Advice for a newbie

[tiger1234]

First of all a little bit about myself. I am 6 feet and 26 years old. I used to fairly fit (lean, not muscular) in college but turned into a couch potato after graduating and went from 180 pounds to 210 or so; lost a lot of muscle and gained a lot of fat.

I am back in college now for my master's and decided to change things a little bit. Since the beginning of June, I have been trying to live better.

No TV watcing, weight training 3 times a week, swimming once a week and light cardio 2 times with Sunday as the rest day. I am eating healthy, small portions 5 times a day and no crap foods. I am already down to about 187 pounds with a visible gain in muscle.

Right now, I am wondering what supplements I should be taking. I still have a gut, though much smaller than a month ago, that I need to lose. I think I am at my target weight, I just need to lose the gut and replace it all with muscle.

Currently I am taking GNC's Whey Protein (I know, I know but I am a newbie, remember!) in shakes pre-workout (6 days/week) and mono-creatine post workout (3 days/week, post weight training).

I have been looking around on this forum and found a fair bit on BCAA's, Glutamine, Taurine and Xtend. What would you guys suggest I should take? I will be replacing the GNC Whey with ON 100% whey, which has BCAA's in it. Do you think the BCAA in ON will be enough or should I also be taking an extra dose of BCAA's pre-workout? If yes, then is Xtend the way to go? I have read good things about it on this forum.

Finally, if you think I should be taking BCAA's, should I continue to take creatine as well? Or should the BCAA replace creatine? How about glutamine and taurine? Xtend already has glutamine in it but no taurine.

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[Iron Warrior]

Well, you're sin of shopping at GNC is forgiven since you've nade progress Don't bother with glutamine, it's not very helpful. I would only use BCAA's while cutting. Definitely take the creatine.

Lean Xtreme and DCP can help you with the belly fat. You can also use Lean Xtreme with a stimulant if you want to.

You might have to modify your diet to get to that goal. I like doing some carb cycling.

 

[Zero V]

Well for starters like the :goodpost: above said run from GNC, GNC comes in nightmares at nightime for body builders, it happens like this "they wake up, look in their supplement cabnit....and all they see is MuscleTech, then when they go to scream for dear life, they turn around to see a wall of BSN!! its over..."

lol GNC is overpriced, but most of us went there in the beginning. Just dont do it if you like your money and results from what you take.

I use ON 100% as well as ON Pro Complex. I like them, they have worked great for me.

They do have BCAAs and glutamine, but I dont think it wouldnt really hurt to throw a lil extra BCAA's in pre-workout.

Then again I drink a shake about 2 hours pre workout so its not exatly right before. Usually leave my stomach emptyish for my supps.

I was taking creatine pre and post workout, But I used kre-alklyn and not mono.


I havent used Xtend so I wont give an op about it, but I have seen only good things about it myself on here.

Good luck on your endeavers, and may your gut vanish!

 

[Steveoph]

A well-written guide about supplements can be found at http://anabolicminds.com/forum/supplements/71666-what-supplements-what.html .

Don't think that supplements can replace a good training routine and proper diet. They are to be used after you have those 2 under control.

I'd say start with some creatine (bulk mono is tried and true Creatine Monohydrate (1 kilo) By: NutraPlanet ). $13 for a kilo will last you ages. Beta-Alanine is also a great staple, and only $20 for 500g (about 4 months worth depending on dose) Beta-Alanine (500 grams) By: NutraPlanet .

BCAA's and Glutamine can help with recovery. I usually take them. Protein comes in various qualities/types. Not sure how deep your pockets are, but an amazing price right now is Scivation Whey (10 lb) By: Scivation , $10lbs for only $60.

Once you've figured out what you want to get, I'd suggest holding off until July 4th, there's a good chance there will be some good saving at NutraPlanet

 

[nparisi]

If you still want to lose some fat, get some Xtend and take it on an empty stomach first thing in the AM then do 30-45 min of low intensity cardio. THat has helped me a lot!!!

 

[BigFish80]

I second the Lean Xtreme + DCP. It's a great combo. Also agree with taking your creatine pre AND post work out. I've even heard of some mixing it with their workout drink of choice and drinking it throughout the workout. Also invest in a good multi-vitamin. Keep up the had work as it sounds like things are heading in the right direction. Goodluck

 

[tiger1234]

Thanks for the replies, guys. So here is my rough plan. Take Lean Extreme+DCP before cardio 3 days a week for about a month or at least till the gut is gone.

Take Xtend+mono-creatine pre and post weight workout 3 days a week.

Take the ON 100% whey every day that I workout.

Rest for one day.

And of course, eat healthy and work out plenty.

Any suggestions or is it good enough?

 

[jdev]

About taking Mono, Youre gonna need to add some sort of carbs to that. If you don't want to (as youre cutting) then maybe Di- or Tri- Creatine malate or CEE would be better for that purpose. 5g Creatine a day is standard.

Also you can take Whey shakes even on days that you don't workout. Try to get at least 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight per day.

To conserve Xtend (if money is an issue), you should be fine with a Whey shake post WO.

Fish Oil maybe? and a MultiVit if you don't already have them.

 

[Zero V]

I take a couple protien shakes every single day regardless of wheter or not I workout. Your body is going to still be doing things on non training days, protien shakes keep your body supplied with what it needs. And a multi vitamin is the part of the groundwork that makes all other supps work like they are meant to.

I also drink about a gallon a day of water, very very necessary ingrediant right there.

Protien is basically where alot of money will go. I can only afford 210-220g a day(I weigh 140) a chunk of which I have to obtain from meats(pork/chicken) Make sure you eat alot more than just a shake for your protien needs. A small chicken breast like I eat has 64 grams of protien. It is about 8 bucks for 6 chicken breasts that size at krogers.

Eating good is more complicated when you throw in needs for natural fruits/veggies, carbs, cals, protien. You will become smarter through balancing your diet, because its a science lol.

 

[raginfcktard]

CEE is a waste of money...stick to mono or AKG...cheaper and better. Always take your bcaa's, always taurine and glutamine. some say glutamine is a waste but they are the ones probably taken mostly glutamic acid in their crappy probolic soy protein blend:nono: sorry for the rant.

As far as protein from GNC is fine but ON is a higher quaity and recomended...BTW they both have BCAA's so you are fine for now. Protein is just chains of aminos, that list on the jug is what your body should pull out of it!

other basics..as mentioned multi, fish oil...i'd add some cla and green tea to aid your fat burning. lots of vit C, little extra vit E and a coQ10....other than that keep up the effort, glad to hear your progress