Have you ever bought a fitnesss magazine? Well, if you have, you would have noticed to barrage of advertisements for supplements on nearly every page. Everyone is always telling you how X pill is superior, or how Y powder will get you the results you want. This distorted mindet of the magazines that surround us eventuallt brainswash the people into believing that yes, it is simply impossible to progress in the gym, that all of the pills and powders actually do work.
Are the powders and pills key to your success? The short, simple answer would be no.
There are many factors to progression in the gym, and, in all honesty, there are several factors that I would rank above the correct supplements. That is not to say that supplements don’t help – of course they do. They are useful in many ways, but alone, they will do nothing for you.
Let’s break down the most important factors of work outs. The most important factor, to me at least, would be consistency. Everyone needs goals that are difficult, but achievable, and they also need a motivation to do this. However, we’ve talked about this in several other articles, so I won’t consume your time, and I’ll just quickly end this note on the simple basis that for real results you just have to get up and work. Nothing else.
The second most important factor to me would be the resting period, which often goes ignored and overlooked. The resting period is extremely important for your body to recover, and get bigger. Depending on your own body physique, and your rate of healing, one will be more important than the other; it just so happens that consistency is more important to me.
Now though, we’ll discuss supplements. Beginning body builders often focus on supplementation far too much, simply because it is the most easily controlled factors. Obviously, correct diet is key to progression, however, this is where the supplement companies come into this. They’re all looking to make their money, and if they can get it by tricking you all into buying their supplements, on the basis that it’s ‘impossible’ for you to get big without them, then that’s fine by them.
Simply, don’t be fooled by the supplement companies out there. They’ll tell you that you can eat whatever you want, so long as you use their supplement, you’ll have insane gains. That is complete and utter trash. In my opinion, the best thing you can do to supplement yourself would be to have a well balanced, healthy diet. A multi-vitamin or a good protein shake here or there will help, but don’t rely on it.
When used correctly, good supplements can boost your gains in the gym, but only if the other factors are well looked after.
