Pre-contest Supplementation

This is a topic that can be very confusing-especially for beginning bodybuilders or folks who are just trying to get in shape.  There is a great deal of misinformation out there and there are hundreds if not thousands of irreputable supplement companies that will make false or unfounded claims about the effect a product will have on your body.  In my nearly 20 years of muscledom, I’ve tried just about every type of product out there.  The older I get, the fewer supplements I find myself using.  One important clarification I want to make is what I consider a “supplement”.  For most folks, anything they buy at GNC or their local supplement store might be considered a supplement.  For me, and most competetive bodybuilders, we don’t generally include calorie yielding substances in the categoriy of “supplements”.  Protein powders, meal replacement powders, pre and post workout drinks, and almost any other calorie yielding substance qualifies as part of my food budget.  These items are simply replacing what we would normally derive from food.  We drink these things because it is difficult to get adequate amounts of quality protein, carbs, and good fats from whole food sources.  These various protein based drinks allow us to feed our muscles in a more efficient manner and complement our whole food meals.  In a perfect world, most competetive bodybuilders would want to get all their calories from whole foods, but its next to impossible to do this in today’s day and age.  So, I buy a ton of meal replacements, protein powders, and post workout drinks, but I really do not consider them supplements.  What I do consider “supplements” are multi-vitamins, fat burners, anti-oxidants, creatine, fish oil caps, and any other substance that comes in a pill or non-calorie yielding form.  Walk in to any GNC or vitamin retailer and the shelves are packed with enless amounts of choices.  This is where the confusion begins for most folks.  For me, the longer I’m in the game, I use less and less of this stuff.  Here is what I used in preparing for my show:

Multi-Vitamins-taken in the morning and at night

Vitamin C-taken 3 times per day

Fish Oil Caps-taken 3 times per day

Anti Oxidant blend-taken 2 times per day

Creatine-taken 2 times per day post workout

Fat Burner-taken 2-3 times per day (Biotest Hot Rox Extreme)

Yohimbe HCL-taken 2 times per day to tolerance (this stuff heats you up and makes you sweat-you have to drink a lot of water with it and I do not recommend it for beginners or women)  

And that’s all I used in my prep.  As I mentioned I used a ton of protein powder and meal replacement powder.  I went through a 5 pound tub about every 2 and 1/2 weeks and a tub of meal replacement powder every two weeks.  As for where I bought stuff, here’s the deal:

Protein, MRP’s, Hot Rox, and Creatine I bought from Biotest and can be found here:  https://www.t-nation.com/onlineStore.jsp

All of the vitamins and fish oil I bought from Wal-Mart or Target.  Simple as that!

I’m a big Biotest fan and always have been.  They make quality products and, more importantly, I trust them.  I’m sure there are other trustworthy supplement companies out there, but I don’t know who they are.  The supplement industry is not regulated by the FDA, so there are many scammers who are just trying to make a buck.  I wasted tons of money for many years on potions and powders promising outlandish results.  When it boils down to it, the basics of consistent attention to quality diet and training are all most of us need.