Supplement Soup

When I started getting a little bit more into lifting, I never thought I’d be one of those people that took a ton of supplements. I mean, I have been taking post-workout protein shakes for awhile, but I always thought that the shakes combined with simply making sure you had enough protein in your daily diet was enough as long as you were putting your time in at the gym. I guess I am sort of living proof of that, as in the past couple of years I’ve gone from one of the scrawniest guys in the gym to…still pretty scrawny, but at least not the scrawniest! Still, in the last year or so it’s gotten more and more difficult to continue to add on weight in most exercises, and because of that I have been in the process of researching (and when I say researching, I mean asking my personal trainer friend, Scott) various supplements. Fast forward to this morning, where as I was packing my gym bag for after work, I found myself packing not only protein powder but these “Con-Cret” creatine capsules (Con-Cret is short for “concentrated creatine) and these BCAA (branch chain amino acid) chewables as well.

There are a couple of reasons this has given me pause…1st, I generally don’t like putting stuff into my body. In fact, Krissy has made fun of me because I usually won’t even take Advil unless I feel I absolutely need it…as if the Advil would be laced with PCP or something. Now, when I step back and look at, I probably take more stuff than most people I know. I’ve always taken a daily multivitamin, but now when I wake up in the morning in addition to the vitamin I take a fish oil tablet (for heart and joint health) and a zinc tablet (for…actually I know zinc is good for you, but I’m not sure what the exact reasons for taking it are…basically, my Mom told me to take it) as well. Krissy and I had also been taking niacin tablets at the suggestion of my Mom, but one of the side effects of niacin is this weird hot, tingly, blood-rushing-to-your-head type feeling…needless to say, we stopped taking the niacin a while ago. But add to that the performance supplements like protein, creatine, and the BCAAs, and sometimes I feel like a walking pharmacy. On the other hand though, it’s not like I’m snorting cocaine or pumping my body with steroids. Other than the fish oil, this stuff is all naturally occurring in your body anyway, and I’m not sure there are any bad sides to taking these. (I mean, I guess if you take too much of any of it, you could probably make yourself sick, but I’m going strictly by the recommended serving sizes.)

The 2nd thing is that once you add all this stuff up it starts to get kind of pricey. I mean, I think it’s like anything else: if you’re even somewhat serious about anything, you’re probably going to end up investing a little bit of money in it. Even though I am signed up to get discounts from GNC, the Vitamin Shoppe, and FitFuel.com, the creatine, BCAAs, and protein (and a pre-workout energy supplement that Krissy takes) definitely starts to add up. It’s enough that I think other than the protein, I think I’m only going to take one other thing at a given time. For example, the creatine that I have been taking is running out, and I didn’t re-up with more of it this past month. Instead, I opted with the BCAAs. If I want to go back to the creatine (or even try something different like glutamine or something else), I will drop the BCAAs for awhile…otherwise, it’s just too much money, not to mention too much stuff. I will start to need one of those pill holders that old people use that helps keep track of the different medicines they are supposed to take on certain days of the week.

The 3rd thing just goes back to what I said right off the bat: while I won’t deny that all of the supplements out there have value, I’m not sure any of them are a substitute for eating right and working hard in the gym. There are some guys in the gym that should be known as “2-baggers”…a gym bag for their gym clothes, and a 2nd bag for all the supplements they’re taking. These guys are taking everything I’m taking plus some type of weight gainer or mass builder, some type of pre-workout drink that gets you so amped up that you start bouncing off the walls, and maybe even a couple other things as well. I guess some people want every advantage that you can get, but if you’re spending more time in the gym mixing up different concoctions by the water fountain or your duffel bag than actually working out, that’s probably not the best way to maximize your gym time…but that’s a discussion for another day.