Supplements: Better Than Food?

This is one of the most difficult things to get across to the youth of today.

The bottle says, “Take some of these tablets and you too can look like this” – ‘This’, of course, is a person who has trained for at least five years, who has built some real quality muscle; a person who understands nutrition and what quality food will do to help bring on those popularly advertised physiques.

The advertising of supplementation and fat loss products has become so good that many people head over to the supplements aisle before they’ve even signed up to a gym facility. The packaging of such items has become so bright and shiny, so promising and optimistic in its offerings, that on a shelf six feet away from you, you can’t help but to head over and see what’s in the great-looking packaging – right?

MY D.I.Y TO GETTING THE GAINZ...

Well, I was that kid. The skinny one that didn’t understand why I had been dealt the card of not being muscular at school. I was drawn towards wanting a physique, as advertised! I was 18 years old and able to go to the gym.

My uncle was a bodybuilder, and all I wanted was to get big and strong – like him (or bigger!). I went out and bought all the supplements that were advertised for hard gainers just like me. Glutamine, creatine, mass builders – the works. I spent all my pocket money on this stuff. And then decided to hit the gym to get the gains without even asking for help or seeking out any advice, not even from family.

I started working out, a casual 3-4 days a week and absolutely smashing each body part in a BRO-SPLIT manner. Monday: chest; Tuesday: back; Wednesday off; then, legs and shoulders and arms all kind of mixed up as the structure dissolved midweek.  

I just knew from bodybuilding videos that the attitude was: if you didn’t kill the muscle group, did you even workout? Boy, was I wrong. After every gym session I would have my mass gainer and whatever else the salesperson from the local supplement store told me to take. I was gullible as anything and slowly started to notice that I was… actually losing a bit of weight! The complete opposite of what I was trying to achieve.

I eventually reached out to my uncle on the phone and told him exactly what was happening. He said, “Cal, I hear what you are saying. You’re training hard and you have all these supplements that are meant to help you gain a bit of size. But have you changed anything else since you started working out?”

The answer was, of course, that I hadn’t. And my uncle told me, “It’s not the supplements that will get you to where you want to be, it’s the FOOD. You need to be eating the right amounts of protein, carbs and fats.” He continues, “They are called supplements for a reason – they’re meant to supplement your diet, not replace it.”

I couldn’t believe the wisdom that had just been bestowed upon me. I was sure this was some sort of wizardry, but it really made sense. And since then I really found that a great diet is the best way to a healthy and fit lifestyle.

Picture a triangle. Now, fill it from the bottom with protein, then carbohydrates, then fats. Right on the top of the triangle in that tiny little point… That’s where the supplements go. This is a pretty cool way to remember the role supplements are meant to play in your diet. I find that a lot of people turn this triangle upside down and have the supplements first and then move on up towards the healthy food intake – a costly exercise that won’t earn you those results you’re working so hard for.

Keep that triangle the right way up.
Get yourself into a healthy eating routine. Then you can start to look at supplementation if you can’t manage to reach your recommended daily intake.

Food is King. And the better the quality of that food and the ingredients, the better.