capnsavem
Well-known member
Written by jglickfield
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 10:46
Supplementation is one of the most important and least understood aspects of bodybuilding training. The average trainee is either overly dependent upon supplements or overly skeptical of their usefulness. Unfortunately, the consumer most likely to make supplementation mistakes is a teenager. Youthful credulity often leads one to believe that supplements are the magical secret weapon which will take them from scrawny to brawny.
When this doesn't happen, the aspiring Mr. Olympia is discouraged, blaming his genes, he thinks that if the latest pre-workout formula didn't induce "shocking growth" or "breath-taking levels of anabolism" (supplement companies, feel free to borrow these lines, I don't have a patent on them) he has no hope. This could cause a young weight trainee to give up prematurely, and never develop to his full potential. What he doesn't realize is that due to his youth and inexperience, he is using supplements to replace proper diet and sleep, which at a more mature age he would see the folly in.
Also, some supplements are dangerous, unhealthy, or simply unnecessary for a young person to use. It is important to know which supplements are which so that a young consumer can make safe, effective decisions.
Given these issues, I will provide some parameters for youth supplement consumption, but first a definition. Who is a "young person" anyhow? I will define it by two characteristics: first, you have not grown (even a little bit) within one year, and second, you are over 18 years of age (most supplements even say on the container that they are not for anyone under 18). There for, if you attained your full height at 15, you would be considered a youth until 18, but if you were growing until twenty, you would only be considered an adult at 21. It is much more important to build a healthy skeletal structure and attain your full height potential than it is to begin bodybuilding supplementation a little bit younger, so this should not bother anyone.
That said, some supplements are for anyone of any age (like vitamins) so I will provide a guide for young bodybuilders regarding safe supplementation. My three categories are supplements which are good for everyone regardless of age, supplements which may be ok for a youth to use (depending on his circumstances) and supplements which a trainee should wait to use until he reaches adulthood.
Supplements For Everyone
There are many supplements which anyone can use, regardless of age. The most obvious are vitamins (without iron). Unfortunately, modern people eat way too much processed food, and many of us have minor deficiencies. Couple this with the demands that bodybuilding puts on the body and taking a vitamin supplement really seems like a good idea. Of course, most reputable companies make a good multi-vitamin, and they are all available on this site, but for the connoisseur who must have the best, Universal Animal Pak is the way to go.
Another great supplement that anyone of any age can benefit from are essential fatty acid pills. These are great for joint lubrication, neural function, fat reduction, memory and promoting overall wellness. Flax seed oil, fish oil, and CLA are all excellent choices. One great option is to buy from Optimum Nutrition. I really like their essential fatty acid supplements, and they are competitively priced for their quality.
Although I am hesitant to put this here, I will consider whey protein to be a supplement that anyone can use. I say this because it there is nothing dangerous about it for anyone, as it is just a type of convenient, cheap (per gram of protein, it is the best bargain I know of), easily digested food. Although many young trainees may not need it (they can just drink the milk and eat the peanut butter and meat their parents buy) whey protein will still help a young trainee to get all of the protein he needs to build muscle. It is important to buy quality though, as cheap whey is not as easily digested, so I would advise buying either Optimum Nutrition or CytoSport Muscle Milk. I am referring to 100% whey protein only, though, not gainers or anything with soy in them. Weight gainers are a different category and I will discuss them later, and soy can cause estrogen spikes, which none of us need.
Supplements Which Will Benefit Some Young Trainees
These are supplements which a young trainee should be wary of, but may be ok to use, even if one has not quite reached adulthood. The first of which are weight gainer shake products. I only suggest this if a young male is really, really skinny, and has already tried eating 3,000+ calories per day for 30 consecutive days without muscle gain. Reliance on weight gainers can cause latent or mild lactose intolerance to become more acute, and are hard for many people to digest (I have a good friend who tried using them because he hated eating, and he threw up after every shake, which obviously accomplished nothing). A weight gainer shake is only for someone who needs seemingly endless amounts of calories to gain weight. If this is a young man's problem, then OK, he should use them, if he can do the same with a balanced diet of whole foods, he should do that to avoid the risks.
Other supplements which are sometimes OK for youth consumption are glutamine and BCAA products. The major risk here is that a young mind can easily misunderstand how these products are intended to work and overuse them, hoping for a quick fix. But since they will not hurt, an educated youth consumer can buy them and use them as directed for help in their training. Optimum Nutrition is a great company to buy them from, but I also like Scivation's X-tend. The flavor is good (BCAA tastes so bad that you could gag) and it has shown everyone I know pretty impressive results. Since these are just amino acids (protein components) they will not be harmful for a young trainee, and could be helpful, although it is important to remember that these supplements aren't going to do the work for you, just help along the way.
Supplements Which Should Not Be Used Until Adulthood
There are two reasons why certain supplements should be avoided before adulthood, the first is simple: most of the supplements I am listing here (if not all of them) tell you right on the label not to use if you are under 18. There is a reason that these companies are willing to forgo potential profits from minors. There must be something in there which is dangerous for a young person if they are unwilling to take liability for use by children. The second reason is that these supplements will be ineffective for a young person, or at least not as effective as they would be for an adult, and therefore should not be consumed by them.
I like to use the phrase Designer Supplements to describe very expensive combination-supplements with many ingredients (often explained as a "proprietary blend" on the label). Designer Supplements should not be used by minors because usually these types of supplements do things which young trainees don't need or can do for themselves. Most teenagers have all the energy in the world when it comes to sports, so who needs a caffeine laden pre-workout blend, which will only hook them on the stuff too young? Young trainees also do not need testosterone boosters (ZMA, tribulus, prohormones, steroids, etc) because they already have many times the testosterone that they will have in a few short years. It is simply redundant, giving them more of what they already have enough of. Creatine is also unnecessary, as most young trainees will have noticeable results in very short periods of time (if they train, eat and sleep properly), so a small performance enhancer won't help much, and should be left on the shelf until they hit a plateau in their 20's. Young trainees ought to progress quickly anyhow, so why mess with what is already working just fine?
Although fat burners are really a different category entirely, I will mention briefly that they too are unnecessary, as a young trainee should not be worried about weight loss unless he is noticeably overweight. It is not healthy for a growing person to cut calories sufficiently to get really lean. It is best to wait a few years until you are done growing to worry about getting ripped and developing that six-pack. Spending time now developing a solid foundation of muscle will pay off for the rest of your life, while even with fat burners you may never make it to that perfect, Abercrombie model stomach anyhow. If a young person is noticeably overweight, fat burners aren't the answer. They are meant to prepare for a contest (or surgery, beach vacation, or other temporary need to look good undressed), not induce long term lifestyle changes. Consulting a nutritionist and a personal trainer will pay off much better in the long run.
Aside from the health risks involved, there are other reasons for young people to limit their consumption of dietary supplements. The biggest being cost. Young bodybuilders don't usually have $200/month or more to spend on supplements. Asking parents for money will probably only cause suspicion, and most likely lead them to see bodybuilding as an unhealthy obsession and seek to curtail their son's training, perhaps entirely. Even if a youth has enough money to pay for it all, this will probably all seem significant to him, and if it doesn't work out like he hoped (you know, looking like that huge, vascular, beast of a man on the package) he may be discouraged and give up working out altogether, which would be a shame.
In theory, there is nothing wrong with a young bodybuilder using supplements, as long as the ones he chooses are safe and appropriate for him, and he uses them properly, with the realistic expectations for where they will take him and what the effects of supplementation will be, while not burning a while in his pocket or causing trouble with his family.
taken from a website that shalll not be named on this forum
but good article none the less
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 10:46
Supplementation is one of the most important and least understood aspects of bodybuilding training. The average trainee is either overly dependent upon supplements or overly skeptical of their usefulness. Unfortunately, the consumer most likely to make supplementation mistakes is a teenager. Youthful credulity often leads one to believe that supplements are the magical secret weapon which will take them from scrawny to brawny.
When this doesn't happen, the aspiring Mr. Olympia is discouraged, blaming his genes, he thinks that if the latest pre-workout formula didn't induce "shocking growth" or "breath-taking levels of anabolism" (supplement companies, feel free to borrow these lines, I don't have a patent on them) he has no hope. This could cause a young weight trainee to give up prematurely, and never develop to his full potential. What he doesn't realize is that due to his youth and inexperience, he is using supplements to replace proper diet and sleep, which at a more mature age he would see the folly in.
Also, some supplements are dangerous, unhealthy, or simply unnecessary for a young person to use. It is important to know which supplements are which so that a young consumer can make safe, effective decisions.
Given these issues, I will provide some parameters for youth supplement consumption, but first a definition. Who is a "young person" anyhow? I will define it by two characteristics: first, you have not grown (even a little bit) within one year, and second, you are over 18 years of age (most supplements even say on the container that they are not for anyone under 18). There for, if you attained your full height at 15, you would be considered a youth until 18, but if you were growing until twenty, you would only be considered an adult at 21. It is much more important to build a healthy skeletal structure and attain your full height potential than it is to begin bodybuilding supplementation a little bit younger, so this should not bother anyone.
That said, some supplements are for anyone of any age (like vitamins) so I will provide a guide for young bodybuilders regarding safe supplementation. My three categories are supplements which are good for everyone regardless of age, supplements which may be ok for a youth to use (depending on his circumstances) and supplements which a trainee should wait to use until he reaches adulthood.
Supplements For Everyone
There are many supplements which anyone can use, regardless of age. The most obvious are vitamins (without iron). Unfortunately, modern people eat way too much processed food, and many of us have minor deficiencies. Couple this with the demands that bodybuilding puts on the body and taking a vitamin supplement really seems like a good idea. Of course, most reputable companies make a good multi-vitamin, and they are all available on this site, but for the connoisseur who must have the best, Universal Animal Pak is the way to go.
Another great supplement that anyone of any age can benefit from are essential fatty acid pills. These are great for joint lubrication, neural function, fat reduction, memory and promoting overall wellness. Flax seed oil, fish oil, and CLA are all excellent choices. One great option is to buy from Optimum Nutrition. I really like their essential fatty acid supplements, and they are competitively priced for their quality.
Although I am hesitant to put this here, I will consider whey protein to be a supplement that anyone can use. I say this because it there is nothing dangerous about it for anyone, as it is just a type of convenient, cheap (per gram of protein, it is the best bargain I know of), easily digested food. Although many young trainees may not need it (they can just drink the milk and eat the peanut butter and meat their parents buy) whey protein will still help a young trainee to get all of the protein he needs to build muscle. It is important to buy quality though, as cheap whey is not as easily digested, so I would advise buying either Optimum Nutrition or CytoSport Muscle Milk. I am referring to 100% whey protein only, though, not gainers or anything with soy in them. Weight gainers are a different category and I will discuss them later, and soy can cause estrogen spikes, which none of us need.
Supplements Which Will Benefit Some Young Trainees
These are supplements which a young trainee should be wary of, but may be ok to use, even if one has not quite reached adulthood. The first of which are weight gainer shake products. I only suggest this if a young male is really, really skinny, and has already tried eating 3,000+ calories per day for 30 consecutive days without muscle gain. Reliance on weight gainers can cause latent or mild lactose intolerance to become more acute, and are hard for many people to digest (I have a good friend who tried using them because he hated eating, and he threw up after every shake, which obviously accomplished nothing). A weight gainer shake is only for someone who needs seemingly endless amounts of calories to gain weight. If this is a young man's problem, then OK, he should use them, if he can do the same with a balanced diet of whole foods, he should do that to avoid the risks.
Other supplements which are sometimes OK for youth consumption are glutamine and BCAA products. The major risk here is that a young mind can easily misunderstand how these products are intended to work and overuse them, hoping for a quick fix. But since they will not hurt, an educated youth consumer can buy them and use them as directed for help in their training. Optimum Nutrition is a great company to buy them from, but I also like Scivation's X-tend. The flavor is good (BCAA tastes so bad that you could gag) and it has shown everyone I know pretty impressive results. Since these are just amino acids (protein components) they will not be harmful for a young trainee, and could be helpful, although it is important to remember that these supplements aren't going to do the work for you, just help along the way.
Supplements Which Should Not Be Used Until Adulthood
There are two reasons why certain supplements should be avoided before adulthood, the first is simple: most of the supplements I am listing here (if not all of them) tell you right on the label not to use if you are under 18. There is a reason that these companies are willing to forgo potential profits from minors. There must be something in there which is dangerous for a young person if they are unwilling to take liability for use by children. The second reason is that these supplements will be ineffective for a young person, or at least not as effective as they would be for an adult, and therefore should not be consumed by them.
I like to use the phrase Designer Supplements to describe very expensive combination-supplements with many ingredients (often explained as a "proprietary blend" on the label). Designer Supplements should not be used by minors because usually these types of supplements do things which young trainees don't need or can do for themselves. Most teenagers have all the energy in the world when it comes to sports, so who needs a caffeine laden pre-workout blend, which will only hook them on the stuff too young? Young trainees also do not need testosterone boosters (ZMA, tribulus, prohormones, steroids, etc) because they already have many times the testosterone that they will have in a few short years. It is simply redundant, giving them more of what they already have enough of. Creatine is also unnecessary, as most young trainees will have noticeable results in very short periods of time (if they train, eat and sleep properly), so a small performance enhancer won't help much, and should be left on the shelf until they hit a plateau in their 20's. Young trainees ought to progress quickly anyhow, so why mess with what is already working just fine?
Although fat burners are really a different category entirely, I will mention briefly that they too are unnecessary, as a young trainee should not be worried about weight loss unless he is noticeably overweight. It is not healthy for a growing person to cut calories sufficiently to get really lean. It is best to wait a few years until you are done growing to worry about getting ripped and developing that six-pack. Spending time now developing a solid foundation of muscle will pay off for the rest of your life, while even with fat burners you may never make it to that perfect, Abercrombie model stomach anyhow. If a young person is noticeably overweight, fat burners aren't the answer. They are meant to prepare for a contest (or surgery, beach vacation, or other temporary need to look good undressed), not induce long term lifestyle changes. Consulting a nutritionist and a personal trainer will pay off much better in the long run.
Aside from the health risks involved, there are other reasons for young people to limit their consumption of dietary supplements. The biggest being cost. Young bodybuilders don't usually have $200/month or more to spend on supplements. Asking parents for money will probably only cause suspicion, and most likely lead them to see bodybuilding as an unhealthy obsession and seek to curtail their son's training, perhaps entirely. Even if a youth has enough money to pay for it all, this will probably all seem significant to him, and if it doesn't work out like he hoped (you know, looking like that huge, vascular, beast of a man on the package) he may be discouraged and give up working out altogether, which would be a shame.
In theory, there is nothing wrong with a young bodybuilder using supplements, as long as the ones he chooses are safe and appropriate for him, and he uses them properly, with the realistic expectations for where they will take him and what the effects of supplementation will be, while not burning a while in his pocket or causing trouble with his family.
taken from a website that shalll not be named on this forum
but good article none the less