Weight Lifting supplements?

[Snappy Sledder]

Weight lifting coaches and wrestling coaches at school suggest that I start to take some creatine to help bulk up. What do you suggest that is safe and accually works? Also, where did you get it from and how good are the results? Thanks for any info.

 

[snowmobilesrme]

Weight lifting coaches and wrestling coaches at school suggest that I start to take some creatine to help bulk up. What do you suggest that is safe and accually works? Also, where did you get it from and how good are the results? Thanks for any info.

i suggest that you be careful with supplements. in the long run, the results may not be in your favor. alot of suppliments have unnecessary fillers. creatine, it helps you build a little extra strength, but as far as size goes, most of it is just because it makes your body retain water (water weight). causing you to just look big. i suggest the only suppliment you take is nitric oxide but be careful which one you get. get the one with the less fillers. and the rest, just natural foods. beans, nuts, fish, red meat, brown rice, peanut butter, pasta, bananas, vegitables, fruits, preferably organic. consume at least 5,000 calories a day if you're trying to gain significant weight. protein powder with less fillers is good to add to your diet, but its not needed. stay away from processed foods, sodium, mayo, etc. ketchup, and mustard are good alternatives to mayo. they dont taste the same as mayo, but you can make stuff taste pretty good with one or the other or both.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Creatine will also make you a moody bastage and shorten your temper.

 

[ruffryder]

Weight lifting coaches and wrestling coaches at school suggest that I start to take some creatine to help bulk up. What do you suggest that is safe and accually works? Also, where did you get it from and how good are the results? Thanks for any info.

Is this for high school?

 

[winter brew]

Work hard and eat right....that and genetics/testosterone is all that works.

 

[Scott]

Take it from a long time wrestling coach (24 YEARS)...don't do creatine or ANYTHING of that nature.

PROPER hard work, proper diet.


DON'T LOOK FOR SOME MAGIC PILL. THE ONLY ONE IS TO WORK HARDER THAN THE OTHER GUY.

 

[summitpeaking]

I wouldn't recommend creatine, especially if you are in high school. Good quality proteins are all that really works, and even that has to be coupled with extremely hard work.

However, if you do decide to use creatine, drink A LOT of water. Creatine makes you susceptible to cramping and muscle pulls.

 

[gmustangt]

creatine just brings water into your muscle.. like mentioned above(water weight). The body will naturally do this if your hydrated.
A main key to a fitness goal is nutrition.. some will argue but its 70% Nutrition 30% gym. Nutrition is huge.
Its like saying you want a 300hp sled but you only wanna put in 87 gas..
Often over looked is hydration.. i probably drink 10L of water a day.
Keeping your body hydrated will help towards results.

 

[go high fast]

Body needs time to recover, heal and build muscle after tearing it down in the gym. Proper rest is an important part of conditioning.

Also if you are trying to "bulk up": 1.) a calorie surplus is good, 2.) when lifting heavy weights you may find that simple movements with strict form will best isolate the muscle and also can help avoid injury, 3.) if you can, dont do "push" and "pull" excercises using the same joint on the same day, 4.) avoiding twisting movements while pushing or pulling heavy weight can help avoid injury, 5.) love squats but I am not a fan of the full squat, 6.) take advantage of spotters or use benches and racks that have the built in safety tabs if you're not making it back to the top with the weight, 7.) free weight is great for bulk but the machines are great to maximize range of motion, 8.) stay flexible, 9.) yelling and screaming like Tarzan while lifting heavy weight doesnt help but is funny as heck to watch, 10.) personal trainers are a pain in the azz.

Most of all.....keep it all fun.

 

[treemagnet03]

About the only thing that is proven is stuff that you really don't want any part of...you know the stuff that made Barry Bonds into good baseball player.

Eat healthy, well balanced (with some emphasis on protein) meals very close to the end of a workout and before going to bed (eating before bed is highly unrecommended to anyone unless you want weight gain...because your body has no chance to burn it off. It all goes to 'storage'). But I also will warn you that if you aren't meant to be a bulky, muscle heavy guy genetically, you won't be. I got down to 3-4% body fat but could never break 185-7lbs at 6'3". So, just find a niche where your body/speed work for you. I just focused on running past and jumping over people for an entire game. The fourth quarter/final period was usually the place to make the biggest statement in high school regarding fitness.

And I agree, stay away from creatine. Anything over room temp and it is time to cramp up!

 

[Scott]

Since you are wrestling...bulking up will cost you DEARLY in the flexibility department.

YOu want strength, speed and power, but you DON'T WANT BULK UP UNLESS YOU ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO GO UP TO HEAVIER WEIGHTS.

Strecht a LOT. MORE often than just at practice.

Stretch when you wake up and when you go to bed.

Body needs time to recover, heal and build muscle after tearing it down in the gym. Proper rest is an important part of conditioning.

Also if you are trying to "bulk up": 1.) a calorie surplus is good, 2.) when lifting heavy weights you may find that simple movements with strict form will best isolate the muscle and also can help avoid injury, 3.) if you can, dont do "push" and "pull" excercises using the same joint on the same day, 4.) avoiding twisting movements while pushing or pulling heavy weight can help avoid injury, 5.) love squats but I am not a fan of the full squat, 6.) take advantage of spotters or use benches and racks that have the built in safety tabs if you're not making it back to the top with the weight, 7.) free weight is great for bulk but the machines are great to maximize range of motion, 8.) stay flexible, 9.) yelling and screaming like Tarzan while lifting heavy weight doesnt help but is funny as heck to watch, 10.) personal trainers are a pain in the azz.

Most of all.....keep it all fun.

ie don't do bench press and pullups in the same day. Match things up with complimentary muscles...

Do chest and tri's on one day.
And then your back and bi's on the other day.
Legs and shoulders on the 3rd day.
Day 4 is core exercises.

Don't have an "abs" day. Do abs and calves as part of your warm up. They always get overlooked....do them a couple times a week.

 

[Snappy Sledder]

I am not a wrestler just a pole vaulter. The wrestling coach helps me lift and said that taking something would help. I've never delt with and supplements of any kind and have just been all natural. My maxs are decent but just doesn't show which is ok with me.(220 bench, 180 power press, 275 squat) I wasn't sure if I would want to go and spend money on something that would help me at all or have unwanted results. To start out I'll probably just change my diet and start running more and change my set program from the school every once and awhile to different lifts.
Thanks for the information. If you have a work out that helps I would appreciate it if you could PM me what your work out is.

 

[xrated]

I am not a wrestler just a pole vaulter. The wrestling coach helps me lift and said that taking something would help. I've never delt with and supplements of any kind and have just been all natural. My maxs are decent but just doesn't show which is ok with me.(220 bench, 180 power press, 275 squat) I wasn't sure if I would want to go and spend money on something that would help me at all or have unwanted results. To start out I'll probably just change my diet and start running more and change my set program from the school every once and awhile to different lifts.
Thanks for the information. If you have a work out that helps I would appreciate it if you could PM me what your work out is.

PM me your email, I have workouts that took me from 115 to 145 and 4 percent bf.


I will say I cycled creatine, I never had anythign bad happen, but then I couldn't pin point it specifically for gains. The big thing is EAT, EAT EAT and then throw in a quality protein shake or two. Get a whey and a cassien/whey mix. Whey is fast digest for getting right to muscle, cassien will last longer. I found the whey powders worked best for a pre or post lift shake. For your cassien just have a big bowl of cottage cheese before bed and keep that watery crap on the top in it.

I'd eat 5 eggs, 3 white two with yolk each morning for breakfast and have a protein shake.

Mid morning snack about 3 hours after breakfast I had two huge chunks of cheese and two or 3 granola bars. Or a grilled chicken breast with ranch. I would cook a weeks worth of breasts on Sunday and have them all week. Whichever wasn't morning break was afternoon break.

Lunch was 2 turkey and cheese sandwiches followed by a big bowl(gladware) of plain yogurt mixed with cottage cheese and maybe blueberries....yeah sounds gross, but it isn't and it packs calories/protein.

Preworkout I made a shake with a scoop of whey, coupel spoons of PB, a banana and chocolate milk. Usually an hour before lifting.

Supper I would have baked potatoes with ranch, ham steak with ranch, burgers, chicken or my fav spaghetti with a can of tuna fish in the sauce. I was single and it was super easy to make! Two glasses of milk as well.

Obviously I was pounding water this whole time and dropping duecers that would choke a donkey. I would leave lunch each day feeling like it was Turkey Day.

If you are a skinny guy like me you have no way around it you will gorge and drop tons of cash on food to gain mass.

 

[xrated]

i suggest that you be careful with supplements. in the long run, the results may not be in your favor. alot of suppliments have unnecessary fillers. creatine, it helps you build a little extra strength, but as far as size goes, most of it is just because it makes your body retain water (water weight). causing you to just look big. i suggest the only suppliment you take is nitric oxide but be careful which one you get. get the one with the less fillers. and the rest, just natural foods. beans, nuts, fish, red meat, brown rice, peanut butter, pasta, bananas, vegitables, fruits, preferably organic. consume at least 5,000 calories a day if you're trying to gain significant weight. protein powder with less fillers is good to add to your diet, but its not needed. stay away from processed foods, sodium, mayo, etc. ketchup, and mustard are good alternatives to mayo. they dont taste the same as mayo, but you can make stuff taste pretty good with one or the other or both.

NO does nothing but dilate your blood vessels giving you a false sense of gains by prolonging your pump....

 

[winter brew]

NO does nothing but dilate your blood vessels giving you a false sense of gains by prolonging your pump....

It's works just like Viagra....does Viagra make you bigger and stronger?

 

[xrated]

It's works just like Viagra....does Viagra make you bigger and stronger?

Hey I'm only gonna be 28 in two days, not 43, how would I know?







To the OP, another thing to think about, your are what 17? You aren't close to your prime as far as natural testosterone and other key physical factors for getting bigger. At least I would wager that.


Again going off of my expeirence, I graduate HS at 115 and I didn't hit 145 until I was 3 or 4 years out. Now I didn't lift in HS or even the first couple years after, but looking back I would about bet my house that even if I did I never would have seen the gains I did because my body simply wasn't mature enough or close to hitting prime time for all the factors that lead to mass.





Oh and Scott is right, stretch man...though I will go one step further then a wrassling coach from MOntucky and tell you to not mess around and start doing yoga....flat out amazing and flat out works. And if you find the right program it will have you sweating, shaking and getting your ace whopped.

 

[av8er]

i've spent 17 years pumping Iron in the GYM

Creatine helps hydrate your muscle fiber, it allows you to work out hard for multiple days and helps rejuvenate your muscles so you are able to work out hard for multiple days in duration without failure or Injury. yes creatine will make you look bloated or puffy if taken for a long period of time, but it also help flexibility, increased water retention, if you drink a lot of water of water throughout the day , every day there isn't a huge need to sustain being on creatine, unless your training hard for long periods of timne, Best bang for your buck is to take protein to build muscle mass, and increase strength, I would recommend you Pyrmid your weight lifting, do a warm up of 12-15 reps then increase weight and decrease reps, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 you should see consistent gains of +5 to 10 lbs of weight per week for about 6-8 months assuming you hit the gym at least 4 times per week, then you will hit a plateau, then shock your body by doing High reps with low weights. for a month or two then hot the pyrmid again you will continue your gain cycle, My bench went up 100 lbs in 9 months , and I put on 28 lbs of muscle, personal best weight 225 lbs, bench 355, incline 325, squat 550, 37 pullups best advice possible, just keep at it, getting into the Gym is half the battle

 

[treemagnet03]

Creatine is a bad idea. Similar to steroids, you are taking a substance that your body makes on its own and stuffing it into the system. This means when you are taking it you are killing the cells that make it as they sense it and no longer need to do their business. So, when you stop taking it, the body is not set-up to take over that role. And may never recover the ability to. Not to mention the possibility for kidney and liver damage and nasty side effects when used with common things like caffeine and NSAIDS (think Aleve/Tylenol). Think of it as a snake oil cure all for people looking for anything to make the building process easier. Oh, and if you decide to continue on into college, NCAA rules state that it is a punishable offense to provide creatine to an athlete. Just food for thought. Might be the same in high school.

IN CASE ANYONE WANTS TO READ ABOUT BIOCHEMISTRY:
Creatine is an energy substance, converted into creatine phosphate or phosphocreatine and stored in the muscles, where it is used for energy. When doing high-intensity, short-duration exercise, such as lifting weights or sprinting, phosphocreatine is converted into ATP, a major source of energy within the human body. Studies that have shown results hypothesize that if you have low stores naturally, you may have some useful response. But in every single stinking study they note that there is no reliable way to predict who it will help, hurt, or completely not effect.

 

[ruffryder]

looking at some of these posts.. it might be prudent to have a discussion with the coaches and maybe the principle...

I didn't realize how bad it is for you..

 

[sevenhundo]

looking at some of these posts.. it might be prudent to have a discussion with the coaches and maybe the principle...

I didn't realize how bad it is for you..

Im with you and also scott and the other guys talking about exercising and working out more. There must be something they are thinking that you need work on ask what your missing and concentrate on that. Also practice makes perfect. The coaches shouldnt be pushing anything other than a heathy life style they are not doctors ar dieticians ask your doc the next time your in about creatines and see what he thinks. Putting foriegn objects into your body at a young age can do some damage in the long run. Might help temporarily but diet and exercise will go a long way. I wish i would of listened to myself about 17 years ago!