Supplements

The first time a box looking like the one below showed up on my doorstep, probably in January 2012 or so, I was almost embarrassed. At the time it seemed so totally crazy that I was now purchasing things from a website called bodybuilding.com. And the box was just so BOLD and ASSERTIVE about where it had come from. Suffice to say these days I have no shame, only excitement when these boxes arrive. They are filled with delicious protein powders and BCAAs and creatine and other fun things, all the powdery accessories to training that are not necessary, but can certainly be helpful. Sadly, they are no longer filled with pre-workout supplements, as my nutrition coach told me to cut those out as part of our effort to assess whether my cortisol levels were a bit high (caffeine/stimulants spike your cortisol levels, so if mine were elevated already, adding more stims to the mix probably wasn't helping.)

I came across this article from JTS Strength today that outlines the "big 3" supplements for athletes (creatine monohydrate, fish oil and protein powder) and I think the author makes some good points. There probably isn't anyone strength training with decent intensity who wouldn't benefit from these three supplements (and frankly everyone would probably benefit from fish oil, regardless of whether you're training or not.) It was another good reminder that as much as I liked my pre-workout stimulants, they really were more flash-bang than substance and are entirely not necessary for continued progress in the gym.