Basically all companies that provide some type of fitness supplement promises you that their product is your golden ticket to reaching your goals. Can we really expect this to be true while so many of us are still struggling and working hard to get to our goals? If there was a supplement out there that could guarantee you to reach your goals, everybody would be taking it. Well to be fair, there’s something like that out there but it’s not the route a lot of people want to take, if you get what I am saying.

Nothing can replace hard work, there’s no magic pill

The first myth I want to talk about is that there’s no such thing as supplements replacing hard work. I think we’re expecting to much from supplements that we’re using, just because you’re drinking a protein shake once or twice a day doesn’t mean that it’s going to make up for lazy efforts in the gym. Supplements are called supplements for a reason, they’re there to support your nutrition and your efforts in the gym. I want to advise you that the use of supplements should be earned by putting effort in to your nutrition and fitness first. There seems to be this false image out there that even though you’re just starting out, supplements are magically going to get you somewhere. Hopefully you see that hard work + good nutrition (this can include supplementation) is the real formula for success. Go through your nutrition and if you see that there are gaps that you can fill with supplementation, go for it.

The quality of your supplements matter

It’s more that the ingredients of your supplements matter. I touched on this in last week’s blog, where I talked about the difference between essential and non-essential amino acids. Let’s take it as an example, Your protein shakes and BCAA’s need to have the right amino acids and the right consistency in there. If you’re using a protein supplement or BCAA’ that’s filled up with non-essential amino acids you’re filling up a storage that’s already full and you might as well give your money to charity. The products that actually give you the right mix usually are a little bit more expensive but it’s worth it. Don’t pay money for something that your body produces for free! This is the same thing for a lot of other supplements out there, a lot of times the product could be something that benefits you but the quantities of the right ingredients are off. That’s how a lot of companies trick us into buying their supplements, by putting the ingredients  in there, just not in the quantities that actually have a positive effect.

Creatine is not the be all end all of supplements,

Don’t get we wrong, creatine can be a good supplement for the right person. There’s also a chance that taking creatine does not impact your performance whatsoever. It has everything to do with what you’re working towards and what your creatine storage looks like to begin with. If the storage in your body is already full it could be the case that supplementation is not going to have any effect on you because you can’t add to something that’s already filled up. If you’re thinking of supplementing with creatine think about your goals first. Does it make sense for you to start using creatine? If you’re trying to run a marathon it might not make a whole lot of sense to start there. If you’re trying to gain muscle mass, get stronger or anything along those lines it could potentially be beneficial to you. The one thing I am trying to make clear is that creatine is not magically going to achieve your goals for you.

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