For those who lift weights...

[Legend]

on a side note, are supplements essential for weight lifting? (can you still gain muscle without taking supplements?)

Well, yes. They did have muscles back in the ancient times you know.

It's just easier to take whey protein than it is to prepare all the chicken and beef and salmon to match it. I do a little of both personally.

 

[m2kewl]

my friend's been bulking with NO2 and ProLab NLarge - and he's huge now. he weights 195lbs but looks like he's 240+lbs.

i normally just pig out on food but i may give NO2 a try; those yellow pills are ginormous!

 

[alm4rr]

once you are off the creatine, the muscle bulked off from it melts away

 

[PunDogg]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: PunDogg

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: Spamela
the stuff is undoubtedly overpriced, useless crap,
like 98% of supplements.

Yup, you're absolutley right bud. ESPECIALLY the stuff at GNC. Now, they carry good products, but christ, the markup on there stuff is absolutley insane.

Protein and Creatine. That's all you need, and you could probably do without the creatine. I use it because I do see results.

Proper diet and proper exercise is the key.

Or just screw it all and juice your way to being big.

hahaha are you kidding me, the markup on some stuff is below the 10% mark, anystore you go into they will have large markups, its called retail. but to say everything is hugely marked up, is totally incorrect. My margin on alot of the products is next to nile. So please don;t tell me the mark up is insane.

Dogg

Oh, but I will...and I can prove it to you too. Either A) the mark-up is INSANE, or you're not purchasing from the right place.

Since I haven't been to a GNC in well over two years I'll have to ask you: what's the price for a 5lb tub of ON 100% Whey? What, $40? $50? Or wait, better yet, what about MUSCLE MILK, for one of the 2.5lb tubs GNC charges between $30 and $40 right?

Well, there are countless places on the internet that sell the 100% Whey for $30 or less, and the Muscle Milk for $20.

I COULD be wrong on those since it was 2 years ago since I went.

However...I did just call one of the local GNCs...a 500gram bottle of Creatine was $18. A 1000gram bottle of Creatine online is $19...you do the math bud. The people who buy from GNC are either not internet-versed, or freaking stupid.

if you buy a gold card you can actually sometimes pay less than internet prices.
GNC also justs sends us stuff, we can not negotioat the price on alot of the things, Internet companies they sell at wholesale, we have to mark up a little bit to make some profit. But also there is some stuff that one can not buy online very easily. Add on the sales that we are always running. like 25% off on Pro Preformance Protein, thats is on tope of the 20% of the gold card. we lose money on that, but we get it back from GNC when we buy through them.

and i assume that you just use protien, any mulit. vit or anything like that?

Dogg

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: alm4rr
once you are off the creatine, the muscle bulked off from it melts away

No, the muscle gains do not melt away. However, the additional water that creatine induces your muscles to store inside the muscle cells does "melt away".

 

[Gulzakar]

Creatine is for little girly men...you know, computer nerds

eat right +exercise+good genentics = excellent muscle building.

 

[Gravity]

If you're not getting 8 hours of sleep and eating 4-6 meals per day and working out at least 4 days per week, then it's all for naught anyways.

Miracles happen but the miracle of muscle happens more regularly when you follow established routines and don't rely on gimmics.

Gravity

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: PunDogg

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: PunDogg

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: Spamela
the stuff is undoubtedly overpriced, useless crap,
like 98% of supplements.

Yup, you're absolutley right bud. ESPECIALLY the stuff at GNC. Now, they carry good products, but christ, the markup on there stuff is absolutley insane.

Protein and Creatine. That's all you need, and you could probably do without the creatine. I use it because I do see results.

Proper diet and proper exercise is the key.

Or just screw it all and juice your way to being big.

hahaha are you kidding me, the markup on some stuff is below the 10% mark, anystore you go into they will have large markups, its called retail. but to say everything is hugely marked up, is totally incorrect. My margin on alot of the products is next to nile. So please don;t tell me the mark up is insane.

Dogg

Oh, but I will...and I can prove it to you too. Either A) the mark-up is INSANE, or you're not purchasing from the right place.

Since I haven't been to a GNC in well over two years I'll have to ask you: what's the price for a 5lb tub of ON 100% Whey? What, $40? $50? Or wait, better yet, what about MUSCLE MILK, for one of the 2.5lb tubs GNC charges between $30 and $40 right?

Well, there are countless places on the internet that sell the 100% Whey for $30 or less, and the Muscle Milk for $20.

I COULD be wrong on those since it was 2 years ago since I went.

However...I did just call one of the local GNCs...a 500gram bottle of Creatine was $18. A 1000gram bottle of Creatine online is $19...you do the math bud. The people who buy from GNC are either not internet-versed, or freaking stupid.

if you buy a gold card you can actually sometimes pay less than internet prices.
GNC also justs sends us stuff, we can not negotioat the price on alot of the things, Internet companies they sell at wholesale, we have to mark up a little bit to make some profit. But also there is some stuff that one can not buy online very easily. Add on the sales that we are always running. like 25% off on Pro Preformance Protein, thats is on tope of the 20% of the gold card. we lose money on that, but we get it back from GNC when we buy through them.

and i assume that you just use protien, any mulit. vit or anything like that?

Dogg

Well, currently I'm a lazy B*TCH and don't/can't work out (due to a sports injury)...however, I used to be extremely serious about it. At first I used NOTHING. As I became smarter I started using protien...and then I got a little crazy. I was spending $150-200 a month on supplements. All sorts of Protien mixes, Phosphagen HP (Creatine mix), Glutamine, Multi-Vits, Fish Oils, AD-1 (tried it once, waste of time), NO2 (another waste of time, for me), and the list goes on...

but as my bank account shrank and the more research I did I learned that most of the stuff is pure marketing crap. Instead of using the $40 5lb "Pro Protien" I bought the $20 5lb Costco Whey. It has the same extact stuff, and it tastes good. Instead of spending $35 on Phosphagen for a month I bought a $20 bottle of Creatine (1000grams), a 5 lb. bag of Dextrose, and a 3lb. bag of Malto-Dextrin. BAM...there's my high-insulin spike and this $25 setup lasts me months. I take a multivitamin: $8 for a 30-day supply. I buy Fish Oil capsules religiously: $3 for 100. Yeah...I do know a little about this stuff.

I think you were wise to start up a GNC franchise. The vast majority are going to buy from there because it is convenient and hassle-free. However, you can't say you sell your products @ low prices because you don't....even with the 20% off it's typically still significantly higher then buying online.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Gravity
If you're not getting 8 hours of sleep and eating 4-6 meals per day and working out at least 4 days per week, then it's all for naught anyways.

Miracles happen but the miracle of muscle happens more regularly when you follow established routines and don't rely on gimmics.

Gravity

You don't need to work out 4 days a week (not that you shouldn't...). Who told you that?

 

[jmagnum]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: PunDogg

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: Spamela
the stuff is undoubtedly overpriced, useless crap,
like 98% of supplements.

Yup, you're absolutley right bud. ESPECIALLY the stuff at GNC. Now, they carry good products, but christ, the markup on there stuff is absolutley insane.

Protein and Creatine. That's all you need, and you could probably do without the creatine. I use it because I do see results.

Proper diet and proper exercise is the key.

Or just screw it all and juice your way to being big.

hahaha are you kidding me, the markup on some stuff is below the 10% mark, anystore you go into they will have large markups, its called retail. but to say everything is hugely marked up, is totally incorrect. My margin on alot of the products is next to nile. So please don;t tell me the mark up is insane.

Dogg

Oh, but I will...and I can prove it to you too. Either A) the mark-up is INSANE, or you're not purchasing from the right place.

Since I haven't been to a GNC in well over two years I'll have to ask you: what's the price for a 5lb tub of ON 100% Whey? What, $40? $50? Or wait, better yet, what about MUSCLE MILK, for one of the 2.5lb tubs GNC charges between $30 and $40 right?

Well, there are countless places on the internet that sell the 100% Whey for $30 or less, and the Muscle Milk for $20.

I COULD be wrong on those since it was 2 years ago since I went.

However...I did just call one of the local GNCs...a 500gram bottle of Creatine was $18. A 1000gram bottle of Creatine online is $19...you do the math bud. The people who buy from GNC are either not internet-versed, or freaking stupid.

I bought a 6lb tub of whey protein from gnc's online store (drugstore.com) for $20. Trust me, I know where to get stuff cheap.