One of the first things most people do once they start weight training is visit a health store in search of those "magic" supplements. With no idea on what works or how they work beginners normally rely on the staff in these shops for information and advice. Unfortunately they probably have less knowledge than you on what actually works and how to best use the product.
A lot of beginners place too much emphasis on supplements and believe that in order to achieve the body they want they need to spend big dollars to build muscle. When I first started weight training I was naive to the fact that a large number of supplements out there were scams and fads that just wanted to trick me out of my hard earned money. Pick up any fitness magazine and you are bombarded with add after add on what the latest breakthrough supplement is and how they produce dramatic results fast!! Being so eager and keen to build muscle made me try products that seemed too good to be true. In the end I ended up wasting my money on something that promised me the world but did not deliver. What is sad though, I like many other beginners did not learn from my mistakes and turned to the next magic supplement that promised me extraordinary gains.
What hit me and finally made me change my attitude was when I found out that most of the fitness and bodybuilding magazines I was reading were actually owned by supplement companies. Here is an example, the company MuscleLink is owned by Ironman Magazine. Now in every issue you can expect to see MuscleLink ads disguised as articles designed to induce you to buy their product. Another example is Flex magazine which is owned by Joe Weider and thus promote all Weider supplement owned products.
The bottom line is that today's fitness magazines are mainly designed to sell the supplements that the magazines are tied to. So who can you actually believe and trust? That is a tough one, but to make a logical decision let's first take a step back. Can you actually build muscle without supplements? Well of course you can. If we look at the definition of 'supplement' itself it basically means a compliment. So in other words it should compliment your daily intake of healthy whole foods. The benfits of supplements is in their convenience. Drinking a protein shake straight after training is much easier than eating a chicken breast don't you think?
In the coming weeks I will focus on what supplements you should include in your diet and we will look at distinguishing the scam products from the ones that will actually benefit you. Also check out my article on how to choose the right protein powder.
What Supplements Should I Take
