Basic supplements vs competitors and advanced athletes – how to dose

Basic supplements vs competitors and advanced athletes - how to dose Sport Freak

Did you ever wonder what is the difference between supplementation doses for beginners and what doses are used by professionals and active competitors? In this article you will find everything you wanted to know about dosing supplements but were afraid to ask. We will go through main differences on most popular supplements, keep in mind very often beginners and even intermediate users will achieve better results with lower end doses. This is simply because your body is not prepared to handle large doses, so we don’t encourage using more if you are not competing or preparing for competition any time soon it might be not cost-efficient.

How should I take creatine?

Creatine is one of the oldest and most reliable supplements to create muscle growth and improve athletes strength.

Beginners and intermediate users dosing:
3-5 g /day, on non-training days used first thing in the morning, on training days either after workout, or half a portion before workout and half after.

Competitors and advanced users dosing:
Surprisingly there is not a massive difference, occasionally bigger competitors will use 10 g a day on training days. Sometimes they will also use loading of creatine which is use of 20g of creatine for 5-7 days, but this is extremely inefficient for most people, and we don’t recommend it.

How should I take BCAA?

Beginners and intermediate users dosing :
5-20 g a day, ideally post workout, but use during workout and before is also recommended.

Competitors and advanced users dosing:
20-40+ g a day and more, sky is the limit, but 5-10 g before, 5-10 g during workout and 5-10 g after is a must, on top of that another 50 g first thing in the morning, and multiple times a day to boost body recovery and muscle building abilities is not uncommon.

How should I take glutamine?

Beginners and intermediate users dosing :

10-15 grams of glutamine after workout is the most important portion and sufficient for beginners and intermediate users to get good results

Competitors and advanced users dosing:

10 g upon waking up, 20 g after training and 10 g before sleep is a sound protocol to follow that will skyrocket recovery as well as improve sleep quality and hormone levels

How should I take protein powder?

Beginners and intermediate users dosing:

Beginners quite often either don’t calculate their macros or they follow simple guidelines like have protein in every meal and increase your total protein intake. It is difficult to assess protein dosing for beginners because of that. The most important portion is after workout, when it is difficult to carry food to the gym and digestion will slow down absorption of necessary protein anyway. Aside of that, for beginners without macros following a diet who try to gain muscles a good guideline is to drink a protein serving every time they had no time for a meal for 2-3 hours, but not exceed 3 servings a day. As for people looking to lower bodyweight, commonly they eat only 2-3 meals a day, correct use of protein in those circumstances is difficult because despite most of them being very low calorie (100-150 kcal only) it is still adding some calories to their diet which is best to be avoided, therefore we recommend spreading food from those 2-3 meals into 5 smaller meals, which will keep person fuller and boost metabolism and at the same time they can replace one of those meals with protein supplement and therefore remove carbohydrates and fat from it as well as lower total calories. Both approaches are intuitive, but usually deliver good results.

Competitors and advanced users dosing:

Professional competitor usually take 2g of protein per kilogram of their bodyweight. They will still use one portion of protein after workout, and one in the morning, usually both will be precisely calculated into their diet to fit their macronutrient requirements, something we discuss previously in our diet article here.

How should I take Weight-gainers/bulking products?

Beginners and intermediate users dosing:

Most of the bulking products will be a blend of a number of different ingredients, with the main ones being protein and carbohydrates to help achieve caloric excess. Very often producers will add a number of other supplements to speed up and increase results like creatine, BCAA, glutamine, vitamins etc but not always this is why it is important to get individual advice on which product is best for you. For the beginners, they are used as a meal replacement and post workout protein/carbohydrate source. Therefore, most important is portion immediately after workout, but also every time there is 2-3 hours window without food, depending on person goals and chosen product either full serving or half a serving should be provided. Do not exceed 3 servings a day, the majority of your calories should still come from food.

Competitors and advanced users dosing:

It is a similar situation to protein use, advance athletes will have their diet macronutrients calculated perfectly, and therefore this product will be part of their diet rather than a stand-alone supplement. Most of the time they will use it after workout, especially for bodybuilders in bulking phase or athletes who need to maintain high body weight like Strongman competitors or some Rugby players.

 

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