LEVEL 5 - SUPPLEMENTATION (Part 1) Recommended Supplement List Flashcards
How can Multivitamins help?
Multivitamin use appears to be not harmful, and may confer a small protective health benefit to long-term users.
When you are eating less food, you will also be eating less micronutrients and some studies of popular diets have found that they are actually micronutrient deficient. During a cut it’s probably a good idea to create a nutritional “safety net” and have a daily multivitamin that’s of high quality but that isn’t overdosed. If you’re in a lean gaining phase, this is most likely not necessary, but might be helpful.
What is an EFA? How can it help?
Essential fatty acids (EFA’s), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which typically come from fish oil supplementation, have been found to have a host of potential health benefits.
When appropriately dosed, EFA’s help with leptin signaling in the brain, reducing inflammation, enhancing mood, and reducing disease factor risk. They can also aid in joint recovery and have shown potential for some metabolic benefits as well.
Both while cutting or lean gaining, I would recommend getting enough EPA and DHA (combined) to fall within the 2 to 3 gram range per day.
How can Vitamin D3 help?
Vitamin D is primarily produced in our body as a result of direct contact with sunlight. Having insu cient levels of vitamin D in the body can compromise the immune system, which can be a disaster for someone who is training hard, dieting, or attempting to perform any type of activity at a high level. Vitamin D is also a precursor to hormones, and low levels have been linked potentially to seasonal depression and other mood alterations.
Vitamin D deficiency rates are a lot higher than we once thought, and being deficient in vitamin D can potentially negatively impact muscular performance, immune function, and hormonal status [16]. Thus, it’s good idea to supplement accordingly if you don’t get much direct sunlight, have dark skin, or a combination thereof. A basic dosing recommendation would be to take anywhere from 9-36 IU/lb/day (20-80 IU/kg/day) of vitamin D3 based on sunlight exposure.
How can Creatine Monohydrate help?
Creatine is produced in the body and so is already present. We get it from animal products, mostly in meat, and it is more abundant in raw meat. When meat is cooked it degrades the creatine content, which is why it is di cult to get the performance- enhancing benefits without consuming this as a supplement.
To get creatine stores up to levels where they can benefit strength, power production, muscle fullness, and ultimately your long-term ability to produce more muscle mass over time, I would recommend ingesting 0.018 g/lb of bodyweight per day (0.04 g/kg/ day). It will take a couple weeks of ingesting this amount per day to reach supplemental creatine levels, but after that point you can just maintain those levels by continuing to take the dose, like topping o your gas tank.
For long-term consumption, timing doesn’t matter. It doesn’t need to be taken with carbs, it doesn’t need to be loaded, it doesn’t need to be taken pre-workout, and it doesn’t need to be taken post workout.
How can caffeine help?
There is a multitude of research caffeine’s effectiveness in enhancing performance and suppressing tiredness while other stimulants don’t have nearly as much behind them.
To suppress tiredness doses of 0.45-1.40 mg/lb/day (1-3 mg/kg/day) are appropriate. Fortunately, the suppression of tiredness does not appear to be e ected by ca eine tolerance. For acute resistance-training performance enhancing effects, take 1.81- 2.72 mg/lb (4-6 mg/kg) approximately 30 min before training no more than 2 times per week.
How can Beta-Alanine help?
By no means necessary, but they can potentially be helpful in certain instances. Beta-alanine can be thought of as the muscle endurance version of creatine monohydrate. If you think of creatine for power, think of beta-alanine for longer anaerobic performances.
It only has a small performance enhancing e ect when e orts reach a duration of at least 60 seconds
How can BCAAs help?
Whether you are cutting or lean gaining, I would have to say that BCAAs probably aren’t going to provide a benefit to you if your protein intake is already high enough.
If you are performing cardio and have to do so fasted or while consuming a low-calorie or low-carbohydrate diet (which could potentially result in glycogen depletion), you might potentially benefit from BCAA supplementation.
If you are glycogen-depleted, on low carbs, or training fasted, it may benefit you to have a dose of 0.09 g/lb (0.2 g/kg) pre-workout as it helps delay time to fatigue.
How can HMB help?
HMB is a metabolite of leucine that has been shown to act as an anti-catabolic in populations struggling with muscle wasting diseases or conditions. However, effects on performance and body composition, especially in trained populations are at best mixed.
HMB is not as highly researched and validated as some other supplements at the top of this list, consider HMB as something that may be e ective if you have the money lying around and if you are doing a relatively hardcore diet…but don’t expect much.
If you are cutting and have the financial means, I would recommend ingesting 3 grams of HMB about 30 minutes before training sessions. This dose might also be beneficial for people who are in an intense overreaching cycle or are acutely increasing their volume for whatever reason. But regardless of your situation, if you are in a gaining phase and have plenty of food, you definitely don’t need to be taking this supplement.
What is in the supplement chart?
