Hard-core Underground Supplement Review
By Anita Ramsey CSCS, CFT, SPARQ
Need more muscle size? Better strength gains? Want a hard body? Then you might want to start by changing your supplements. So, here is the Muscle Update 2007 Supplement Review. With almost 20 years of weight training, 12 years of competitive bodybuilding, four with competitive benching as well as over 15 years as a one-on-one personal trainer under my belt. I have also tried or have been sponsored by many of the top supplement lines available today.
With the vast array of nutritional supplements and ergogenic aids on the market today it is no wonder that even experienced bodybuilders and athletes are baffled as to which to use for performance and maximizing gains from weight training. Supplements are an essential part of gaining muscle, strength, size and even definition. My husband and I get asked so many time’s; “what should I take? Well, there are so many supplements to choose from, and so many manufacturers. And everyone is different, some are good and some are not so good. The supplements we’ve used over the years are many. We train hard and heavy! We both need nutrients, and food doesn’t always cover all that is needed especially in restricted diets like competition diets. These are just some of the reasons why we take supplements. We also take certain supplements to help us train hard and recover quicker from our intense workouts. We also need quality protein supplements to maintain our physiques for muscle growth and even recovery.
I have been sponsored by and used many different supplements. But, there will always be certain supplements that are a staple to our regiment that we will never change and you too should always have a few certain supplements that are staples in your training regiment also. Here are certain supplements that have made the grade for aiding in the development of strength, muscle, and the recovery from intense weight training.
There are many Whey only products, but only two have found superior through my sensitive taste buds and what I like in that category for us is ALLMAX ISOFlex Whey Protein or ALLMAX ALL Whey 42gram Protein. ISOFLEX is a Whey Protein Isolate Delivery System Formula. The Whey Protein Isolate Complex contains cold, cross…flow micro filtered whey protein isolate, 97% Whey Protein Isolate and Synermune© Colostrum, a source of EGF (growth factor). ISOFLEX is also aspartame…free, non…GMO, instantized protein, which mixes easily and contains growth factors, IGF…1 and EGF. Another favorite, and probably yours, is IDS Sports “Kranker. Wow! I loved the ephedra based product, it did wonders when I was competing, and the ephedra-FREE Kranker is maybe not as potent but still a top of the line fat burner and energy booster. Now again, on the back of the Kranker it say’s “just take one! Well, forgive me for being a “more is better American but I take 3-a day, spread out through the course of the day, usually one in the morning, one at noon and the other around 6pm. Now talking protein combination mixtures the only one that’s tops is MG Development’s MG-2. MG Development understands that athlete’s, bodybuilders and extreme fitness competitors need the fastest results in performance and absorption rate. This is why MGF-2 has the highest protein efficiency ratio of #4 on the market.
Here are a couple other supplements we highly recommend and that should be a staple in your training programs. Glutamine is one, a big one! If you are not taking this supplement you better start. Glutamine Complex includes naturally occurring glutamine peptides. AllMax Nutrition Micronized Glutamine comes in 400g - 1000g sizes. ALLMAX uses only the purest raw ingredients through a pharmaceutical grade manufacturing facility. Our pharmaceutical grade GLUTAMINE is not heat or chemically treated. Also use Higher Power 1800 Glutamine Capsules by Bodybuilding.com if you cannot choke down the powder. These are two GREAT Glutamine products!
Everyone, whether you are into general fitness or you are an elite athlete or if you compete in bodybuilding or powerlifting you need a hard-core Multi-Vitamin product. Universal ANIMAL Pack is your #1 for the above. Especially during calorie-restricted diets, vegetarian diets and any diet for that matter as well as with hard training the potential for nutritional deficiencies increase’s dramatically. Nutritional gaps not only affect your performance but also your size and strength. Sometimes these nutritional deficiencies also impact how other supplements may work or not work in your system. If you are a good Personal Trainer, Coach or even if your just competing on your own you should know that a superior multivitamin is the first and main addition to any training regiment. Universal ANIMAL Pak is my Number #1 choice for any vitamin and mineral pack:why? “Well, let’s see for 17 straight years Animal Pak is the #1 selling training pack in the world. Only Animal Pak has everything you need. Yes, that’s right, Animal Pak though is a lot of pills to take every day, week after week, if it wasn’t for Animal Pak our training performance would be slow at best and my recover would be minimal to non-existent.
Universal Liver Pill’s are another staple to any hard-core training and nutritional regiment the Universal Liver Pills come in 250 and 500 count: Liver pills are high in B-vitamin’s and are great to help beat down cortisol build up and they also keep me hard and strong. Many bodybuilders of the past, especially in the early 70’s and 80’s taking 20-30 liver pills a day was not an uncommon practice. The next most important supplement to add to your training is a good amino acid. Beverly International MASS amino acid pills are in my personal opinion the best on the market. Most of the time we do not get all our amino’s in each meal, so to help this and to get full saturation into the lymph one must take a good amino acid profile with each meal. We both take 4 Beverly International Mass pills with each meal.
MUSCLETECH:at fist we were both seriously skeptic about this product line and manufacturer. But, since one of our friends, IFBB Pro Jeramy Freeman has been with MuscleTech for several years we asked him his opinion and then thought maybe we should give them a try, so we tried the following stack of Gakic (powder), Creakic, and Leukic and it worked pretty well. One of each was for a good supply for one month. Give it a try and watch some muscle explosion and some moderate strength gains.
Now remember there are two kinds of people the workout. Real hard-core and wanna be individuals who talk the talk and complain about this and that. Shut up and walked the walk and act like an adult not a winning baby. If you’re not 100% hard core, get the F$%& out now! Every Universal Animal ad has something to this hard-core mantra. There is no room for you in our domain. Only a handful can be in our world. So, if you’re serious about bodybuilding or your own version of hard-core training then you have to understand that training, supplementation and eating is a way of life, a philosophy, a do or die attitude that focuses on everything in your world. We all want to grow. For us, it’s all about nutrition, supplementation and heavy training. Nutrition is the only tool that can compensate for the abuse we put our bodies through. Here is one simple way to help maximize your training:Protein and more protein. Protein overloading is the key to the next mutation. Take 1.2 or as high as 1.5 g per pound of bodyweight so for a 200-pounder size Large you need 300 grams of protein to become XXL!
To aid in the absorption of protein uptake and assimilation take a good amino acid and lots of “Glutamine for muscle assimilation. Also, up your caloric intake on a weekly basis. Do not ease up on cardio. Some say to back off on cardio when bulking or trying to gain weight and size, I do not. Maintain at least 20 minutes every day or at least 3 times a week.
What about Weight Gain Formulas? Weight gain powders will always have their place in the bodybuilding market. I do not mean the ridiculously high calorie crash weight gain formulas full of simple carbohydrate and fats; but the moderately high calorie, high protein formulas such as N-Large and Pro-Mass. Typically these are 600 kcal, 50g protein per serving, and can be mixed with water or skimmed milk. Weight gain formulas are not necessary for every bodybuilder, but very useful for the skinny newcomer who struggles to eat enough food to put on quality weight. These are also useful for the off-season more-advanced bodybuilder with a fast metabolism and busy lifestyle to add a few more quality calories.
If you are looking for a MRP’s the best MHP Up Your Mass! And also either Dorian Yates ProPeptide MBF and any of the great flavors of Lebrada MRP’s. So, if you need a change from MetRx and EAS, then you are ready for the above products for max nutrient delivery.
The following supplements are special, but if you haven’t trained on any of them or a combination of them yet, then start. Cytodyne Technologies main Cytodyne product is the Bomb! Also try the new line of Muscle Tech. Though I used to believe that MuscleTech products are crap, I will give Acetobolane II by (MuscleTech) a thumbs up. Acetobolone and Acetobolone II are both a step down from Cytodyne but cycle it for 8 weeks and it does give a nice kick to the training and strength gains.
And then of course, high doses of Glutamine. I prefer my Glutamine by ALLMAX.
Some of my liked supplements you cannot get in the USA and one is not manufactured any longer. What are they? Well, if you must know and if you can afford the overseas shipping then go to MUSASHI their out of Australia and Team Biohazard from the UK. That’s the United Kingdom for those that are geographically illiterate. Musashi products are pure Amino Acid’s in powder form and are very expensive and probably the best supplements I have ever used and or taken. Some of there stuff is, well, let’s just say, if you can get past the taste of swallowing shredded Styrofoam you will make huge gains off their Amino’s. Now Team Biohazard UK and their Raverger 5, Beef flavored Glutamine (yep, beef flavored) and Amino caps are top grade European supplements that deliver max results.
Non-manufactured: Do you remember “Ultimate Orange? GREAT stuff, discontinued, and though I’ve tried similar products that’s just it, they were similar, not the same. Ultimate Orange ROCKS! Here are some of my favorite lines of fat burners, first is RAZOR 8 by Allmax, easy on the stomach and works especially well with intense training. Then IDS Sports “Kranker.
Some of you out there cannot afford to get all your supplements month after month so my advice is this, save your money and do it ALL OUT for one Month. Yep, get all your supplements for one month so to saturate your system. Remember to go all out hard core balls to the walls training during this month too. Do your supplements, nutrition and training right for one month and watch the thing in the mirror change. Bodybuilding.com has everything your body needs for size, strength, and building lean muscles but make a change and try these products combined with your “intense training it’s plain English, your body will change!
Till next year, get big, stay big and always remember to stay hard-core!
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