aznaggiegirl07 said:

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again, since supplements are not FDA regulated, any Joe Schmo can make a suppelement and market it...

any supplement should be supplementing, not replacing, something in the diet...if you need a supplement, you should be asking yourself, where can i fix my diet?

It's honestly a lot of fluff...and that fact that it's not third party tested is a no-go in my book


and i say this as a dietitian

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Plus, so much of it outside protein and creatine is a waste of money. I buy BCAAs b/c I like the taste honestly. I eat plenty of protein so its really pissed out. But I use it as my soft drink as I don't really like the taste of water and I like the flavors of certain BCAA brands. Outside of the 2 I mentioned, almost everything else isn't necessary.

And don't get me started on the so called "anabolic window" that the supplement companies used to try to convince us of to sell more whey. Ya, you should eat something after about 30-60 min after you finish your training but that is all dependent on a lot of things, for instance, how many calories you already consumed and when. If you eat a higher calorie meal close to training, a lot of it will still be in your system after you train. You have a lot more time before you need to eat. But if you haven't eaten since 3+hours b4 training, probably good to eat within 30 minutes. But I'd make it more carb and less protein overall. 20-30g of protein and 50-150g of carbs that preferably are simpler carbs. Like bread, bananas etc. Less fat as it slows the digestion and can make a stomach upset after training. Protein after training doesn't have to be a protein shake. A chicken breast is just as good. Turkey too. Something lean. But protein shakes are fine too, but they aren't absolutely the only protein one should focus on. The old story was that you had to have whey as it digested quickly and if you didn't eat that, you'd not get your gains from the training session. That's total BS. Eat chicken an rice within an hour or so and you'll be great. Fish and rice. Or make the carb potatoes. It doesn't really matter, as most studies show. Just make sure you're eating enough food overall and it won't matter when you feed after training for the most part. Don't wait 3 hours or something. But you don't have to race home or chuck a 50 g shake right after you train either.

O.G. said:

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Product sold by a company that a friend of a friend owns. I have bought some of their stuff to support them, but they are pretty expensive. Again, just seeking information here as I know that there are quite a few people on here that legitimately study this stuff.

What say you?

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My first response was wrong as I misread the label, but my edited one would be that BCAAs most likely aren't a supplement worth taking nor spending your money on. If you do decide to take them though, that product is dosed really low. Depending on your body weight you'd probably have to take around 3 scoops per use, and again it would be for minimal (if any) benefits.

When I was your son's age, I was the smallest boy in high school. I was taller and out weighed one girl out of the 1400 others in the school.

I ate like a person getting his last meal every day.

I was 5'2", 75 pounds (after regaining weight after being diagnosed with T1 diabetes). I did grow in high school, but never filled out. I graduated at 6'1", 120. I was a few pounds heavier when I got to A&M.

Double Dave's, 3 C BBQ's all you can eat fajitas on Tuesday, and several other buffets got me to 200# by midway through my sophomore year.

Now, I'm about to turn 53 and still have to eat enough junk to keep from losing weight. When I tried to eat a little better, I dropped to the low 180s and was told to change what I was doing by my doctor.

Some folks will always struggle to add weight.

Hasn't it Just been replaced with NEAT? Not quite the same thing, but basically the same outcome.

Huberman just did a six part fitness podcast with Andy Galpin which covers a lot of what has been discussed on here already and then some. I highly recommend it as it is very informative.

Getting enough protein and calories is big as has been mentioned. IIRC he even suggests going above the 1g/lb target that you hear a lot. Try to get as much from diet as possible and then use shakes to kind of fill the gaps as a last resort.

As far as a workout, 3 to 5 working sets anywhere between 6 to 30 reps. Yes that is a big gap, but there are different mechanisms at play. Last reps should be near failure. Allow enough time between sets so that endurance or cardio aren't the modes of failure, so 2-5 minutes between sets. Can do super sets to reduce time in the gym with a slight tradeoff in gains (like bench and then bent rows in between sets). Also, has been some literature that doing push/pulls together like that increases T, but they didn't go much into the details there.

Progressive overload is also needed and is a big reason people don't improve.

Lastly, don't use soreness as a measure of how effective the workouts are. A lot of people (myself included) believe it's from muscle breakdown, but it's more likely from calcium and so not really a great indicator of effectiveness of your last workout.

EMY92 said:

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When I was your son's age, I was the smallest boy in high school. I was taller and out weighed one girl out of the 1400 others in the school.

I ate like a person getting his last meal every day.

I was 5'2", 75 pounds (after regaining weight after being diagnosed with T1 diabetes). I did grow in high school, but never filled out. I graduated at 6'1", 120. I was a few pounds heavier when I got to A&M.

Double Dave's, 3 C BBQ's all you can eat fajitas on Tuesday, and several other buffets got me to 200# by midway through my sophomore year.

Now, I'm about to turn 53 and still have to eat enough junk to keep from losing weight. When I tried to eat a little better, I dropped to the low 180s and was told to change what I was doing by my doctor.

Some folks will always struggle to add weight.

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And those people, boys and girls, are the ones we want to smash in the head with a brick.

why do you say BCAA dont work? just curious. not questioning you

Slonk eggs

gigemJTH12 said:

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why do you say BCAA dont work? just curious. not questioning you

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because research shows that BCAA do not do what you think they do.

gigemJTH12 said:

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why do you say BCAA dont work? just curious. not questioning you

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You can find studies that demonstrate they don't work in isolation online. Look for ones that isolate and only use BCAAs for at least part of the testing, as when paired with other EAAs or substances that contain the other EAAs (whey protein for example) there likely will be benefits.

I believe the theoretical idea behind why they don't work is that the other 6 EAAs that aren't BCAAs are needed for protein synthesis as well, so increasing BCAAs without those other 6 just doesn't do anything for you as you're basically missing other key ingredients.

Mr President Elect said:

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Huberman just did a six part fitness podcast with Andy Galpin which covers a lot of what has been discussed on here already and then some. I highly recommend it as it is very informative.

Getting enough protein and calories is big as has been mentioned. IIRC he even suggests going above the 1g/lb target that you hear a lot. Try to get as much from diet as possible and then use shakes to kind of feel the gaps as kind of a last resort.

As far as a workout, 3 to 5 working sets anywhere between 6 to 30 reps. Yes that is a big gap, but there are different mechanisms at play. Last reps should be near failure. Allow enough time between sets so that endurance or cardio aren't the modes of failure, so 2-5 minutes between sets. Can do super sets to reduce time in the gym with a slight tradeoff in gains (like bench and then bent rows in between sets). Also, has been some literature that doing push/pulls together like that increases T, but they didn't go much into the details there.

Progressive overload is also needed and is a big reason people don't improve.

Lastly, don't use soreness as a measure of how effective the workouts are. A lot of people (myself included) believe it's from muscle breakdown, but it's more likely from calcium and so not really a great indicator of effectiveness of your last workout.

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great 6 part series. so much information i need to listen to again. It breaks down the protocols for different goals.

Mr President Elect said:

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Huberman just did a six part fitness podcast with Andy Galpin which covers a lot of what has been discussed on here already and then some. I highly recommend it as it is very informative.

Getting enough protein and calories is big as has been mentioned. IIRC he even suggests going above the 1g/lb target that you hear a lot. Try to get as much from diet as possible and then use shakes to kind of feel the gaps as kind of a last resort.

As far as a workout, 3 to 5 working sets anywhere between 6 to 30 reps. Yes that is a big gap, but there are different mechanisms at play. Last reps should be near failure. Allow enough time between sets so that endurance or cardio aren't the modes of failure, so 2-5 minutes between sets. Can do super sets to reduce time in the gym with a slight tradeoff in gains (like bench and then bent rows in between sets). Also, has been some literature that doing push/pulls together like that increases T, but they didn't go much into the details there.

Progressive overload is also needed and is a big reason people don't improve.

Lastly, don't use soreness as a measure of how effective the workouts are. A lot of people (myself included) believe it's from muscle breakdown, but it's more likely from calcium and so not really a great indicator of effectiveness of your last workout.

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Soreness is such an interesting topic for me, as it's part of the overall issue of fatigue management. Obviously if one is too sore, they may have trouble training the area again until enough of it is healed. And, yes, some soreness is directly connected to metabolites that likely contribute to muscle growth, but as was stated above, soreness is also created by other things as well and in many cases, training to be sore alone may contribute to the body not being capable of repairing the affected area as well as it also needs to clear out what is making the area sore: ie you limit muscle growth in extreme cases. So, a little soreness = can be good! Metabolites and present and growth is likely, given what literature seems to indicate today. Too much soreness + bad as it will increase fatigue and limit growth. Don't use soreness as your only guide for progress as in some cases it isn't a very reliable way to measure.