1. No, no, no...I would stay away from supplement stores entirely. The Max Muscle by my house advertised "Low Price Guarantee" that was absolutely false; if you called them out on it, they would not price match. So much b.s., because supplements are classified as "foods" rather than medicines, hence not subject to scrutiny.
2. If you really are into supplements, look into the following forums:
a. Will Brink...Sports Supplement Review
b. "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" explains supplement companies, etc.
c. Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, a way to build the most important component, strength with barbell training. Only after that is completed do the rest of these things matter.
3. As far as supplements, I have done hundreds of different ones over the years, and spent over 10,000 USD. Most people hanging out around gyms, etc. do. I am one of the smarter ones, and I still have been duped by so much b.s.
Most bodybuilders, sports enthusiasts, etc. start off and think everything that can help, even 1% can be worth it. Then, they often get discouraged when they see through everything, and think nothing is best.
Hopefully, people find a happy medium.
4. Here is what I can say actually works:
a. Getting a good gym CLOSE TO HOME. There are studies that show the difference between how close it is to your home will determine how often you use it. Better to pay more, for a gym right next door, than a great deal 30 minutes away.
b. Getting a certified personal trainer that can teach you proper form. I have even seen rich people or celebrities without a trainer, and get form wrong. I had one bad day of squats and deadlifts, was injured for two years, lost half my strength and gained fat, all from one bad day. Like good teachers, good trainers are worth their weight in gold.
c. Invest in cooking equipment: Blender, Rice Cooker, Gladware, big refrigerator, George Foreman Grill, Steamer, Boiled Egg Maker, etc.
If you cook food yourself, you will have better body composition naturally. Six meals of homecooked food can be 2000 healthy calories; those same foods such as sandwiches, baked potatoes and salads can have 3000 or 4000 calories, despite taste being the same.
In a retrospective analysis, the best investments ever made were for blenders, microwaves, high quality rice cookers, etc. I am in a temporary apartment for a month, and can feel the difference without a microwave, boiled egg maker, and blender.
5. Once you have nailed down everything else, you can start investing in supplements.
Here is what I can say actually works, is safe (when used in normal doses), and is cost-effective:
a. Whey protein isolate. It beats out concentrate. These days, in the US, online is the best way. Bulk Supplements [dot] com is the best one. All these other proprietary blends, Costco brand, etc. probably knocked down the quality and put fillers in. People saw it with drug markets like heroin and cocaine: purity is hard to find, as people put in fillers to increase quantity and make more money by volume.
b. MRPs: Myoplex is the best marketed, but not the best. All the MRP's I have ever seen are about 40 grams of whey protein + 20 - 30 grams of maltodextrin. Whether the bottle is pretty or not, they are the same. I would buy bargain bin, if I was back in the US. Brands do not mean much, even though EAS, Twinlab, Met-Rx, are popular.
c. Creatine Monohydrate: Will Brink's Creatine Graveyard is the most popular that explains no other creatine product has beat out monohydrate. Other of these innovations may actually be able to compete with monohydrate, but nothing beats entirely.
d. Any sort of stimulant: coffee, ECA stack, etc. all have the same function: increase ergogenic benefit, etc.
Most of these fat burners just use pixie dusting. That means they put the ingredients in parentheses (My Cool Herb, ______ Proprietary Ingredient ...., ...., Caffeine Anhydrous). NoExplode was proabbably the worst offended: 99% caffeine power and creatine monohydrate, probably 20x markup off real value.
e. If you want to get into supplements like andro, etc. DO NOT BUY FROM HEALTH FOOD STORES. Again, nothing they sell actually works as a medicine would. Even batch to batch can be some junk. If something went wrong, there is no way to figure out what you actually bought.
f. You can look on the other forums to see what types of hormonal stuff work. Or you can speak to real doctors. While "Low T" is a coined term and TRT is over-prescribed at least 10x more than people who are truly hypogonadal, surely many clinics will prescribe.
Basically, here are the different ways to increase performance:
- Testosterone replacement therapy: either testosterone cypionate or Androgel. This uses regular testosterone to boost testosterone.
- Alternative medicine people claim "bio-identical testosterone" but there is no real such thing. It is just Testopel. I have spoken to the best scientists in the world. Even if there existed a way to go into your testes, take your individual T, clone it, and put it back in your body, there still would be side effects. The idea that you can get a free ride by taking "bio-identical testosterone" to raise T "naturally" is b.s.
- Anabolic Steroids: testosterone was discovered about 100 years ago. When they first experimented with people, they found the anabolic parts increased strength and muscle mass, while the androgenic parts caused the hairiness, heart problems, etc. As a result, anabolic steroids were created, but each had other side effects not accounted for.
Real Anavar, Oxandrolone: great for muscle wasting. Was used for AIDS patients in the 1980's and 1990's, before HAART helped prevent HIV turning to AIDS, etc. Even 5 mg a day does well. Although side effects happen, not the dramatic changes in blood cholesterol than other orals.
Primobolan Depot - the safest injectable. Does cause some heart side effects, does not easily aromatize to estrogen, does exacerbate existing baldness, etc.
Oral Dianabol was the first, Arnold, etc. all took it in the 1970's: inexpensive, short-half life (fully metabolized within a day), gets in the system quickly, causes aggression and water retention, huge strength gains, etc.
Winstrol: good for sprinters, etc. terrible for heart problems.
Anadrol: probably the most powerful oral. Great for strength and mass gains, terrible for heart gains.
- Growth hormone: great to go in conjunction with testosterone. Again, look at bodybuilders and Growth Gut. When taken more than a few IU's a day, and without a doctor, will cause permanent damage. Look at people with Giganticism.
- SARMS: the newest and best category. SARMS like Ostarine are about 1/10th the potency of testosterone, but have few or maybe even none of the psychological side effects and heart effects. Jim Dalton of UMich is the researcher; he also owns shares in the company that makes Ostarine. Of course, he will crusade to have it being given to older people.
In the US, they are slowly getting banned. Here in China, a chemist can make anything on order, as it is not regulated.
6. Again, whether you are 16, 26 or 36 years old, nail down the basics:
Gym, lifestyle, good trainer, good diet, etc.
Then, work on regular things like protein powder, caffeine, etc. at a good price.
Those things alone may make better gains than 90% of people do.
Then, and only then, look into hormone replacement therapy, etc. You have two options:
a. Go to these "Diet Clinics" where a real MD would prescribe testosterone and growth hormone
b. Go abroad, to Thailand, Turkey, etc. where a doctor can monitor you, and you can buy real testosterone or anabolics from any pharmacy, and have a real doctor monitor you.
Again, when I lived in Turkey, primobolan depot was 4 USD per vial (which could last a week). Real Anavar was 100 USD for 10mg * 100, etc. Same prices in Thailand, etc.
If older Americans are retiring to Thailand, and surgeons can make a boy look like a girl (including with hormones), they can certainly monitor athletes wanting to do these things.
What you do not need is GNC or Max Muscle telling you about a great supplement, which is over priced, and not going to have much effect.