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Free Bodybuilding and Sport Supplement Guide

The Truth About Bodybuilding Supplements

By Bryan Kernan

WARNING!! Before you waste another penny of your hard earned money on bodybuilding supplements...READ THIS!!

I have been involved with bodybuilding for the past 15 years and I have seen fads, trends, and scams come and go. I've literally spent thousands of dollars on supplements, magazines, training systems, diets and weights in my effort to find the most powerful way to put muscle on fast.

I've also seen and studied how the supplement industry operates. Both as a customer buying up the latest craze, and as an "insider" researching the industry, in order to start my own company. I was shocked hen I first discovered the "inside information" of the supplement industry, and that is why I have written my book on Supplement Secrets.

The biggest problem of the supplement industry is they give no thought on how to design supplements. They throw something together and create a great sounding story to sell their new product to unsuspecting bodybuilders. You've seen the ridiculous claims made in advertisements for supplements in the magazines. Of course if you dispute any of their claims, they can quickly show a scientific study that "proves" it does what is advertised. The truth is, these advertisements are only telling you part of the story. They conveniently forget to tell you the study that "proves" beyond a shadow of a doubt the supplement works, was performed on some sickly person in the hospital who would have probably gained muscle on anything you gave them. One supplement company president actually bragged, "I can put sugar in a pill and sell it as a muscle builder and bodybuilders would still buy it."

Do you know how most companies formulate their products? This is how they do it. They go to a manufacturer "recipe house". When they get there, they have an outline of a product and they tell that manufacturer they only want to pay $6.00 per 2.2 lb. can or pack. (Sorry guys, the truth is $6.00 is the max most companies pay. Let me explain the standard pricing equation in this industry. It's simple, really. The multiple used is between 6.5 and 7.5. This means you would take $6.00 and multiply it by 6.5 or 7.5 which gives you either a $39.00 or $45.00 retail price. Do those sound familiar? That means you are paying between $39.00 and $45.00 for a product that might cost $6.00 to make and I stress the word might.)

Now these "recipe houses" are very interesting places. Say you want whey protein isolate in your product. This "recipe house" will have whey protein isolate vats marked A,B,C and D, there's four blends. Now, the first one is 100% pure isolate, the second one 95% pure, the third one 75% pure and the fourth only 65% pure. Well, at $6.00 cost, they cannot afford A or B. They have to pay for all those six page ads month after month, so you get blend C in your product. All those fillers do is give you gas and make you feel bloated. This process of choosing blends continues on throughout the product's development. That means your protein content, carbohydrate content, vitamins and minerals have all been lessened to make their profit margins.

What's even worse is that once they develop any reputation at all, they will try to increase profits by lower thier costs simply by dropped from blend C to D. Ever wonder why a product you've been using suddenly gives you gas or smells and tastes different? Blend D has now arrived in your supplement product.

Isn't that gross? I'm sure you would be willing to pay a fair price for quality supplements, but these big companies continue to lower the quality of their already poor quality, yet well marketed, products.

Are All Bodybuilding Supplements Really A Waste Of Money?

I'm not saying all supplements or supplement companies are bad. Normally without supplements you could only take your body to certain predetermined genetic limit. After you reached this point, you would be stuck. With supplements you can get your body to explode through the genetic barrier, and get your body to do some amazing and impossible things.

The problem is that most supplement users don't give any thought to designing an effective supplementation program. They see an advertisement in the magazines about some "hot" new product. They try it out for a few weeks and move on to the next item of choice. This is not the way to construct a supplement routine. With very little thought and money you can design a routine that far surpasses any of these advertisements claims.

A supplement program involves many variables. Factors such as timing, cycling, and absorption can affect the potency of your supplements. Its important to remember you can't have everything perfect all the time, but the closer you get to that level, the more effective your supplement program will be.

Some Information About Bodybuilding Supplements
And The Confusion Surrounding Them

To start with - a supplement is just that - a supplement - it is not to replace proper nutrition and hard work! To compare the use & results of nutritional supplements to actual anabolic steroids would be a flat out lie! But at the same time they can & do produce excellent results for many users and you don't have to worry about the legal consequences if you get caught with them. While everyone should be aware that results will vary based on genetic factors (rate of protein synthesis, enzyme production, digestive absorption, muscle fiber types, metabolism, etc.) and environmental factors (training intensity, protein & calorie consumption, adequate sleep/rest, stress, etc.), many people will not take these factors into account when judging a product's effectiveness.

Not everyone will experience optimal results from a given product! On the other hand there are many unscrupulous supplement companies that produce products of little value or counterfeit products. To weed the good products from the bad is becoming more difficult, even for the distributors! Unfortunately, it is usually left to the consumer to spend their hard earned money on a product first to find out if it is effective for them.

With the above in mind, here are a few tips to get the most bang for your buck and to form an honest opinion about a product.

1. Try to control as many of the environmental factors as possible!

a) Follow proper nutrition for your goals! If you are taking a product for size & strength gains and trying to gain muscle, consume adequate protein (aim for 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day). Obviously, if you are taking a product to help with fat and weight loss, you must decrease your daily calories. There is no magic pill to reach your goals without the effort!

b) Train with your goals in mind (set realistic goals) and avoid overtraining at all costs.

c) Try to get adequate sleep/rest (shoot for 8 hours).

d) Try to control outside sources of stress as much as possible.

2. Know about the product you are taking!>

a) Dosages - (from my own experience and opinion) - ocassionally the dosage listed on the product is not best for results. Do a little research on preferred dosages - sometimes less is better & sometimes more is needed - find the dosage range that most people see results. Usually (for the majority of products) I recommend starting with the lowest possible dose and if the desired result is not seen - to increase the dosage slowly to the higher end range.

b)Know about any special recommendations while taking the product - take in divided doses, take with food, take on an empty stomach, special diet, water intake, etc.

The Future Of Bodybuilding Supplements

I am hoping supplement companies will start looking at the reaction of supplements already in existence. For example, taking two highly potent supplements and combining them into different stacks and mixes so they produce more than the two would by themselves. For example, we know that the addition of dextrose increases the absorption rate of creatine. In this case 2+2 doesn't qual 4. It equals more like 6 or 7.

There are a lot of other supplements out there that lend themselves to synergy like the example I described. That's what my book "Supplement Secrets Revealed" is all about - mixing effective supplements to create a synergy of supplements. Just one of these synergy combinations can have explosive results.

There is one company that has followed this formula and just released a new product called Andro Shock.

Editors Note: "Supplement Secrets Revealed" is one of the most powerful and comprehensive systems I have ever seen for natural bodybuilders. This truly may be the closest you will ever get to "steroid-like" results from your supplement program. For more information go to: www.trulyhuge.com/SupplementSecrets

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