Creatine
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My body is still growing, but I really needed to try and put weight
and strength on for football.
-GNC brand creatine. Loaded 20 grams a day for 5 days then took 3 caps before and 3 caps after workout for the next 6 weeks. (Taken with grape juice)
-EAS brand HMB took the recommended dosage of 4 caps three times a day for 6 weeks.
-Body Fortress Vanadyl Sulfate recommended dosage of 1 cap a day for 6 weeks.
I used this cycle along with my normal healthy diet. I also added some new exercises to my workout and took a protein shake when I was done. This was also pretty hard on the wallet too! I got no results so I'm mad. I started at 160 lbs. I had no strength gains at all. Not one. I had no weight gains either. Grr, I really need to put weight on. I've heard so much talk about creatine and HMB I decided to give these nice expensive supplements a try, but they didn't do a darn thing! Also, when I loaded the creatine and for a few days after, my kidneys felt like they were on fire. I don't think it was due to my training wrong, I had the trainer at my school watching me lift which was 4 days a week. I just wanted to put out his information so maybe people can ask around before spending big bucks like I did. Maybe these supplements will work for you, but they didn't for me. I know they are all the rage right now, but I just wasted money.
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I've just read the article about a guy who took all of these supplements to boost his weight from 160 lbs. I've got some great news. He is only confused. He did not get ripped off. Supplements are exactly what they are, supplements. They are not magical potions. this particular gentlemen was doomed from the beginning by taking more supplements than he could possibly keep track of.
First, one should always begin a new diet and exercise program with a goal in mind. Shortly, one should set goals and time lines for which they wish to achieve their goals.
Second, a proper wight training protocol should be followed. Always aim for high intensity and short duration in a training protocol. Starting with one maximal set to failure is the only sure fire way of calibrating your work out progress. It's simple. By starting with one set and you find that it is not working you can always calibrate the weight, reps, or sets to gage for progress. It's a little more technical than what I've explained of course.
Third, the nutritional component of the program must be addressed at the outset. A sound nutrition program is not a bowl of nonfat Fruit Loops in the morning. Instead a diet that consists of 40% protein, 30% carbohydrate, and 30% fats divided in four to six daily servings will not only regulate the body thermostat (fat burning capabilities), but also provide an even amount of nourishment for optimal body usage.
Fourth, supplements. Supplementation for the person who wishes to gain muscle and loose fat has already been established. My advice is to start out simple. Creatine Monohydrate is definitely my number one chose for muscle building and pyruvate would be my number one choice for fat loss. Notice that these two particular supplements don't really have any conflicting properties and are very easy to monitor.
As far as dosages go and all that other stuff you can count on a book (Editors note: We have left out the names of the book and the company offering it because the goal of this book is to get you to buy a wide array of supplements produced by the author of the book. As a result, the book is completely biased and is not suitable for this page) to fill in all of the other details. And there are many details. I guess what I'm trying to say is that bodybuilding or fitness in general is a science. And science involves a lot of precision. One mistake a surgeon makes in the operating room can be disastrous and even deadly. So will those kinds of errors jeopardize a persons search for fitness excellence.
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I wonder if the person writing the review is an adolescent or young adult; he mentions that his body is still growing. Male adolescents are often eager to put on weight and especially muscle. However a growing body will give priority to growth over muscle mass. It's very possible that all the nutrients taken by reviewer #1 were not wasted, but went into body growth. Though that was not his goal it may still be beneficial for him to take the supplements he mentioned to enhance his growth and to provide a healthier physical base upon which to build more muscle mass later when his growth cycle begins to decline. Unfortunately patience is a virtue that is difficult for most adolescents to master. Good luck to reviewer #1.
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You say that perhaps this guy's money was not wasted because it could have all gone to body growth. Either way, whether you call it body growth or muscle growth, if he experienced any growth wouldn't he see an increase in weight? That growth has to add some pounds somewhere, right?
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The person that took the wide range of supplements did not mention anything about what he ate and when he ate during this period. You can do everything else correctly, but if you do not eat enough you will not have the energy to get a good work out, and without enough protein, you will not put on an ounce of muscle. I weighed 168 lbs. and looked like a bean pole a year and 3 months ago and currently weigh 195 pounds with approx. 9-10% body fat. I too could not gain any weight no matter how much I worked out. I started to eat healthy foods 6 times a day. I work out three times a week and work every muscle group to failure only once a week. I take creatine periodically and NO OTHER SUPPLEMENTS. Your not plagued with the skinny-mans syndrome, you just need to eat more and eat healthy. Also you need to get a good rest after the workout, no hanging out on the phone til midnight during the week and limit the alcohol consumption on the weekend with the football buddies. Alcohol flushes out all of your supplements and your wallet. Take this advice and take your workout seriously and you will solve your problems. Also, look on the internet for creatine prices, paying for the creatine and HMB you bought is a rip-off.
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EAT..and Eat and Eat some more...and when your full. Eat again at least 6 times a day. Heavy breakfast, then small to moderate meals then right after the gym which should be around dinner time, another heavy meal..then light meals high in protein before you go to bed AND STOP TAKING THAT NO NAME SH-T.
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The following is my best advice I could give you for your problem:
* Eat every three hours (40% proteins, 30% carbohydrates, 30% fats)
* Eat within one hour after a workout
* Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night
* Drink as much water as you can, all day long
* Change your weight routine on a regular basis (every few weeks)
* Stretch your muscles before and after every workout (perform 10 minutes
of aerobics before stretching)
* Perform exercises with strict form
* Keep your workouts short
* Allow plenty of time for recovery between workouts
* Supplement your diet with high quality whey protein
* Supplement your diet with creatine monohydrate added to juice (not water)
* Supplement your diet with a multi-vitamin\mineral product
* Do not take anything else!
You will grow if you follow these guidelines I have outlined for you. Be patient, and the rewards of your efforts will come!
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Not to be insolent, but who says the school "trainer" is even qualified to guide you in your search for 19" biceps? You secondly sound like an ectomorph ( long & thin ), which adds a little bit of an obstacle for you. Then, compound that with the fact that you are still growing vertically, and kaboom! You are a hard gainer! That's life, and it's not fair, but learn to accept gradual increases in size rather than explode over night. Remember, the mental aspect is as important as the working out itself. I lived through it, fought a ton of pitfalls, and just took my time and made it happen.
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I agree with all of the comments by other respondents to the report 1 author, but would also like to add that he sounds typically impatient. 6 weeks is simply not enough time to expect significant results to a weight training regime. Weight training does work, but it takes time . By that I mean that it takes a lot of time for the bodybuilder that chooses to train naturally. I have been training for 16 years ( totally naturally) -- a late starter at age 34 -- now 50. At age 50 I can still get results if I train correctly, train hard, and eat right.
Over the 16 years that I have been training I've noticed many
periods of little result that eventually gets followed by a
growth spurt. Sometimes, it takes time for the body to eventually
react to your training. The worst thing that you can do is stop
training. That's a sure way to get no results. Incidentally,
my lean body weight before training was 135 pounds, it's now
165 pounds. That's 2 pounds per year. That's how slow the results
can be. The point is that bodybuilding is a lifestyle, not a
quick fix for overnight muscles. Even now I sometimes cycle
creatine for about 3 months & yes-- it does work. As a previous
respondent stated -- supplements are just that. The key is hard
dedicated ongoing training to force a response from the body
together with patience.
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It does take time to put on weight and if you are still growing,
you may not see results as fast, but you will see them. Protein
builds muscle cells, not creatine, hmb, vanadyl sulfate, or other
crap. If you put something synthetic in your body like this crap
you may see some differences in strength, but what you don't see
if the hell you are putting your kidney and liver through. If ingested,
it will go through your kidneys and liver. Find yourself some good
quality protein, either whey or soy. Milk and egg proteins are incomplete
because of lack of or not enough branched chain amino acids. Soy
is your best bet, it is easier consumed and synthesized by the body
than the whey(beef) protein.
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| Believe me, you didn't get ripped off with the supplements you bought, but those supplements won't do anything if not used properly. The one thing you will have to do to get any serious gains is eat and eat and eat. I KNOW, believe me. I was stuck at a really wimpy 145lbs all through High School and I worked really hard. I got stronger for a while, but then got to the point where I could't get any more gains and I had already stopped growing upwards.
Two years later (now), I finally started working out again. I started EATING about 6 times a day, anything that had lots of protein. In about 4 months I gained 20 lbs, all of which is muscle. All my lifts have shot way past what I was doing before. I don't even work as hard as I did back in school. The only difference is the amount of food I eat.
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Number one you only weigh 160 lbs. It sounds to me like you don't have a large bone structure and that will make things hard for you. I am what you would call a mesomorph with a small dose of endomorph, and I don't see huge results from six weeks of training, either. If you want to gauge your progress work out for a year at least, then weigh yourself. I think that you are expecting far too much. Drink a lot of water (try for a gallon a day) and eat a lot of high quality food. 40 carbs 30 protein 30 fat is a good guideline. 40 percent protein might be too much at first. besides you don't grow that fast so your body wont use it anyways. Keep lifting, keep up intensity, become knowledgeable, and experiment a little.
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| I have had the problem of being unable to gain muscle mass at a young age. At eighteen years of age, I was six feet tall and weighed 145-150, with very good mind-muscle control and coordination. Although at that weight I could perform lots of chin-ups and pushups, I was skinny and wanted to have the mass to back up my athletic prowess. Over a period of years, by critically reading books and watching people in the gym, I realized that I really needed to listen to my body and mind and improve on the basic exercises first. Then, if energy and recuperation permit, I could add exercises to support the basic moves.
I believe that you need a short routine to grow. Also, you need
to always keep your eye on the ball to add rep(s) and weight to
your basic moves: squat, deadlift, pull-ups, rowing, bench press,
dips, upright rowing and maybe curls and military presses. You
must, from time to time, push your efforts on these moves to the
max and, as Larry Scott said, if you want twenty pounds of extra
muscle you need to eat like you are carrying a twenty pound baby
in your body.
Finally, your frequency and intensity should vary depending on how you feel. If you are ready to add a rep to squat or rowing, go for it. If you are not, use the workout as a variety or maintenance routine as you feel appropriate. Creatine will give you a boost, but when you are a good squatter, and can do ten chin-ups with 25 lbs added to your waist, can bench press 250 lbs for ten reps and can row with 250 lbs for eight reps, you will be big and strong no matter what your other exercise weights and reps are. This may require taking more time off from time-to-time when you just are not into it and just doing a routine you can tolerate over time.
I went from skinny to 220 lbs with a little fat when I eat too
much. Good gains for a skinny guy who learned too late to gain
on the basic exercises and leave the complex routines to the guys
who are willing to sacrifice their health to get something which
I believe was designed by the human body and mind to be achieved
over the long haul, at a pace and intensity that both the body
and mind can accommodate and achieve. And remember that the mind
will feel inferior when artificial boosts have been removed.
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