Are supplements necessary? Maybe and maybe not. For those of you who have been following my round by round “goals”, you may remember that round 5 — which I’m currently finishing up — was a 4 month hybrid in which I used very minimal supplements. I wanted to evaluate a plausible long-term maintenance approach to see if I would be able to stay strong, keep the body fat low, and stay the same weight while using only a couple supplements.
My arsenal included only 3 items — whey protein, Shakeology, and Results/Recovery formula. I took no vitamins — Shakeology covers that. I took no creatine or glutamine. I took no pre-workouts (that took a little getting used to LOL).
The reason I chose whey protein is that I make a shake every morning for breakfast (1 scoop Shakeology, 1 scoop whey, and some PB2), and I didn’t want to mess with that perfection. But I only took the 1 scoop of whey per day.
I chose Shakeology as a must because it has it all (vitamins, nutrients, superfoods from around the world, all concentrated into 1 amazing scoop).
I chose Results / Recovery formula because I feel like recharging your body after a workout is critical if you want to keep your body strong, running hard, and repairing itself to stay at peak performance.
What did I learn after 4 months with none of the other “fun” supplements I used to use? My “simple plan” has worked out great. I spent 2 months “maintaining”, using my nutrition to keep my body weight constant. I took in 3,200 cals per day at 30/50/20 (50% carbs) during those 2 months. My body fat stayed around 6% the whole time, and my weight stayed around 212-214.
I spent the third month of round 5 seeing if I could effectively bulk without creatine and PWO’s. I got up to 221 (+6 lbs in a month), but about 2 lbs of that was added body fat. I did gain about 4 lbs of lean muscle though, so I was surprised that I could pull that off without the “muscle building” supplements I had used religiously before. During the month of bulking, I went with 3,800 cals (still at 50% carbs).
I didn’t like being over 220 again though so month 4 was going to be about cutting and shredding up again! I’m still not quite done with this fourth month, but it’s working well. I dropped the cals to 2600 and went with a more balanced / phase 2 approach (40/40/20). As of today, my weight is 218 and my body fat is back in the 6% range.
It’s good to know what my body is capable of long term, without needing to buy too many supplements. I enjoy the benefits of them, but don’t think it’s practical to take a truckload of supplements forever. For getting max results in a short amount of time, like an initial 90 or 180 days, I think using supplements makes a lot of sense. But then we need to transition into more long-term thinking about how to best care for our bodies.
So back to the question, are supplements necessary to get great results? NO!! Here’s the truth = You can still get great results with P90X or Insanity, even if you don’t supplement AT ALL. However, I believe it’s harder and will take longer to get those great results. Why? Because if you are leaving holes in your nutrition, and taking longer to replenish the building blocks of your recovery and repair, you are slowing your results. And if you aren’t giving your muscles the fuel they need to repair and grow at their full potential, they won’t grow at their full potential. That’s just the facts. Do you need a ton of supplements to achieve this? NO!! I just proved that I can do it with just 3 — whey protein, Shakeology, and Results/Recovery formula. And I really could have given up the whey if I didn’t mind changing my shake recipe LOL!
So, if you can’t afford the supplements, should you just throw up your hands and quit? Of course not! But if you can afford a few key supplements that will most positively affect your body’s ability to run at maximum potential, consider adding them.
What do some of the experts have to say about supplements?
Steve Edwards, a consultant for Beachbody, has addressed supplements and supplementation strategies several times. He sums it up well:
“Using proper supplementation strategy can help us live healthier and perform better, especially when we train hard and even more importantly when we’re dieting and exercising.
I break my supplements into basics and situational. Basic supplements are things I take pretty much all the time. Situational are those I use depending on what I’m doing. Let’s look at these first. In the same way that your diet should reflect what you are doing, so should the supplements you take.
For example, two of the most proven supplements in history are creatine monohydrate and 4 parts carb to one part protein recovery formulations. Neither are daily tonics. They are for given situations. Creatine is useful when you’re training hard and trying to build muscle or anaerobic strength. If those are not your goals it’s not only a waste but can interfere with your diet by encouraging your body to retain water to increase cell volume. Recovery formulations are only for when your glycogen stores are extinguished which takes hard exercise or starvation. No one eating well and exercising 30 minutes a day or less would ever need a recovery formulation. In fact, it would be terrible for you. However, when your training hard, eating lean, and using up your body’s limited glycogen stores the stuff is more valuable than gold.
Basics are things you should take everyday, like food. Since it came out Shakeology is on the top of my list. It’s like a healthy insurance policy in a glass.”
I hope this helps answer some of your questions about supplementation so that you can make a wise decision based on your own goals and your own budget.
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
