Supplements that help w/ training and maintaining weight

[Dillon Thomassee]

Hey guys,
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with coupling supplements with their climbing training. I have been an athlete for most of my life and used supplements for almost every type of training I have done whether it be for olympic lifting, distance running, or just free weight training. I have used "general" performance supplements like creatine, pre workouts that contain NO, and amino acid supplements or BCAAs.
I'll most likely keep taking BCAAs and carb heavy protein shakes to help keep my weight where it currently is (190).... But, would there be anything you guys would recommend supplementing my training with?

[Chris W]

Dillon, I use caffeine (typically black coffee) as a pre-workout, a whey protein drink with a small amount of an alkalinized form of creatine as a post workout, and an additional slow absorption protein drink for an overnight recovery drink. One problem with creatine, and many supplements in general, is that they can add unneeded and unnecessary weight to your body, which will in turn impact your strength to weight ratio. I've experimented with what I use and have found that, for me, it does not impact my weight but does seem to help me recover from my workouts.

The Anderson brothers have a very nice chapter in The Rock Climbers Training Manual on nutrition.

[kerwinl]

Morning:Omega 3 Fish Oil (2g epa/1.5g dha), Vitamin D3
Preworkout: BCAA's before my workout, coffee if it is before 1PM.
Evenning: Calcium/Magnesium

Those are the only things I have found helpful, and they might give a few % advantage at that. Worth it? I think so, if you sweat the other details as well.

[MarkAnderson]

I've been taking Glucosamine/Chondroitin for the past decade or so for placebo effect if nothing else.

[boulderdaz]

Hi, I normally have caffeine beforehand, and a protein shake afterwards, and this serves me well. I take glucosamine daily, which I think helps with the aches and pains, but it may also just be the good Ol' placebo effect...

[Chris W]

Just because it's a placebo doesn't mean it doesn't actually work

[markdixon]

I started using beta alanine about a year ago when I was badly overtrained and it seemed to help.
The controlled release formulation is said to avoid the side effect of paresthesias (tingling) that sometimes bothers folks.

[ericb]

Check out examine.com - there's lots of good info there to help you decide what might work and what might not... For joints I just started taking cissus. Kind of hard to find, I had to order it on Amazon, but I've had chronic finger pain over the last 3 years and I'm in the strength phase right now with little to no pain. Could also be just because I have never properly trained until getting this book though.

[Jack Ziegler]

I'm experimenting with a combination of four different amino acids right now. I'm in the strength phase. Taurine and caffeine for mental focus. Beta-alanine for delayed fatigue during workouts (this does work), and also Glutamine and leucine. The Glutamine reduces muscle catabolism, and the leucine increases testosterone and anabolism. I am getting significantly stronger right now and have only gone up 3 pounds, not sure if it is placebo effect though for the Glutamine and leucine. I'm also taking fish oil and a combo multivitamin / joint supplement. I've also taken out most meat and milk products out of my diet, and get most of my protein now from eggs, fish, and soy (to supposively reduce muscle inflammation and gaining muscle weight which happens too easily for me). It'll be interesting to see how these amino acids affect me once I go on the diet during the power phase. I agree, that website is the best source. Great for figuring out dosage and links to actual studies.


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[Jack Ziegler]

leucine is one of the amino acids in the BCAA powders. My hours of googling told me it's more efficient to just take leucine and that's the one most studies show has a slight anabolic effect.


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[joshvillen]

I am taking almost everything a Body builder who's cutting for a comp would take.

Morning begins with shake that contains egg, whey, and casein protein. Then I take my multivitamins which include joint support, and possibly a weight loss supplement like hdyroxycut if I am trying to tone down. Then whatever small snack I want for breakfast.

Lunch starts with my second protein shake, some bcca's for my afternoon gym sesh and food.

Pre workout begins with some creatine and tons of caffeine.

Afterwards I take Post workout and Post workout Carbs= which is ideally dextrose

Followed by another Protein shake and creatine supplement

[Sander]

Eating mostly vegetarian, I started experimenting a bit with whey protein and creatine last year. Especially from the latter I've noticed clear gains, as can be expected for a vegetarian I gues... Anyway, I've written some posts on it for my blog a little while ago. Here's the link to the post describing my experience supplementing creatine:

justanotherrockclimber.blogspot.nl/2014/12/food-for-vegetarian-climbers-part-3.html

[joekr07]

How permanent/temporary is the weight gain from creatine?
Ie would it be possible to take creatin for the strength phase, and then taper of into the performance phase?

[Sander]

It would. But the weigth gain isn't that big, I gained about 1 kg. Creatine can give you more weigth gain in muscle mass if you train right for it, but that's up to you (and undesirable for most climbers I'd say).

[joshvillen]

Give it a try and report back. Everyone seems to react differently to creatine. I personally dont gain any discernible water weight.