Are Supplements Safe and Effective for Weight Training?

Kevin Weiss is Asked if Supplements are Dangerous or Worth the Money

“Kevin… My 17 year old son has been working out at the gym for about a year now and it seems like everyday he has a new supplement that he feels he needs. Some of these are quite expensive and I don’t want him to waste his money or risk his health if they are ineffective or dangerous. Are there any supplements you would recommend and which ones would you avoid?”

~ Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx ~

Dear Xxxxx

The supplement industry is huge and there are literally millions of dollars at stake everyday. When there is this type of money to be made there is always demand to create and market new products. This can lead to a lot of confusion about what is actually effective and what is hype. I do not know many important factors about your son like bodytype, training schedule, and current nutritional status but I can make a few general suggestions on what could be helpful and what is a waste of time and money.

Because your son is weight training I am going to make the assumption he is trying to get stronger and build muscle tissue. No matter what your training program is like adequate protein and calories are required to make these two things happen. This does not necessarily require a supplement of any kind but in reality many young people have a hard time eating the volume of whole food per day it takes to get all of the calories and protein required.

This is when I would recommend a good quality protein powder to top up any protein shortfall. I generally recommend a 1g/lb of bodyweight as a standard limit. You can be slightly more or slightly less but it is a good range to try and hit. Contrary to supplement ads eating more protein does not help you build more muscle but not getting enough definitely will not help. A protein shake can also be a good vehicle to get extra calories in if your intake is a little low.

By adding peanut butter, fruit, and plain yogurt or cottage cheese you can up the calories significantly and it is easier than having another meal.

Whichever powder he chooses is more based on personal taste preference than anything else. The raw materials are pretty much the same in all of them. There are a few companies on the internet that sell powders in plain mylar bags to keep the cost down. This is what I would use. Just Google search “bulk protein”.

Just as a side note though, this does not mean he should stop eating and just rely on shakes. The majority of his calories should come from whole food with shakes topping up any shortcomings. There is nothing special or magical about these powders that is going to make muscles appear overnight. They are just ensuring he is getting the building blocks he needs to get the results from his training.

Beyond a protein supplement the only other supplement I would have him consider is pure creatine monohydrate. Creatine is one of the most studied and tested supplements of all time and I could not find any reputable evidence there is any reason not to take it. The positive research outcomes are so numerous it would take forever to read them all.

A simple Google search returned 18,000,000 results so feel free to do a bit of reading yourself.

I myself took creatine for years and only stopped when making my weight class became an issue. Because creatine causes cellular volumizing inside the muscle it also causes you to weigh a couple pounds more than if you were not on it. Not a big deal for most but as it became increasingly hard for me to make weight those couple pounds made a big difference.

I just recently began taking it again as I don’t have to cut weight and I really can’t see a reason why not to take it. Understand this though, creatine is not an overnight muscle builder either…

No legal supplement is.

Creatine is essentially the storage form of ATP which helps the muscles function under high intensity conditions (like weightlifting) What this means is if you have maximum stores of creatine in your muscles they will be able to perform at their highest level. This could be the difference of getting 1-2 more reps at the end of a set. Not a big deal in the short term but can be when you consider the cumulative effect over time.

A final note on creatine, do not be conned into buying expensive premixes and various creatine concoctions. They offer no added benefit. Pure creatine monohydrate is dirt cheap and I believe you can also get it in a mylar bag from the same companies that sell the unbranded protein, making it even cheaper.

Thats about it… although neither one of these two supplements is a requirement these are the two I would take myself if I was to take anything. There are no downsides to either one and both have real world research to back them up.

I make these recommendations making huge assumptions though. I am assuming his training program is sound, his diet is generally decent with adequate calories, and last but not least his sleep is of sufficient quantity and quality to allow for adequate recovery and adaptation. If these 3 criteria are severely lacking I would encourage him to address that before spending a penny on any supplement.

Lastly… supplements to avoid.

Honestly most (not all) supplements are pretty benign unless taken in ridiculous amounts, the bigger problem is they are simply a rip off. The results they promise are unrealistic and the marketing required to get it in front of the public demands low quality and high prices.

So instead of listing the hundreds of supplements to avoid I will say this. There are no magic pills. Fast, easy changes do not happen.

If a supplement is claiming this… run away.

If it is a MLM supplement run even faster.

I hope the advice I give helps your son but it would not be the first time that it fell on deaf ears. If he still insists on buying all these different products I recommend one final piece of advice. If a supplement claims to provide a result and it doesn’t deliver, then stop buying it!

It will probably take a bit longer but he will likely end up coming to the same conclusion I present here.

Have a great day and let me know if you have any other questions.

Coach Weiss

Please pass this article onto someone you know spending too much money on supplements they don’t need.

Are Supplements Safe and Effective for Weight Training?