What supplements do you use?
 

I'm not sure if this has been done here before, but I'm curious to see what others use for supplements.

A few guidelines:
- I'm mostly talking about workout supplements, not things like vitamins, fish oils, etc...
- Give us the name of the product and how long you've been using it, as well as what your schedule of use looks like.
- If you're using something and you like it, let us know! I am always open to trying new things for better performance.
- This is not a thread to debate the ethics of taking said supplements, with that said, I am not open to discussion of steroid/banned substance use.

I want to see some constructive conversation and create a place where anybody can come to find information about beginning or adding in supplements to their workouts.

For me personally, I use a few things to help me improve and see strength gains while training:

Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein, 2 years - 1 serving at least once a day in addition to after every ride.
GNC Pro Performance Beta Alanine, 2 years - 4 Caps 1 hour before a ride/workout.
Sport Legs, 3 years - 3/4 Caps before or after a ride depending on how my legs are feeling or if I feel that I am going to hurt the next day.

I'm interested to see how this goes.

Whey protein. Seemed to work well as I am a vegetarian. I stopped taking it for some reason and am about ready to restart.

Not sure if you're looking for suggestions, but I can highly recommend the Optimum Nutrition brand, lots of flavors if your picky and a good product.

I'm going on 57, and I'm a little bit on the bandwagon of if you can't get in shape naturally, then find something else to do, however......I do use 5 SportLegs capsules 1 hour before I ride. If I inadvertently skip them, I know quickly why I take them, cause my legs nearly explode when overly exertive, and they don't do that when I use them. Stuff works as much as I hate to admit it.

I also do Hammer Recoverite after rides when it's more convenient than a bottle of chocolate milk. For instance, I took a couple packs with me to the Blue Ridge Parkway last week, rode 50 miles with 4000 feet of climbing, then downed them in a freshly filled water bottle immediately after getting off the bike. Very easy to use. And it works, too. Ready to go again next day.

Use Hammer Gels in a flask while I ride. Apple flavor rocks. Instant energy. I like Sport Beans, too. Don't like chomps. Not in a mood for that kind of chewing while I ride. Sports beans are easier to handle. Otherwise, cookies (like fat free fig newtons), Hammer bars, Cliff Bars, etc. every hour or so for long rides. Mostly rides over 2 hours. Just Gel and water works well for me under 2 hours. Maybe a Hammer bar pre-ride, but usually oatmeal with raisins and some wild blueberries sprinkled on top. If it's really hot, I might dillute some Gatorade as well for the ride. Full bottle of ice with Gatorade poured over it. I like the clear flavor (ice) by far the best.

I guess the SportLegs was really all you were interested in, though. Don't use any other pills. Though a friend of mine SWEARS by Venum pills. Been using them for 2 years. Has lost 30 lbs and ride endurance and speed improvement is off the charts. But I'm afraid of them. Some bad press on them, and they are actually illegal in races I believe.

In addition to biking, i lift weights. Having said that i take GNCs amplifies whey protein, l-glutamine 5mg/day, CLA, creatine, and Jack3d for a pre-workout/ ride supplement.

Which Jack3d Products do you use? How do you like them? I've seen them before but haven't tried them yet.

Always look for suggestions. Thanks :)

I use the regular Jack3d, not the Yok3d by USP Labs. They enabled me to push all of my weight training goals up through my plateau. My normal body weight was 155 (for 20 years) and now am at 225. Awesome for all forms of exercise (hence it's inclusion on most professional and collegiate sports banned substances lists), just more effective at weight training.

bump!

So curiosity got me as I had never heard of the Jack3d product a quick search and the first few results are not something that would entice me to try this stuff :D

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/he...-boosters.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...l-effects.html

I use vitamin d and calcium. Multivitamin pills too, but just about a quarter of one a day. Mostly my diet is quite healthy.

I personally use jack3d regularly, read this article itll help you see why it's
actually still worth taking.

http://www.jack3d.org/is-jack3d-safe

I use Trader Joe's brand fish oil and Centrum Silver all year However, in season I have a veggie garden and hit the local farmer's markets for fresh produce to get my vitamins and minerals.

Looks promising. Although a 10 week study is hardly adequate to test any product.

Done to death.

Do a search for the world supplement and see what you can find.

I have gotten to the point where I make a lot of my own.
It all depends on you and your goals.

When I was doing long endurance rides in college I did supplements of vitamins E and B 12 and B 6 and B 2. Depletion of the water soluble B vitamins directly interferes with endurance performance. I supplemented B 2 because women use it faster than males and it's important in assisting in the breakdown of carbs and fats. I supplemented vitamin E if I though I was going to have some premenstrual tension.

Because a Professor friend was doing research into choline supplements for endurance athletes I also got a good look through blood/urine tests before and after efforts of how my body was using and depleting it so I used that only in 400km+ brevets or marathons

For long chain carbohydrates I usually used Hammer Nutrition fuels. For fats, fiber and protein from plant sources, I was and still am a vegetarian, I made my own granola bars with things like rolled oatmeal, nuts, chia and sunflower seeds, whey protein, flax seed, acai berry pulp, raisins and dates. I drank lots of water.

After a prolonged endurance effort I always took the next few days easy and use supplements consisting of multiple anti-oxidant free-radical scavengers to help recover in the shortest possible time.

Not doing extended long efforts because of work obligations now I still make my own energy bars and now my own sports drinks with water, sea salt, a crushed calcium magnesium tablet, some fruit juice and for sweetener a small amount of stevia leaf brewed into a base liquid.

After seeing Sportlegs mentioned in a number of posts over the past few years, I decided to give them a try.
Biggest issue for me, working at 64 right now, is not that I don;t have 'power' or 'endurance' or aerobic capacity; I think it's about commensurate with my age. And suffering has always been my strong suit, and about the only thing which did set me apart from the competition. But since about the mid 50's I've noticed that I get a rapid onset of what I would call 'lactic acid' buildup. To where, the effort I know I'm capable of, just can't happen because the legs are just burned up and become 'wooden'.
It's not nutrition - I eat very balanced, no junk, a bit of snacking, no softdrinks only water, a little beer and wine once a wk... Daily Vitamin supplements.
So abourt 2wks ago I started using Sportlegs, 3 caps before any pre-determined hard effort ride. The first 4 days or so I didn;t really sense anything different. but this past week I noticed that I was able to sustain effort for longer periods and retain power during those time without the debilitating burn. It meant the workouts were harder and I felt more 'worked' after.
Overall, I don;t think I'm putting out more power (can;t tell for sure since I don;t have a Power meter) but definitely seem to be able to sustain effort more in line with what I could do at a younger age.
It may be a shortterm 'placibo' effect, but I hope not. Anyway I'm excited to see some improvement over this 'age' hurtle. Even if it doesn't slow down aging; if this continues, it will makes things less discouraging as the 'slowing' effect continues.
put in a long, hard 60 miler yesterday, over a route I'm familiar with; mostly on my own, but did about a 12-14 mi section with a local sunday ride group in their 'fast' section, including a sprint. The Legs felt 10 yrs younger, and the ride was about 15 minutes shorter than what I've been avg'ng the last couple years.
also gonna start using them after long hard rides (which I didn't do yesterday - so feelin it today - time for a recovery ride this PM)

keepin my fingers crossed that this continues to work... :)

Hi5 or High5 drink tablets... If I'm honest, when I picked it up I thought they wouldn't work, but got a free pack off Evans when I brought some components. I tried some other stuff after I ran out of my first pack of 20, it was powder form and it wasn't nearly as good... So I'm guessing it must be better than some other products too. Can't say I've tried many different energy type drinks/tabs but these are my best so far...

There is this: http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements