also register as part of the protein total.

Creatine is a great muscle building supplement and something that I personally use and recommend, but it has no place in a protein powder and should simply be purchased separately on its own.

So, if you see l-glycine, l-taurine or creatine listed anywhere in the ingredients list of your protein powder, it should raise a massive red flag, and in my opinion the product should be avoided. Although it’s not a guarantee that these aminos are contributing to the protein total, I’d say the chances are near 100% that that’s why they’re in there.

And since supplement companies know that the vast majority of consumers are totally unaware of this practice, they’ll actually play it up by giving fancy names to these amino acids to make it look like they’ve been added for a specific reason.

For example, one very popular brand includes an “NOS Complex” in their ingredient list, which is simply made up of l-arginine and l-taurine. 

Another lists a “Muscle Recovery Matrix” made up of creatine and l-glycine.