I found out today that I'm going back to my old shift pattern, which means I can get back down the gym 3 times in 8 days. I've decided I want to try a bit harder this time, so I need advice on some kind of supplement which will help me increase strength, if one exists. I'm not fussed about size, recovery, or extra energy, I just want my strength to increase quicker than it has been. I've never really considered supplements before, so I haven't got a ****ing clue where to start. I'm sure it's all down to personal taste or whatever, but I need someone to point me in the right direction, or recommend a brand of supplement or something. As a bit of background knowledge, I normally do 5x5 on compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows, clean and press, pullups, etc. Any help will be much appreciated, cheers lads. :good
Yeah... there's this really good one - its called bust your ass!! In all seriousness though, why the supplements? You already have the answer to your question - "I've decided I want to try a bit harder this time". If you can try harder, why splash out on supplements? Anyway, if you follow a good training programme and your diet is good, supplements will offer you very little, if anything in terms of strength development. The only supplement that I advocate using is glutamine to help with recovery, but if you are only training 3 times in 8 days, recovery shouldn't be a problem. Regarding training, 5x5 is good, on the proviso that you are not sticking to it rigidly for too long, and you are increasing the weight on a weekly basis - if you hit a plateau, or you see reduced gains, change to a different programme.. Mix it up, throw in some singles, say eight single rep sets works well. Isometrics will also help you with max strength. I'd also advise you strongly to look up westside barbell (http://www.westside-barbell.com/) and in particular, the conjugate method. Louie Simmons is one of the best strength coaches in the world - read everything that there is to read on his site. One other point that i'd like to add is your training frequency. If you are only training 3 times in 8 days, your gains will be limited regardless of what preogramme you do, what you eat and what supplements you choose to shove down your neck.
I thought I'd give the supplements a go because any gains I did get, strength-wise, came very slowly. I've seen people jump ahead of me down the gym even though they've been going for a quarter of the time I have, and they all seem to take some kind of supplement. Recovery isn't normally a problem, I train 3 times in 8 days because it fits nicely around my work. I don't really understand what you mean by it being infrequent, I thought the most you were supposed to train the same muscle groups was every other day, and 3 out of 8 is almost as good. I'll look at the link you posted, and I'll read up on Louie Simmons as well, thanks. :good
Go to EliteFTS . com , buy the 5/3/1 ebook 10$ you cheap *******, that is a great program. It's 1 day around military press, one around bench, one around squat, one around deadlift. The ebook is a good read. So for you in a month you'd get 4 goes on your exercises. If you want, depending on how you progress and how far between the 3 days are and all the rest, you can do more than one in a day of course. PM me for any more details. As far as supps go mate just have a 6 raw egg / protein powder / creatine post workout and you should be good. This won't really increase your strength but it will a bit. Buy a tasty protein powder like Muscle Milk to mask the eggy taste. Creatine get Creapure from myprotein.co.uk 3 out of 8 days is fine.
Haha yeah dbol if he wasnts to put on 20kg of water and look like a ****wit. Also raw egg's are oldschool mate, now day's with the invention of hte flame we cook them, that way all hte bad bacteria is killed and the protein becomes more digestable once cooked anyways. As far as supplements go there is no need. If anything a few omega 3 caps at night for joitn support and a wpi/wpc mix for after training. Jus eat clean and well, try and eat 2g's protein for every lb of body wieght. from natural sources, fish, steak, chicken, turkey, cottage cheese, milk etc.
Protien shake is really all I use. If you need extra help with recovery glutamine is good like bodi said. 5x5 is a good program I use it too. Just started and notice pretty big differences already.
If you're trying to bring up your maxes and not in a sport that requires you to weight in, then creatine helps. A guy who used to be weak as hell started taking it, now he holds the state record for bench in his weight.
I've always wanted to say that I take Muscle Milk anyway, so this could kill two birds with one stone. I'm glad you agree that 3 workouts in 8 days is fine. I'll look into the website and the creatine you recommended, cheers mate.
I need some advice on which protein stuff to buy now then. Anyone recommend some good stuff to go with my Creapure in a shake?
I don't think you should mix supplements . If you're talking about flavor, then maybe some fruits or something
rakim buy from www.myprotein.co.uk same stuff as the big brand names such as maximuscle etc but alot cheaper, cheapest is the bulk whey unflavored, if you dont really care about the taste buy the whey protein concentrate, but if you're lactose intolerant or just cant handle dairy products buy whey protein isolate
So I can make a shake out of the whey protein concentrate and creatine then, yeah? I'll buy a flavoured one I think.