Until I was in high school, I couldn’t swallow a pill.
My dad once threw a pill down my throat. Seriously.
Today I take a massive line up of vitamins and supplements… and I still have to think about it before I swallow them. My method now is to put water in my mouth first so that the pill sort of floats. That way I can trick myself into thinking I’m just swallowing water.
But this post isn’t about working around your gag reflex. It’s about one of the most-asked questions I get: What supplements do you/should I take? Work It Out with supplements!
This post is JUST about non-vitamin supplements. I also take my vitamins, but I think that’s less interesting. Let me know if I’m wrong.
I believe that supplementation plays in important role in athletes/health enthusiasts. The questions I get surround what supplements one can take to help maintain energy, reach fitness goals (i.e. build muscle), and maintain healthier lifestyles. Below is what I’ve learned on my journey as a figure competitor.
NOTE: This is simply what I have learned and experienced through personal research. NOTHING will replace hard work and a good diet.
Each day I take the following supplements:
1. Glutamine
This is part of my morning “cocktail.” I mix a teaspoon with my BCAAs, apple cider vinegar, and 16 oz of water to begin each day.
Why?
Glutamine is an amino acid that is produced in the highest quantity by your body. It is a non-essential amino acid, so it can be produced naturally by the body through other amino acids. Glutamine specifically aids in the development of the glucose that provides the body with energy. It helps maintain muscle mass and aids the recovery from training. Intensive athletic training can deplete glutamine levels when muscles are being worked, so glutamine supplements are effective in replenishing glutamine levels for athletes who train hard.
2. Aminos
Since this pic, I started using Optimum Nutrition’s BCAAs in my morning cocktail. I credit these for eliminating my morning coffee urges. And their orange flavor ROCKS!
Why?
After protein is ingested it breaks down into amino acids. Amino acids are known as the building blocks of proteins and are responsible for the development of your body’s enzymes, including those responsible for digestion. Amino acids also help in the repair and growth of muscles when taken in conjunction with your workout (see BCAAs below for more on that).
3. CLA (with green tea extract)
I also take one of these first thing in the morning, and another mid-afternoon. The directions indicate that you can take up to 4 per day; however, keep in mind that these instructions are often written with the average sized male in mind. A small female probably doesn’t need so much, so I take half.
Why?
CLA stands for conjugated linoleic acid. It is a type of trans fatty acid; however, CLA is not considered a “bad” trans fat. It assists in the metabolism of stored body fat for fuel and preventing the metabolism from slowing down while in the case of decrease calorie intake. Some studies have also found that taking CLA in conjunction with weight training leads to increased lean muscle development. CLA can be obtained through diet; meat and dairy products have the highest concentration of CLA. It has the added benefit of helping to prevent certain cancers and heart disease.
4. BCAAs
I love my Aminos to start the day; however, they do have some unnatural flavors, and it’s not always convenient to take with me to the gym. Instead I take a BCAA pill immediately following a workout, along with 20g of protein in the form of whey protein powder.
Why?
Taken after a workout, Aminos feed and repair muscles. Choosing the right amino acid will depend on your fitness goals. I take BCAAs. BCAAs are metabolized in the muscle, not the liver, like other Amino Acids. They contain isoleucine, leucine, and valine, which are thought to be THE most important amino acids for muscle tissue growth and preservation. The human body can’t manufacture BCAAs on their own, and being active places excess demand on our BCAA needs. This is why supplementing with BCAAs is important.
5. Creatine
Creatine powder can be somewhat controversial. I decided to try it out because I was having trouble gaining. This, combined with some diet adjustments and intensified workouts, has made a HUGE difference for me in the past month. I’m actually visibly GAINING! 🙂
Why?
Creatine is used to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – a molecule responsible for providing energy to your muscles. With more energy, you can train harder, producing greater results. It can also help your body to recover faster so that your next workout is fresher. About 2 grams of natural creatine is produced in your liver, kidneys and pancreas everyday. You also get creatine in your diet via meat or fish (which may make it especially beneficial for non-meat eaters). When taking creatine supplements people will typically report gaining a 2-4 pounds of weight immediately; however, the initial gain is water weight. Subsequent gains are muscle due to the increase in the workload you can handle. It can positively affect your cardiovascular exercise as well. Creatine helps increase the amount of aerobic activity you can do before getting winded, so you will be able to exercise longer and more intensely.
Some studies have found creatine enhanced athletic performance and increased strength. There are reports that creatine has caused dehydration, and in some cases there have been reports of side effects like irregular heartbeat and cramping. As with the benefits, these side effects have not specifically been proven to be a direct result of taking creatine. There are a lot of articles on creatine – both promoting and warning against. I strongly advise you to do your own research before deciding to use creatine.
***Disclaimer: This post contain Amazon affiliate links. If you order through them, I get a teensy kickback… it helps me run the blog, so thank you if you order anything! And I do actually order all of this from Amazon.***
[Tweet “Here’s the low down on the supplements to take to support your workout!”]
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Good news on the lower body/glute front! I put on my jeans today and they were almost uncomfortably tight in the legs. Never thought I’d be so excited about that… 😉
What supplements do you take?
Did anyone try last week’s incline workout for the glutes?
Wow, That is a lot of supplements to be taking. I’m sure as a figure competitor your body has special needs to grow strong, and to assist with muscle development and recovery.
I take nothing except a multivitamin and B-12. Boring!
Boring isn’t bad! I love my B-12. 🙂
Where’s the collagen?
I counted that as a vitamin, which I didn’t cover. It seemed less interesting… but I’m taking it!
I love your Trainer comments 🙂
Haha I love that your trainer checks up on you, just like I do with my clients 😉
I don’t understand the hoop-la around creatine. It’s not a steroid, people!! I don’t consider creatine any more controversial than protein powder.
And I have a pill phobia too. Until I was 20, I had to take the liquid version of painkillers made for children because I just could not swallow pills. To this day I still have to swallow all my pills with food – if I try filling my mouth with only water, it doesn’t work!
LOL! He’s a total stalker. 😉
I don’t get it either! It wasn’t a big deal when I started it – Ididn’t even retainthe water.
Just remember, when you’re taking pills, tilt your head DOWN, not up before you swallow…it opens up your esophagus more making it easier to swallow. And that is your healthcare professional advice for the day! 😉
I worked at GNC for four years and am actually surprised that I found something in your post that I didn’t already know…”Creatine helps increase the amount of aerobic activity you can do before getting winded, so you will be able to exercise longer and more intensely.” <- No clue it helped with anything other than building! That's awesome! Of course, I've known a LOT of people to overuse creatine, so I actually used to steer people away from it when I was selling to them. Overuse can put a lot of excess strain on the kidneys and (in severe cases) cause kidney failure.
Oh, and did you know that along with all the benefits of glutamine powder, that it's also good for memory? I swear it's like the powerhouse of aminos! 😀
Ugh, I miss my Fitmixer!
I do that now, thanks to you! 🙂
Overuse of anything is bad. I hate that people don’t do their own research before trying out these things!
I read that about glutamine. It hasn’t worked yet… maybe I need to over-use that! 😉
Ha! Back when I still worked at GNC (and basically made a guinea pig out of myself trying just about anything in the store) I tried taking the glutamine for memory…only problem…I couldn’t REMEMBER to take it!! Haha!
Wow, I take everything you take except the Fitmixer Aminos. I also take HMB powder, which helps in muscle gains and apparently is especially effective when used in conjunction with Creatine. I feel like the CLA has improved my skin and nails too, but I couldn’t swear to that – I was also eating a lot more protein so it could’ve been that.
I started taking them all when I started P90X as I wanted to build some serious muscle after going a bit flabby from too much cardio and too many carbs. I call them my magic pills because the results were amazing – I <3 them so much! 😀
I’ll have to look into the HMB – that’s a new one to me.
My skin and nails have improved, but I also take collagen, which is supposed to help with that. Maybe it’s both?
Ooooooh the days when I used to take CLA…. haha I think I took two rounds of it in college, but were before spring break (of course). I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you. Perhaps I’ll give aminos a try one of these days.
Aminos are great – if for nothjing else the boost of energy is worth it!
Interesting cocktail of supplements, Laura, as long as it isn’t anabolic steroids, insulin or epo! 😉 Can’t say I take anything here but then again, I am not building for a figure competition like you. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Haha – I like a good cocktail, any way I can get it. 😉
And I never thought I’d be telling someone, “Congrats on the tight jeans!”. 🙂 Interesting post–thanks for explaining all of that. These are the supplements I know the least about!
Ha! Seems weird, right? But thank you!!! 🙂
Great job on the tight jeans! Ow Ow!!!!
Figure competing requires quite the supplement cocktail!
Besides the usual supplements (multivitamins, fish oil and I just started taking probiotics) the only one I take is BCAA’s. Definitely does awesome things for my energy and muscle soreness – plus I love feeling like I’m drinking kool aid before and after workouts.
How are you liking the probiotics? I loved the Good Belly I had for a while. It’s just so expensive!
I’ve only been on them for about a week, but I am starting to see a bit of a difference! My digestion is kind of terrible, but there’s been a bit of an improvement the last couple of days.
Awesome! I hope it keeps working!
I have trouble swallowing pills too. For me, it is actually easier to take them without water. Whenever I try to do it with water, I always just swallow the water and not the pill. For big pills, I stick them in a spoonful of applesauce.
Applesauce… that’s a great idea!!
I’m always curious to know what others take so this is a really helpful list for me. I need to step it up with my daily intake. Thanks!
Glad it helped! Let me know what you find works for you!
Thanks for sharing. I have started trying to add in glutamine – I say trying b/c I don’t take it consistently. I was hoping it would help me out since I’m not supposed to be lifting heavy right now but I am starting to lift again and am trying desperately not to lose all muscle I had built (<—sorry for that rambling sentence). I've never investigated creatine very much, but am definitely intrigued. Especially as I've been learning more in my ISSA training.
I’m so glad this helped. I’d love to know what you end up with!
bahaha, love that last comment. yay for tight jeans! and glutamine is literally a lifesaver! I swear by it. Now, just need to get me some fitmixer. I know i know, i’m so late to the fitmixer party
Whaaat?! Hopefully they’ll be back at Blend this year and you can try them there!
Great post! I never took as much as you do when I was competing but there was less known then… and I was an easy gainer. 🙂
I will say that I have taken this: http://www.aaefx.com/index.php/products#!/~/product/category=2576567&id=10166237 in the powder form & it made a huge difference with no water retention! I did not even follow the directions. Just took the powder in my mouth before I had to the gym & amazing workouts! 🙂
Yahoo for GLUTES!!!!
Thanks so much for passing this along! I am NOT an easy gainer but something clicked with my body recently. It’s exciting!
It is great that you have found things that are working for you, but I just want to caution everyone to be careful with what they’re taking! The reason there is so much controversy around taking supplements (creatine in particular) is that sports supplements are highly unregulated. I have taken many sports supplement courses as a part of my degree, so I have researched extensively on these things. The problem is that many of these supplements contain undeclared ingredients that are illegal. The reason why these ingredients are illegal is because they can cause serious harm to your body. As a matter-of-fact, 86% of products found on Canadian shelves (a majority of which are from American companies) have been found to contain undeclared ingredients. For athletes, this is a huge problem, not only because of the potential health effects, but because if they are found with these substances in their blood stream/urine, they are considered liable and will be banned from competition for anywhere from a year to life. On top of that, many supplements have very inconclusive evidence to support their efficacy. Anyways, I will stop blabbing, but all I can say is CHECK YOUR SUPPLEMENTS! Do some extremely extensive research before you take anything, because even if you don’t experience them now, the health effects of taking some of these substances could be very damaging to you in the future.
That is excatly why I posted cautions. Everyone should do their own research and choose options that are best for their body/goals. Thanks!
Whew, you are serious girl! 😉
Glutamine – is something we take daily. And CLA is something we are considering.
So interesting. i haven’t heard of many of these but learning more about them makes them seem less intimidating.
Thanks, Alex! It can be timeconsuming to research,, but I think it’s so important to understand what you’re taking vs. buying whatever crap the guy at the store needs to seel this month.
OH MY GOSH! I couldn’t swallow pills for the longest time either! I still get anxiety about anything bigger than an advil. And I do the SAME thing with water. You’re making me feel more sane.
Congrats on your tight jeans!!! LOL!
I do too! I have returned pills to the store because they are too big!
Interesting. I always go back and forth between supplements and not taking them. Right now I’m just sticking with a a plant based protein powder and multi vitamin. Always good to hear what works for other people.
Those are great basics! I always have mine too. 🙂
This post is marked as a fave.. Thanks for explaining everything. I may need to try some Aminos.. I like how they help with muscle recovery.. plus, it doesn’t hurt that it tastes like Kool-aid! 🙂
Haley, thank you!!! Please let me know how you like them. I also take magnesium at night, whcih helps with muscle recovery.
I’m intrigued by the fitmixer aminos, but have yet to try them. I think I need to give them a go. I do use a protein powder with BCAA, but that’s pretty much it for me as far as supplements for exercise go.
I really like them – especially with my ACV. Let me know what you think!
Do you have any supplement recommendations for a dude just starting out in his muscle building journey. As in, I am not out to be a body builder, just to change fat to muscle. I am 30.9% body fat as of today and it is driving me nuts!
I wouldn’t go overboard – most of it starting out is diet. If you want to start with something I’d do the CLAs and Aminos.
I am bad about taking supplements. I just made my bi-monthly Vitacost order of vitamins, but I’ve been curious about different supplements so thanks for the breakdown.
This is fabulous! I am often so confused about why certain supplements (and certain acronyms ;)) are so important.
Do you have any idea how much BCAA we should be consuming, say, after a run? I know running probably isn’t tearing up my muscles as much as what YOU do, but I have been curious about whether or not 1/2 a scoop of fitmixer is really helping all that much.
I would just do one serving per day. I know you think it’s sweet… maybe half in the AM and half after a run? I don’t think you can have “too much.” Aminos are pretty harmless.
I gag on pills often, and I can never take anything super large. I just have to put the pill in the back of my throat, take a swig of water, and throw my head back (so that the pill has no option but to go down).
Thank you for a peek at your supplements and the rationale behind each. I don’t do nearly the work you do in the gym and at the moment think that, probably, my diet takes care of all of this…but who do you ask to make sure?
Congrats on gaining (that seems like a weird thing to say to someone) and yeah for tight jeans (means it is an excuse to go buy new clothes).
I think the best thing to do is read a lot and make a decision based on your needs. Is there something you think you need to improve? Or, if you feel fantastic and are happy with your performance level, you may not need to do anything! 🙂
OMG! The comment about throwing pills down your throat hits soooo close to home! When I was little I would always see my mom choking down 2394738743 horse pills at a time and I always wanted to be like her! I remember when I finally learned how to take pills, I kept asking her for more vitamins so I could show her that I could swallow them… Well after pill 50, I definitely threw up all over the floor, AHHH HA HA HA! I totally remember that – what a waste of money! LOL!!! But this did not turn me off from vitamins as I am still extremely obsessed with my supplements! 🙂 I take TONS – but I definitely recommend Vitamin D, Resvertrol & Quercetin to EVERYONE! 🙂 Oh and of course PRO BIOTICS & Digestive Enzymes!!
You took 50 viitamins?! Good thing you threw them up… can you get vitamin poisoning? LOL!
I don’t know anything about Quercetin… must check that out!
What a dangerous waste of money. None of these supplements are tested or in any way proven to have ANY of these effects. You’re just promoting whatever the company has written on the bottle and that is all. Taking supplements is risky and shouldn’t be promoted as safe and responsible behavior to your readers. Just because something hasn’t been proven to be UNSAFE doesn’t mean that it IS safe. Honestly, I don’t even take multivitamins anymore because there is zero control over what goes into them! Studies have been done showing that a supplement can say it contains xx% of a vitamin/substance, but actually contains zero or 100 times the “safe” dose! It’s a horrible industry that is causing health problems and we should not be supporting these companies.
I’m a medical student, so I do have some idea what I’m talking about. There are pending lawsuits against a number of supplement companies. I realize you recommended doing research before using creatine, which is great, but what about everything else? A number of companies adding “green tea extract” to things are being sued because LEAD was found in the green tea supplements! And all of those green tea products are still on shelves; it could very well include whatever you’re taking. Is it really worth risking your health to have large muscles? How ridiculous.
In any case, even if these have ZERO bad effects (incredibly unlikely), for most of these products you’re just going to pee out most of it. Making it, in a best case scenario, an incredible waste of money.
This is not just what I *believe,* it is the truth if you do enough actual research. A doctor would never touch any of this junk. Live your life however you want to, but it kills me that some people will go out and buy these unsafe products after reading this.
As Laura’s trainer, I understand your concerns. You are however not the foremost authority on this subject. I currently train a neurosurgeon who takes supplements and she has cited numerous beneficial cause and affects of taking them. I will say everyone is different and what may work for one may not work for another. Also, the brands that Laura displayed are very reputable brands that do extensive research to make sure their products are safe. That being said, everyone should do their own research and make their own independent, informed decision. BTW, we’re not doing steroids, we have great muscular development, not large muscles.
Fish oil.. nothing fancy, just plain old finding nemo fish oil.
Haha – I love Nemo.
Interesting, you just taught me a lot!
I still have a hard time swallowing pills too. Sometimes it can take 3 tries before I can actually get it down.
Thanks! I geek out on this stuff. 🙂
It’s like peeking into your pantry – I love this post! The only supplements I take are fitmixers, unless you count vitamins – I wonder if they do count? I haven’t really looked into supplements in the past, maybe when I decide to get ripped like you it’s something I’ll look into. 🙂
You assume I’m neat enough to store all this in a pantry… LOL! 🙂
Kind of strange, but I have like no gag reflex. (Which is kind of good, considering I’m like Jerry Seinfeld when it comes to throwing up). I can, not even exaggerating swallow at least 7 big pills at a time. I do the floating trick , too, though. I also still hate taking pills because a tiny part of me is afraid I’m going to choke. Yay for TMI!
I’ve been taking this week off from the gym, but I’m still walking and doing light exercise like dance. I’ve been doing treadmill incline walking like this though and hopefully it helps keep my booty growth from deflating. 😉
Really?! I’m kind of jealous. When I puke it’s like the end of the world. TMI? 😉
I’ve always prided myself on my ability to swallow any pill dry, even the huge-ass ones. It’s the little things in life.
I love this post. I want to try CLA. I don’t eat much animal and most of my fat comes from nuts, so it might be a good idea for me.
Also, where the hell did you get that because I can’t find it.
Really? It’s easy to find – I got it at my local nutrition store, but I’ve even seen it in Target!
aha! i didn’t think of target.
you forget that I live in Iowa. Where we have no fancy “local nutrition stores” that you speak of. 🙂
If you had to recommend one thing for pre-workout energy, what would it be? 🙂
Oh gosh… either a CLA with some caffine, or good old-fashioned coffee.
Hi Laura, I just found this post and I love it. I have been using creatine for about 6 weeks and I love how much stronger I feel. I am curious about the dietary changes you made and if you could share those with me.
Thank you!!! 🙂
Cassi
Hey! Thank you so much! my diet is a non-diet right now. Haha! Before my last competition I had just been experimenting with higher fat vs. carbs. I leanred I need a good balance and – as always – a tone of protein. 🙂
Awesome information! Thanks for sharing. I was just curious if you take 1 or 2 BCAA pills post workout. It says 4 but I assume that’s for a much larger male. Any recommendations?
I take 2, but I also have my Aminos in the morning too.