*The Supplements You Own End Up Owning You

Jamie Chaos

January 27, 2010

The other day, I was walking around in a shopping center that contained a Gold’s gym. I happened to fall in behind a couple of skinny, yet unfit, college guys, who were dressed in fashionable workout gear emblazoned with Under Armor and Abercrombie logos. Without going any further, I could tell they were useless douches, simply by their manner of dress, but I was bored, so I listened in on their conversation. The conversation, as it turned out, was solid gold- it centered around their “brutal” workout of machine-based exercises, and their need to get their protein shakes to facilitate recuperation therefrom. It was, at its core, a conversation worthy of the very pinnacle of douchbaggery, the likes of which I rarely see.

Sooooooooper tough. He has to be- he’s wearing Under Armour!

Nevermind the fact that these fucking retards believed that they had just conducted a workout worthy of inclusion in the trials of Hercules- they believed that the workout was utterly worthless without their post-workout nutrition. They’ve been snowed by the magazines and the supplement companies to believe that without the proper supplements, they cannot achieve physical greatness.

One of Hercules’s trials was dealing with mouthy broads. He handled shit.

Here’s a fucking newsflash: BULLSHIT. Certainly, supplements can help, and I’ve spent a considerable amount of time detailing those that I think are worthwhile. That’s not to state, however, that they are in any way essential. Plenty of people throughout history have built massive physiques without the aid of supplements, through little more than big eating and big lifting. What supplements do is speed the process, and help undo the deleterious effects of bad eating habits and sloth, in addition to centuries of shitty breeding habits for most of us.

The most important thing, in my opinion, is your training. That’s because I’m primarily concerned with the development of strength, and muscle as a secondary effect. We all know that you cannot really out-train a bad diet, but all the dieting in the world isn’t going to build strength and muscle without training. Therefore, training is the bedrock of C&P. Follow that with diet. If you eat like shit, you’re likely to look like shit, and you’ll probably train like shit as well. Last, and definitely least, is the inclusion of supplements in your regime.

Hermann Goerner never took a supplement. Of that much, I can assure you. That didn’t stop him from deadlifting an epic 727 lbs. WITH ONE HAND.

Throughout the ages, the world has produced a wide variety of heavily muscled, bad motherfuckers, like Hermann Goerner, Milo of Croton, every single athlete who sat for a Greek or Roman statue, Punjabi wrestlers, etc. They all focused on two things, instead of supplementation (though they all dabbled in a variety of odd supplements throughout the ages): TRAINING AND DIET.

Lionel Strongfort. Bad motherfucker born in 1878 and lifting crazy weights long before the advent of supplements or steroids.

What to include? I’ve covered it before, but protein and a multi are the bedrock of your supplementation, NOT CREATINE. For some reason, every sloppy motherfucker on the planet seems to think that creatine is the essential ingredient into any workout program, to the exclusion of every other fucking thing of which you could think, including heavy squats and deadlifts. Creatine isn’t fucking magic- in fact, if you eat red meat on a regular basis, it’s basically useless, because red meat contains plenty of creatine. and your body can only absorb so much of it Furthermore, creatine’s strength benefits are minor, and there are no real hypertrophy benefits.

The following are also useless:

HMB

Amino acids (spend your money on fucking protein- it’s made of AMINO ACIDS)

anything made by MuscleTech

just about anything by Controlled Labs

weight gainers (try putting whey protein in chocolate milk, fuckface, or just fucking eat something)

To recap:

TRAIN FUCKING HARD.

EAT LIKE A CAVEMAN.

STOP YAMMERING ABOUT INCONSEQUENTIAL SHIT, AND LIFT SOME MORE.

REPEAT.

The end.

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Jamie Chaos

I am a former all-time, all federation world record holder in raw powerlifting at 181lbs, a record I broke just to say fuck you to the internet’s “lifting” community and the powerlifting community at large. Over the last ten years I’ve written over 500 articles on strength training, nutrition, and supplementation, and continue to do so simply to fight the tide of weakness and sadness that currently pervades the scene I’ve called home for the better part of three decades. I’ve got personal trainin certs, BodyPump and BodyCombat certs, a BA in History and East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona, and MBAs from the Vienna University and University of South Carolina on my side, in addition to some sick lifts and a hell of a lot of rage. What the fuck have you got?

27 responses to “*The Supplements You Own End Up Owning You”

Justin James

January 27, 2010

Every time you post the name "Hermann Goerner", I think it says "Hermann Goring", for a moment of utter confusion.

I was going to write something tomorrow about creatine and red meat, but you beat me to the punch. Creatine's benefits, such as they are, really are not too useful in a CnP workout anyways.

Since I started CnP, my supplementation has been slashed, other than a month of trying trib (the jury is still out on that, since I started CnP at about the same time). I've added a few extra protein shakes during the day (mixing egg powder and whey) and made some changes to my PWO shake (to get more types of protein in it), but the extra shakes are to help me get to 400+ grams of protein a day, not because I think they'll work miracles.

J.Ja
Justin James

January 27, 2010

By the by, if I'm remembering my Edith Hamilton right, Hercules' "post-workout supplementation" seemed to involve a table full of meat and a few gallons of strong wine cut with water. Then again, he's a fictional character. But from what I've read of Bulgarian powerlifters, they basically eat like that, they go do this traditional meal where they are basically slowly consuming protein for hours on end (http://www.musclepowershop.com/2008/10/bulgarian-training.html).

J.Ja
Dray

January 27, 2010

The only supplements I take are fish oil for my shitty joints and mental health and whey protein when I don't have access to any other readily available high protein meals.

I really think that homemade protein shakes and "weight gainer" shakes are better. Here's one I made lately: 4-7 tbsp of peanut butter, 3-4 cups of milk, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 6-8 tbsp of yogurt, and 2-4 ice cubes. If I don't want to enjoy my shake, I'll add things like oats (I know, how not paleo of me, second time this recipe), broccoli, tuna, etc.

Without the extra calories/carbs there at the end this shake is pretty much fucking delicious though.
Justin James

January 27, 2010

Dray –

I too take fish oil, in addition to at least 6 oz. of fish a day; I also take glucosamine, because my joints were in rough shape when I first started lifting. I also hit up a multi, and that's it for my "nutrition in a pill".

That's not the worst shake in the world (kind of reminds me of the recipes that Arnold describes in the Encyclopedia), but watch that milk. I was using milk in mine too for a while, but I discovered (OK, Jamie pointed it out) that the protein content sucks (9 g or so for a cup), meanwhile it is LOADED with sugars. Likewise, I used to eat a lot of yogurt for snacks, but then I compared the protein to sugar ratio and realize it sucked. If you are trying to stay low carb, dairy is not on the menu. Peanut butter is not a very complete potein source, in terms of its amino profile. Do I dodge it? No, I'll have a scoop of it now and then. But I'm not going to base a meal replacement (and a PWO shake basically *is* a meal replacement) on a plant protein. The olive oil isn't bad, and I've considered adding it (or canola oil) to my shakes as well.

I have two shake recipes I use, one for early in the day and late at night (to help get my protein g's up), it's just 2 tbsp. egg powder, 1 scoop whey, 1 cup water. My PWO shake is 1 cup water, 1 cup liquid egg white (which beats milk with the ugly stick in terms of sugar and protein, and its pastuerized like milk so you don't have to worry about bacteria), 2 tbsp wheat germ (6 g of protein, folic acid, and some fiber to aid digestion/absorbtion), 2 scoops whey, 4 tbsp cocoa (optional; makes it taste real nice, adds come caffeine, and a number of other "feel good" effects), 1 tsp glutamine (this is currently an experiment, someone gave me a gift card to GNC and glutamine was the only thing I saw even remotely worth buying). I've been really happy with this particular mix since I cooked it up a bit more than a month ago.

J.Ja
Michael Q

January 27, 2010

I bought myself a 20 kilogram (44 lbs) sack of whey protein concentrate from a manufacturer. What I do for my "protein shake" is put 12 tablespoons of WPC into a 2 Liter bottle of milk. 130+ grams of protein and 1500+ calories.
Michael Q

January 27, 2010

Some supplements that are actually worth a fuck:

Cod Liver oil. Megadoses of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is necessary for tissue growth and repair IIRC. It also has Vitamin D, and we know that it is neccessary for testosterone production and is an amazing performance enhancer. But Cod Liver Oil from farmed fish is deficient in Vitamin D. Which is why…

Vitamin D3 softgels are important, for reasons stated above. You lucky yankee bastards can get hundreds of 5000 IU softgels.

Tribulus, if it actually works. I have not tried it.

A good ZMA supplement could be useful. Though if you are eating red meat you probably have shitloads of zinc. Questionable.

A good multi.

At the moment, the above are all I would really spend my money on.
Anonymous

January 27, 2010

I will probably get a lot of beating for this but I´d like to ask for some advice…
Since I don´t eat meat(nor fish) I find it hard to get a good diat with a substitude for it.Any idea what I could eat that would come (nearly) close to it?Don´t stab me…
Thanks in advance
(I´m german so please don´t rant at me for mistakes of any kind hahaha)
Michael Q

January 27, 2010

Milk, whey protein, eggs, nuts.
Anonymous

January 27, 2010

Anonymous – Jamie actually speaks German, try emailing him directly.
Jamie Lewis

January 27, 2010

It's rusty, but I'll enjoy the practice.

For vegetarians, Michael Q is on the money- the only really successful veggie bodybuilder is Bill Pearl, and he drank multiple gallons of milk a day (~8 L, at least) and dozens of eggs.
Jamie Lewis

January 27, 2010

J Ja.- The fact that Goerner rocked a Hitler mustache probably confuses the issue even more.
Anonymous

January 27, 2010

I'm not big into supplements but per Jaimes advice I just dropped some cash on:
Stimerex ES
Methyll Mass
Animal Pack (Multi vitamin)
5lb Mixed Protein blend.

I hope I didnt waste my cash.
Justin James

January 27, 2010

To the vegetarian –

You'll also want to ensure that you are getting lots of fiber. Fiber aids in the absorbtion/digestion of protein as well as vitamins and minerals, so you'll want to make sure that your body is using what you are putting in it. About two years ago when I first started losing weight, I was *almost* vegetarian (eating 6 oz. of meat products a day), and my research at the time pointed me to spinach, kale, broccolli, cauliflower, and tomatoes as being really awesome for me. Even now, during my "paleo days" where I reintroduce carbs into my diet, those are the carbs (along with fruits, mostly berries and apples) that I eat.

J.Ja
Anonymous

January 27, 2010

Thanks to all of you.
And I actually wrote him a mail but didn´t get any reply…So I thought it would be best to just post it here.
Jamie Lewis

January 27, 2010

Anonymous said…

I'm not big into supplements but per Jaimes advice I just dropped some cash on:
Stimerex ES
Methyll Mass
Animal Pack (Multi vitamin)
5lb Mixed Protein blend.

I hope I didnt waste my cash.

You didn't. The crux of this blog was that training and diet should be your primary considerations, and that supplements should NOT be the primary focus. Unless you're using gear, you cannot out-supplement shitty training and diet.
Justin James

January 27, 2010

One other item for the vegetarian – avoid the soy. As someone who has been borderline vegetarian a number of times (like the time when I dated a vegetarian, and I'd only eat non-fish/egg meat when she wasn't around), I know the temptation to eat soy. It's filling, can be cooked a number of different ways, has a ton of fiber AND protein, and tofu rocks as an ingredient, as far as non-meats go. But soy has the ability to squash your testosterone production, which I didn't find out about until reletively recently. So yeah, all of those soy-based protein bars and energy bars (I'm looking at you, Clif), soy-based protein drinks, etc., they gotta go unless you have a really good reason to not touch eggs, whey, nuts, etc.

J.Ja
Ryan

January 27, 2010

I hate when high school students who lift twice a week and college guys around the gym on campus talk about N.O.-Xplode. I just laugh because I know they are paying $60 for caffeine, jitters, and then diarrhea. In that order.
Anonymous

January 27, 2010

Any clue on how many grams of carbs will take someone out of ketosis. I've read a few articles and they all seem to say something different. My greens powder as well as my Protein shakes total about 10-15 grams of carbs a day. I am currently on a 4.5lbs of chicken wings a day diet and I want to make sure I'm not fucking anything up.
Anonymous

January 27, 2010

"caffeine, jitters, and then diarrhea. In that order." hahahaha Perfect!
Justin James

January 27, 2010

Not sure exactly how many will do it; Jamie recommends 25 g of carbs or less on keto days, though. That being said, if you really want to knowif you are actually in ketosis, you can buy these things called "Ketostix", it's like a pregnancy test for ketosis. A quick search showed that you can get 50 of $17 online, and you may be able to find them in a local drugstore or perhaps even a bodybuilding/nutrition store.

J.Ja
Jamie Lewis

January 28, 2010

I recommend 30g a day or less- essentially, 5% or less of your total daily calories. You subtract all of the sugar alcohols and fiber in your carbohydrates from that number, incidentally.
Anonymous

January 28, 2010

New logo looks sick….
Anonymous

January 28, 2010

Jamie, do you track calories when doing your Keto runs? I've read on some LC blogs and forums where people basically said to purposely eat a large amount of calories to increase fat burning (I.E. – eat fat to burn fat). Is that your stance, too? If someone was looking to drop a decent amount of weight , say 40lbs, how would you set up his diet?
Jamie Lewis

January 29, 2010

Not at all. The only things I track are carbs and protein. Check out my food log here: http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=ChAoSandPAIN
Jamie Lewis

January 29, 2010

I don't know from dropping 40 lbs- that's sort of outside of the purview of my experience. i can tell you that the thermic effect of protein is tremendously high. Thus, you can get away with eating a lot of calories. I rotate my calories, as you can see, going between a low carb paleo regime and a traditional keto diet. Then, on the weekend I go moderate calories, with two cheat windows on non-consecutive days. Lately, I've been going Friday and Sunday. It's key that the cheat windows are on non-consecutive days.

The key is HIGH protein, so that the diet is muscle-sparing, and that the carbs stay at or below 5% of your total kcals on high fat days.
Anonymous

November 4, 2013

Oh my god. Those first two paragraphs put me into a frenzy of laughter. The beginning of this post is one of the funniest things I have read online in awhile.
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