What pre-workout supplements do you take?
 

Just trying to change up what I currently take for my next cycle

I currently use a LEAN EFX & Lean Xtreme combo but im starting to notice it not being effective energy wise as it used to. I have been taking the proper breaks between cycles but still nothing...

looking for something new appetite suppressant and energy boost

Your body will adapt to any stimulants quickly. There is some individuality in this as some people are more sensitive to stimulants than others, however.. there is little point in looking for another as you will adapt to that fairly quickly and its only going to "work" for you if it has more stimulants.

You have to cycle off that kind of crap. Typically it takes your body about 2 weeks to regain its sensitivity to stimulants (but also about 2 weeks to start losing sensitivity to stimulants)

What you should be doing is eating correctly, which kills cravings and not taking any stimulants at all. If you are eating well, sleeping well and drinking enough water, energy is not going to be a problem.

red bull
.

Biotest Surge workout fuel - http://www.t-nation.com/store/supple...rkout-fuel.jsp

The only pre/during-workout supplement you'll ever need, works awesome with hard core mountain biking.

Otherwise... Vitargo +electrolytes, Biotest Hotrox, Biotest Alpha Male, Biotest Spike, Beta Alanine, L-arginine, Natrol FeelANew just to name a few :)

I'm just a lawnmower ...

jack-3d.

We will present one soon. Stay tuned :)

Try some of those:

http://www6.netrition.com/dymatize_viper.html
http://www6.netrition.com/biotest_hot_rox_extreme.html
http://www6.netrition.com/usp_labs_oxy_elite_pro.html

Get off that shit, it has 1,3-dimethylamylamine which is garbage.

This is good advice.

Garbage.

Garbage.

Garbage.

Try to stay away from the preworkout supplements out there. 1,3-dimethylamylamine is in almost all of them, a supplement you should stay away from.

http://williamllewellyn.com/?p=271

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/su...shit-list.html

I've used it in the past, (jack3d and a few others) and it is fairly effective but I don't feel it's particularly healthy. When I took it and I almost can feel a buzz and energy similar to that of ephedrine.

Anyways, I've continued to see results without all that garbage. Ramp up your cardio on your off days and tweak your diet, (eat complex carbs at the right times). Cardio will do wonders for your natural energy levels and endurance. It also exercises the most important muscle of all, your heart!

That's not to say that all preworkout supplements are bad though. Here is one I use, if I'm feeling tired I'll add 1 cup of black coffee no sugar.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/omega/ultima.html

No arginine. No Caffeine. No Taurine. It's kind of expensive, but the profile is excellent.

NetHorse did you at least check the ingredients of Surge?

before a workout? That's brilliant...


..and they blame underage heart failure on fast food HAHAHAHA

Jack3d. Awesome stuff.

Usually just a good pre-workout shake though.

i've always taken a 15 day break after a cycle of a preworkout.

my end goal is to be able to eat properly and get all the natural energy i need from diet and exercise. Currently i feel i eat rather healthy and I work out 4 hours a day (2 morning 2 night ) and i dont have any energy still but im still very over weight so hopefully once im in better shape i can get the natural energy soon ;/

1,3-dimethylamylamine = geranium.


i find biotest products to be garbage as well. most of the time they don't even list ingredients and when they do, they are sub-standard.

but i think the pre-workout supps are way way way overrated, not to mention the roi is simply not there when you look at the cost v. results.

not to mention all of the proprietary mixes. fuck, they skirt the rules bigtime and come up with the most unreadable labels on anything that is ingested.

here are a couple ( not saying this product is garbage, but even so, wtf is all this nonsens? lolz!


a piece of fruit or 2 and, if needed, a cup of coffee does the trick. healthier, cheaper, and better.

i cycle off of a supplement every six weeks

I was hoping you would chime in and give your advice.

hey, you got it. i'd look to nethorse, pr_glen and a few others here as well for good solid advice based on experience.

can you fill us in on what's going on? where are you at with your health & fitness, weight loss and goals? age?

you say you want to get to a place where diet and exercise provide your natural energy...how far along toward that would you say you are?


:)

Im 27 and ive been working out for 4 months now. 5 days a week 2 hours a day.

I started at 350lb's and im down to 295 now. Im looking to lose another 95lbs and then want to start putting on muscle.

2 hours of exercise a day is impressive. so you've lost ~14 lbs/month for 4 months, that's ~3.5 lbs a week, damn, that's damn impressive.

have you started noticing an increase in your natural energy?

how are you fueling the 2 hours, with a pre-w/o sup exclusively??

I am more tired than ever now - that is why i started looking at different supplements ;/

I eat a banana and either a handful of grapes or almonds. After i work out I do a protien shake.

I lost most of my weight right off the bat within the first 2 months with just diet change.

sounds like a classic plateau. :mad: i'd bet that you need to reconfigure things to kick start the fatloss process goign again eh.


well, i certainly would not think you need to change your time of activity so the other variables are

type of activity
intensity of activity

or


diet.


have you done an atkins-type no/lo carb cycle recently?

NO-explode and a GU packet

No - should i try a no/lo carb cycle?

Like my meal for today

Breakfast was the fruit and then i had the shake afterwards

for lunch ill have some sort of turkey sandwich on either a wheat wrap or whole wheat bread

and dinner tonight is a baked sweet potato grilled chicken ( getting very tired of chicken ;/ ) and steamed vegggies

i feel thats a pretty decent diet

Here is what I used in the past:

Jack3d - body gets to use to it quickly and energy is not the same after a while

Superpump - Too much anxiety and jittery effects after the work out

NO-Xplode - Not too bad but gets pricey with daily use, still use it time to time.

Hemo Rage Ultra Concentrate - Currently using it and love it! Great energy and really pushes you through the entire workout without feeling jittery.

yup, i do think you should do a ultra lo carb cycle. and that is a pretty decent diet, i would suggest cutting all breads, pastas, potatoes after the no carb cycle though.

a pre-w/o would help bigtime on the no carb too, as much as i try to stay away from them, in abnormal situations (weight loss is abnormal imo) they do help, i've used oxylabs pro elite, it's cheapest on amazon, and did feel it working.

what would you take in for a no carb diet? I cant stand seafood so that cuts out a large chunk of food it seems ;/

My view on pre workout stuff (assuming you are just looking for energy) is that i used to rely on it a lot for energy through the work out is that its not a good idea. You have to deal with the crash. would try to do cardio and crash 1/2 way through and so on.. and it leaves your energy levels going up and down (ultimately way down) no matter how you are sleeping, eating and training. Thats stuff should ultimately be controlled by proper diet, sleep, training/rest/recovery and making sure you're getting enough fluids.

otherwise, have someone help you with a steroid cycle.

40 oz and a cig. Hell of alot cheaper than alot of that preworkout mumbo jumbo snake oil

you have no energy...seems to me your not eating enough for your size. your body cannot rebuild energy & muscle off this food supply. eat more complex carbs/fiber is my advice. Complex carbs give you a great base of energy, so your proteins can be used for building muscle instead of being used as fuel as is likely in your case.

I know low carb is popular & yes the body burns fat faster without carbs. But you feel like shit. The brain burns only carbs. so taking out carbs is best left to bodybuilders prepping for an event. not people looking to be healthy as a lifestyle.

& likely your body adjusted to your exercise routine. New activities like swimming, hiking over hills, go to a circuit regimen on the weights. these will keep the body changing & adapting to new forms of exercise.

GL.

chicken, lean pork, lean red meats, eggs. protein shakes, i'd stick with casein and egg protein, don't worry about whey protein.

last thing - i think you should be most concerned about building your strength & energy at this stage instead of worrying about the scale. As your body gets stronger, it burns more calories, & then when your fit inside, the fat gradually burns off as you maintain a healthy diet with calories limited to your bodies needs. think long term. losing weight so fast can fuck up your psychology as a slower weight loss is inevitable at later stages.

You need to eat more meals. Three meals isn't enough. You will hit a wall soon and you obviously lack energy already.

Drop the fruit aswell. Vegetables are more important than fruit, plus fruit contains tons of sugar. Lots of people don't tolerate fruit well in the morning as it spikes your insulin levels. Once they go down you feel tired at around 10-11 AM. You then need coffee, etc. etc.

*EDIT* Don't forget to add good fats to your diet. You should eat at least 40g of good fats a day. Add flaxseed and sunflower oil to your breakfast (1 tablespoon each), make sure they are organic and in dark bottles, not the transparent glassy ones. This will supply your body with a good ratio of Omega 3 and 6 + good fats and quality calories to use as energy.

Listen to 'joshgirls' regarding the carbs. Don't cut them out unless you're cutting bodyfat down to below average levels. You'll feel like shit.

Good luck!

Yes, I did. It has 1,3-Dimethylamylamine and arginine which are both garbage. It has some nice ingredients though like ALA and grape seed extract.


Yup. Admittedly, I used to use them then I saw the light. :)

By the way, I just got back from the lifetime fitness in Vernon Hills and I was working out next to Gregg Olsen and Matt Forte, (Bears players). I keep getting cards in the mail so I decided to try the guess pass, it's an amazing gym but almost $100 a month. I can't justify paying that much.

Check this out for a rough primer.

https://gfy.com/showthread.php?t=995931

You must have been looking at some other supplement since Surge has neither of above.

water and lots of it.

if I get fatigued I chew gum. I dont like mixing stimulants with working out because im not looking to die while doing some curls.

Nothing like steroids, but if you don't want it, a good nitric oxide is Jack3d of USP Labs.

Oh, it might be a decent supplement then. :thumbsup

This is what I was looking at.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ae...unleashed.html

Try here: http://www.t-nation.com/store/supple...rkout-fuel.jsp

Well, after downing a few workout beers, usually a ham sandwich hits the spot.

Nah... I dont workout enough to have anything "pre-workout" unless you include making sure I just drank some water.

I try to not take any supplements besides Protein, some glutamine, fish oils, milk thistle, multis those types of things. The more artificial crap they throw together in NO XPLODE, etc - I just prefer not to anymore

I used to take Superpump though, which is very similar to no xplode but I saw far better results with Superpump, it increased my strength dramatically.

99.999999% of all supplements are pure scams

Too much crap on that page, what are the main ingredients? Looks like it has a 'proprietary blend' which I stay away from. A lot of marketing with little emphasis on the actual profile.

No supplements here. I eat healthy and exercise daily. I run anywhere from 3-5 miles with some light weight lifting. I've taken supplements in the past, and while they did seem to work, http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp...542&cp=3593186, it also made me slightly moody.

I use L-arginine. That's about it.

Crap. Want a 'pump'? Eat extra carbs. :1orglaugh

That's damn impressive man.. keep it up, obviously what you are doing is working.

no secrets to pre workout supplementation really. I've read that taking in a small whey before and a regular one after is for optimal gains, but that gets expensive and is probably unnecessary. As dyna mo said a little fruit or a little tea should give you the energy you need for a good workout, anything more than that you'll end up bloated and will slow you down anyway.

oh as for nos and gu? nos is overrated and essentially does nothing but heighten your blood pressure and gu? It's meant for endurance athletes, i've used them during marathons and triathlons, but it would be a waste to use them for just a workout, unless its a long run/ride or whatever. The PowerBar gels are far better for that too by the way...