Introduction
How are the supplements making the list determined?
What is the #1 rule to apply to supplement shopping?
What are the ratings based on?
What are the listed prices based on?
Where are the best places to buy supplements?
How much should I buy at a time?
Introduction
The bodybuilding supplement guide isn’t controversial. The listed supplements aren’t the “sexiest” supplements out there. “Pro Test-Anabolic Miracle Muscle Grower” isn’t listed because it wasn’t considered; it isn’t listed because it is a waste of time and money.
Successful and experienced bodybuilders won’t learn a thing from the guide. They will have a very similar list of supplements that they use, often called their “core” supplements. They may have different brand preferences; they may have an addition or two or a subtraction or two. But very few will disagree with the basics of the guide.
Next week, there will be a new “revolutionary” bodybuilding supplement product introduced. Experienced bodybuilders won’t bat an eye. They aren’t the target market. The target market is the inexperienced, frustrated trainer who still believes you can buy muscle in a bottle.
The experienced trainers have learned the hard way that these products are always a great way to spend money but rarely beneficial to their muscle building goals. They already know that their success or failure is based on their diet and training practices.
In my own case, there was a point when I was spending a great deal of money and time on the “sexy” supplements. I was using a dropper to put BCAAs under my tongue, I was popping pills on the hour every hour, I was drinking muscle drinks… and, with all that effort and expense, there was no reason I shouldn’t have been making the same gains that the guys in the ads were making.
But all I got was what everyone else got who fell for the marketing hype – an empty wallet and my same old skinny self.
There is no reason anyone has to learn the hard way that there are relatively few supplements that will actually help them towards their muscle building goals – that of the hundreds of products marketed to increase muscle growth you can cull that list down to a handful of products that are actually effective.
The key to building muscle is in following a solid diet and training program. This has been true since the beginning of time and will continue to be true in the foreseeable future.
Supplements can help you towards your goals but only if you use them wisely. Check out Best Use of Weight Gain and Muscle Supplements.
How are the supplements making the list determined?
The dietary supplements are supplements that my research and experience have found to be beneficial to the person seeking to build muscle mass. The muscle building supplements are ones that have been found to be effective based on legitimate, independent studies.
You can freely search for and find summaries of the recognized legitimate studies at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ (hint: use the limits function to select randomized control trial and humans only – unless you’re trying to bulk up your pet rat.)
With the complicated language used in such studies, it is often beneficial (necessary) to look to experts such as Will Brink to interpret the findings and present them back to you in layman’s terms.
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What is the #1 rule to apply to supplement shopping?
The #1 rule is…
Buy at reasonable price from a trusted manufacturer.
It is a mistake to treat the supplement market like the generic drug market. Buy a generic drug and you are getting essentially the same thing as the advertised brand minus the marketing mark-up. The generic drug has been produced with the same regulated standards.
Nutritional supplements, however, are a largely unregulated industry. Different processes and manufacturing practices can create vast differences in quality and potency.
If you find a whey protein product advertising “quality whey powder” at $1 a pound don’t become giddy with your find. You aren’t going to be getting the same stuff everyone else is selling at $5 a pound.
Worse yet, you could be endangering your health.
Buying the cheapest supplements you can find is just a bad, bad idea. You won’t be saving any money – you’ll just be getting less of what you want and maybe more of what you definitely don’t want.
Buying the most expensive stuff isn’t generally a good course either. In most cases, you’re extra money will be going to the marketing expense it took to convince you that product was so much better than average.
Again, buy at reasonable price from a trusted manufacturer.
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The ratings are a general guide to the ability of that supplement to move you towards your muscle and weight gain goals.
– An excellent supplement, tops in its category – Only multi-vitamins and whey protein in the dietary category and creatine in the muscle building category get this rating.
– A proven effective supplement that can greatly aid your weight and muscle gain goals if you have a need.
– A solid supplement that will provide benefits for most, depending on needs.
– An unproven supplement or a supplement that may not directly contribute to your muscle building goals. These supplements can still be effective for some but you are best off making sure all your other bases are covered before you take a shot with them (2 star and 1 star supplements aren’t listed in the Bodybuilding supplement Guide because they aren’t recommended).
– An absolute waste of money and time (scam).
It is pretty ridiculous to rate bodybuilding supplements because their value is dependent on individual needs. Never one to back away from the inane however, I’ve rated them anyway. But don’t take the ratings too seriously. I basically did it so I could get the pleasure of putting a one star rating next to the scam supplements.
Different supplements will hold different values based on individual need. Someone who eats a heck of a lot of chicken, for example, may not need to supplement with protein. Therefore, whey protein supplements (5 stars) may be worthless to him.
That same guy may be on the verge of hernia from trying to move his bowels due to a shortage of fiber in his diet. To him and the accomplishment of his mass gain goals, fiber supplements (3 stars) may be the most important weight gain supplements he takes.
If you choose to use supplements, take what fits in with your weight gain plan (see Best Use of Supplements). This means first supplementing your diet and then moving on to the muscle building supplements. Use the ratings to help decide which supplement you want to try first.
For example, you probably want to try creatine (5 stars) before you spend part of your budget on ZMA (3 stars). Creatine is likely to have a greater impact on your muscle building goals.
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What are the listed prices based on?
The prices listed aren’t necessarily the lowest possible prices you can find but rather average prices taken from a sampling of some of the more reputable online suppliers. Wherever you choose to buy your supplements, there is no reason to pay more than the prices listed. Unless, of course, you want to contribute to the owners of those companies new boat funds (if that is the case, please email me and I will send you some information about contributing to my “Retire in Hawaii” fund).
Always pay attention to pricing when buying bodybuilding supplements. Prices can really vary between suppliers.
The 20 pack of Myoplex Original for example, is sold at a certain nationwide chain of nutrition stores (the one that uses their initials and can often be found in a mall) for $60. At a store near my home, it sells for even more. On many online sites it also sells for similarly ridiculous amounts. At Amazon and other quality online retailers you can pay around $40 or less.
The point is, you can really get ripped off if you don’t know the reasonable price to pay for a particular supplement. Don’t go by the suggested retail prices and necessarily get excited if you are paying 10% less than that amount; don’t get excited by those who claim to be “wholesale supplement suppliers” because that is pretty much a meaningless statement.
Hopefully this bodybuilding supplement guide will help you avoid getting light in the wallet on your way to getting to the heavy end of the scale.
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Where are the best places to buy supplements?
Buying online is, in my opinion, the best way to buy bodybuilding supplements (fast, low prices, larger selections and in-stock amounts, delivered to your door, no sales tax). The thing you have to look out for is poor service. Price isn’t the only factor to consider when buying supplements.
If you order and pay for 600 grams of Optimum Nutrition’s Glutamine Powder, you want to get 600 grams of Optimum Nutrition’s Glutamine Powder. You don’t want to open up your UPS package and find that the person who picked your order decided you would like to try glucosamine instead or only threw in a 150 gram container or forgot to pack the box with peanuts and now your powder is all over the box.
This type of stuff happens (it’s happened to me). Returns are a pain. Amazon is a good bet. They know what they are doing and do it better than anyone. This allows me to concentrate on my training and not waste time trying to get reimbursed for my supplier’s mistakes.
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How much should I buy at a time?
Generally, you want at least a month’s supply. With some products, you can catch a pricing break by buying more than that. But you don’t want to go too far into the future because there is a good chance that product will be less potent by the time you get around to using it.
For example, you can buy 2,000 grams of Optimum Nutrition’s Creatine Powder. But, really, that is more than a 2 yr. supply (if you use it correctly). Not necessary.
The quantities I have listed in the bodybuilding supplement guide are the quantities I typically buy.
