Things to Consider Before Purchasing “Supps”

Pre-Supped

So you have been working out hard and you figured it’s time to buy some supps.  Or you are just about to start training and you thought “hey! I might as well go all out if I’m gonna do this”.  So now what?  You’re buddy says to buy some creatine and mentions a popular pre-workout drink, but is that worth the $70 they charge in the store? Well, maybe or maybe not.  In this article I’ll give you some things to consider before buying supplements with your hard earned money and touch on what they actually do and if it helps your performance.

So Many Choices!

            All these supplements and so little cash! Or if you do have the cash, you’re probably wondering what the hell is the difference?! The most can get pretty complicated.  If you read the labels of most supplements and compare them to another company’s similar product you’ll see up to 30 ingredients in these supplements. It can be confusing and most of the stuff you can’t even pronounce.  We’re going to ignore those complicated supplements and focus on two basic components in today’s supplement world.  In this article I am not going to compare and contrast different supplements that companies put together, but I will be explaining the two most basic supplements and why they could or could not be useful if you decide to go that route. 

Creatine Background

            If you look at most supplement labels creatine is in almost everything!  Now there’s a couple of reasons; 1) creatine has some beneficial effects on the body and definitely deserves credit for actually doing what they market it for.  That brings me to number 2) which is they jack up the price because creatine is in the product and there is always a “new and improved” creatine.  3) Creatine is fairly cheap so most of that price jack goes directly into their pockets.  Now does that mean a product is useless or not worth it? Not necessarily, but you should definitely pay attention to 4) dosages (which is why I am here).  So what is creatine? Well, creatine is found in the body as a compound called phospho creatine or PCr.  To survive our body breaks down a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP= 1 Adenosine group and 3 phosphate groups) for energy.  Picture ATP as a 3 compound structure connected together. Or you could think of 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches connected together by a string (these are the 3 phosphate groups).  Got it?  Ok now picture that you just ate a sandwich.  That sandwich is going to give you energy right?  But now you only have 2 sandwiches left or what is called Adenosine DIphosphate (ADP) (Di=2).  Well, let’s say you’re really hungry so you eat another one and now there’s only one left or adenosine MONOphosphate (AMP) (mono=1).    That’s what your body goes through when it needs energy.  The more it needs energy (exercise) the faster ATP gets broken down, but it can’t “eat that last PB&J” because it’s more difficult to breakdown so when we exercise heavily we have extra AMP molecules “floating” around.  So how do these two relate (PCr and ATP)?  As our ATP breaks down during exercise (we eat our PB&J’s) our body breaks down PCr also.  Why does our body break down PCr if we need more ATP?? Remember what PCr and ATP stand for (PHOSPHOcreatine and adenosine triPHOSPHATE).  Notice the phosphate similarity?  When our bodies break down the PCr, that phosphorous compound gets attached back to our “floating” AMP and ADP molecules, thus creating more ATP molecules that we could use for energy or more PB&J’s for us to eat.  That extra energy can relate to another rep in the gym, an extra five pounds on your squat in a workout or a few extra meters in that sprint (hopefully you’re not still jogging).  If you add up all those extra reps or all that weight when combined over time can add to some quality muscle gains.

Creatine supplementing

              One thing to consider is timing for the creatine.  It may be beneficial to take it after a workout compared to before a workout, which seems counterintuitive because it deals with energy, but one study looked at body composition and strength with post workout creatine consumption.  The study showed that when ingested post workout (5 grams), that group had positive changes in body composition and strength.  While, both groups did show increased fat free mass, decreased fat mass and increased 1 rep max for bench press, the post workout group had more significant improvements.  Does that mean taking creatine after your workout is better than before? Not necessarily, but it may be something worth trying.  Another factor is dosing creatine.  Now, you don’t want to start ingesting 50 grams the first day (probably 50 grams is too much for anyone), but finding a nice starting point is helpful.  Just like most supplements/drugs we start to grow accustomed to it.  Cycling your supplements should probably be considered because the long lasting effects of most supplements are not tested, although creatine has been pretty well studied over the years.  It is just safe practice to start small, research daily dosing techniques and take a break from it every once in a while.  Even ingesting large amounts of protein for long periods of time has seen a blunting effect in the body.   Be informed and make smart decisions!

Other Possible Benefits – Anti-Oxidant

            As I stated earlier creatine is one of the most studied supplements out there.  Researchers have been studying other benefits of creatine in recent years and I’ll touch on that somewhat here.  Creatine to most people has been mostly about gaining muscle size and/or strength.  One study I found, however, actually looks at creatine as an anti-oxidant and could possibly be used in cell health.  If you don’t already know, anti-oxidants help clear free radicals from your body.  Free radicals are essentially molecules that are lacking an electron from their structure and cause what is called oxidative stress.  These free radicals then take electrons from other molecules in our body, harming our cell structure.  For the study subjects were given creatine for 8 weeks (dosages of 0.05 g per kg) and then blood samples were drawn to look for oxidative stress markers.   Essentially the study showed that the group that was ingesting creatine had lower oxidative stress markers pointing towards increased anti-oxidant effect.  I’ll let you know that this study was done in rats so it may not transfer over to humans and this was one of the first studies using animals so it is still being researched.  It’s an interesting area, but like I said it is still being tested in animals.  Don’t go taking crazy amounts of creatine because you think it’s going to clear all your free-radicals.

Other Possible Benefits – Myostatin levels

           

            Myostatin in the body inhibits muscle growth.  Meaning that the more myostatin you have, the less muscle mass you’ll be able to build.  The body is full of checks and balances and researchers have been looking at what other effects creatine may have.   While creatine has shown to affect certain proteins in the body, myostatin has been an interesting find also.  Now there is research that states the upregulation of certain binding proteins involved with a decrease in myostatin (this is good) and thus pointing to an increase in muscle mass overtime.  Again, this is a new area, but is still an interesting topic.  Some of these recent findings might help find the correct dosages and benefits/risks that we don’t know today. 

Overall

           

            When all is said and done it is your responsibility to decide whether purchasing creatine is right for you, but I hope that with a little extra research and you properly weigh the risk to benefit ratio that you’ll be happy with whatever you choose.

BCAA’S – A Brief History

            BCAA stands for branched chain amino acids.   I’m sure this isn’t news to some of you, but just in case there’s the info.  BCAA’s are made up of Valine, Isoleucine and leucine.  These proteins are involved in a number of processes, but for what we’re talking about here we will focus on the main points such as protein synthesis (leucine), energy usage (isoleucine) and proteinogenic or protein building (valine).  These three amino acids (AA) are not the end all be all of AA, but they are important because we cannot synthesize or make them in our own body.  We must ingest these proteins making supplementation a go to move for most people.  Along with the three AA I mentioned there are also 6 other AA for a total of 9 AA that we cannot synthesize and thus are called “essential” AA.  BCAA’s have mostly been pushed as a way to recover and help build new tissue, but it wasn’t until recently that the mechanisms behind the supplements became clear.  And also how they affect situations differently than first thought.

BCAA’S – What They’ve Been Shown To Do

            When we exercise our bodies increase protein synthesis to help repair our muscle tissue, but what also happens is that our muscles get broken down from the exercise leaving us with a build/breakdown ratio.  This ratio would benefit us better if it were more build than breakdown right?  This is where AA’s come in.   AA’s have been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis for some time now by lowering the breakdown of proteins in the body leaving us with a more positive protein synthasis process.  Essential AA’s have been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis more than a mixture of different AA’s.  So what does that mean?  Basically, drinking AA’s helped keep muscle and help the processes that build muscle!  There is various research as to when it is most beneficial to supplement them, but most studies use them either pre/post workout, although some research suggests that drinking AA as you workout could keep protein synthesis humming, however, that is for a different article.

BCAA’s – Other Areas - Hormones

            We have discussed how BCAA’s can help with protein synthesis, but what about hormone support?  While, simply taking BCAA’s may not inherently increase your testosterone levels, it may help support healthy levels when hard training takes place.  When we exercise our body releases cortisol, which is a steroid hormone in the body that aids protein metabolism and in various other processes, but for this article we will focus on the muscle breakdown.  The more cortisol you have for a prolonged period of time, essentially the more muscle mass that is being wasted.  When taking BCAA’s, they can help keep cortisol release lower and help keep testosterone increased during strenuous activity.  This anecdotally points to more muscle mass kept in the body then broken down, again pointing to greater mass gains. 

Summary

           

            As I’ve stated many times before, it is up to you to go out and start exercising.  These articles are simple tools that you can use to make more informed decisions and aid your fitness journey no matter what your goals.  Just remember to always be informed, work hard and keep progressing!

           

Sources

Strength Training and Supps

1) Stefani, Giuseppe, Ramiro Nunes, André Dornelles, Jadson Alves, Marcella Piva, Marlise Domenico, Cláudia Rhoden, and Pedro Lago. "Effects of Creatine Supplementation Associated with Resistance Training on Oxidative Stress in Different Tissues of Rats." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 11.1 (2014): 11. Web.

2)  Antonio, Jose, and Victoria Ciccone. "The Effects of Pre versus Post Workout Supplementation of Creatine Monohydrate on Body Composition and Strength." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 10.1 (2013): 36. Web.

3)  Saremi, A., R. Gharakhanloo, S. Sharghi, M.r. Gharaati, B. Larijani, and K. Omidfar. "Effects of Oral Creatine and Resistance Training on Serum Myostatin and GASP-1." Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 317.1-2 (2010): 25-30. Web.

4)Tipton, Kein D., Arny A. Ferrando, Stuart M. Phillips, David Doyle, JR., and Robert R. Wolfe. "Postexercise Net Protein Synthesis in Human Muscle from Orally Administered Amino Acids." The American Physiological Society (1999): 628-34. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.

5)Sharp, Carwyn P M, and David R. Pearson. "Amino Acid Supplements and Recovery from High-Intensity Resistance Training." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24.4 (2010): 1125-130. Web.