Pre workout supps..what to take?

[MADDYSMUM]

Hi there,
at the moment I am taking a Whey protein shake post workout. I have my dinner at about 6.30pm, and go to the gym at 8.30pm. When I get back at 9.30 I have my shake.
Would it be beneficial to take a pre workout shake of some kind?
If so, what do you all recommend?

thanks for your time.

 

[Jman_898]

have you considered a type of creatine pre workout drink? most of them these days are laced with caffiene to give you a massive buzz but the creatine is great pre and even post training. most pre drinks these days have nitric oxide in them which is a vasodialator (makes your veins increase in internal size to flow more oxygen enriched blook) im still getting into things myself but i love to read about this sort of thing. from what ive seen so far and what ive been using to my advantage is i take a protein shake high in carbs and fast acting proteings about hour and a half before training. i take a creatine drink (eg: NO xplod) for a big energy buzz (only been using it for the past week but ive used it in the past a few years ago) and a good post workout protein shake with a good meal (preferably a protein powder containing bcaa's and creatine but no caffiene! lol) so far in 2 and a half months ive dropped 2% body fat and gained 7.5 kilo's of muscle i hope this is of some help. im sure there are others on this forum who can narrow this down a little more for you.
just my 2 cents

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[alex]

hi there what type of build are you? and what are you looking to achieve? im a lean 23 yr old and im looking to gain lean mass and im using optimum nutrition pro complex lean gainer. it is a great product, easy to drink and gives you high quality proteins.

cheers alex

 

[MADDYSMUM]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies.
JMAN - I have a creatine powder which I use, but I have heard that there are good protein powders for pre workouts such as VP2. I use Dymatize creatine monohydrate. I take 1 tsp before a workout. Is this ok?
ALEX - My build is quite good. Take a look at my photos in my profile. I gained quite a bit of muscle in the last 2 months. I am looking at gaining more muscle mass and strengthen and tone.

 

[-LJ-]

N0 supplement.

For example

Nitric Oxide - Supplements Plus


I take White Flood before a workout to give me an extra boost.

 

[Jman_898]

are you using that creatine with anything else pre training? and also what have you found the effects of it? if it doesnt contain caffein then it wouldnt be such a bad idea to add it with a post shake too, as far as my knowledge tells me creatine acts as a protein synthesizer and aids the absorbtion into the muscle. i would love to see some other maby more experienced members shed their hard gained opinions here as im keen to see also i understand most of the affects of these supplements but as for the quantities i have no clue yet lol. just about to start a new batch of supplements myself i think when it comes down to individuals you have to play with quantites rather than sticking to suggested serving sizes. Given a fair few more years experience (such as the wisdom alot of the people on this forum have) i would be more than happy to help but so far i have just been sharing what i learnt in the hope to help somehow
one main thing i have deffinately learnt is that they are supplements... you cant go past a good nutritious meal, they are just to fill in the gaps when you cant stuff too much good food down your gullet

 

[stralian]

Can I please recommend you DON'T take a pre-workout with caffeine in it!!!
I assume you wouldn't because of the time you workout, but it's worth mentioning since pretty much 90% of off the shelf stuff 'Pre-workout' stuff has caffeine in it, most of the time hidden under another name.

Not to mention caffeine is the worst thing in the world, regardless of whether you are bodybuilding or not

 

[MADDYSMUM]

ok I take my creatine with water alone. I dont think it has caffeine in it. Its the Dymatize brand if anyone uses it, they will know. I will have to take a look at it. I have it about 30 mins before my workout. The after my workout, I will have when isolate protein drink with some leucine mixed in. The before bed, some casein powder.

 

[Fadi]

Can I please recommend you DON'T take a pre-workout with caffeine in it!!!
I assume you wouldn't because of the time you workout, but it's worth mentioning since pretty much 90% of off the shelf stuff 'Pre-workout' stuff has caffeine in it, most of the time hidden under another name.

Not to mention caffeine is the worst thing in the world, regardless of whether you are bodybuilding or not

X2!


Fadi.

 

[raphsta]

I have a creatine powder which I use, but I have heard that there are good protein powders for pre workouts such as VP2.

VP2 is just an overpriced WPI product.
You mention you have WPI already, so need to fork out for some marketing hype. VP2 will give no benefit over your existing protein supplement.

Listen to Stralian, and Fadi ..
Some of the others were too quick to jump in and recommend products that contained caffeine, even though you said you train at 8.30pm...
We've had good discussions on here previously regarding these caffeine based pre-workout supps, and the genereal consesus is that they do more harm than good when it comes to building muscle.

 

[howzit]

have you considered a type of creatine pre workout drink? most of them these days are laced with caffiene to give you a massive buzz but the creatine is great pre and even post training. most pre drinks these days have nitric oxide in them which is a vasodialator (makes your veins increase in internal size to flow more oxygen enriched blook) im still getting into things myself but i love to read about this sort of thing. from what ive seen so far and what ive been using to my advantage is i take a protein shake high in carbs and fast acting proteings about hour and a half before training. i take a creatine drink (eg: NO xplod) for a big energy buzz (only been using it for the past week but ive used it in the past a few years ago) and a good post workout protein shake with a good meal (preferably a protein powder containing bcaa's and creatine but no caffiene! lol) so far in 2 and a half months ive dropped 2% body fat and gained 7.5 kilo's of muscle i hope this is of some help. im sure there are others on this forum who can narrow this down a little more for you.
just my 2 cents

Cheers,
Jeremy

NO-Xplode is not a creatine LOL! It's a nitric oxide...

I've been on Superpump250 and the gains I got on that were unlike anything I've had before. Now with NO-Xplode and it seems to have a similar effect, but is a bit cheaper.

 

[raphsta]

Howzit,
Both NO-Xplode and Superpump 250 contain creatine..

Creatine is probably the main reason you got the gains on SP250...

 

[howzit]

They do, but they contain insufficient amounts... I stacked creatine mono with it.

 

[-LJ-]

White Blood contains no caffine.

 

[Josh_GTiR]

Do you mean White Flood by Controlled Labs? If so you must be mistaken man, it has caffeine.

 

[Jman_898]

if no one had noticed yet, i have never condoned using a creating pre or post drink containing caffiene. i agree with you all that its one of the worst things for the system. i meerely stated in my first post that it gives you a massive buzz, and if anything deffinately not to use something similar to no xpod as a post due to the caffiene..... i didnt think i was all that hasty to post... i was meerly offering some advice and also warning about most pre drinks containing caffiene. creatine in my opinion is a god send, its just the amounts which i am yet to play with to get the right effects, hence why i asked for the opinions of some more experiences members as its a learning curve for myself too.... all i wanted to do was instill the idea of pre and post creatine drinks along with the right kinds of proteins pre and post.... sorry if you thought i was acting out of place... all i was trying to do is help...

 

[Jman_898]

oh and thanks raphsta for backing me up dude.

howzit... mate they do have creatine in them. read labels, it does wonders
100grams of creatine pre workout wont do any good mate it only takes maby 5 grams pre or post for sufficient protein synthesis... some people choose to load in times of very stressfull routines. some of that will go to waste but its always just for that little more gain...

 

[-LJ-]

Do you mean White Flood by Controlled Labs? If so you must be mistaken man, it has caffeine.

No, White Blood by Controlled Labs. Its a pre workout supplement with no caffeine.

 

[raphsta]

They do, but they contain insufficient amounts... I stacked creatine mono with it.

Which shows how much of a waste of money such products are.
They contain lots of ingredients, but such small quantities, and lots of bullsh*t ingredients too.
Although, we don't really know how much creatine is in SP250 for example. I'd take a guess at 3g, which I wouldn't really call insufficient.
Gaspari want their customers to buy SP250, and "Size On" which is their intra-workout creatine formula - all their marketing goes on about how well those two products work together.

Anyway...

I like this page on the AIS website, it shows which supplements their athletes use, and the ones that have been shown to be useless.
Australian Institute of Sport :: Classification

Caffeine used to be in their Group A supplements, but now has a note that they no longer use caffeine as a supplement. Would be interesting to find out why..

 

[Jman_898]

Quote Raphsta

I like this page on the AIS website, it shows which supplements their athletes use, and the ones that have been shown to be useless.

Caffeine used to be in their Group A supplements, but now has a note that they no longer use caffeine as a supplement. Would be interesting to find out why..

End quote

I also find it very interesting how nitric oxide supplements rank in category c which have very little proof of beneficial effects... its amazing the variety of slightly contradictory information you can find on the internet.

very sorry to hijack this thread... in hind sight tho i suppose from this you can see how minimal or maximal some effects of supplements can be and it really comes down to individuals... i believe if your taking your dosage of creatine pre and post consider maby some bcaa's and good nutritious meals and you will reach your goal soon enough
best of luck MADDYSMUM, please let us all know what you choose to follow in the way of supplements and how they worked for you

cheers,
Jeremy