Do beginners need amino acid supplementation? Hell, no! No, no, NO! You don’t even need protein powders. Don’t rely on supplementation. There are no magic pills. Well, there are magic pills with magical effects. But they can also kill you or cause serious chronic diseases. Reasonably safe supplements on the other hand, regardless of what advertisements say, have way lower potency. So don’t rely on supplements, you would only be deceiving yourself and wasting money.

I frequently hear oversimplified explanations and defintions such as L-Cartinine is a fat burner or proteins build muscle. Human body is a complex machine. It is just naive to believe you can simply stick something in your body and expect (positive) results. For instance L-Carnitine helps burning fat, but if you don’t combine it with physical activity you will have no results. No matter how much L-Carnitine you take, you won’t lose fat just by taking it. Same goes for protein supplementation. The more the better approach will only make you fat.

Master The Real Food First

How should beginners supplement then? First of all, know what you are doing. Since you are reading this now, you have Internet access. Just try to educate yourself as much as you can. This is your health, it should worth the time. Second of all, keep it simple in the beginning. Here is my short list of supplements:

• Real food. Rice, chicken, eggs, fruits, vegetables… You need to make sure you are getting enough of these. Enough and not too much. Not too much but diverse enough. If you are not eating right, supplements will have even less positive effects.
• Vitamins and minerals. I know you want to start munching those animal-giga-nitro-x’s right now. But your body won’t really respond hype. Make sure you take enough micronutrients. Remember extra stress caused by workout increases your need. Consult your doctor for precise amounts. Especially important for bodybuilders are:
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin B
  • Zinc
  • Magnesium
  • Potassium
• [optional] Post workout shake. This is not a necessity, but if you happen to have a fast metabolizing protein (such as powdered whey protein) take it just after your workout. This is one of the best times to take supplements.

Take-away here, is that you don’t need fancy supplements when you are just beginning. They won’t do wonders as they are advertised. They won’t even make a significant difference to be honest. Concentrate on other aspects of bodybuilding. Learn how to train right. Make sure you rest enough. Eat real, healthy food.

And of course; have fun!

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I frequently hear “why do go through all this, it is really unnecessary”. Why do people say that? I find it really annoying. What could be more natural for someone to take care of one’s pysical existance? You do brush your teeth right? How is staying fit different or less important than that? Let us hang 15 kgs of fat around your waist and you live with it just for a week. And see if your opinion changes.

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We quickly drafted a plan and decided to start immediately. A 2 month diet period. I was enthusiastic because I was thinking all that food I can ingest, and I had done dieting before (I had lost 16 kg). Easy, right? I wonder if it would mean anything had he told me the truth; that I would suffer so much and feel so bad to the point the hunger would be comforting. I guess it wouldn’t make a difference.

Difficulty Is Not Incidental

At the end of 2 months I have lost 7 kg and took 11 cm off my waist. I would like to note that I lost almost no muscle (only 2 cm from my arms). It is of highest importance that you lose fat and retain muscle mass. So I am very happy with the results, much better than I had expected.

But make no mistake; it was not easy for me. It was especially difficult to sleep. Because you stop eating early (7~8 p.m.). Also because you increase your metabolism to the point where you hear a loud thumping noise when you go to bed. That is your heart rate at rest. This is the key to diet.

Many people believe that the exercise itself is burning the fat. NO! You exercise to increase your metabolism. You typically burn 300 calories per hour with the (aerobic or anaerobic) exercise. How long can you keep doing it? Your basal metabolic rate is likely to be around 1700 KCal/day. Do the math. When you start cutting calories your body reacts trying to utilize energy efficiently. Your metabolism decreases. This is where the cardio training becomes important. You keep yourself active and work against your body to keep burning fat.

Learn Through Pain

Everybody has a different physique, and react differently to individual types of food. I mean junk food, and unhealthy fats in general. But even with the most convenient genetics and lifestyle; sugar messes with your insulin levels and saturated fats find a way to stay within your fat tissues. Then why do we do this to ourselves, why do we keep eating the wrong stuff? I guess besides the obvious reasons[2], we find comfort in our ignorance.

I love cheese, for instance. Not that I am saying it is bad food. But good cheese has a lot of saturated fat. After this last diet, I started eating much less cheese. Being the Pavlov’s dog is nothing to be proud of, but it works. Even the thought of triggers your brain to remember all that pain you had to suffer during the diet. So subconciously you eat less junk. After that it is up to you to conciously eat healthy food. Remember; nothing ventured, nothing gained. Or should I say; no pain no gain.

I still workout for fun. But I plan to eat clean and stay in shape. Diet if necessary. Because I am not getting any younger. Next time you are in the supermarket, take a good look at the fat on meats. Some of it is chopped of course. But you can still see the white tissue that serves no real purpose[3]. It gives me creeps when I think I was carrying that 10 kg of fat everywhere, just like the fat on that meat only much bigger. And I still have at least that much on…

1: Ok, this might sound funny now. But come see me working out one day, and you will understand why animal.

2: I am one of those people who eats more when depressed.

3: Have you heard of a drought nearby recently?

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