6 "Supporting" supplements that help MAGNIFY the effectivness of our "STAR" Supplements.

Hello ALL,

I wanted to share  my findings with you on what we could call "supporting supplements" to our "star" supplements.   We have all, I'm sure, have seen a movie that just took our breath away.  A movie where the actors where just so good, you couldn't stop talking about it.   Well 99% of the time, if you ask the lead actor, they will tell you that the reason they were so good in the first place was because of the exceptional supporting actors that they had as cast.  In a movie of epic proportion, the supporting actors/actresses could either make or break the whole thing.

Well my friends, I have come to find out that the same thing goes for our "stars" (main supplements) in the bodybuilding world.  So let's look at the six "supporting" supplements that I have found that can seriously MAGNIFY the effectiveness of the "stars"

Creatine: Star Supplement

• Creatine is by far the most thoroughly researched and most effective supplement on the market today.  Creatine's specialty is increasing your muscles mass and strength through several different mechanisms .
• While you're lifting, creatine enters the muscle cells and helps produce more of the fast energy that you will need.  Let me remind you, that more repetitions with the same weight will mean more new muscle growth.
• Creatine also draws water into your muscle cells, creating a volumizing effect whose stretching action is believed to trigger processes in your muscles leading to further growth.
• Creatine can be found in many different forms, including monohydrate, citrate, and tartrate; all appear to have roughly the same effects in the end.

Cinnamon Extract: Supporting Supplement

• Although we know that creatine is extremely effective, it can only work if it's able to enter the muscle cells.  Cinnamon appears to help with that process dramatically!  Cinnamon's extract's active ingredient - hydroxychalcone - both imitates the effects of insulin and also boosts insulin release.  Because insulin helps push creatine into your muscle cells, taking cinnamon extract with creatine may enhance the muscle building effects you'll attain.
• There was even one study I read where researchers found that methylhydroxy chalcone polymer, which is the most active compound in cinnamon, increased the glucose metabolism of fat cells in vitro 20 TIMES relative to the control subjects!

How to stack them up:

• Take 2-5 grams of creatine with somewhere between 100-250mg cinnamon extract powder right before and immediately after your workouts.

Arginine: Star Supplement

• Arginine is definitely not a new supplement to the bodybuilding world.  In fact, most bodybuilders take the amino acid L-arginine for its ability to increase nitric oxide (NO) levels, which can in turn increase your muscles strength while also dilating blood vessels, helping to deliver more blood, oxygen, nutrients, and anabolic hormones to your muscles.  Kinda like creatine, L-arginine draws water into the muscles for that magical effect know as the "pump" or swelling of the muscles.

HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate): Supporting Supplement

• By orally taking HMB in combination with arginine, seems to increase body weight and lean body mass.  It may also improve immune function.  This combination was tested and showed great results when used over a period of eight weeks to prevent wasting in patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

How to stack them up:

• Take 3-5 grams of L-arginine or arginine alpha-ketoglutarate twice a day.  Take these away from other protein meals, with 3 grams of HMB.  If possible, time one of your doses 30-60 minutes before your workout and the other 30-60 minutes before bed.

Glutamine: Star Supplement

• Glutamine is an extremely popular supplement as it appears to be anticatabolic.  It also encourages recovery, helps your digestion, and increases muscle growth, immune function, and growth hormone levels.  Glutamine is yet another "volumizer" for your muscle cells, enhancing the growth potential of your muscle fibers and it aids in the production of bicarbonate to buffer muscle acidity.  This powerful buffer helps to prevent muscle fatigue, allowing you to work through longer sets of repetitions, increasing both strength and muscle growth.

Carnosine: Supporting Supplement

• Carnosine is actually a combination of 2 amino acids - histidine and beta-alanine.  Carnosine works along side glutamine to increase your muscle strength and endurance while also warding off fatigue.  It does this by buffering the lactic acid that builds up during exercise.  Another "volumizer", research shows and looks promising that carnosine could support immune function and act as an antioxidant.

How to stack them up:

• Take 5-10 grams of glutamine 2-4 times a day on an empty stomach.  Take two of the four servings before and after your workout along with .5 grams of carnosine.

Whey Protein: Star Supplement

• Whey protein is hands down the fastest absorbing protein available to you today!  Getting protein into your system directly before and immediately after your workout is incredibly important to your ability to put on quality muscle.  No protein is more effective in doing this than whey protein!

Leucine: Supporting Supplement

• Now understand one thing first, most whey already contains leucine, but increasing your leucine intake can push the synthesis of muscle protein into overdrive.  Researchers believe that leucine is the key for turning on the machinery of hypertrophy (building of new lean muscle).  Studies have shown that taking a combination of protein and leucine after a weight training workout increased the insulin-like growth hormone -1 levels in muscle by as much as 50% over just taking simple sugars alone.

How to stack them up:

• Take 20 grams of whey protein immediately before training and 20-40 grams immediately after.  Combine this with 5 grams of leucine, either by itself or from branched chain amino acids.  Just make sure that if you take the BCAA route, the product you're using has at least 5 grams of leucine, 2.5 grms of isoleucine, and 2.5-5 grams of valine per dose!

"Simple" Carbohydrates: Star Supplement

• If you know anything about sports training, bodybuilding, or the body at all, you will already know that "good" carbs are your friend and not your enemy.  A complete post workout supplement intake should include whey, leucine, and also "simple" carbs, in order for your body to restock the depleted stores of glycogen (energy) back into your muscles.
• The combination of these 3, will also ease the impact of cortisol, a catabolic hormone.  Carbs that can be digested quickly such as honey, dextrose, or even sugar, when added to your whey shake, are by far the best you could take to handle these needs.

Fenugreek: Supporting Supplement

• Fenugreek is a very popular spice usually used in the Far and Middle East.  Fenugreek has been found to have medicinal properties as well.  In numerous studies, fenugreek increased the amount of insulin released by the pancreas.  In another study, I found that subjects who ingested fenugreek with dextrose after their workout had a better replenished glycogen stores compared with subjects who took only dextrose.

How to stack them up:

• Take 60-100 grams of simple carbs right after your workout, along with 1-1.5 grams of fenugreek.

Casein: Star Supplement

• Casein protein is a very slow digesting protein.  It is a favorite of mine and many athletes looking for a steady supply of amino acids going to their muscles to prevent catabolic processes.  There is data that suggests it can take up to 7 hours to fully digest some forms of casein, which makes it a very popular choice of protein to take just before you go to sleep for the night.  Drinking casein is believed to provide your body with the necessary amino acids it will need to help repair your body while you sleep.

Canola Oil: Supporting Supplement

• Dietary fats do an excellent job of further slowing protein digestion.  But we are not just taking about any type of fat.  Canola oil contains healthy fats that offer a variety of health benefits in addition to enhancing fat loss.  Later in the day, insulin sensitivity tends to decrease, leaving you more vulnerable to putting on carbohydrate induced fat.  Taking your omega 3ws at night not only helps prevent this problem, but may also ramp up your metabolism.  To slow down your digestion and help provide your body with a steady stream of nutrients while sleeping.

How to stack them up:

• Right before bedtime, consume 20-40 grams of casein protein with 3 tbsp of canola oil.

Last few key things to keep in mind:

• Make sure that you do not eat high fiber foods within an hr before or after you are taking whey protein.  High fiber foods slow everything down.  While they are important for you, just keep them away from your protein intake times.  You are taking whey for its ability of speedy, fast absorption, and you wouldn't want fiber to get in the way of that.
• While taking arginine, stay away from saturated fats.  Saturated fats, inhibit nitric oxide's ability to dilate your blood vessels.  Consuming saturated fats around the times of arginine will render it useless in your body.
• Consuming alcohol is just a bad fucking mix by itself if you are looking for a rock hard body.  But studies have shown, that drinking alcohol will actually interfere with your muscles ability to store glycogen.  Now if you are not storing glycogen, then you are storing FAT!  If you must have a drink, wait at least until 2 hrs after your post workout meal.

I truly hope that some of this information has opened your eyes and will assist you along in your fitness journey.   I know this is stuff I wish I had found out years ago! 

For now I wish you all the most success.  Continue on your journey of changing yourself from the ordinary to BECOMING ELITE!