This is a problem for people new to fitness, as they can often become misguided or misinformed by having the latest celebrity fat burner pill plastered over every magazine and website they see. The average gym user generally doesn't care about the ridiculous and dangerous lengths that A-list celebrities are going to in order to get into shape for their new film. All they want to know, is how to get started, and what works best for them.
Enter, the world of supplements. Just when you thought things were confusing enough. The amount of supplements available on the market today is insane. And what's more, with some of the products available its not even certain that you're going to get anything from it. Supplement companies play on the fact that many people fall victim to the placebo effect, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it means the consumer thinks that the product is working for them, but really its all in their mind. This can provide a boost of much needed motivation but there are other ways to go about this without wasting money on useless supplements.
Now don't get me wrong, I have experienced first hand some incredible supplements, unfortunately for a newcomer to the industry it is quite hard to navigate the minefield of brand names.
Everybody reacts differently to different supplements, this means that while i may recommend a particular product here, one person could go away and find it works incredibly well, and one could find the total opposite and call me out for being a liar, traitor and the human embodiment of pure evil. All of that aside, I'm now going to list my top 2 supplements, and go into a bit of detail as to what they do.
Whey Protein Powder: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey
In my opinion, a good whey protein supplement is one of the most important supplements you can buy, and it simply doesn't get any better than Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard Whey. Many supplements have a nasty aftertaste that lingers after you take them, but Gold Standard tastes fantastic. With a huge amount of flavours to choose from, such as Cookies and Cream, Rocky Road, and Strawberry, you're always going to enjoy taking this. Simply follow the directions on the back of the packaging and take whenever you need it. The key point of a protein supplement is that it allows an easily accessible form of protein which your body can use right away. This is very useful for those who find it difficult to get all the protein their body needs just from their diet. It is also excellent at promoting muscle recovery. Personally i have one scoop of this first thing in the morning to kick start my day and then two scoops when i return from the gym. I'd recommend this product to anybody.
Pre-Workout Drink: Musclepharm Assault
Musclepharm Assault is so far, the single best pre-workout supplement I've ever taken. For those who have never taken one before, a pre-workout supplement is something which is used to give you more energy when training. It does this through a number of active ingredients but the one which people can relate to is caffeine. Each scoop has a huge amount of caffeine in it. This is common across all pre-workouts so i would advise anyone who is very sensitive to caffeine to steer clear of pre-workouts. Another property of pre-workout drinks is that they increase vasodilation, allowing more blood to flow to your muscles, this is what bodybuilders refer to as "the pump". When training any muscle, blood flows to it as it is used. As the blood reaches the muscle it begins to feel tight and the skin surrounding it will feel very taut. This is one of the reasons that i love training so much. The rush of endorphins that you feel when your muscles are pumped up is an amazing feeling. All facts aside, this is a fantastic supplement. I use it before most workouts and it allows me to really push that little bit harder. It gives an insane amount of energy and drive. And in terms of taste, this supplement actually tastes quite good in comparison to some other pre-workout drinks. The key thing i must point out about this is that the first time i used this i experienced a noticable increase in performance. I was lifting heavier and i was lifting for longer. I rate this very highly and would recommend it to anyone.
And there you have it, my top two supplements. The reason I have only talked about two supplements is partly because i can see this post turning into an essay, but also because there are so many different products out there that i could go on forever about them, however, i feel that the two most important supplements a person can buy is a good pre-workout, and a good whey protein powder. And it doesn't get much better than these two.
Thanks for reading!
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