I’m wondering whether it’s better to take one “kitchen sink” supplement that combines protein, glutamine, BCAA, and other stuff, or to take them separately.

Specifically, what I take now after working out is a satchel of Myoplex Deluxe (as both a supplement and my final meal of the day). Among other things it contains the following:

Protein 53g
Glutamine 12.68g
BCAA 10.8g
Aspartic Acid 4.70 g
Lysine 4.20 g
Proline 4.10 g
Threonine 3.00 g
Serine 2.70 g
Alanine 2.20 g
Tyrosine 2.00 g
Phenylalanine 2.00 g
Arginine 1.50 g
Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT's) 1.50 g
Methionine 1.20 g
Histidine 1.10 g
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) (80%) 1.00 g
Glycine 1.00 g
Cysteine 870.00 mg
Tryptophan 840.00 mg
Choline 240.00 mg
Boron 20.00 mg


There’s a lot of stuff packed into one satchel of Myoplex Deluxe, but I am currently thinking of replacing this with a combination of Muscle Milk, Glutamine powder, and some kind of BCAA supplement.

(Note that I also supplement with separate multi-vitamin, fish oil, and a joint formula with glucosamine).

Any advice from the experts?

Are the amino acids in Myoplex Deluxe free form? Or are they all bonded together in protein form?

To me I don't see a lot of supplements, I see them listing the amino acid profile of the protein. So yo are taking a protein supplement.

Try micronized creatine monohydrate, BCAA free form powder, glutamine free from powder etc. Beta alanine I have heard good news about and want to try out also. I would say creatine will work most noticeably.

Go to www.bulknutrition.com to get bulk powders for cheap.

Are the amino acids in Myoplex Deluxe free form? Or are they all bonded together in protein form?

That's one of the questions I have started asking myself and I can't find any information about it on EAS' site, which is one of the reasons I am considering "factoring out" my supplements.

Are the amino acids in Myoplex Deluxe free form? Or are they all bonded together in protein form?

To me I don't see a lot of supplements, I see them listing the amino acid profile of the protein. So yo are taking a protein supplement.

Try micronized creatine monohydrate, BCAA free form powder, glutamine free from powder etc. Beta alanine I have heard good news about and want to try out also. I would say creatine will work most noticeably.

Go to www.bulknutrition.com to get bulk powders for cheap.

LI beat me to it. Basically what he said. Specially, check the website he recommends - good prices.

As he said, on top of your protein supplement, take BCAA and glutamine (and if you can afford it, HMB). My stomach doesn't get too happy with creatine after a couple of weeks of using it, but it does give results. Some people have that problem, and some people don't.

If you are lifting a lot (for powerlifting or bodybuilding sports), another supplement you may want to consider is Nitric Oxide (NO2) - this is what I've heard (personal annecdote). I have a friend, a female bodybuilder who swears by NO2 over creatine (due to NO2 not causing bloating), and in her opinion, if you use one, you don't need the other. That's her personal experience with NO2 and creatine.

I love myoplex. It tastes better than most other shakes, it's rich, good nutritional content, and most imporant of all (at least for me), it has fiber. I'm rarely taking it anymore, however. This is due to its fat content (I can't bulk without getting fat, so I'm now settle to try to remain lean.) Instead I use the leaner "Extreme Body RTD 50" by "American Body Building" or "Micell Edge RTD 50" by "Iron Tek".

If you feel inclined to take a protein shake in powdered form and blend it with fruits and stuff, I strongly recommend Isopure (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/nb/isopure.html) by "Nature's Best" - I prefer the strawberry flavor one since it mixes well with OJ.

In any case, whether you make your own protein shake or drink a RTD, you'd be better off taking additional supplements.

Just wanted to post a link to a couple of sites where you can get very individualized blends of proteins, BCAAS, glutamines, etc. etc.

http://www.trueprotein.com/

and

http://proteinfactory.com/shop/home.php

I was suprised to find that some suppliments will compete for the same bonds. example: taking creatine and glutamine together is pointless. ME DID NOT KNOW THIS. ME LEARNING AS ME GO I GUESS.



How does creatine and glutamine compete for the same bonds? Are you talking about during digestion and absorption, or in the muscle?

I think the consensus on BB.com is that creatine and glutamine do not compete for the same receptors.

A lot of people there say glutamine has been "debunked" as a myth, as in it dosen't do much. Try it and see if you like it.

I like creatine, you don't have to load any form of it, and it is cheap.

NO is OK. I have taken Gaspari SuperPump, GNC Nitric Explosion, TRAC Extreme NO, N.O Xplode, and Shock Therapy. They make me crap like crazy or jitter to death!

I liked TRAC the best but they are all expensive. I now take a few grams arginine ethyl ester and a Redline(or something similar) and its great, much better than other stuff. I take creatine at 5 grams a day to.


Dream stack when I have my money back: Creatine, Citruline Malate, Beta Alanine, BCAA, protein, arginine.

BTW, I took 20 grams glutamine before BJ once (just coincidence that I took it prior to) and I noticed an INSANE pump. Like hurt to close my biceps for the RNC!

A week or so later I read that larger doses of glutamine could give a pump effect. Better than I felt on other NO products. Lots cheaper to.

Wow, 20g. That's a pump! I usually take just 5g of glutamine (and 1,000mg of vitamin C) in the morning and 2g to 4g more of glutamine for the rest of the day. If I don't take my 5g of glutamine in the morning, it's a sure thing it will be a shitty day if I go train.

FYI, it's been a week since my g/f and I started taking two capsules of the following ginseng-based product with our morning glutamine:

http://www.herbalremedies.com/energy-pill1.html

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/herbal-remedies-usa_1943_104866235

So far, it has worked wonders in giving energy and mental alertness in the morning and early afternoon. The other supplements (glutamine, aminoacids, etc) have helped us deal with physical fatigue, but this particular ginseng product ameliorates mental fatigue better than anything else so far.

First off, Creatine shouldn't cause bloating at all. The extra Creatine Phosphate in the system allows for ATP to be created quicker for the usage of the muscles during activity. The sheer amount of this that would need to be ingested for any sort of bloating is ridiculous. Along with this BCAA's aren't a necessity if you're eating correctly. It's a bit overkill. Your body is going to create it's own amino's given the correct nutrients. Vitamins are fine. If you want more protein, eat more versus ingesting BCAA's.

Glutamine is expended during exercise. Ingesting it after exercise will keep the immune system at it's proper levels and contribute to increasing a positive nitrogen balance within the body.

Sadly, the pump goes away that you're speaking of. The pumps is the body's adaptation to specific activities through the enlarging of blood vessels. More of certain compounds enhances this, but only to a point and then no matter how much G you snort, you'll get little to no increased effect.

No2 was great the first time I used it. After that, the effects lessened each time.

Yeah, BCAA is usually more expensive with fewer benefits compared to eating meat, from my understanding.

==

Any good research to promote the Ester form over Monohydrate form of creatine?

===

Another quality brand of whey protein is ON Whey. Cookies and Cream is good, but you can get the vanilla flavor and make a lot of recipes from John Berardi. ON Whey is pharmaceutical grade protein.

First off, Creatine shouldn't cause bloating at all. The extra Creatine Phosphate in the system allows for ATP to be created quicker for the usage of the muscles during activity. The sheer amount of this that would need to be ingested for any sort of bloating is ridiculous. Along with this BCAA's aren't a necessity if you're eating correctly. It's a bit overkill. Your body is going to create it's own amino's given the correct nutrients. Vitamins are fine. If you want more protein, eat more versus ingesting BCAA's. That's where I rack my brain. After a week of taking creatine, my stomach just bloats and I get constipated. It maybe a function of my diet, but so far I haven't been able to figure it out. So now I only take creatine 3-4 days max, and only if I'm lifting and doing nothing else.

BTW, well-done red meat, or any type of meat seasoned with vinegars or wines do the exact same crap to my stomach. :icon_scra


No2 was great the first time I used it. After that, the effects lessened each time.Yeah, I've seen the same. The talk on the gym has usually been to take it for a few weeks, take a break from it for a few more weeks and restart again. But it's just talk and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Potential reason for bloating due to creatine:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=768093


So if there's no way for CEE to work the way it's supposed to, it's crap, right? Well, maybe not. The one advantage that CEE has is that, unlike creatine monohydrate, it's highly soluble in water. Now this sounds frivolous and softcore until you consider that some people experience bloating from regular creatine. One potential reason for this side effect is that people consume undissolved creatine, which could actually pull water into our GI tract and lead to bloating (11).

CEE minimizes this potential by simple virtue of dissolving in water very well. This means that when we drink it, we're drinking a mixed solution rather than water and a bunch of undissolved creatine powder — the latter of which may cause bloating.

To be completely fair, despite the vocal minority who may experience bloating, it's not as common as one might think. In fact, I don't know of a single person who has these effects, and they're virtually non-existent in the scientific literature. Most likely, people hear that creatine causes intramuscular water retention and psychologically transfers this effect to bloating out of sheer misunderstanding.


Citation for the bloating claim:

11. Greenhaff PL. The nutritional biochemistry of creatine. J Nutr Biochem 8:610-618. 1997.

Sounds like your stomach is sensitive... AWWWWWW!

The bloating people refer to is the damned stomach cramps that Creatine can cause as stated above.

As for an estered Creatine, the benefits are so much the bloating as it is the higher stabilization and uptake in the body versus CM. IE, advanced formulations of creatine don't get nuked by the Hydrochloric acid in the stomach. So you'll get 75% of the pill you take versus about 30% of each powdered serving that you take.

I think its cheaper to just take a larger serving of mono than to take a creatine with a "delivery system". It all ends up the same anyways right? As long as you are saturated it works I think.

I hated mono at first (GNC brand). I switched to MICRONIZED mono and it is much better. It dissolves easier.

Try micronized and drink a lot of water if you get cramps or bloating. Also, try drinking room temperature water to allow greater solubility. In cold water it won't dissolve.

Lastly on the BCAA's. I thought it was best to sip on them during a workout? As I understand, free form BCAA bypasses the intestines and is instead metabolized in the muscle tissue itself. Taking them in during training ensures your body is not stripping aminos from muscle for energy. But that could be completely wrong as far as I know.

If you can afford the liquid, go for it. Esthered Creatine isn't expensive and read my post above for benefits.