I had a lot of ideas for the title of this blog.
"The Science of Supplements"
"Supplements are Not a Replacement for Hard Work"
"Stop the Supplement Broscience"
"Supplements=/= Muscles"
Instead, I kept it simple. My relationship with supplements is long and varied. Wait. Let's back up and do a definition.
SUP-LE-MENT: 1) Noun. Something that completes or enhances something else when added to it
2) Verb. To add an extra element or add to.
In the context of today's blog, supplement will refer to a substance ingested in hopes to add to athletic performance or aesthetic. Now as I was saying, I have tried a lot of different types of supplements. When I was a little bit too obsessed with being thin, I tried caffeine pills, water that claimed to speed up your metabolism, Skinny Fox Detox (forgive me) and Advocare. I am not here to tear apart any supplements or supplement companies, but as a side note, I do not like Advocare. I have taken protein powder, protein gels, protein bars, BCAAs, preworkout, postworkout, and intraworkout. The companies I have tried the previous supplements from are: Optimum Nutrition, Muscle Pharm, Jym, Cellucor, PEScience, and soon to be SLAP Nutrition (I am SO EXCITED for this). Again, this is not going to be a criticism on any company (but Cellucor tastes like shit #what?), but more so about the science of supplements.
So what inspired this blog? Because let me tell you I am very inspired right now; It hit me, and I rushed home from the gym to write it. I was watching a vlog (video blog) from my newest YouTube obsession, who will remain unnamed. It was quite an old video of hers, but she was doing a "Supplement Haul", in which she went through all of the supplements she had just purchased. Girl had like $300+ of supplements. Protein, preworkout, BCAAs, multiple appetite suppressants...I love her, but the things she was saying about the products were very incorrect, and overall the girl is not really a fitness person, lifter, runner, etc. AND THAT'S OKAY. IT IS OKAY TO NOT BE INTO FITNESS. My reason for saying that is, that I got the feeling that she had shelled out all of this money on supplements hoping that just by taking them, she would be able to tone up (I just threw up in my mouth having to type that phrase). Needless to say, it didn't work. That's what this is about. People who buy supplements without matching it with the hard fucking work that has to come first. So let's get into it.
1. Protein. You can get fat from protein. Why would I open with that statement? Because if you supplement your body with protein on protein on protein, but don't have an active lifestyle, all you are doing is increasing your caloric intake without increasing your caloric output. And what happens when you eat more than you spend? You gain. GAINING ISN'T BAD. #gainz are great when they're muscle. But if you do not do the work to build the muscle, then that protein isn't going to just magically turn into muscle on its own. The average, non-exercising adult only needs about 60 grams of protein a day. Increasing this amount without working the hell out of your muscles will not build muscle. Why? Proteins are made of amino acids. Amino acids function to help build cells and repair tissue. If you didn't tear the tissue (by lifting/running/whatever), then you don't have anything to repair...starting to make sense? If you don't use the amino acids, they can absolutely be stored as fat, or the body can just get rid of them. Either way, sounds like a waste of money to be buying supplements just to lose it in urine or gain it in an undesirable way. You have got to work your muscles if you want to put it to work, my friends. I promise you, simply increasing your protein intake will NOT help you reach your goals unless you have the work that goes with it. Okay. I think that's enough on protein.
After writing about #protein, I realized that one blog post for all the supplements I planned on speaking about would just be tl:dr, you know? SO. That's all for this, Part One, of supplements. Next will be Pre-wokout and BCAAs. :)
#bodybuilding #powerlifting #npc #npcbikini #npcprep #bikiniprep #npccompetitor #fitness #health #girlswholift #girlswithmuscle
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