Bodybuilding.com - Personal Trainer Transformation Guide: Supplements!

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Personal Trainer Transformation Guide: Supplements!

By: Personal Trainer Guide

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What Are Supplements?

Before the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was passed in 1994, supplements were considered to be vitamins, minerals, and protein. You could not get chromium picolinate, DHEA, or certain amino acids without a prescription.

After this act was passed, the definition of a supplement changed and now includes vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals (excluding tobacco), and dietary substances that could be used to supplement your diet by increasing total dietary intake. Now, our laws seem to be more liberal than anywhere in the world.

A supplement is defined as anything to supplement or add to the diet.

Recommended Supplements

The following supplements can and will help you if they are added to the diet properly. Again, I only recommend using these supplements to be added to your diet.

Whey Protein:

What is Whey Protein? Whey protein is a by-product from cheese manufacturing and is the most preferred form of protein available.
What does it do? After whey protein is broken down, it supplies your body with branched chain amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscle.
Who should take whey protein? Everyone should take this supplement. It promotes the overall health of your body.

Whey protein has the highest biological value of any protein. The higher the biological value, the more protein that can be used by the body. It has a biological value of 100 (100 being the maximum), the highest of any protein. I highly recommend using this supplement because your body needs protein to build muscle. It is also good for adding into fruit smoothies, pancake mix, or really anything that is mixed.

How Whey Protein Helps:

Whey protein isolate

amino acids

branched chain amino acids

Best Time To Take Protein:

The best time to take protein is at night and in the morning. Your body naturally breaks down protein at night when you are resting. To help prevent the loss of this protein when you rest it is a good idea to have a protein shake an hour before you go to bed or first thing in the morning.

Meal Replacements:

What are meal replacements? Meal replacements. Pretty self explanatory, they are small packets, usually shakes, that provide your body with all of the nutrients that you would essentially get if you had eaten a meal.
Do you need them? Meal replacements are for people who are always on the run, but remember you still need actual meals to provide you body with minerals and nutrients. Have you ever tried eating six meals a day? This is where meal replacements can help. It would be virtually impossible to prepare six meals everyday, unless you are a chef where you cook and eat all day.

It has been proven by every credible bodybuilding expert that consuming a high of amount of small frequent meals increases your metabolism, energy levels, and exposes the anabolic affects of insulin. I personally consume one meal replacement everyday and I recommend you should do the same.

These low fat high calorie meal replacements can help you get the calories that you need while keeping you waistline trim. They also help you get your daily vitamins and minerals so you don't have to take a handful of pills everyday. Meal replacements can be a vital part of your success.

Energy Bars:

These bars have a great amount of nutritional value and have been found to increase performance when eaten before exercise. Some even taste like candy bars. You can take these bars with you when you exercise because they are small and convenient.

But should these bars replace fruits such as bananas, oranges, or other carbohydrates that contain essential nutrients?

No. Although the nutritional value of these bars are high in vitamins, carbohydrates, and protein; eating engineered foods has been show to have negative long-term affects. Replacing your diet with these bars can result in an even lower intake of the fiber, carotenoids, and other health-protective phytochemicals found in fruits, veggies and whole grains.

I am not saying NEVER eat one again, because I would be a hypocrite. I eat Powerbars after I workout, but I also eat bananas and fruits after working out. I would urge using these bars in sports situation and for pre and post workouts. I would not recommend replacing your diet with these bars as snacks; they are more expensive and not as good for you. Energy bars easily cost $0.70 per 100 calories. In comparison, raisins are only $0.18 per 100 calories; bananas, $0.20; and granola bars, $0.28.

Supplement Overview:

I recommend these supplements:
Supplements are intended to be added to the diet, not to replace it.
Whey protein should be taken by anyone who wants to improve the look of their physique, lower their body fat, and get stronger.
Meal replacements can make dieting very easy.
Eat energy bars as a pre or post-workout snack.