Supplements?

[Shamu]

Hi all, bit of advice really.

Basically, i have just got into going to the gym, working out etc, have been for justover a month now, usually 3 times a week.
However, i had my Bmi done at said gym, and it came back at 17.9, which is pretty low.
A gym instructor friend suggested the use of some weight gaining supplements, in order to help gain weight but at the same time help with strength/muscle gain.

The particular one he recommended was maximuscle-progain? Which i believe is basically a protein shake with some 'good'?! calories, for addde weight gain.

Just wondered if anyone else takes anything similar and could suggest some advice?

Muchos Gracias

[Rico]

Maximuscle is 'ok', but it tastes and mixes badly compared to some alternatives.

PhD are much better in my opinion. www.phd-supplements.com Synergy is a good all rounder, but you'd probably be best with Pharma Whey.

Buy from www.monstersupplements.com as its a lot cheaper than going direct.

However, supplements are just that. They supplement your diet, so you need you make sure your diet is very good. Lots of articles on Monster Supplements have some good articles. Read Muscle and Fitness magazine and online for good advice too.

[Wildfire]

Ture some of the Maxi muscle shakes taste less than brilliant, but they are good.

I realised recently that whilst I trained ok, I was very defficiant in protein due to food allergies and such like. I tried Promax then Cyclone and found them very good. I go with maxi muscles as I have alactose allergy and Maximuscle is almost lactose free.

But as said before, they are supplements, so you should try and eat healthily as well and do the correct training.

Don't forget that bulking up is not all of it, try and keep felxible whilst doing it.

My BMI isaround 24, which puts me 1 point off obese, but I don't think I'm anywhere near obese. Look at your body shape and what you do on a daily basis.

Pharma Whey looks good. I'll have a deeper look and maybe try that when I'm out of Maxi Muscle.

[FoolOnTheHill]

I've used a fair bit of protein supplements in my 21 years of weightlifting.

IMO:

cheap protein powders are just that - cheap, and they give you the sts.

maximuscle is good, but bloody expensive.

I'm using scimx at the moment, mid-range in price and it doesn't give me the sts. So that's nice.

I firmly believe protein powders have their place - you DO need extra protein to increase muscle mass, and having a protein shake or two a day is a lot easier than eating several kilograms of chicken.

[pokethepope]

I use CNP Pro mass. Doesn't give you wind or the sts, one of the cheapest available, very drinkable (in banana flavour at least). Havn't tried any others, but researched a bit on the net, and it seems a lot of people like CNP, and as i said, its one of the cheapest.

[Mclovin]

your all wrong....boditronics express whey in coconut or black cherry or raspberry ripple, absolutely delicious and good value....expensive cnp propep if you want quality though...hemp protein if you dont want a pizza face from having daily cheese whey.....

[FoolOnTheHill]

Mclovin said:

your all wrong....boditronics express whey in coconut or black cherry or raspberry ripple, absolutely delicious and good value....expensive cnp propep if you want quality though...hemp protein if you dont want a pizza face from having daily cheese whey.....

Being over the age of 16 I tend not to get acne any longer.

[captainzep]

Wildfire said:

My BMI is around 24, which puts me 1 point off obese, but I don't think I'm anywhere near obese.

You're not.

>25 =Overweight
>30 =Obese

But given the fact that you've probaly got a fair amount of muscle (judging by your post) you could score as 'overweight' and still have very low risk of the bad stuff associated with excess weight.

[FoolOnTheHill]

The BMI is bks. Anyone with any extra muscle weight is classed as overweight.

Get a proper body fat measure if you're really that bothered.

Or just go with how tight your trousers are.

[Shamu]

Ok well, i went for the Maximuscle Progain (vanilla) and its alrite, bit sweet though. Price is pretty mental, and judging by the size of the scoops it wont last too long! Il try it out and maybe go for one of those middle gorund cheaper options when it runs out.

Also, any oppinions on wether its better to take something thats purely for muscle building, or with weight gain aswell, like progain?

[Wildfire]

It all depends on how you're working out. To put on maximum muscle, you want to be doing low reps heavy weights. Toning up hi reps light weights. I tend to try and aim for 3 sets of 10 on most things and move around this depending on what I want to do. I don't want to get too big really. I used Cyclone and now promax. Protein drinks are expensive, but with a regulated diet it's still a hell of a lot less effort and cheaper than buying and cooking loads of chicken.

Whatever you do, don't forget to stretch out after, or you'll end up really tight. I have a PT session every other week to help me with assisted stretching so I remain flexible.

[pokethepope]

Shamu said:

Ok well, i went for the Maximuscle Progain (vanilla) and its alrite, bit sweet though. Price is pretty mental, and judging by the size of the scoops it wont last too long! Il try it out and maybe go for one of those middle gorund cheaper options when it runs out.

Also, any oppinions on wether its better to take something thats purely for muscle building, or with weight gain aswell, like progain?

Obvious, but depends if you want to build muscle, or build muscle and bulk up as well . I'm skinny, so i take CNP pro mass, it gives me the protein and the carbs I need to put on weight. I have a very fast metabolism, hence the skinnyness, so need a high calory intake to put any weight on.

I dont know how you take the Maximuscle stuff, but if you take milk with the CNP stuff as oppposed to water, you only need half the powder for each serving.

[Shamu]

pokethepope said:

Shamu said:

Ok well, i went for the Maximuscle Progain (vanilla) and its alrite, bit sweet though. Price is pretty mental, and judging by the size of the scoops it wont last too long! Il try it out and maybe go for one of those middle gorund cheaper options when it runs out.

Also, any oppinions on wether its better to take something thats purely for muscle building, or with weight gain aswell, like progain?

Obvious, but depends if you want to build muscle, or build muscle and bulk up as well . I'm skinny, so i take CNP pro mass, it gives me the protein and the carbs I need to put on weight. I have a very fast metabolism, hence the skinnyness, so need a high calory intake to put any weight on.

I dont know how you take the Maximuscle stuff, but if you take milk with the CNP stuff as oppposed to water, you only need half the powder for each serving.

Ah yeh, think im kind of the same re the metabolism. Well it says with water, but that taking it with milk and using half the mix sounds good, im sure it would taste better, should make it last twice as long too! Think it matters too much wether you use full-fat or skimmed??

[Wildfire]

Shamu said:

Ok well, i went for the Maximuscle Progain (vanilla) and its alrite, bit sweet though. Price is pretty mental, and judging by the size of the scoops it wont last too long! Il try it out and maybe go for one of those middle gorund cheaper options when it runs out.
?

I don't do the whole "take it every 2 hours", or it would cost me a fortune in Maximuscle. I got good results taking it once as a mid morning snack on rest days and twice on training days. I did cut down the fat in my diet quite a lot.

I would go with skimmed milk TBH.

I use maximuscle because I have a milk and egg allergy and Maximuscle has almost 0 lactose content and no egg content.

[pokethepope]

Shamu said:

pokethepope said:

Shamu said:

Ok well, i went for the Maximuscle Progain (vanilla) and its alrite, bit sweet though. Price is pretty mental, and judging by the size of the scoops it wont last too long! Il try it out and maybe go for one of those middle gorund cheaper options when it runs out.

Also, any oppinions on wether its better to take something thats purely for muscle building, or with weight gain aswell, like progain?

Obvious, but depends if you want to build muscle, or build muscle and bulk up as well . I'm skinny, so i take CNP pro mass, it gives me the protein and the carbs I need to put on weight. I have a very fast metabolism, hence the skinnyness, so need a high calory intake to put any weight on.

I dont know how you take the Maximuscle stuff, but if you take milk with the CNP stuff as oppposed to water, you only need half the powder for each serving.

Ah yeh, think im kind of the same re the metabolism. Well it says with water, but that taking it with milk and using half the mix sounds good, im sure it would taste better, should make it last twice as long too! Think it matters too much wether you use full-fat or skimmed??

It says on the side of the box i've got use skimmed milk, giving you 391 kcal and 36.2g of protein per serving.

[RJB_666]

I've used maxi muscle but it tastes awfull. But to be fair after i stopped using protein shakes and changed my diet quite a lot. Seems to have worked well but now looking for a bit more help just before summer really starts. There is a place on the same trading estate where i work called zipvit they have BOGOF on protein at the moment and i've tasted some of there other stuff just not sure if it's any good.

Another company i've heard of is reflex. Been meaning to try there stuff for a good while. They use better creatine but i don't know anyone personally that has tried it. Well i barely know anyone thats tried anything legal Like i say i've just been on a healthy(ish) diet for a while.

[Rico]

RJB_666 said:

Another company i've heard of is reflex.

I've got a tub each of Peptide Fusion (protein) and Casein Protein. It definitely doesn't taste as nice as PhD Synergy but I think Reflex is a very good company.

Once my current tub of Synergy is finished, I'll move over to Peptide and see how it goes. I like keeping things simple so like the 'all in ones' like Peptide/Synergy etc. Casein will be before sleep as its slow release.

Diet is crucial though. I've wasted money in the past on protein with a crap diet and you hardly get any gains. Get the diet nailed, then the extra 70ish grams of protein a day from the shakes will help.

[RJB_666]

Just been recommend Dorian Yates lean gain. Has anyone tried this? I've heard that it tastes good and doesn't cause you to feel bloated and doesn't cause you to put on fat like other supplements. Seems a decent price as well.