By: Leo Fontana

We see them everywhere, they have the most ridiculous ads and always trying to sell you some false hope. They are mostly not controlled by the FDA and can literally just have some made up substance that they tell you is protein but it can be completely fake news. Thats scary huh, well we hope most companies that do well in the market have integrity and trying to put the best product out there. There is a reason why they are successful and get some results, just like anything in the word there is always good ones and bad ones.

I get this questions pretty often, “what supplements do you take?” Well since I was 14 years old I have been going to the gym and care about my recovery and muscle building capabilities, I went to the gym at a young age because I wanted to be a better basketball player, the trainer in the gym said taking protein would be a good idea, so I started, I have been taking some type of nutrition supplements since.

A lot of people have a stigma on taking supplements saying they dont work and many other reason like, they make me bulky or they hurt my stomach. Some say that supplements aren’t necessary, and they are right!! If you have  well balanced diet and get enough macro and micro nutrients you should not worry about supplements. However the problem is that not many of us have a perfect diet that always gets enough food and micronutrients to feed ur bodies the best way possible, then add exercise and many other life variables and we really can’t get to our best potential. That is when supplements come into play. It is a supplementation to our current nutrition never a substitution to it. If you can get enough from your diet great, don’t stress about, if not that’s when high quality supplements can help you out.

So keeping that in mind, I go back to my original question I get a lot, I am male about 200 pounds, who loves to exercise (at least 1 hour a day) and have a somewhat active job. I coach multiple classes a day and have clients, that means I don’t have a much flexible job and when I am doing those things I can’t have a meal, so the times I do have to eat I try to get the most out of my whole foods in that time. Still, after all of that I find myself having a really hard time getting my macros in to support my lifestyle. So I take a protein powder a couple times a day. I like to mix one scoop (24g of protein) with my coffee in the morning, it taste good and it helps me reach what I need, then after I workout I take another scoop (another 24g), and if I know I low that day aor had  physically hard day I make a protein “frosty” (1 scoop of chocolate protein, a half cup of almond milk, lots of ice and a little water, blend in the blender and enjoy )before going to bed (another 24g), that is 72g of protein in supplements. I try to get another 130 or so in my meals among breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also take every day, a fish oil pill, one in the morning and one at night. As a western diet is very high on Omega 6s, we need to balance these fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6s) that is why people tell you to take an omega 3 pill so we can bring these markers to a balance and neutral state. If you eat see food all the time then you are probably good and don’t need that, I don’t so I supplement it, I know it will help my inflammation system in my body, specially exercise like we do.

My next supplement is a multi vitamin. I know I don’t eat enough and a good enough variety of vegetables so I need this supplement to help me get all of my micronutrients necessary to make my body the best that it can be at all times. Micronutrients play huge roles on many different things but what I like to focus on is helping fight sickness and recovery.

I also take creatine, one scoop before bed, every night. I know creatine is one of the most talked about supplement out there and many of us have had bad experience or heard about something going on with that. Creatine and caffeine are two of the most studied supplements in the world. Many with a lot of good response. There is one problem though, QUALITY. If you want to start taking creatine for muscle recovery, extra energy while working out and help fight brain fogginess then pick a great quality creatine. One that has Creapure, this is the purest and best type of creatine for you. I take the Creatine-JB from xendurance because I know it is the best type our theremade with the creapure creatine. I take it before bed because you want  avoid taking it with caffeine. It will work best for your recovery before bed plus it has magnesium in it that can help you get better sleep.

Lastly, I take the extreme Endurance. This is a product that is no other like it, it is also known around our gym as the”sore pills”, these pills work like magic, I haven’t taking them for about 3 months and recently started taking again because I felt like I was getting sore and wasn’t able to push in my workouts like before. I started taking the again (3 at night and 3 in the morning) and I feel more recovered the next day and most importantly to me, I get an extra gear during workouts, I find myself not getting as tired as quickly when taking them. I know it sounds crazy and kind of like placebo effect but it works wonders for me and many other DE members that use this product often. I can only say if you try it let me know what you think, if you dont you are missing out that is all.

Like I mentioned above, we dont push supplements as a first resource, we believe and always will believe that whole foods re the best way to get your nutrition from but if you dont supplements can  be a great way to get the best out of your body while keeping it healthy and ready to go at all times.

If you have any questions about any supplements contact me or any of our coaches and we will do our best to help you and direct you. We will make sure that we can figure out a way for you to get your diet the way it should or direct you to someone that will and if necessary add supplements to it.