Supplements to Preserve Strength on Cut?

rangestormer

New member
I am two months into this year's cut (15% below TDEE), and I've just started feeling a very slight lost of strength. I am 26 years old, hitting the gym for the past 10 years. I used to invest a lot in supps, but got sick of wasting money for proprietary blends with no results, so for the past 2-3 of years I have been away from the industry. My basic year round staple is Whey, Creatine Mono, Multivitamins, Omega 3 and vitamin C.

What should I add to this staple while cutting fat? The main goal would be to preserve my strength, and of course, LBM. I am trying to finally get below 10% BF. My research here leads me to these:

Forskolin 95 - for recomp and faster fatloss, so that I can return sooner to my TDEE. Anabeta Elite is also an option here, because a month supply of Forskolin @100mg daily already costs almost as much as Anabeta Elite here in Europe.

Beta-Alanine
Betaine
HICA - if I go down the EC route, and not Alphamine
Creatinol-O-Phosphate

What do you think of this list? I have listed basic supplements, because I can find them bulk right away. The good stuff that is being discussed here is harder to find locally, but I would love some input on them too, for future orders.
 
For me ARA was awesome on a cut.
Tried both SNS Xgels and MN Xfactor - they contain the same amount of ARA, so go with the cheapest you can find.

I maintained strength on most of my lifts and even put a few plates extra on the bar for some exercises.
Some notice a leaning effect also.
Really awesome product.

Or you could try to get your hands on some Follidrone.

Check out some of the logs if you have the time.
It really looks like an outstanding product that's suited for most needs (cut/bulk/recomp).
 
natadrol always gave me a notable boost in strength. ARA is an obvious choice.
hemavol is a favorite of mine because it helps keep you full looking and improves strength and pump.
 
Alphamax should help one maintain strength while cutting. It contains forskolin and controls cortisol, which can increase during a cut. You also have ZMA, which should help one with their sleep. Sleeping while cutting is very important. A person wants to make sure that they are sleeping enough to recover since recovery can be hampered. Also, free test will be increased with, that will also help with maintaining strength. Finally, your diet will play a major role. If you are at a large deficit, you might lose more strength than you would if you slowly lowered your cal intake.
 
I forgot to mention ArA, thanks! My concern though is that joint problems and DOMS would be detrimental to my Muay Thai trainings.

I will definitely look into Follidrone.
 
I would highly suggest you look into Alphamax as its quickly becoming the most recommends test booster for good reason


In a daily serving you'll get 50mg of F-95 to help you lean out, 75mg Arimistane which will help increase hardness but also preserve muscle. Also contains full dose Divanill and Ldopa which will help with both free and total testesterone making retaining muscle a much easier task!
 
Your list is pretty good, really. Just add Forskolin to it. Although, Forskolin and COP sound like a nightmare on the stomach. I'd prob drop the COP, as Forskolin would be much more effective.
 
For a bulk ingredient I'd look at Betaine/TMG and/or Amentoflavone, as you mentioned. Both cheap and should have some positive impact on strength.

For something a little more exotic the AnaBeta Elite idea or Amino IV would also be good choices. Forskolin has studies on body composition benefits, the Lodrha Bark should have synergistic effects with the Forskolin via PDE inhibition to help increase cAMP (more fat loss, lean body mass retention), and the Eleutherococcus senticosus has positive anaerobic and aerobic performance (improved gym performance).

I mention Amino IV as well because it contains HICA and a BCAA/EAA blend to help maximize MPS and muscle retention, but also because the Lemon Verbena Extract also has some solid science behind it benefiting lifting performance: Invalid Link Removed
 
blacklac said:
Your list is pretty good, really. Just add Forskolin to it. Although, Forskolin and COP sound like a nightmare on the stomach. I'd prob drop the COP, as Forskolin would be much more effective.
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It's debatable. Strength and LBM are two different things (certainly correlated of course).
 
I was using that Alphamine and Endurate product (split the dose into 2 x daily for this) on a cut before and my lfts were going up as I got leaner) so I'd say pretty much everything you've already said or using, e.g. HICA, beta-alanine, betaine, creatine.
 
If you are already two months into it, something that helps with cortisol might give huge benefits. Alphamax has arimistane for estrogen/cortisol plus forskolin (not a cort control ingredient but it is great) and some other stuff and it's very cheap. Reduce XT is straight cortisol control and is always brought up as a great choice when you are deep into a cutting cycle (as your hormones can start to get out of whack). For a natural choice, Relora helps control cortisol and is great for sleeping. Ashwagandha seems to help with relora but I don't know whether or not it actually affects cortisol. Relora/ashwagandha combo does help me control hunger cravings and I feel like I don't store fat as easily when I take it. It's no original Erase Pro or anything (I have no experience with the new formula so can only compare to original), but the effects were very noticeable.

Overall, if you only want to buy one thing to help with your goals right now, I would say Alphamax or Reduce XT since you are already two months into your cut. I would get whichever one of those is available at a better price and try it out.
 
I like UR spray. I'm cutting and it's working for me. Can get expensive though and I wouldn't use it unless you were committed to a minimum of 8 weeks using it
 
bdybldnaam said:
For me ARA was awesome on a cut.
Tried both SNS Xgels and MN Xfactor - they contain the same amount of ARA, so go with the cheapest you can find.

I maintained strength on most of my lifts and even put a few plates extra on the bar for some exercises.
Some notice a leaning effect also.
Really awesome product.

Or you could try to get your hands on some Follidrone.

Check out some of the logs if you have the time.
It really looks like an outstanding product that's suited for most needs (cut/bulk/recomp).
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SNS Xgels is awesome on a recomp/cutting phase. Helps keep strength still helps you get da pumpz
 
creatine of course

I'm also a big fan of aminos intra workout, my product of choice is Compete

I just got done with two bottles of ArA and it was good during a cut, not great but worth a look
 
rangestormer said:
Do you get amentoflavone bulk or as part of a blend? If the second, which product do you use?
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Analyzed Supplements Amentomax is the only bulk Amentoflavone I know of. There are several products that do contain it in them (Katana, Uncut, Norcodrene). For more info on Amentoflavone check out this thread: Invalid Link Removed
 
Lg sciences natadrol would help keep if not increase strength....
 
Creatine and ArA would be my go-to on a cut. At even 1.5g of ArA on workout days i've not experienced increased DOMS. It's not an automatic thing with ArA, especially if you keep the dose reasonable. And as an added bonus you get more workouts out of the bottle. Some basic creatine monohydrate from SNS and X Gels would be a low-ish priced but solid cut stack.
 
fightbackhxc said:
SNS Xgels is awesome on a recomp/cutting phase. Helps keep strength still helps you get da pumpz
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Ya, I'm on a mini cut and I use 2g on workout days. My pump today was literally so intense I couldn't curl all the way up on my last set of incline db curls :)
But xgels are #1 for a cut. Continue making strength gains while shedding bf.
 
Xgels
Amentomax
Alpha mine

Would make for an awesome combo. Forskolin is exceptional as well
 
Currently I am using Hemavol and X-Gels (Just started with these and loving it) for this purpose.
 
I have been having absolutely wicked results with Humapro by ALRI. I know that there's a lot of skepticism about the product and the company itself has a reputation of having done unsavory things to the formulas without labelling it. I have not replaced all of my protein sources with Humapro, but I eliminated whey shakes, protein bars, BCAA/EAA intra-workout drinks, etc. and the results I've been getting are very dramatic (I have some pics to back this up). I have a bottle of Erase Pro and Anabeta Elite waiting to be taken and I can imagine that with all these stacked, it should make for a phenomenal anti-catabolic/anabolic stack and harden muscles like no other.
 
^^^

Many who I respect are really big on HumaPro... I may have to try it at some point.

Arachidonic Acid (X-Factor) is notoriously strong for keeping strength and muscle fullness/density while dieting.

AmentoFlavone, BioForge, adaptogens, peptopro and a good creatine supplement will also assist in keeping your strength and muscle while on a caloric deficit.
 
SwolenONE said:
^^^Many who I respect are really big on HumaPro... I may have to try it at some point.Arachidonic Acid (X-Factor) is notoriously strong for keeping strength and muscle fullness/density while dieting.AmentoFlavone, BioForge, adaptogens, peptopro and a good creatine supplement will also assist in keeping your strength and muscle while on a caloric deficit.
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After all these years I still have yet to try X-Factor. I need to read up more on it's interactions with anti-inflammatory agents, because I am not too clear on all of that. I actually phased out every single shake and BCAA product and will no longer get a 'repartitioning' supplement again, because it's just working that well (Humapro). Let me know if you decide to try it.
 
Force of Green said:
After all these years I still have yet to try X-Factor. I need to read up more on it's interactions with anti-inflammatory agents, because I am not too clear on all of that. I actually phased out every single shake and BCAA product and will no longer get a 'repartitioning' supplement again, because it's just working that well (Humapro). Let me know if you decide to try it.
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Interactions aren't as extreme as many people think. Just dose fish oil, cissus or any other anti-inflammatory as far away from ArA as possible. I have used it 2 hours after taking advil and it still pumped me up and I still had a great workout (not saying this is a good idea; just saying it isn't like it wouldn't be worthwhile to try it even if you take anti-inflammatory supps or occasionally need something for a headache). Stuff is great and it goes on sale for ridiculous prices. X factor was 30 bucks a bottle two different times in the last several months. One bottle lasts me 5 weeks (5 per workout, 4 workouts per week). Can't beat that!
 
tyrub42 said:
Interactions aren't as extreme as many people think. Just dose fish oil, cissus or any other anti-inflammatory as far away from ArA as possible. I have used it 2 hours after taking advil and it still pumped me up and I still had a great workout (not saying this is a good idea; just saying it isn't like it wouldn't be worthwhile to try it even if you take anti-inflammatory supps or occasionally need something for a headache). Stuff is great and it goes on sale for ridiculous prices. X factor was 30 bucks a bottle two different times in the last several months. One bottle lasts me 5 weeks (5 per workout, 4 workouts per week). Can't beat that!
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Type O Hero said:
X-Factor is easily the best choice.
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Thanks guys! And absolutely correct on the interactions, you can run everything pretty much as normal and reap the full benefits of X-Factor.
 
I'm going to give X-Factor a go in the very near future (a month maybe, if that) based on your guy's feedback. I'm going to dig through some logs and so forth. I'd like to run it for the summer since it's known for keeping muscles fuller while in a caloric deficit and apparently I'm still cutting.
 
I feel like a fool for not using X-Factor yet. I can't believe I never even looked into it... I'm researching a little right now and damn.
 
like force of green said, humapro is a nice supplement, i've been using it for almost 2 years now and sometimes totally forget about it, but unlike others, i don't replace my protein drinks with it and just use humapro tabs to supplement my overall protein

i force also just released their profile for their new fat burner: thermoxyn
 
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Some of the key pieces for my upcoming summer stack. I still need to put my order in with Millenium Sports Tech's website, though.
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With just Humapro along with some bodybuilding basics (BA, creatine, etc), I am not as 'big' as I used to be, but I'm more cut than I have ever achieved with my older eating and training habits along with a lot of steroids.
 
Force of Green said:
I feel like a fool for not using X-Factor yet. I can't believe I never even looked into it... I'm researching a little right now and damn.
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You'll love it, one of the most popular products on the forums for years now.
 
cbsharpe said:
It's never too late my friend. X-factor is pretty darn good. I'm sure you'll get around to trying it.
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You're right, CB. It's not too late. I like the looks of the X-Factor Advanced. I understand that many users take their whole dose pre-workout. I could easily dose X-Factor Advanced pre-workout and be sure to keep the supps with anti-inflammatory properties outside the window of the ArA dosing. Sound good? I'll get it to throw in with the stack that I'm building together.
 
Force of Green said:
You're right, CB. It's not too late. I like the looks of the X-Factor Advanced. I understand that many users take their whole dose pre-workout. I could easily dose X-Factor Advanced pre-workout and be sure to keep the supps with anti-inflammatory properties outside the window of the ArA dosing. Sound good? I'll get it to throw in with the stack that I'm building together.
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Yep, that is exactly what I did. Dosed it pre workout and I also took a dose on non-workout days too. I never experienced any DOMS while using X-factor. But X-factor is stacker friendly...that's for sure!
 
Force of Green said:
I feel like a fool for not using X-Factor yet. I can't believe I never even looked into it... I'm researching a little right now and damn.
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You won't regret it man! I loved stacking it with (G)PLCAR as my carnitine. Strength endurance and pumps! The PLCAR was really appreciated when I would finish a brutal workout and still have to do bjj with a bunch of monsters who didn't just kill their muscles in the gym.

XF and XFA were both great but I have to say I have lots of potential for joint problems and lots of preexisting stuff and regular x factor didn't bother my joints at all (good thing since I bought 6 bottles of it haha)
 
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