Top 4 Supplements To Maximize your Progress
Before doing any future, I want to quickly define what supplements exactly are and their role.
“Supplementation - “something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.”
However, the major key to look at here is where it says “enhances something else” This is the major key because, by definition, supplements are only here to help us improve the fundamentals.
The truth is you don’t need to take supplements unless you need to fill the missing gap within your nutrition. If you are consistently nailing your caloric, macro, and micro intake, then you don't need supplements. However, the majority of us do need help in one of those areas, so having the proper supplements will help.
You want to ensure your nutrition, strength training, and supplements to work as a harmonized unit to produce the fastest, healthiest, and most impressive results.
Quality and Purity
Before we can get into what supplements work and which are worth investing in, we need to touch upon the fact that it can be unfortunately easy to make and get supplements approved. Due to this, you’ll need to do your research to ensure you are getting a quality product.
There are four things to check or avoid completely
USP Label
Most general vitamins and supplements may be verified from lab studies and if they have, they should have a USP label on the bottle. This is a simple and easy way to ensure the supplement is not only legit but it also truly contains what it claims to contain.
Labdoor.com
This is a free website that you can visit and verify if your supplement product is legit. Also, this gives you a way to research what you’re about to purchase and see what’s actually inside the bottle, so you can make the right decision.
Brand New and Unknown Products
As a general rule, you should always be cautious when a new supplement product reaches the market. Unfortunately, it’s too easy to get into the supplement industry and because of that, you should be cautious. Therefore, my suggestion is to trust the brands and products that have stood the test of time.
Make sure you understand what the supplement is
There are so many people giving advice out there who just do not know enough of the science to truly be providing that advice, so always make sure you know the whats, the whys, and how’s before purchasing. Check out Examine.com and do your research. They have everything you’ll need to know.
Effectiveness and Recommendations
Something to touch upon quickly is the actual effectiveness and results seen when taking supplements. Most supplements, ones that truly have benefits and are worth the investment, take patience and consistency. After weeks and weeks of taking them, you should be performing better, recover faster, getting bigger, losing more body fat, or becoming healthier.
The following recommended supplements are ones I've either personally taken or suggest my clients take. Simply put, these supplements have repeatedly shown to offer benefits to improving body composition, performance, and health.
You’ll notice that list is small but that’s with good reason - we don’t need supplements. With that being said, they can enhance or improve the results we see by adding to our already sound nutrition plan.
1) Fish Oil Capsules
Fish oil supplements have been shown to have powerful antioxidants, ant-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-heart disease properties. Fish oils increase levels of important enzymes that boost the calorie-burning ability of your metabolism.
Also, fish oils have the following benefits:
Reduced risk of diabetes
Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke
Reduced total body inflammation (joint, brain, gut, etc)
Enhance mood
Improve muscle protein synthesis response
My Recommended: Nature Bounty Fish Oil
2) Protein Supplements
Proteins have repeatedly emerged as the true superstar of boosting your metabolism when compared to carbs and fats. Due to their status, I strongly recommend you consistently nail your protein intake.
Just to be clear - protein powder is neither magical muscle builders nor superior to whole foods, but it can help hit your daily total intake, especially when you are on the go.
Protein powder is easily absorbable, quick, and convenient, is relatively low in calories because it’s pure protein in most cases, and it can save you when you're struggling to reach your protein intake day today.
However, not all protein supplements are equal. Always check the label. Make sure your protein supplement contains 20-25g of protein, <4g of fats, and carbohydrates. Once you find a supplement that fits these standards (and you enjoy drinking), go ahead and use it!
My Recommended: Dynamize Casein Protein and Gold Standard Whey Protein
3) Green Supplements
To maximize your metabolism, you’ll need to eat adequate amounts of protein and veggies. In fact, for best results, you want to eat 10 servings of fruits and veggies throughout the week. Quick question for you: Does that sound daunting or impossible??
Unless you are a professional chef or have an excessive amount of time, you probably don't have sufficient time to cook and prep your veggies. This is why I recommended green supplements. This will allow you to fill in the dietary gaps to meet your micronutrient, and fruits/veggies goals.
Similar to protein supplements, whole food sources will always be preferred over supplements. I don't want you to get into the bad habit of just relying on green supplements. This is why I strongly recommended taking your green supplement in conjunction with real foods.
My Recommended: Athletic Greens
4) Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine has received some bad rap in the past. However, Creatine is produced in our body and is naturally occurring in the foods we eat (mainly red meats).
Creatine will help hydrate and replenish the muscle, making it recover a bit more optimally and faster. By extension, this will help us to perform better. Getting creatine in your body up can help benefit your strength, force and power production, ability to recover, and essentially your ability to build more muscle.