Which Workout Supplements Actually Work? – A No-BS Guide

“Which workout supplements actually work?”

Ah, workout supplements…

One of the many banes of the fitness industry.

Not because supplements themselves are inherently bad.

But rather the nature of the industry to spew bullshit and misinformation which leads to many bad products on the market as well.

And unfortunately, supplements are one of them.

For one, the supplement industry itself is basically unregulated.

This means there is no governing agency to fact-check supplement companies and the products they put out onto the market.

So supplement companies can (and do) literally put out thousands of products with a bunch of random, ineffective, and underdosed ingredients, but market it as the new “MUSCLEBLASTER X3000” claiming to help you put on 20 lbs of muscle and get to 10% body fat in a matter of weeks.

Of course, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point.

Supplements can make grand claims about providing certain results or performance boosts while not being fully transparent about the ingredients in their products.

However, for every 100 supplement companies that feed on the average gullible and ill-informed gym-goer, there is 1 supplement company that actually manufactures reliable, clinically dosed, and transparent products.

Which Workout Supplements Actually Work? – An Actual Company You Can Stand By (Sponsored)

This brings me to shamelessly plug my supplement sponsor, Legion (discount code ‘AC’ for 20% off).

First and foremost, Legion is a transparent supplement company that goes out of its way to make sure you get the absolute best products on the market.

I have decided to work with them because we share the same views on supplements.

In addition, they do things that many other supplement companies don’t. They make it clear that:

• Supplements are not necessary. They are, at best, supplementary to an already sound diet, training, and recovery regimen.
• They use all-natural ingredients and no proprietary blends.
• They list every single ingredient in each of their respective products on the same webpage.
• They list why they have chosen that specific ingredient(s) for their product and the amount that is included each serving and its effective doses.
• They include a well-rounded body of literature to support the purpose and effectiveness of every ingredient.
• And of course, they make sure their products taste good because it only makes sense that you should enjoy the supplements you’re taking 😉

Lastly, they are honestly one of the more expensive supplement companies, however, you are definitely getting your money’s worth because they truly are the best (which is why I’ve obviously decided to work with them).

And if you’re going to spend money on supplements anyway to ultimately better your health and performance, shouldn’t you ensure that you’re using the best products?

Alright, now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about what you can expect to read about in this article:

• Supplement Red Flags 🚩🚩🚩
• My Top 3 Fitness Supplement Recommendations
• My Top 3 General Health Supplement Recommendations

Before we get into it, I also do want to say this as a disclaimer. I am not a supplement expert. What I am writing about in this article is simply my opinion as both a lifetime natural weight lifter who has been training for 10+ years and a fitness/nutrition coach who has worked with hundreds of people.

With that being said, let’s dive in.

Which Workout Supplements Actually Work? – Red Flags 🚩

Before we talk about the supplements that do work, we have to talk about the supplements we should avoid.

This is because when we take a look at the supplement market and industry as a whole, the amount of bullshit and ineffective products are going to vastly outnumber the number of products that are credible and actually do work.

If we considered the average, uninformed fitness enthusiast (maybe someone like yourself?), if we simply looked at pure chance, you would more than likely run into a company that sold bogus products rather than honest, effective ones.

So with that in mind, by educating you on the red flags to look out for when browsing the vast selection on the world wide web, we can already help you filter out a large majority of the absolute junk products out there on the market.

1. Proprietary Blends

First on the list is going to be any supplement with a “proprietary blend.”

Simply put, a proprietary blend is a “cocktail of ingredients” a supplement company can mix together into one total weight and slap that on the sticker of the container.

In this example, this “Sleep Formula Proprietary Blend” contains a total weight of 1071 mg which is further broken down into the ingredients listed just below.

The problem with this is that we don’t know exactly how much each of these ingredients is in a serving.

And with this in mind, there’s a common saying in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals, “The dose makes the poison/cure.”

This means that it’s not so much of whether an effective ingredient or not is present in a supplement, but rather how much of that ingredient is present in the supplement.

This is why the medicine you get over the counter or prescribed by a doctor tells you to take X amount in X timeframe.

It’s so that you get the effective dose for the medicine to actually work.

The same goes for supplements.

You need to take supplements with ingredients at their effective doses to see the results and effects.

When supplement companies use proprietary blends, this allows them to:

• Mention effective ingredients on their label
• Mix them together with undisclosed amounts of ineffective ingredients (typically underdosing the effective ones while overdosing the ineffective ones as filler)
• Slap all that together into a nice, pretty package while marketing it off as an expensive product with “clinically researched effective ingredients.”

So if there’s one thing you can take away from this article, it’s that stay away from proprietary blends. Stay very far away.

2. Supplements That Make Grand Claims/Promises

Remember when I said that supplements are not necessary?

This means that just because you aren’t taking certain supplements, it shouldn’t mean that your life will be significantly worse off.

They are, at best, supplementary to a solid regimen.

So when you hear supplements that make grand claims and promises about changing your life for the better, how you need this product, and/or drastically improving your mood, performance, and health, this is a huge red flag.

And that’s the fine line between a supplement and a drug.

A drug is a substance that has been shown through rigorous research that it can have profound effects if used properly and detrimental effects if abused.

This means that if supplements claim to perform things that sound too good to be true, then drug agencies would have stepped in a long time ago and regulated that specific ingredient and/or compound.

In the grand scheme of things, if your diet, exercise, and recovery routine are on point, then you should attain about 95-99% of your progress and results from those alone.

Supplements are just simply the icing on the cake only giving about an extra 1-5% boost.

So while they can improve health and performance slightly, they certainly aren’t giving you game-changing progress and results.

And you know what the worst part is?

Supplement companies are allowed to get away with this.

This is because unlike drugs, etc. the supplement industry is a completely separate industry that is completely unregulated.

So as long as they slap a supplement label on their product and make a disclaimer that “none of the claims have been evaluated by the FDA” they can literally put whatever they want into a bottle and sell it as whatever they desire to label it.

3. Supplements That Aren’t Third Party Tested

Fortunately for us, although there are many people who just want to make a quick buck selling you shit in a bottle, there are just as many who want to do good for you and make sure you get quality, reliable products.

This is where third-party testing comes in.

There are many reputable companies that do regular, up-to-date, reliable testing of supplements from various companies to ensure their quality and purity.

If you are shopping for supplements be sure to look for if they are verified by these trusted sources.

• LabDoor
• NSF
• USP

I would also recommend checking out Examine.com. It’s a great database for all things nutrition so that you can stay up to date with the most accurate information and evidence on dieting, nutrition, and supplementation related.

Which Workout Supplements Actually Work? – My Top 3 Fitness Supplements Recommendations

Now, of course, most people don’t want to hear all the mumble jumbo of me talking about supplement quality and all that.

They just want to hear me talk about which ones I do recommend. So here ya go.

Here’s the list of my top 3 fitness-related supplements. So these are the supplements I recommend if you want to maximize your fitness goals and achievements.

1. Creatine

Creatine – often found in forms like Creatine Monohydrate or Micronized Creatine – is one of the most well-researched and effective sports supplements on the market.

Often touted for its benefits like increasing your ability to build strength, muscle, endurance, but also for its cognitive and longevity benefits as well.

What is it?

First off, creatine is a naturally occurring compound often found in your muscles in the form of phosphocreatine.

It is typically found in animal products like seafood and red meat.

However, in these products, it’s only found in small traces – not nearly enough to fully saturate our creatine stores in the body in order to see its full benefits.

But basically how it works is that any time you’re doing high intensity, short-duration work (say, lifting weights or sprinting), your body needs ATP, a form of energy currency used by the body, in quick demand.

Your body generally has a little bit of ATP readily available, however, it generally needs to be produced as needed.

So what creatine does is that it slightly extends that ATP availability so that you can theoretically push a bit harder and longer during those bouts of high intensity, short-duration work (lift an extra rep, lift a couple of seconds longer, sprint a little harder, and longer).

“Okay Austin, that’s great and all, but…”

Is it worth it?

First off, creatine is an extremely cheap product so on the off chance I was just spewing a bunch of lies, you wouldn’t be wasting that much money.

Secondly, with that being said, the low cost and the benefits are worth it.

However, it does come with this caveat.

Like any other supplement as I said before, don’t expect a huge boost added to your performance or results just because you started taking creatine.

It’s going to give you marginal benefits at best. As I said, you’ll be able to push out an extra rep to your sets here and there or push through your sets a bit harder or longer, but you won’t notice a huge difference.

But the thing is, being able to get these marginal benefits and have them add up over time?

That’ll make a difference for sure.

Lastly, the research has consistently shown that creatine also provides cognitive and longevity benefits as well so even though you don’t want to get maximally strong or jacked, it still makes sense to take creatine.

So yes it’s worth it. 👍🏽

FAQs On Creatine

“I’ve heard I need to load creatine. Do I really need to?”

Nope.

You don’t need to, it doesn’t do anything extra other than making your creatine supply run out faster due to impatience.

Just take 5g every single day for the rest of your life (or however long you want the benefits for).

“Does creatine cause hair loss?”

This fear typically comes from that one study that suggested creatine could affect the one genetic variable linked to male pattern baldness.

However, the vast majority of the literature doesn’t support this claim.

If you really are afraid of a slight possibility of increasing your chances of hair loss then don’t take it.

Otherwise, male pattern baldness is typically hereditary and there’s no real evidence of creatine use leading to it so no sense in fear-mongering it.

But if I really had to choose, Gains > Hair every single time, but maybe that’s just me.

“Do I need to cycle it on and off?”

Nope.

Creatine isn’t something you build a tolerance to so there is no need to cycle it on and off.

You just take 5g of it every day and eventually your creatine stores will be full and you might notice a slight improvement in performance.

2. Protein Powders

What is it?

Protein powders…

One of the most misunderstood supplement products on the market.

Mainly because it can be such a convenient and useful product, but its benefits are often exaggerated.

For one, protein powders are not necessary. There I said it.

There is absolutely nothing special about protein powders versus eating protein-rich sources like chicken, beef, and eggs.

The only extra benefits protein powders provide are that they are quick, convenient, flavored, and cost-efficient.

You can absolutely make a ton of progress without ever touching a grain of protein powder.

Protein powder is just simply the protein found in milk but isolated into a powder form for your convenience.

It’s basically just processed food.

Is it worth it?

If you are someone who struggles with getting in the extra protein in order to hit your daily protein intake whether it’s hard for you because of your schedule or even just because you have a small appetite, protein powder can be a good investment for you.

Because of the manufacturing process of protein powder, its protein to calorie ratio is excellent.

This means that you’re basically maximizing how much protein you can get in a serving of “food” per calorie.

Combine this with the tastiness of flavored protein powders and it can make increasing your protein intake a bit more easy and delicious versus trying to scarf down loads of chicken breasts and egg whites.

But if you find that you don’t have a problem hitting your protein requirements strictly through your food intake or if you just don’t like protein powders, then you can by all means skip it.

A side note for plant-based eaters: if one of your goals is to build muscle, you want to be consuming a diet high in proteins with a good amino acid profile. This is because some plant proteins are incomplete proteins meaning they don’t contain enough of the muscle building amino acids in order to facilitate the process muscle protein synthesis in the body. This is where a plant-based protein powder can come in handy. Otherwise, make sure you eating a variety of plant proteins in order to get all of your bases covered (i.e., rice protein, pea protein, chickpeas, soybeans, to name a few good source of plant protein for muscle building).

FAQs on Protein Powder

“I’ve heard I need to slam a protein shake right after my workout because of the anabolic window.”

This myth has been around for as long as I can remember.

You absolutely do not need to drink a protein shake right after you finish your workout.

Although the current body of evidence shows that there is an ‘anabolic window‘, it isn’t as urgent as you were probably led to believe (it’s more like within 3-5 hours post-workout than 30 minutes).

So chill the f out and get your protein in when you can (whether that’s right after your workout or even after your commute home).

“There are so many brands of protein powder out there and at different price points. Can’t I just get the ones at Walmart? Aren’t they all the same?”

So, no, unfortunately, due to the selfishness of companies wanting to increase profit margins, not all protein powders are created equal.

Some protein powder companies will mix high-quality protein with subpar quality protein in their products.

This way, it allows them to list on their labels as “having 24g of protein per serving” but the effectiveness of that protein for muscle building will be lower.

So what constitutes a high-quality protein?

A high-quality protein will contain a high level of “muscle building” amino acids available like leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

But rather than getting too much into amino acid profiles and confusing you more, I would recommend heading to LabDoor which does all of the smart, sciency stuff for you and breaks it down so that you can easily digest the “scoop” (no pun intended) on the what the highest quality supplements are in the market.

3. Pre-Workout

What is it?

I’ll be the first to say that even those this made it into my top 3, it’s still overrated and overused.

However, it can provide solid performance benefits if you use it sparingly.

It’s overrated because it doesn’t actually provide any strength and muscle building, fat loss, or health benefits.

It just simply tastes good (and unfortunately some brands don’t even taste good lol) and helps give you the feeling of alertness and possibly increases workout performance.

And why sparingly?

Because one of the main ingredients in pre-workout is good ol’ caffeine.

And caffeine is one of the few ingredients we can build a tolerance to and reliance on if used in excessive doses.

Along with caffeine, good pre-workout products should contain things along the lines of l-theanine, beta-alanine, and l-citrulline/citrulline malate to name a few.

Ultimately, in my personal opinion, I find that it’s much better to listen to your biofeedback more often rather than trying to mask it with a bunch of stimulants found in pre-workouts.

You can use it as often as you feel comfortable doing, but I personally like to use it only when I have those days when I really don’t feel like working out.

Is it worth it?

Like most supplements, if they are higher quality then it’ll be more worth it (duh).

So in my case, I absolutely think Legion’s pre-workout product is worth it because it contains all of the effective ingredients a pre-workout should have and at clinically effective doses.

And it only works out to be a little bit over $1/serving.

Again, I don’t use it every workout so it lasts me quite a bit before having to pick up more.

Which Workout Supplements Actually Work? – My Top 3 General Health Supplements Recommendations

1. Multivitamin

In recent years, there have been news articles and the like making rounds on the internet saying that multivitamins are essentially useless and don’t do much.

While yes, this is true for most of the multivitamin products out there because you simply can’t expect to get maximal vitamin and nutrient absorption while only consuming one pill a day.

This is why I have decided to work with and am actively promoting Legion’s products.

Their multivitamin product is like no other. Seriously.

It has all of the essential vitamins and minerals you can expect from a good multivitamin and then some.

And you take it in two separate doses a day to ensure maximum nutrient absorption.

What is it?

It’s a multivitamin, ya dingus. It’s got things like vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are essential for optimal health and function.

Is it worth it?

While you don’t need to take a multivitamin, you can get by just eating a well-rounded diet with plenty of nutrient-dense foods

However, if you’re like most people, you probably aren’t eating enough of a variety of nutrient-dense foods so it may be hard for you to get all of the essential nutrients for optimal health.

This is where a good multivitamin can come in and fill in those gaps you’re missing.

So if you have the money to invest in it, it is absolutely worth it.

2. Fish Oil

What is it?

Fish oil is well, basically the oil from fish.

It’s basically a concentrated form of the fatty acids you would normally get from eating a diet with plenty of fatty fish.

However, if you’re anything like me or a lot of other people, you probably don’t eat fatty fish at least 2-3x a week.

So this is where using a fish oil supplement can come in handy.

You can get all the benefits of consuming fatty fish, but you don’t need to buy and prepare fish every week.

Some of the benefits of fish oil are reduced risk of heart disease and better overall mental and physical health.

Is it worth it?

Fish oil is highly affordable and is one of the few supplements that actually have a solid background of evidence supporting it so yes.

3. Sleep Aid

What is it?

First off, I’m not saying that you should be relying on a sleep aid supplement.

But rather that sleep should one of the most important things you should be trying to dial in regardless of what your goals are.

Adequate sleep is going to result in adequate performance in all areas of life.

But before you even think about turning to a supplement to help you sleep better, focus on bettering your sleep hygiene first.

This means that you are practicing good habits and getting into a good routine about an hour before you go to bed so that you can fall asleep comfortably and (ideally) stay asleep so that you get a good night’s rest.

And this can vary for many people.

For some, this can mean making sure you actually stop working (I’m guilty of this too at times), staying away from screens, or not gorging yourself right before bed so that you can give yourself ample time to wind down and relax for bedtime.

Even then, with a good sleep hygiene routine, it can still be hard to fall asleep and stay asleep for many people.

For these nights especially (or if you know that you need a good night’s rest for an especially important day tomorrow), I would recommend taking a solid sleep supplement.

(This is exactly how I take it. I don’t take it every day. I just use it when I know I need a good night’s rest for the day after.)

A good sleep supplement should help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and most importantly wake up refreshed and energized.

Is it worth it?

If by the power of some divine, unknown reason and I was forced to only choose one supplement for the rest of my life, I would definitely choose a sleep supplement.

Because as a human, I am sure you know how much it sucks to be sleep deprived or to not feel well-rested after a night of sleep (or lack thereof).

I would legitimately pay a crazy amount of money for a good night’s sleep because nothing feels better and with the power of a good night’s sleep, you feel like you can tackle literally any problem or obstacle life throws in your way.

So, yes. 100% worth it.

Final Thoughts On Which Workout Supplements Actually Work

Alright, so to wrap up, here were the three supplement red flags you should be looking out for:

1. Proprietary Blends – legal loophole for supplements to sell you filler products.
2. Supplements That Make Grand Claims/Promises – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
3. Supplements That Aren’t Third Party Tested/Verified – this ensures they are tested/verified for quality and purity.

Here are the three fitness supplements I recommend:

1. Creatine – one of the best natural, well-researched, beneficial sports supplements on the market.
2. Protein Powders – quick and convenient way to get more protein, literally just food.
3. Pre-Workout – a good product for a quick burst of energy. Don’t overuse and over-rely on it.

Here are the three general health supplements I recommend:

1. Multivitamin – just a bunch of essential vitamins and minerals for optimal health.
2. Fish Oil – fatty acids from fish sources that aid in overall mental and physical health.
3. Sleep Aid – assists in helping you get a good night’s rest.

Lastly, before I let you go, I know the world of supplementation can be confusing and overwhelming.

It may seem like everywhere you turn, someone is trying to sell you bullshit and is trying to make a quick buck.

But there are still plenty of reliable and trustworthy companies who want to do it right.

There is still so much to cover regarding which supplements are worth the money, which supplements are garbage, and what brands to trust/not trust.

However, I simply can’t keep writing forever and you can’t keep reading forever.

But the best thing I can recommend for you to do is to constantly educate yourself so that you can eventually sift through the bullshit yourself and seek out the honest truth.

I highly recommend checking out websites like LabDoor, Examine.com, and Legion for extensive and evidence-based information regarding nutrition and supplementation.

And of course, if you want to check any of the products I mentioned in this article, then go ahead and check out my supplement sponsor Legion and be sure to use my ‘AC’ for 20% off your first order.

They’re awesome, to say the least.

Anyways I hope this has helped you become a better-informed consumer in the vast world of supplements.

Until next time,

-Aus

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