Do you Need a Pre-workout supplements for The Underwear Body?

Do you Need a Pre-workout supplements for The Underwear Body?

The rise and rise of the pre workout supplement

Nowadays being someone who works out seems to come with all these not so optional “extras”; Under armour (guilty, I have some!), an Ipod, a training partner, and a muscle magazine to follow the latest champs routine. Not only that,you will also need protein shakes, creatine, a pre-workout supplement, energy booster and to finish off, a post workout supplement!!

Fitness trainer Justin Newman  from Shape Sanity advice to say no to beta alanine in your pre-workout especially if you are having that  “pins and needles” feeling after every single workout!

Its quite a list. There is always a new “must have” and it’s a full time job keeping up. Plus you need a full time job to afford all this stuff. My first trip on payday used to be to the supplement store to buy another months supply.  Not cool, but very true.

“Is it lighter because I’m getting stronger……or because its empty?”

Remember the simpler days when all we had to do was eat our greens like mom said?

Where did it all come from? How much is just clever marketing and is any of it actually going to help us achieve our goal of The Underwear Body?

Do we even need workout supplements?

The way I see it the clue is in the title. Remember,  they are “supplemental” not a necessity.

Your workout is what matters. It’s the workout that creates a stimulus for your body to improve. That and your diet decide what you see in the mirror.

Believe me, I used to wish it wasn’t true. Then all that money I’d spent on supplements would have turned me into a muscle freak, instead of just helping me get fat (I know, why on earth I wanted to be a muscle freak back then is a whole other issue!).

The results will come if you are focused on working out in the best way for you.

Workout supplements can be a trap if you let them

The biggest danger I’ve observed isn’t empty calories turning to fat, or the damage supplements do to your bank balance. Its the reliance on them they create.

It happens way too often. Focusing on supplements can lead to obsessive compulsive behaviour as you put focus on things outside yourself,  thinking that what matters is your special formula.

I know a guy who used to set his alarm to wake in the middle of the night so he could wake up and have an extra protein shake.  I think he thought this was impressive. I thought it was too much! Where does it end? Actually for this fella, it ended with taking anabolic steroids.

I think I got lucky in that my results from going down the supplement route were poor (just read my story!) because it meant I had to tear it up and start again. If I had made even some small progress I probably would have latched onto that as validation, and still be on that road now.

Here are six things I like to remind myself whenever I hear some new hype about supplements. Some of them might be useful for you:

1)Keep your eyes on the prize
Whatever the hype says I know you don’t need supplements to get in shape, because I’ve done it without them. Besides, the kind of people I admire look like they are too busy getting on with living life to the full to worry about all this stuff.

 

“Laird Hamilton; surfing legend and cool guy”

2)Supplements will never be the cause of your progress or lack of it
One guy at my gym would always go on about how he worked out, and didn’t use supplements. Great, except he’d always point this fact out as a reason for his lack of improvement! If he really believed in their magical powers that much, I really wish he would  have just took them. And stopped moaning to me.

3)Don’t let a supplement steal your glory
Is it all psychosomatic? Remember as a kid you wanted to wear the running shoes you thought would make you run faster?  I think supplements are a lot like that. If you believe in them you will probably get the benefits because you will push harder in your workouts……so push harder anyway! And take all the credit for yourself.

4)Confidence comes from getting it “handled”
One of the greatest things about Body Design is the way looking and feeling better gives people the confidence to grab life by the horns. In contrast, the people I know who are supplement focused seem to lack self belief. Any progress they make is put down to the magical potions they take, not the work they have done to change things for the better. How sad.  If you make a positive change give yourself the credit!!

5)Free your mind!

 

Supplements are like the blue pill in the matrix. You can choose that route, and it will all look and sound great, it just isn’t real. The truth is you have to figure out the answers yourself, that means finding the right training and nutrition plan for you.

I’m not so much anti supplement, if they work for you, then work them. Rather, I am pro results, and you are way more likely to get results by focusing on the things that really matter, your workouts and eating right, instead of obsessing over what supplement to take, how much, and when.

Get the fundamental things right and you will surprise yourself with what you achieve. Oh yeah, and you’ll be richer too. Which leads to my final point…….

6)Use your money to have fun!
There are plenty of things to do with your money besides spend it on powdered food.

 

“The reviews weren’t so great, but Alfie is a pretty cool film, and he knows how to have fun, well at least at first anyway. Check it out.”