A Beginners Supplement Stack

In recent posts i talked about how supplements can help improve your diet and why we take them, now i'm going to give you an idea of a basic supplement stack for beginners. I seem to come across two different types of beginners so i'm going to hit a general audience here.

1. Someone wanting to gain size and strength. 

2. Someone wanting to lower fat percentage. 

The stack that i am going to give you here is one that everyone no matter their needs should be in their supplements, now you can add to these, but i am going to give you the basics. This stack needs to be taken with a combination of strength and cardio training no matter what you want from your body. 

For both person 1 & 2 you will want to get the following: 

A protein powder - Each serving should have 25g+ of protein, this is a great supplement for what ever you're doing because it is going to enable you to recover faster and build muscle allowing you to always be ready for your next workout. This won't get you bigger, if you want to build muscle your diet is going to be the one thing to focus on; it is going to help and aid recovery. 

(Servings Per Day 1-4)

Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) - These are essential in the synthesis of protein without these it make it harder for protein to be activated, there are found in protein powder but adding them is going to only help the cause. 

(Servings Per Day 1-3)

Multi-Vitamin - Any kind of multi-vitamin is essential to a diet, now you can't solely rely on them and you still have to eat your greens but when you are putting your body under stress everyday you need to keep the organs healthy from the inside-out. 

(Servings Per Day - Depends on MultiVitamin Bought)

Green Tea or Coffee Extract - This can be bought in a supermarket or your local supplement store, whether you are trying to lower fat % or gain muscle this is a great natural supplement. It is not only going to boost your metabolism but also if taken before a workout give you that extra energy to run further or lift longer. 

(Servings Per Day 1-3 Dependent on Strength of Extract)

Like i say this is your basic supplement stack, as you get more advanced you are going to start trying different things and see what works for you. Servings sizes depends on your personal goals. 

Any questions be sure to comment or tweet: 

@LifestyleFuse 

Supplements for Beginners

Its a general question that always seems to come around, "What supplementation should i take and do they even work?"

The answer is yes they do work, which ones should you take? Now that is un-answerable over a blog. My aim is to give you a little better understanding on what they do and how they work.

End of the day it all depends on what your goals are, the whole point of supplementation is to supplement a diet, therefore whatever your goals are you cannot solely rely on them. The most common supplement is protein shakes/bars but for you to gain lean muscle you need 1-1.5g of protein per lb of lean muscle therefore it would be very difficult to do this with just protein shakes. You also need to get all types of protein (soy, whey, casein etc.) within your digestive system therefore having a high protein diet is essential.

Same applies for all of the other supplements, as well as taking them you need to look for them naturally within a healthy diet. Someone who is looking to gain weight is going to take a totally different stack of supplements than someone looking to lower fat percentage.

Any further questions tweet or comment and ill be sure to get back to you.

Twitter: @LifestyleFuse

Shredding Fat

This question seems to arise all the time, how do I lose weight from a certain area? (Stomach, Arms or Legs.)

The answer is you can't, your body decides this not the exercises you decide to do. Doing abs will not get rid of fat from your stomach, bicep curls from your arms or squats from your legs. Don't get me wrong it can build muscle in these places but it will still be covered with the fat that was there before if you continue a bad diet.

When you decide to eat well and exercise, calories will be burnt and in turn getting rid of fat % but you body will decide where this is going to be burnt from. Unfortunately for me and everyone else the body tends to keep the fat storage just above your hips and around your last set of abs.

So you need to stick with the healthy eating and the regular exercise and wait until your body decides to take the fat away from the part of the body you wish for.

Don't let this get you down because with a consistent healthy lifestyle you are going to be able to get rid of this fat.

Twitter: @LifestyleFuse
Facebook: Fuse Lifestyle

Take That Step Into The Gym

Ok, so people always want to get into the gym but always have some excuse. Most of the excuses i hear are usually to do with not knowing the equipment very well, don't want to be judged, girls, and guys for that matter, don't want to get too muscular and the excuses go on forever.

Listen we all had to start somewhere and when i was 15 walking into that gym, lifting 5lb dumbbells let me tell you i had no clue what i was doing. Dumbbell curl and chest press were about the only thing i knew until i started watching people, reading blogs and just getting to know the equipment. 8 years on ill still pick up a dumbbell and try a random exercise i seen on Instagram or Twitter, see if it works for me and how i feel and then i might add into my routine.

What i'm trying to say is take that step, you'll never regret it. I promise now, you won't be judged, you won't get too big (Bodybuilders eat over 7,000 calories a day for years to get where they got) but i will tell you what you will get, great self-esteem, superb confidence and a great body to go with it (If you work hard).

Make that decision, be the best person you can.