Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

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sandigirl06
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Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by sandigirl06 »

Hi, ShapeFit friends......ok, so here is the situation. One week ago husband and I go into a GNC store for a pre-workout supplement for me as I need a little help for 5 a.m. workouts. The guy gives us some sample packets of a powder supplement called Pump Fuel. I really liked it! It's pink, tastes great and gave me lots of energy!!! I have been using it for the last week. Well, today I get weighed by trainer and I am 3 lbs heavier and I have been noticing that is pooching big time! Ummm. diet is still the same (pretty good) and I am doing MORE cardio and have added kickboxing to routine so how could that have happened?? Also % went up from 29% to 35%!!! All this in a week and a half with no changes to diet and with more calorie burn?? Well, husband looked at the package and discovered that it contained Creatine. Upon research he discovered that it is not good for women to take Creatine so I have stopped taking it. It causes waterweight gain so could that be the cause of gain and puffiness?? If so how long after discontinuing does the waterweight disappear? Are there any other supps u guys recommend?? Thx!!!!
sandigirl06
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by sandigirl06 »

Yeah, Les, the 5 a.m. thing is a BUMMER!!! With jobs and kids is the only time we can find to do it so that is what it is. Well, with the World Series being over now I can finally go to bed at regular bed-time. Sadly the Phillies did not win. :( Anyways, the same tech did measurements on the same scale first thing in the a.m.. Probrably the supplement coupled with hormonal cycle did it. UGH!!!!!! Being a female so bittersweet! husband eats way more carbs than me and still manages to stay lean!!!!! :roll:
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Boss Man »

Pity you hadn't referenced Supplement questionnaire post, where I hammered the research angle, espeially for ingredients and what they do.

Creatine for women is not wrong, but because of the water retention, and because a lot of women never do stuff that requires Fast Twitch explosive moment, either because they do endurance stuff, or live in a mythical world where heavy weights, buff you up in next to no time, many will never properly utilise the ability of Creatine, plus guys, myself included weighing 30-40lbs more than a healthy average female, can get crap results off it, with their increased muscle power and strength. I'm living proof Creatine doesn't do much for some

Although Creatines water retention is an issue especially for women during that week, as that causes water retention as well.

Creatien for women in relation to power increases, will yield some result, but in many cases for women who lift solidly and perhaps do stuff like boxing, martial arts etc etc, it probably won't do much, givne point about heavier men.

So you were better off not taking it, obviously with hindsight.

If you want a supplemnent for pre-workout, you would be better just taking something like a Carb supplement, if that's what you want, like freeform Maltodextrin in a tub and see how that goes.

Otherwise, have something like a bowl of Cereal with a 1/2 -1 scoop of Protein powder, or swap the Cereal for something like a Banana.
sandigirl06
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by sandigirl06 »

Thank you for your recommendations, Bossman. I have ditched the Pump Fuel and will try the carb supp. I feel soo much better already since all the water retention has pretty much dissolved. I will leave that stuff for the guys! :wink:
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by BIGHEARN »

You know...it takes me a bit to get "excited" about working out so I tried NO-Expolode...umm, not for me. Then I also went to GNC and they suggested this stuff called jack3d..yes with a "3" in the spelling. It has creatine in it too but for a pre-workout sup it really does me good. I feel normal but strength has increased tremeandously! I was benching 210lbs sets of 3 with reps of 8,6,4. Now after two weeks I am up to 3 sets with last set of 4-5reps at 245lbs. sups are:

jack3d-before workout
celltech-after workout
animal pak-b4
POWER FULL-b4
SYNTHA 6-Twice a day.

inputs? Yes, is a littel poochy too but muscles are feeling great!
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Boss Man
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Boss Man »

I read a write up on that Jack3ed

1. They tell you about other not named products, being full of xyz and miniscule ingredients.

2. The write-up didn't tell you how much of the ingredients were in Jack3d

3. They also neglected to mention that Caffeine constricts bloodvessels, so it will just compete with the Arginine, plus constricted Bloodvessels means less Oxygen to cells, which means potentially less ability to create ATP, which is an Oxygen carrier, less ability to Metabolise Glucose to Pyruvate, or at least less ability to permit conversion of Pyruvate to Acetyl Co-A, meaning you'll potentially hinder the Creatine from entering the Krebs Cycle as efficiently, as less Oxygen with Pyruvate means more Ethanol and Lactic Acid.

Plus Caffeine partly blocks Iron absorption. A substance needed to help regulate Erythrocyte, (Red Blood Cells), which carry Heamaglobin and in turn, Oxygen.

If you constrict bloodvessels, you may put more strain on the Heart, when the Caffeine stimulates the heart and causes it to try and pump more blood through constricted spaces. This might nake you sweat more, which in turn will deprive you of more Water, thus more Oxygen, thus more possibility that you could cut ATP production slightly and increase Pyruvate to anaerobic end product conversion instead.

Plus less water in your body might hinder Creatine results.

You're also taking Celltech which is expensive piss, with 10g Creatine per scoop, so you're taking about 15g Creatine, split within about 60-90 minutes of the two doses.

Your muscles might be fine, but come back in about 10 years and let us now how your Kidneys are fairing up.
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Patrick »

supplement regime liek to hear your input boss man

Myofusion protein powder (i take it twice a day)
Real Mass (use if i miss a meal)
Xtend (Drink during workout)
Optimen (Multivit) 3 times a day breakfast dinner and supper
Nutra Sea by Ascentia (fish Oil i teaspoon when i wake)
Glutamine 5g before bed
NO shotgun (ill say it here i got a great deal on 3 bottles of the stuff AND I HATE IT!!! i sold 2 bottles and am taking 1 i made sure to be getting enough vit b to carry it and everything but still the stuff gives me the energy to throw the gym around followed by a nap really its not worth the money creatine in there is minimal and its just expensive crap!)

I also eat 8 times a day and drink 4L of water at minimum

thoughts
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Boss Man »

Patrick wrote: Myofusion protein powder (i take it twice a day)

(If it's just protein and Carbs and not expensive stuff with Herbs, hype and other unneccessary stuff, then sure keep taking it.)

Real Mass (use if i miss a meal)

(Don't skip meals. You're buying food to eat, then spending extra to cover your butt, when you make mistakes with your diet. Logically, it's not good. Nothing bad meant by that, but basically tighten up on dietary habits, then you don't need this :).)

Xtend (Drink during workout)

(Drink water. Anything that you're drinking, (I haven't looked it up), that has things like Herbs, Vitamins, Amino Acids etc etc, is a con to some extent, even if the price in relation to content is justified, who needs it? I assume it's that type of drink. Unless it's so good it makes you lift 20% more weight 10 minutes after consumption, then it's not that great. Especially if such drinks have crappy Caffeine in there, that constricts blood vessels, makes the Heart pump even faster than with constricted vessels, obviously reducing Oxygen supply to cells, which may increase Lactic Acid buildup, more fatigue, slower replenishment to muscles between sets etc etc.)

Apart from maybe the simple Sugar sparing you some Glycogen and possibly aiding recovery, it's not worth it. You spend money to hydrate, when good old water always does the trick and is free if you use the tap in the Gym like I do.

Apart from anything else, how would you know any of the contents interefered with other supplements, or caused long-term physical issues, or interefered with medication if you ever neeed any? Unless you research energy drinks with Herbs and stuff like that in, to identify what is a beneficial amount of Herb and / or risks, you might buy something with a long-term hidden risk, or simply a big con, with all hype and little content.

If you wanted to drink something during a workout, that is not just plain old water, buy flavoured water, or one of those Vitamin water ones, with a boosted mineral content, as those should be fine)


Optimen (Multivit) 3 times a day breakfast dinner and supper

(Don't need that that much, you might promote vitamin toxicity or metallic element toxicity, like Copper toxicity, or Wilsons Disease, (Copper related), Selenosis, or competition, like Zinc / Copper, Copper / Iron etc etc. So just have one a day max.)

Nutra Sea by Ascentia (fish Oil i teaspoon when i wake)

(Perfectly fine.)

Glutamine 5g before bed

(Perfectly fine.)

NO shotgun (ill say it here i got a great deal on 3 bottles of the stuff AND I HATE IT!!! i sold 2 bottles and am taking 1 i made sure to be getting enough vit b to carry it and everything but still the stuff gives me the energy to throw the gym around followed by a nap really its not worth the money creatine in there is minimal and its just expensive crap!)

(You said it yourself. With NO, remember this simple thing. It says NO on the label not YES, for a reason. You just identified that reason yourself, so enough said on that :wink:)
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Patrick »

i agree completely man aside from the xtend it is an amino acid powder basically it is favorite supplemnet by far that i am taking right now but you should look into it i believe its a great supp... myofusion is the best protein powder ive ever taken its a mix of whey and casien and taste great its a good mix

as for the vitamens they are as unregulated as every other supp but i never relized those issues the bottle says take 3 daily with meals so i just followed it also i was doing so to have enough vitamen b to transfr the NO shit whats your reccomendation for a multi?

thats for the help bossman
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Boss Man »

mistake on the Xtend, I thought it was an energy drink of some kind.

Still don't think you really need it, unless you subsituted it for protein powder afer workouts and stacked it with Glutamine as a synthesiser. I don't see the point of taking a repair and growth based supplement, during a period of muscle tearing, when you lift weights, as in mind, the lifting is counterproductive to the supplements ethos. Taking it afterwards should better optimise it's benefits in opinion.

As or a Multi Vit I'd, go for either Centrum, or one popular one I believe in the states is Animal Pak.

You could also use a multi-vit as part of the Post-workout stack with Glutamine and BCAA, or with Protein powder.
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Patrick »

the animal pack is more potent then optimen and centrum doesnt compare to either in values of nutrients in the bottle so why would you reccomend the animla pack which say take 2 packs of like 10 pills twice a day instead of the optimen im currently taking
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Boss Man »

Optimen sounds like something sold in America. I've heard people raving about Animal Pak, but to be honest have never really heard much about Optimen, so I can't really comment.
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Patrick »

im from canada but most of supplements are ordered from the states... optimen is a three a day vitamen with just three pills where as animal pack is dozens of pills in mind animal pack would be more potent and worse but i dont know havent done alot of research on either if anyone knows any details id be happy to hear em
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by Mark56 »

I use Advocare's Performance Elite Line of supplements for both pre-work out prep and post -work out recovery. I get the energy I need for strength gains I need with out the water retention issues discussed here. Remember ladies as a rule you don't have high enough testosterone levels in your blood stream to have to worry about bulking up. I use the rest of their nutrition line to fill in day to day nutrition gaps,since none of eat perfectly every day. Having said that,eating a healthy diet,getting plenty of rest( especially the night before your intended work out day) and maintaining proper hydration are key. I hope this helps.
:) Mark
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Re: Pre-workout supplement gone bad!

Post by lens_d »

xtend is awesome! but I belive that BCAA pills are way better. xtend is expensive for what you get out of it. I know its nice to sip on juice while working out but you will save yourself some bucks if you buy a big bottle of BCAA's
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