For you weight lifters and supplement guys out there

[TheNinja]

So I had to stop lifting about 2 weeks before Christmas due to slight injury (so just decided to take a break). Well then I ended up going on a 2 week vacation and what's worse I got food poisoning and lost about 10 lbs (couldn't eat for 2 1/2 days). So I'm down about 7 pounds yet. Anyway I want to get back in quickly.

I have at home:
Flaxseed Oil
Multivitamin
Oatmeal

I'm going to order from 1fast400:
1 @ ON 10lb bag of Whey - to mix with milk
1 @ 7lb Maltodextrin
2 @ 2lb Dextrose
1 @ 600g micronized creatine mono

Use the malto and dex plus creatine for post workout

For the next 2-3 months I'm looking to bulk big time (I'm naturally thin so I can easily shed weight before summer season ).

Am I missing anything? Would I be better off with N-Large or similar?

 

[Special K]

I wouldn't even bother with the maltodextrin. Use the whey + dextrose + creatine in your postworkout shake.

I wouldn't bother with weight gainers. You can make your own for much less money. Throw any/all of the following into a blender:

milk
oats
whey
natural PB
bananas
olive oil

If you're looking to hardcore bulk you can easily make 1000+ calorie shakes from the above for much less than it would cost you to buy a commerical weight gainer.

 

[imported_vr6]

i am a big fan of N-Large as a post workout shake, assuming you don't OD on the N-Large, its the best for the bucks.

 

[Alprazolam]

LOLZ, JUST TAKE NO XPLODE YOU'LL GET MASSIVE LOLZ!

 

[Gamingphreek]

I am truly not sure in any respect, but doesn't Creatine qualify as performance enhancing drug? If not, isn't it really just water weight on muscles and not actually true muscle mass?

-Kevin

 

[Alprazolam]

LOLZ IM GETTING HUGE OFF THE CELLMASS STACK! LOLZ!

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
I am truly not sure in any respect, but doesn't Creatine qualify as performance enhancing drug? If not, isn't it really just water weight on muscles and not actually true muscle mass?

-Kevin

I've read quite a bit about it and from my experiences, I can tell you the following.

1. It does make a difference in the visable size and functional strength of your muscles
2. A lot of the size is in fact due to water weight
3. You will lose some of the size and strength when you cycle off of creatine

The main goal is to use creatine to make hard gains, or I use it to get over a plateau. Then cycle off creatine and try to maintain the gains. Cycle back on and make large gains, then maintain...etc.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Special K
I wouldn't even bother with the maltodextrin. Use the whey + dextrose + creatine in your postworkout shake.

I wouldn't bother with weight gainers. You can make your own for much less money. Throw any/all of the following into a blender:

milk
oats
whey
natural PB
bananas
olive oil

If you're looking to hardcore bulk you can easily make 1000+ calorie shakes from the above for much less than it would cost you to buy a commerical weight gainer.

Ya, I've been making my own shakes from milk, oats, whey, flaxseed oil. I also eat PB and bananas during the day.

As far as Malto vs Dextrose, I've often heard that a 2:1 (in favor of Dextrose) or 1:1 ratio is the best b/c Malto tends to digest slower and Dextrose gives that big carb/insulin spike post-workout. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: TheNinja

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
I am truly not sure in any respect, but doesn't Creatine qualify as performance enhancing drug? If not, isn't it really just water weight on muscles and not actually true muscle mass?

-Kevin

I've read quite a bit about it and from my experiences, I can tell you the following.

1. It does make a difference in the visable size and functional strength of your muscles
2. A lot of the size is in fact due to water weight
3. You will lose some of the size and strength when you cycle off of creatine

The main goal is to use creatine to make hard gains, or I use it to get over a plateau. Then cycle off creatine and try to maintain the gains. Cycle back on and make large gains, then maintain...etc.

There is no reason to "cycle" creatine. It is not a steriod. You may lose some of the intra-muscle water retention that creatine causes if you quit taking it, which may translate into a loss of strength, but any muscle gained while using it is yours to keep, provided your diet is in check.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: TheNinja

Originally posted by: Special K
I wouldn't even bother with the maltodextrin. Use the whey + dextrose + creatine in your postworkout shake.

I wouldn't bother with weight gainers. You can make your own for much less money. Throw any/all of the following into a blender:

milk
oats
whey
natural PB
bananas
olive oil

If you're looking to hardcore bulk you can easily make 1000+ calorie shakes from the above for much less than it would cost you to buy a commerical weight gainer.

Ya, I've been making my own shakes from milk, oats, whey, flaxseed oil. I also eat PB and bananas during the day.

As far as Malto vs Dextrose, I've often heard that a 2:1 (in favor of Dextrose) or 1:1 ratio is the best b/c Malto tends to digest slower and Dextrose gives that big carb/insulin spike post-workout. Maybe I'm wrong.

I juse use pure dextrose in my PWO shakes. Ideally you want it to be absorbed as fast as possible.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TheNinja

I've read quite a bit about it and from my experiences, I can tell you the following.

1. It does make a difference in the visable size and functional strength of your muscles
2. A lot of the size is in fact due to water weight
3. You will lose some of the size and strength when you cycle off of creatine

The main goal is to use creatine to make hard gains, or I use it to get over a plateau. Then cycle off creatine and try to maintain the gains. Cycle back on and make large gains, then maintain...etc.

There is no reason to "cycle" creatine. It is not a steriod. You may lose some of the intra-muscle water retention that creatine causes if you quit taking it, which may translate into a loss of strength, but any muscle gained while using it is yours to keep, provided your diet is in check.

Wouldn't you cycle it anyway, just to sort of flush your body and let it get back to normal? I just like to give my body a little break once in a while from supplements in general. I worry that if I take creatine straight for 2-3 years that my body will like become addicted to used to it so that when I do go off it, I'll shrivel up. There may be no truth behind that though.

 

[Alprazolam]

Just get some Testosterone and D-bol.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: TheNinja

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TheNinja

I've read quite a bit about it and from my experiences, I can tell you the following.

1. It does make a difference in the visable size and functional strength of your muscles
2. A lot of the size is in fact due to water weight
3. You will lose some of the size and strength when you cycle off of creatine

The main goal is to use creatine to make hard gains, or I use it to get over a plateau. Then cycle off creatine and try to maintain the gains. Cycle back on and make large gains, then maintain...etc.

There is no reason to "cycle" creatine. It is not a steriod. You may lose some of the intra-muscle water retention that creatine causes if you quit taking it, which may translate into a loss of strength, but any muscle gained while using it is yours to keep, provided your diet is in check.

Wouldn't you cycle it anyway, just to sort of flush your body and let it get back to normal? I just like to give my body a little break once in a while from supplements in general. I worry that if I take creatine straight for 2-3 years that my body will like become addicted to used to it so that when I do go off it, I'll shrivel up. There may be no truth behind that though.

You just answered your own question

 

[krunchykrome]

Make sure your diet is straight first. If you want to gain weight, you should first be eating 5-7 meals per day. Then you can start considering different supplements.

 

[49erinnc]

Every time I've gotten on a Creatine kick, I wind up getting pretty bad headaches. But, I almost wonder if it's from dehydration more so than the Creatine itself. I probably didn't drink nearly enough water during the course of the day.

I just opt for a high protein/low fat diet, whey protein shakes after workouts and 1-2 tbsp. of hemp oil/day. I think it's more beneficial than flax and has a longer shelf life. Taste a helluva lot better as well.

 

[Vic]

Lean is better than mass. You'll find it plenty easy enough to put on weight when you get older, and hard as hell to lose the mass you worked so hard for when you were younger.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Vic
Lean is better than mass. You'll find it plenty easy enough to put on weight when you get older, and hard as hell to lose the mass you worked so hard for when you were younger.

Why would it be "hard as hell" to lose mass when you get older? Quit lifting or eating right at any stage in life and all of your muscle gains will be gone (over a period of time of course).

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc
Every time I've gotten on a Creatine kick, I wind up getting pretty bad headaches. But, I almost wonder if it's from dehydration more so than the Creatine itself. I probably didn't drink nearly enough water during the course of the day.

I just opt for a high protein/low fat diet, whey protein shakes after workouts and 1-2 tbsp. of hemp oil/day. I think it's more beneficial than flax and has a longer shelf life. Taste a helluva lot better as well.

That could very well have been the case; I also knew quite a few people who would get an upset stomach from taking creatine, although that all might've been fixed/worked out with the stuff available nowadays. I used creatine once for roughly two months when I first started working out (~7 years ago), and noticed definite gains; the biggest improvement, from what I remember, was speed of recovery.

Beyond that, though, I've never even taken protein...which would help explain why I haven't gained more than 5-10 pounds in the past half-decade. Luckily, I'm quite happy with that.

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Vic
Lean is better than mass. You'll find it plenty easy enough to put on weight when you get older, and hard as hell to lose the mass you worked so hard for when you were younger.

Why would it be "hard as hell" to lose mass when you get older? Quit lifting or eating right at any stage in life and all of your muscle gains will be gone (over a period of time of course).

I think the difficulty comes when people taper down their physical activity drastically while not doing the same with their diet. Then, I'd imagine the unused/lost muscle really has nothing else to do but become fat.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Vic
Lean is better than mass. You'll find it plenty easy enough to put on weight when you get older, and hard as hell to lose the mass you worked so hard for when you were younger.

Haha...that's funny stuff!

OP- I used to go with 1:1 Ratio of Malto to Dextrose for my post-workout drink. I never did anything else so I couldn't offer you much advice. Special K knows what he's talking about. My SUGGESTION would be to experiment with 1:1, 2:1 (in favor of Dex), and pure Dextrose to see what works best for ya.

I will disagree with Special K about not using Weight Gainers. N Large 2 is CHEAP, but more importantly, it's FAST to make. No doubt your shake is a fantastic way to gain weight but it does take time and may be just as much, if not more money than the N Large. If I was going for bulk I'd stick with the N Large 2....simply for the cost and speed of mixing a quick shake.

I will say this, the last time I had N Large it was NASTY, this was about three years ago. Hopefully they've improved the tast a bit.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Vic
Lean is better than mass. You'll find it plenty easy enough to put on weight when you get older, and hard as hell to lose the mass you worked so hard for when you were younger.

Why would it be "hard as hell" to lose mass when you get older? Quit lifting or eating right at any stage in life and all of your muscle gains will be gone (over a period of time of course).

The only thing I could think of is that a person's metabolism naturally slows down as they age....

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Vic
Lean is better than mass. You'll find it plenty easy enough to put on weight when you get older, and hard as hell to lose the mass you worked so hard for when you were younger.

Why would it be "hard as hell" to lose mass when you get older? Quit lifting or eating right at any stage in life and all of your muscle gains will be gone (over a period of time of course).

I'm just thinking of all the fat older jocks I see at the gym ("middle-aged monsters," as they're sometimes called).

Me, I never "bulked" up in my youth, but maintained good fitness, and I'm still lean and muscular at age 35.

 

[49erinnc]

Originally posted by: Whisper

That could very well have been the case; I also knew quite a few people who would get an upset stomach from taking creatine, although that all might've been fixed/worked out with the stuff available nowadays. I used creatine once for roughly two months when I first started working out (~7 years ago), and noticed definite gains; the biggest improvement, from what I remember, was speed of recovery.

I had that problem with Creatine as well as the headaches. I didn't get sick to my stomach but more like a painful knot in my stomach or just achy feeling there. Between the headache/stomach problems, I quit using it all-together. I definitely noticed recovery/size progress while on it though. I was taking the elixir FWIW.

 

[49erinnc]

On a slightly related topic...

Is too much protein intake bad? I feel like I'm a protein junky. I'm not into bodybuilding but I do workout with weights 3-4 times a week, but mainly just to stay in shape and maintain some lean muscle. I haven't really counted my protein grams on a daily basis but if I had to guess, I'd say I'm pushing 180g-200g/day from diet and 2 protein shakes. Any downside to consuming too much protein as far as health/working out goes?

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc
On a slightly related topic...

Is too much protein intake bad? I feel like I'm a protein junky. I'm not into bodybuilding but I do workout with weights 3-4 times a week, but mainly just to stay in shape and maintain some lean muscle. I haven't really counted my protein grams on a daily basis but if I had to guess, I'd say I'm pushing 180g-200g/day from diet and 2 protein shakes. Any downside to consuming too much protein as far as health/working out goes?

You'll just be farting plenty.