The Best Supplement, By: Kerry Dulin
For adding serious mass or getting ripped
If you are like 90% of bodybuilders you want to know the best way to pack on the mass. The other 10% are struggling to improve definition while maintaining what they have worked so hard to achieve. Properly applied supplements play a role in either scenario however before I address the topic of supplementation I want to state a very important and absolutely critical fact.
There is no magic bullet.
You have to work your ass off! Even a chemically enhanced bodybuilder has to hit the weights. We natural lifters talk about our enhanced brothers as haven taken the "easy way" however the fact is that there is no easy way. The best supplement (or steroid) on the market is only 1/3 of the equation. It must be properly combined with two other essential elements in order to create the perfect anabolic environment.
What I am about to share with you is so basic and vital to successful bodybuilding that the majority of lifters simply stumble over it. Some of you will read what I am about to say and dismiss it as being to elementary, it just can't be that simple. But I assure you that it is not. No serious bodybuilder from the local competitor to Olympia contender will debate what I am about to say. You can ignore the three page ads with the muscle bound hulk and the fitness model clinging amorously to his flexed bicep. The supplement in the ad did not bring him or her success. You can forget about steroid cycles and post cycle recovery. They are totally useless without the one essential supplement. Even the best training program is a total waste of time without the proper administration of this supplement. So what in the hell is this supplement? If it's so flipping great why haven't we all heard of it?
You have. The problem is that many bodybuilders fail to recognize the vital role that this supplement plays in building a massive or ripped physique and thereby fail to make serious gains.
Are you riveted in suspense yet?
Don't stop reading at the next line or you might just end up wondering a year from now why you haven't made serious gains.
It's food. Good old home made food like your Mom used to make. This isn't BS. I can't tell you how many times a novice lifter has complained to me that they haven't been able to add size or strength. Typically their complaint is followed with the question of "what do you take?"
Listen to me now, hear me latter but do it soon! What you eat is 100 times more important than what you take. You simply cannot gain muscle mass in the absence of proper nutrition. Zip-zilch, nothing! There are three essential elements in bodybuilding.
1. Proper Training
2. Proper Nutrition
3. Proper Rest
People seem to place more emphasis on the training and tend to ignore the nutrition and rest part. BIG MISTAKE. If you really want to grow you will recognize that no one of these elements is more or less important than the other. You can have the perfect blue prints for the most magnificent building but if you fail to bring the construction material your dream will never become a reality. If you don't give your workers time off to recover from the stresses of the job they will burn out and the work will come to a stand still. If this sounds too elementary that's fine. It's not Rocket Science folks. Those of you who fail to accept this will probably go on from one advanced lifter to another asking "what do you take", when the truth is that if you fail to implement the three essential elements it simply doesn't matter what you take. End of discussion.
People who see what I eat often ask, "How can you eat that shit?" The average person will never understand my response however you should. I don't eat something because I like it, I eat for the goal. Bodybuilders eat according to the season and for most of us there are only two seasons. Bulking season and cutting season. The bulking season is like an 8 month long Thanksgiving dinner. Well, maybe not quiet like that but it rocks. The cutting season is typically through the spring and summer months. The duration is determined by how long it will take you to get ripped and the length of your competitive season. Many bodybuilders will shoot for one big competition in a year while others will stay lean and compete in many shows. Regardless of if you are bulking or cutting however, food is your ticket to ride. No successful competitor leaves this to chance. Do your homework. Diets can be tricky and it is important that you allow time for experimentation. While there are some general rules that apply no one diet will work for everybody. You have to fine tune a diet to see what will work best for you.
In the home page of the Lift for Life site I have a link to what I describe as "The awful truth about bodybuilding". It is a comical and somewhat sarcastic look at the relationship between supplement companies and our sport. There is another truth however that the supplement companies would rather keep hidden from aspiring athletes. The truth is that the best supplement for achieving your physique goal will not be found in a pill, but on a plate.
Eat smart.
