Supplement Rack Part II

More Supplements to consider for your Daily intake

This article “supplements” (sorry) Lush’s article on performance enhancing dietary supplements in part 1 of Supplement Rack. As Lush notes, some of the great supplements for fitness training to use on an every day basis include protein powders, glutamine, BCAAs (or amino acids), creatine monohydrate, flaxseed, and a multi-vitamin. While the products Lush mentions are of significant importance, and probably top the list, there are a couple others that I would like to talk about briefly, which are either highly recommended or highly beneficial at the least.

But first a word of warning: if you do not have your diet in check, do not waste your time with any supplements other than vitamins, protein powders, and essential fatty acids (EFAs – see below).

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) Part 2: Fish Oil

Most of you probably have heard about the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids by now. It seems these days everything is fortified with Omega-3s, from eggs to milk to beef, and rightly so! EFAs combat bad cholesterol, raise good cholesterol, promote the production of natural testosterone, assist in recovery, improve the cardiovascular system, and help keep our hair smooth and shiny… those of us that have hair. We want to strive for a balance of 33% saturated fat, 33% unsaturated fat, and 33% EFAs in our diet, although it doesn’t hurt to keep saturated fats even lower.

If you’re eating meat you’re getting enough saturated fat; if you’re eating seeds and nuts, you’re getting enough unsaturated fat; so all that leaves is the EFAs. Neither fish oil nor flaxseed have 100% of the total EFAs and Omega-3s that we need, but when combined they have everything that our bodies require to maintain a healthy lipid profile. The recommended base level serving is an additional 3-5 grams of Fish Oil and 3-5 grams of Flaxseed oil a day.

Melatonin with Vitamin B6

No, this is NOT the chemical that makes your skin turn orange, melanin is what you’re thinking of. Instead, if you ever have trouble sleeping at night, this cheap, non-addictive, over-the-counter supplement can help fix your insomnia. Natural melatonin supports healthy sleep patterns. The body naturally releases melatonin in response to changes in light, with levels rising at night. Usually a 2-4 week course of melatonin supplementation will even out your natural chemical release and set your sleeping pattern back on it’s… pillow. Vitamin B6 in essential for melatonin production, and thus should be included with your melatonin product. 3mg a day is the maximum dosage you should ever need. You should never have to pay more than $10 for a 6 month supply of Melatonin.

ZMA

Containing Zinc, Magnesium, and Vitamin B6, ZMA promotes natural testosterone production. These are the nutrients that tend to be used up the fastest in trained athletes. In fact, I have read numerous studies wherein athletes supplementing with ZMA have recovered free testosterone levels from low to average or above average just by adding 1.5 grams a night. The additional vitamin B6 also facilitates proper sleep patterns by stimulating the release of Melatonin. Since the demands of rigorous physical activity wear away the concentrations of essential nutrients in our bodies, I don’t see why supplementing with ZMA could be anything but beneficial. Especially considering that the highest quality ZMA products cost as little as $9 for a two month supply.

HOT-ROX EXTREME by Biotest International

Firstly, I do not have an affiliation with Biotest. In fact I would say there is more bad blood between us than anything. I have verbally complained about their pricing the uselessness of their supplements in the past. However I believe they have recently cleaned up their act, started pricing their products sensibly, and are actually selling some quality supplements these days. I highly recommend HOT-ROX EXTREME for those that are trying to melt the fat off their bodies. When combined with a high protein, low carb diet; a proper strength training program; and intelligent use of cardio, specifically high intensity interval training (HIIT) (the worthy subject of another article).

HOT-ROX EXTREME will keep you energized throughout the day and will truly help assist fat loss in ways I can’t honestly explain without going back to reread their scientific analysis. I read all the material a year or so ago on the original Hot-Rox; had decent fat loss results (15 lbs of fat in 3 months) with that product, bought the “new and improved” version just recently, and am currently impressed with the way my body feels. It is not cheap, at $40 for a 1-2 month supply, but is a worth addition to a hardcore exercise and diet program, if you’re already using most of the other supplements mentioned here and in Supplement Rack Part I

Post-Workout Drinks

– I personally use Boost, although I used Biotest’s Surge about 5 years ago, and a product called Nitro-Max for the last 3 years. The gist is this: when we strength train our bodies exhaust the supply of glucose in blood and muscle tissues, and the muscle proteins break down as a result of intense training. If left in this state for more than an hour after training, the body goes into a state of catabolism and protein synthesis comes to a halt. This is the equivalent of some dweeb’s car running out of gas 10 feet short of the top of a hill. Since this sissy is too weak to push his car over the hill, he must put the parking break on, and either hike or hitch a ride to the nearest gas station where he will fill a canister, then he must get a ride back to the car, fill up the tank and continue on his way, surely late to whatever meeting he was scheduled to attend. Nothing good can come of this.

Consuming your favorite high dextrose, moderate carb, post-workout beverage within 20 minutes of your training is like hitting the nitro switch and catching some sick air over the top of the hill. An appropriate post-workout drink will have 50 grams of dextrose, 25 grams of hydrolyzed whey protein isolates, and 0 grams of fat.

My current supplement regime looks like this: Hot-Rox Extreme, Fish Oil, Flax Oil, Multi-Vitamin, Pure Protein bars, protein shakes with skim milk, ZMA, Melatonin, and 1 can of Boost post-workout. I am currently cutting fat and getting stronger.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Supplements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.