Advice/suggestions with supplements

[HeavyHands]

Ok so here is the deal. I'm a young dude of 19 years and I've been lifting for about 3-4 years now, with this past year or so being very serious. I've been on and off of different routines and I want to start some really good, intelligent, solid stuff. I just got off a 4 week strength routine that the owner of my gym made up for me and I made some KILLER strength gains! The size hasn't so much come with it, but I did seem to gain SOME muscle mass. During this short cycle, I was eating VERY good, and I was taking NO-xplode, Nitrix, and just some Beta Alanine caps. Not too much stuff and nothing real crazy. I kinda liked the NO products, but I'm sure there is way better stuff out there.

So that leads me to where you guys can help out!

I have started a relatively short phase where I'm doing alot of supersets and tons of cardio to try and cut some fat (thanks to genetics I've always had to deal with it, though its not as bad these days compared to when I was a kid!). In a few weeks, I would like very much to go back into a strength routine to build up as much muscle as I can. I know how to eat right, but I'd like to possibly kick things up a notch! Ideally, like everyone else I'm sure, I'd like to be able to cut down some more of this fat and gain as much muscle as I can do cleanly. I started a previous thread regarding PH products (originally superdrol, but then became intrigued with Havoc) but after doing LOTS of research (gotta be informed!), I realized I'm much too young to be messing with the stuff.

Sooooo, I was looking up on my favorite supp. sites (dpsnutrition and islandsupplements) and I am just trying to figure out some quality stuff to get. Any suggestions for what I should look into, or any advice on anything that could help me out would be GREATLY appreciated!!

 

[pesty4077]

Ok so here is the deal. I'm a young dude of 19 years and I've been lifting for about 3-4 years now, with this past year or so being very serious. I've been on and off of different routines and I want to start some really good, intelligent, solid stuff. I just got off a 4 week strength routine that the owner of my gym made up for me and I made some KILLER strength gains! The size hasn't so much come with it, but I did seem to gain SOME muscle mass. During this short cycle, I was eating VERY good, and I was taking NO-xplode, Nitrix, and just some Beta Alanine caps. Not too much stuff and nothing real crazy. I kinda liked the NO products, but I'm sure there is way better stuff out there.

So that leads me to where you guys can help out!

I have started a relatively short phase where I'm doing alot of supersets and tons of cardio to try and cut some fat (thanks to genetics I've always had to deal with it, though its not as bad these days compared to when I was a kid!). In a few weeks, I would like very much to go back into a strength routine to build up as much muscle as I can. I know how to eat right, but I'd like to possibly kick things up a notch! Ideally, like everyone else I'm sure, I'd like to be able to cut down some more of this fat and gain as much muscle as I can do cleanly. I started a previous thread regarding PH products (originally superdrol, but then became intrigued with Havoc) but after doing LOTS of research (gotta be informed!), I realized I'm much too young to be messing with the stuff.

Sooooo, I was looking up on my favorite supp. sites (dpsnutrition and islandsupplements) and I am just trying to figure out some quality stuff to get. Any suggestions for what I should look into, or any advice on anything that could help me out would be GREATLY appreciated!!

At 19, you probally don't know as much about diets as you think. That aside, I would hire one of these many trainers on this site, Alot of pros, who will give you solid advice, and better gains in a shorter time than you ever could on your own.

 

[finny]

As Pesty said, hire one of the knowledgeable people here on the board. They will help you with exercise, nutrition, and supplements - but, at your age, I don't think you need too many supplements, just the basic, core ones.

My advice, nothing happens overnight. It seems you've been jumping from routine to routine. God knows, we have all done that at some point in our lives. As mentioned, avoid many pittfalls that we have gone through and hire someone. Most are very reasonable as far as price and are a wealth of knowledge.

What you need is a solid eating plan, solid workout, and lots of consistency. But I'm sure you knew that. Nothing happens overnight - you have to be patient.

Down the road, once you hit a roadblock, whether it be fat or muscle related, your trainer will guide you through your plateau.

 

[HeavyHands]

I can definitely admit I've jumped around on some different things, but I think thats justifiable. I've felt I needed to experiment to find what kind of things/schedules work for me ya know? I feel over the last year or so I've got down something that works for me.. My most recent routine I only got in for 4 weeks as I injured my wrist hitting the heavy bag (I fight mixed martial arts when i can on the side lol). So I felt I should avoid further injury and put a pause on all the heavy lifting and went to some more cardio-geared stuff with lots of concentrated movements.

Being a college student as well, money is an issue unfortunately. Between buying some good food and vitamins and whatever supplements I end up getting, I don't have a whole lot of money left over. I wish I could pursue a personal trainer now, but it might not be realistic monetarily. I did however have a personal trainer for about 6 months during football a couple years ago. He was a great guy & a former pro body-builder. I'm still using alot of the stuff we did and he gave me eating plans that I still attempt to utilize.

Thanks for taking the time and giving me your input

 

[HeavyHands]

Most recently looking into getting my hands on a new creatine product (have used Champion Creatine monohydrdate in the past. Wasn't bad).

Any opinions on something like a CEE, vs a monohydrate, vs kre-alkalyn?

Also, what do you guys think of the NO products?

 

[finny]

I would recommend kry-alkalyn over any other creatine. For few reasons: you need to take less than any other creatine, don't have to mix it with any sugars for faster/better absorption as it's buffered and easier on the stomach.

Personally, I mix my creatine with LBAs. Depending on your budget, you might be able to go with LBAs - you can stretch the bottle for one week.

I use LBAs and kry-alkalyn before and after my workout. After, I add L-Glutamine peptite to the mix.

Other than this, I don't take any other so called supplements. Of course I use other things for health benefits: fish oils, flax oil, evoo, nuts, multivitamin, r-ala, digestive enzyme, green tea, primrose oil, borage oil, etc.

I will find that everyone is using something different, something that will get them through the workout or give them that extra edge. LBAs and kry-alkalyn seem to be working for me and get me through my workout just fine so there is no reason for anything else.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Most recently looking into getting my hands on a new creatine product (have used Champion Creatine monohydrdate in the past. Wasn't bad).

Any opinions on something like a CEE, vs a monohydrate, vs kre-alkalyn?

Also, what do you guys think of the NO products?

Do you take extra protein? A good whey isolate would be good. If you want to get some good results on a budget I'd recommend whey isolate and a good creatine product. This is the best creatine product I've used so far:

**broken link removed**

It's cheap and won't give you the creatine bloat. I'd also get a good multivitamin and make sure you drink a nice after-workout drink with the whey isolate, some gatorade (the powdered stuff is the cheapest) with some creatine. If you cannot tolerate the bloat and stomach/GI discomfort of creatine monohydrate then try the product above. It's cheap and actually works.

The NO products are a mixed bag. Some people like them and some don't. I have heard a lot of good stuff about nanovapor but like I said, everyone has their favorites and I've never even tried it myself. The ones I've tried just gave me the squirts.

 

[HeavyHands]

Thanks alot guys! I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your input!

To answer the question in regard to protein: yes, I do take extra protein. Right now I've got two big jugs of Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard Whey, which I like alot.

As I've mentioned before I did the creatine monohydrate in the past and did notice the infamous "bloat" and what not. Definitely looking to branch out and try something different like the Kre-Alkalyn. Have been hearing good things about it!

What kind of multivitamins would you guys suggest? Gonna bring up a random one that I read about and that my dad used to take way back in the day: Animal Paks. Seems like they've got lots of good stuff in there! But I'm just curious! I went through of couple bottles of "Mega Men" multi's from GNC that I got buy one get one free. They seemed to have some fairly good stuff in them, but I'm sure there is some better stuff out there.

And by the way I'm not too worried about spending some money now, as I will be getting my last couple pay checks from my summer job shortly and have allowed myself to use them to buy some supplements/food to take with me when I move into school.

 

[HeavyHands]

bump

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Kre-alkalyn might be good for absorption and all that if the buffer works but it's still creatine monohydrate and I still got discomfort from it. I've taken a lot of creatines until I finally found one that I personally like. Everyone is different.

Multivitamins... so many to choose from. I don't get fancy. I use Nature Made For Him

http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Made-V..._sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1218554264&sr=8-1


But I take 2 per day. I'm not very big on mega-dosing vitamins. But I do believe extra C, D, and B complex are good.