Category: Supplements

Supplements: the truth about which nutritional supplements work and which are a waste of your time and money.

Protein Before Workout?

I’ve already written an article on post workout protein/nutrition.  Hopefully this helped you see through some of the supplement hype about taking a “muscle-building” supplement right after you train (you may also want to check out my post entitled: How Much Protein?).

But what about taking a protein supplement before you train?  Is it important?

A study was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.  10 males were given either 10 grams of protein or 10 grams of carbohydrates (maltodextrose) 30 minutes prior to a leg workout.  The subjects were tested to see if the protein had any positive muscle-building affect when compared to the carbohydrate taken pre-workout.  Here’s the result:

Conclusion: Ingestion of 10 g of whey protein prior to an acute bout of lower body resistance exercise had no significant preferential effect compared to carbohydrate on systemic and cellular signaling markers indicative of muscle protein synthesis in untrained individuals.1

There you have it: yet another reason not to obsess over the timing of your protein shake or the exact macronutrients in your pre-workout meal.  Just lift the stinkin’ weights!

Note: I’d highly recommend Brad Pilon’s How Much Protein book if you want to read some eye-opening research.

Reference:

1. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2011 Nov 8;8:18. Ingestion of 10 grams of whey protein prior to a single bout of resistance exercise does not augment Akt/mTOR pathway signaling compared to carbohydrate.

Does Creatine Work?

Creatine Monohydrate definitely “works.”  If I had to chose just one bodybuilding supplement, this would be it.  Research has proven time and again that it actually helps most of the people who use it.  Over 500 studies have been done, and most (about 70%) concluded this supplement to be effective in terms of improving performance.

. . . creatine supplementation during training has been reported to promote significantly greater gains in strength, fat free mass, and performance primarily of high intensity exercise tasks. Although not all studies report significant results, the preponderance of scientific evidence indicates that creatine supplementation appears to be a generally effective nutritional ergogenic aid for a variety of exercise tasks in a number of athletic and clinical populations.1

But I don’t believe in any of the “buffered” creatine formulas, such as creatine ethyl ester and kre-alkalyn.  Contrary to what some claim, creatine monohydrate does not rapidly degrade during digestion, and 99% of what you ingest actually makes it to the muscle tissue.  Furthermore, there is not really any solid evidence that “novel” forms of creatine are safer or any more effective than plain ‘ole monohydrate.2

Unfortunately, the effectiveness of creatine has been manipulated by some unethical supplement companies–something I learned from Pilon’s book (see: How Much Protein do You Need to Build Muscle).  Here’s how the scam works:

1. A supplement manufacturer will develop a “cutting” edge product with a bunch of random (worthless) ingredients.

2.  The before-mentioned supplement will have one ingredient that does work: creatine monohydrate.

3.  Studies on this new supplement will yield impressive results in the subjects who use it (as I’ve demonstrated, creatine monohydrate usually produces significant, measurable improvements).

4.  People are fooled into buying the over-priced supplement when they would have done just as well to buy creatine alone.

So check the ingredients of any new supplement–you may find there’s nothing really new about the effective ingredient.

Conclusion:
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Creatine Monohydrate is on my “short list” of useful, cost-effective supplements.  I would recommend bodybuilding.com’s brand, but any brand with the creapure mark will do.  Some prefer to load it, but I usually just take 3-5 grams a day.

Here’s one more very important tip--I’d recommend you use a micronized creatine and mix it with warm water until completely dissolved.  You body can’t absorb this supplement if is undissolved, and undissolved creatine is likely to cause gastric problems (upset stomach, etc).

References:

1. Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptations.

2. Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine