Supplement Analysis & Advice (New To Forums)

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Hi everyone,

I wanted to start off by saying I've only recently discovered these forums and have greatly appreciated the wealth of knowledge that seems to be available here. I'm still a long ways away from understanding a lot of the science and lingo that's being thrown around, so I'll do my best to keep up but I may have some follow up questions if the terminology gets too technical or abbreviated.

For starters, I'm looking for opinions on my current supplement plan (and I can go into my fitness/health background in more detail if it's needed). I've only gotten back into regular weight training about 8 weeks ago (prior to that it was on-again off-again with weights, weekly games of hockey, soccer during the summer months, and working a semi-physical job in construction). Here are my general stats and goals:

6'2"
186 lbs (17.8% bf according to my scale)
41 YO Male

Diet: 5-7 meals per day plus snacking (raisins & peanuts). Meals are mostly corn tortillas, chicken, veggies, eggs, salad and some fruits. Minimal whole grain breads and pastas during the week. No processed white flour or pastas. No white rice. No beef. No sugary anything. Only water, Plazma, and almond milk whey protein shakes for liquids.

Training: 5 days per week (M,T,W,F,Sa) of 45-90 minutes of weight training, followed by a 1.5 mile jog

Supplements:
Biotest Carbolin-19 (4 caps per day, 2 at 6am, 2 at noon)
Biotest Res-V (2 caps per day at 6am)
Biotest Micellar Curcumin 95x (1 cap per day at 6am)
Multivitamin (1 serving per day at 6am)
Omega-3 (3 caps per day with meals)
Biotest Micro-PA (4 caps pre workout on training days)
Biotest Plazma (1 serving during lifting on training days)
Whey Protein Powder (50g following lifting, prior to jog on training days)
Creatine Monohydrate (4g mixed with protein powder)

Goals: Improving body comp (not bad, but always could be better) and prepping my body for the "back 9" as I'm calling the next 20-50 years, or whatever God has planned for the time I have left.

I've only been on this current supplement plan for about 10 days, so any opinions I have about my progress would probably be highly anecdotal, and I'm sure I still have quite a ways to go before I reach my full physical potential based on my genetics. Unfortunately I found this site after I'd purchased my supplements, but I figure it's better to post this now and get some honest feedback so that I can get the most out of my diet and my time lifting.

Any and all feedback and criticism is welcome and appreciated. I'd be happy to answer any questions that may help, and if anyone has any articles or links that I can take a look at to get a better grasp of the terminology used frequently around the site, and gain a better understanding about the chemical forces at work during strength/hypertrophy training, I'd appreciate them.

Thanks for taking some time to read (and hopefully respond) to this!
 
thebigt

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haven't heard biotest mentioned in awhile---subbed.
 
Smont

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Curious why you don't eat white rice or pasta, is it a allergy thing? White rice and plain white tortilla wraps are pretty much my go to carb source regardless of cutting or bulking
 
Smont

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As far as natty supplements go I stick with the basics year round. Creatine, multi, fish oil, whey protein. After that if I had extra money I'd get essential amino acids and maybe a pre workout or something for intra workout carbs. Then finally if money wasn't a option id start going for the fancy stuff.

I'm not natural any more but I still use the basic stuff almost year round
 
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Curious why you don't eat white rice or pasta, is it a allergy thing? White rice and plain white tortilla wraps are pretty much my go to carb source regardless of cutting or bulking
As I was getting things in order to begin my training, I went to the doctor and got my bloodwork done; at the time I had been planning to find a source and get some anavar. My labs came back with elevated ALT levels (everything else looked good). First labs came back with ALT at 140, few weeks later we checked them again and they were at 80, and the next test after that had them at 110. Got an ultrasound on my liver and I have "mild" non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So that kinda put a stop to the notion of doing any oral steroids, and as I continued to research other options I realized I currently have no business using anything because I simply do not know enough, nor do I have a trusted source or a coach.

Overall, I'm actually thankful for the NAFLD because it did a few things. One, it put a hard stop to me using anything I don't have the knowledge to use safely and properly. Two, it got me to finally fix my diet. Processed flour and rice are out, sugary drinks and foods are out, saturated fats are (mostly) out.

Since I'm resolved to do things naturally for as long as I can see fruits for my labor, I wanted to make sure I was still getting the most out of my workouts, which is why I have been trying to find the right supplements to ensure I'm giving my body every opportunity to get what I can from my time in the garage. I figured these forums would be the right place to ask about what I'm currently taking and what else I might add that could be missing (or stop taking if it's not going to help me with my goals). My blood tests also revealed that I have high levels of total T (1081 ng/dL) but only normal free T (8.6 pg/mL). So if there's anything that I can take that can help free up my total T for hypertrophy and strength gains I'd be really interested in learning more.
 
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As I was getting things in order to begin my training, I went to the doctor and got my bloodwork done; at the time I had been planning to find a source and get some anavar. My labs came back with elevated ALT levels (everything else looked good). First labs came back with ALT at 140, few weeks later we checked them again and they were at 80, and the next test after that had them at 110. Got an ultrasound on my liver and I have "mild" non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So that kinda put a stop to the notion of doing any oral steroids, and as I continued to research other options I realized I currently have no business using anything because I simply do not know enough, nor do I have a trusted source or a coach.

Overall, I'm actually thankful for the NAFLD because it did a few things. One, it put a hard stop to me using anything I don't have the knowledge to use safely and properly. Two, it got me to finally fix my diet. Processed flour and rice are out, sugary drinks and foods are out, saturated fats are (mostly) out.

Since I'm resolved to do things naturally for as long as I can see fruits for my labor, I wanted to make sure I was still getting the most out of my workouts, which is why I have been trying to find the right supplements to ensure I'm giving my body every opportunity to get what I can from my time in the garage. I figured these forums would be the right place to ask about what I'm currently taking and what else I might add that could be missing (or stop taking if it's not going to help me with my goals). My blood tests also revealed that I have high levels of total T (1081 ng/dL) but only normal free T (8.6 pg/mL). So if there's anything that I can take that can help free up my total T for hypertrophy and strength gains I'd be really interested in learning more.
Get a boron supplement, 3mg 2x a day will raise your free testosterone better than anything else natural that I know of
 
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Get a boron supplement, 3mg 2x a day will raise your free testosterone better than anything else natural that I know of
Alright, sounds good. Are there any brands you'd recommend? Also, is it better to take it with food, early or late in the day, etc?
 
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Alright, sounds good. Are there any brands you'd recommend? Also, is it better to take it with food, early or late in the day, etc?
I don't think the brand matters too much as long as it's a reputable company, I've used the NOW foods brand. 3 mg in the morning 3 mg at night and I took them with my meals but I don't know if it matters or not that you do that
 
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Excellent, I'll order some tonight.

I'll do some reading on essential amino acid supps as well while I'm at it, but I'm sure there's a ton of info out there (and I doubt all of it is worthwhile) so I may have some questions or be looking for a good recommendation there as well in a day or two.

I've seen good reports on these boards regarding PA and Curcumin, so I'm hopeful that I have some bases covered already in those departments. Unsure if I'm getting what I ought to from the Res-V or the Carbolin-19, or if I should switch-to/add-in something else. I've already got a long list of supplements that I'm interested in looking into further, from cruising around these boards, but maybe someone can help steer me in the right direction regarding any other changes I ought to consider.
 
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Excellent, I'll order some tonight.

I'll do some reading on essential amino acid supps as well while I'm at it, but I'm sure there's a ton of info out there (and I doubt all of it is worthwhile) so I may have some questions or be looking for a good recommendation there as well in a day or two.

I've seen good reports on these boards regarding PA and Curcumin, so I'm hopeful that I have some bases covered already in those departments. Unsure if I'm getting what I ought to from the Res-V or the Carbolin-19, or if I should switch-to/add-in something else. I've already got a long list of supplements that I'm interested in looking into further, from cruising around these boards, but maybe someone can help steer me in the right direction regarding any other changes I ought to consider.
Eaa's are not super important. You can definitely get them all through your food. I just find I get better recovery and a better pump using eaa and some fast digesting carbs intra workout
 
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Quick update and some follow up questions:

Started the AA's (got some EAA+ Hydration that I mix each training day with the Plazma) and started up with the 6mg per day of Boron. All in all, things are going well. Body is feeling good, training is going well and staying consistent. Looking a little more fit every week in the mirror and weights/reps keep going up during training. Keeping good on the diet too (though between 6am and 2pm I don't feel like I can ever get enough food; I eat a meal, am hungry 30-60 minutes later, so I have another meal... it's fantastic actually). Body weight is staying in the same range it's been at since I started, so I feel like I'm making slow progress, but I figure that's what I should expect just going the natural (w supplements) route, and I'm fine with that, so long as I'm progressing.

Getting to the point with the above list of supplements where I had planned to order some more of a few of them that will be running low in the next 2-4 weeks (the plan was to buy ~2 month supply each time I purchased) and I think for now I am going to reorder everything from the above list to keep what I've been using going.

But... I've been spending a ton of time on these forums, trying to soak-in/learn as much as I can, and I've been taking notes on the different supplement "stacks" that guys here have been discussing/recommending/using, and currently what has my interest the most piqued are: AE, BMP, Epi-Plex and Androgin. Bit of sticker shock to ordering all four at once though, since I'm already dropping a bit of coin on the other supplements I'm taking, and adding a 2 months supply of each of those to what I'm already buying brings the total price tag up significantly. I knew going into this that things could get expensive, and I tried to tell myself that if it gets me results then the cost is worth it, but my biggest concern is that I'll look back a year from now and feel like I got scammed.

I know there are a lot of reps who talk-up, and guys on these boards who've posted their experiences, with the above supplements, and I've read quite a few of those threads already, so I'm not so much looking for testimonials as I am seeking advice. Would it be best to try each of the above one at a time? Or get two of them first and then switch to the other two in a month or two? Or just stay the course with what I have for now until I come to a plateau? Also, regarding the Biotest supplements, I'm guessing there are other supplements that I can find that have the ~same ingredients but at a lower cost, are there any that stick out as being one that I am just paying way too much for and should replace with another (lower cost) brand?

Thanks in advance for reading/replying!
 
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Quick update and some follow up questions:

Started the AA's (got some EAA+ Hydration that I mix each training day with the Plazma) and started up with the 6mg per day of Boron. All in all, things are going well. Body is feeling good, training is going well and staying consistent. Looking a little more fit every week in the mirror and weights/reps keep going up during training. Keeping good on the diet too (though between 6am and 2pm I don't feel like I can ever get enough food; I eat a meal, am hungry 30-60 minutes later, so I have another meal... it's fantastic actually). Body weight is staying in the same range it's been at since I started, so I feel like I'm making slow progress, but I figure that's what I should expect just going the natural (w supplements) route, and I'm fine with that, so long as I'm progressing.

Getting to the point with the above list of supplements where I had planned to order some more of a few of them that will be running low in the next 2-4 weeks (the plan was to buy ~2 month supply each time I purchased) and I think for now I am going to reorder everything from the above list to keep what I've been using going.

But... I've been spending a ton of time on these forums, trying to soak-in/learn as much as I can, and I've been taking notes on the different supplement "stacks" that guys here have been discussing/recommending/using, and currently what has my interest the most piqued are: AE, BMP, Epi-Plex and Androgin. Bit of sticker shock to ordering all four at once though, since I'm already dropping a bit of coin on the other supplements I'm taking, and adding a 2 months supply of each of those to what I'm already buying brings the total price tag up significantly. I knew going into this that things could get expensive, and I tried to tell myself that if it gets me results then the cost is worth it, but my biggest concern is that I'll look back a year from now and feel like I got scammed.

I know there are a lot of reps who talk-up, and guys on these boards who've posted their experiences, with the above supplements, and I've read quite a few of those threads already, so I'm not so much looking for testimonials as I am seeking advice. Would it be best to try each of the above one at a time? Or get two of them first and then switch to the other two in a month or two? Or just stay the course with what I have for now until I come to a plateau? Also, regarding the Biotest supplements, I'm guessing there are other supplements that I can find that have the ~same ingredients but at a lower cost, are there any that stick out as being one that I am just paying way too much for and should replace with another (lower cost) brand?

Thanks in advance for reading/replying!
One thing I will say about AM that’s not true of most forums. Reps and members will on the whole give their honest opinions. Unlike the old bb.com forum where reps only shill their own products, most reps here use other companies and will recommend what they feel is the best product. That being said, you will surely find that you will get products that are either useless or don’t give you what you expected. Ask around here before you buy and hopefully we can all steer you in the right direction.
 
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One thing I will say about AM that’s not true of most forums. Reps and members will on the whole give their honest opinions. Unlike the old bb.com forum where reps only shill their own products, most reps here use other companies and will recommend what they feel is the best product. That being said, you will surely find that you will get products that are either useless or don’t give you what you expected. Ask around here before you buy and hopefully we can all steer you in the right direction.
Glad to hear that, and it seems like that's been the case from what I've seen here so far, but I'm still pretty new and getting the lay of the land/figuring out who the regulars are.

I've got some more questions about a few other supplements but I'm going to hold off asking them in this thread until I get some responses to what I've posted above.
 
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Regarding my elevated ALT levels. I've been considering getting some NAC and adding that into what I'm taking, but I've also seen some people here recommending tudca as well. Would either/both of those potentially help me get my ALT levels back in the normal range, and what daily dosages would I be looking for?
 

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