The Adonis Supplement Guide

I’m sure you’ve seen countless supplement advertisements. Fat burning pills, muscles burners, testosterone enhancers, the list goes on. Some of them don’t really do much (if anything), but some can play an important part of a good health and fitness regimen. I’m going to break them up into various categories and tell you what type of supplements I feel are worthy of use and some of my personal favorites.

GENERAL HEALTH

Multivitamins – Have you ever tried to figure out if you are getting the RDA of every vitamin and mineral? You’ll undoubtedly find you aren’t, you might even be seriously lacking in some areas. Eating a perfectly balanced diet on a consistent basis is extremely difficult. That’s where a multivitamin comes in. I should emphasize that you want a high-quality multivitamin. Getting some Centrum or whatever is the cheapest isn’t going to be of much help to you. They are very poorly digested and the forms of the vitamins they use aren’t the best and can sometimes even be detrimental. A lot of lifters swear by products such as Orange Triad by Controlled Labs (which I have used and love) or Animal Pak. Those are a bit expensive and perhaps more than you need. A more affordable quality option may be Source Naturals Life Force Multiple or NOW Adam. Even so, still make sure to get your fruits and vegetables.

Fish Oil – Open up google. Now search for any disease you want and add fish oil at the end. I guarantee you will find a study that says fish oil shows some kind of benefit. This stuff is tremendous for your overall health, and can even provide acute benefits such as skin improvement and pain relief for those ever-aching joints. Eating fish helps, but supplementing ensures you get enough of the good stuff without the mercury. No particular brands needed here, just get them. Try to stick to reputable brands like NOW Foods who have excellent records when it comes to product testing so you don't turn into a human thermometer (mercury...what a shame what we have done to the oceans). Carlson makes a Lemon flavored liquid fish oil for those who don’t want to take pills. Just don’t take an unflavored liquid version! I'd recommend at least 1 g combined EPA/DHA daily (at least 4 pills).

Joint Supplements – You might find once get some joint soreness/stiffness as you start lifting heavily. Or maybe you have some nagging pains. Either way, joint meds give big benefits. Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM are standbys that are highly recommended (btw, they are included in the aforementioned Orange Triad multivitamin!) In addition, an herbal supplement called Cissus has shown tremendous effects in studies as well as in my own personal experience. Look for a product called Super Cissus RX by USPLabs which you can find at Vitamin Shoppe/GNC or cheaper online. It can be a bit mix and match here as what works for some may not work for others.

Protein Powder – HUGE! It can be very difficult to get all your protein from whole food sources every day. Protein powder allows you go mix it in water, make smoothies, mix it in oatmeal, and a lot of other uses (plenty of recipes out there). Just find the cheapest whey protein you can find and that should suffice (unless you are lactose intolerant, in which case you should buy pure whey isolate). I also like blends that include some slow digesting proteins such as casein and egg protein in addition to whey (which is fast digesting). Using a blend at night helps me stay much more full before going to bed than if I had consumed pure whey. A brand I like for both my pure whey and my protein blend is TruNutrition

TruNutrition Trutein Protein Blend

FAT LOSS

I have used fat loss supplements in the past and they can be effective. However, its not going to make a difference if your diet and exercise regimen isn’t in check. I recommend using fat loss supplements either to accelerate results when everything is on point or to help you past a plateau during your fat loss. Fat burners come in two forms: stimulant or non/low-stimulant.

Stimulant Fat-Burners – If you aren’t against some nice jolts of caffeine and similar substances, than this is the way to go. During a fat-loss period, you’ll often find yourself a bit lethargic and lacking energy so these can combat those effects as well. If you are willing to try a stimulant based product, there is really one choice that stands above the rest, OxyElite Pro (OEP) by USPLabs. From my personal experience with the product, the stimulant effect you get is smooth and without a crash as opposed to the cracked out ephedra-like feeling (not pleasant).

I’ve also tried Alpha-T2 by Performance Enhancing Supplements (PES), which is significantly less-stimulant intensive than OEP. Highly recommended for those sensitive to stimulants.

For the hardcore, many recommend combining OEP and Alpha-T2 (I haven't tried such a protocol).

Non-Stimulant Fat-Burners – If you don’t want any kind of stimulants for whatever reason, there are some effective options out there as well. I have only tried one, Recreate by USPLabs and it played a huge part in reaching my first ever six-pack, so it has my full seal of approval. I have also heard great things about Lean Xtreme by Driven Sports.

Note: I have combined OEP and Recreate before to good effect. However, I’m not sure if the difference was worth the added costs of using both.

MUSCLE GAIN

Creatine –This baby has become quite the controversial supplement in the public eye. However, studies have proven time and time again it is perfectly safe. And the results simply speak for themselves. Awesome strength and hypertrophy results. I prefer to get micronized German creatine which is held to high testing standards, but any creatine should do. Powder is much cheaper than pills and has no taste in water.  Just be sure to drink a lot of water throughout the day and follow dosing directions.

Beta-Alanine – This supplement has been termed the new creatine. Just like creatine, it has massive scientific backing showcasing its effects. It delays failure allowing you to lift more weight (and therefore gain more muscle). It also helps any endurance activity. There is a tingling side-effect noticed by many, but it isn’t a health concern (I’ve actually come to quite like it J). Once again, pick up some powder, very neutral (though not quite tasteless) flavor.

*2012 UPDATE*


D-Aspartic Acid (DAA) / PES Erase - I've come recently to trying to play around with my testosterone and estrogen levels in safe and conservative ways (i.e. not the rediculous increases, hormonal imbalances and body shut downs you get from steroids/prohormones/etc).

That led me first to PES Erase, as I wanted to see the effect of lowering my baseline estrogen levels, which I suspected to be higher than average. Running it was an absolute dream. It helped me get past some weight loss plateaus while not sacrificing much if any muscle (probably because decreasing estrogen indirectly causes the body to produce more testosterone, which of course is anabolic gold). I loved the athletic performance increase, I was noticeably stronger and faster, probably as a result of being at a a personal best level of body composition and fitness.

After that awesome experience, I decided to spice things up with D-Aspartic Acid. A lot of users did warn of symptoms characteristic of high estrogen levels, which is bound to occur with any potent testosterone booster. As mentioned before, I felt I was predisposed to estrogenic side-effects so I tempered the risk by using the awesome PES Erase in conjunction with DAA. WOW! I have always had a bit of a hard time putting on muscle...this was like a whole new world. Muscle building no longer felt like a Sisyphean task. Lift hard, eat right, and results came regularly. And the Erase did its job too, no nasty side-effects of high estrogen (soft body composition, gyno, libido loss, etc.) Highly recommended combination!

I've tried some others in the interim, some of which have proved pretty good, but nothing to date has beat this combination. I even got blood tests to make sure. If you're curious about that adventure, check out my search for the best testosterone booster.

WRAP-UP


Of course, I've only really scratched the surface of the possibilities with my post. There are countless supplements out there that do so many different things. It really depends on what you need and what you are looking for as to whether or not they are right for you. My list comprises of what I believe are universal true staple supplements and some personal favorites that have been helpful for my particular needs.