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Say I just to a little bit of exercise (enough to have some gain), what would be the supplements I should take to maximize gain and minimize pain.

I would think Creatine, Glutamine and ALC - Acetyl L-Carnitine.

What about fish oil?

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'Maximize gain and minimize pain.' - Actually, sounds like an oxymoron to me. – Xan Oct 8 '11 at 23:32
I usually write it as Gain/Pain(As opposed to Gain/Time for example) – Olav Oct 10 '11 at 22:37

1 Answer

What you want does not exist. If you understand the basics of nutrition, you need a certain amount of protein, carbs and fat in your diet. Beyond that, vitamins and minerals. That's just for living, so how about building muscle?

Bottom line: if you want to build muscle you have to work hard and lift heavy things. Your body will adapt to the stresses you put on it (exercise), and in its recovery it will supercompensate to handle what you told it to do plus a little spare capacity. If you want to build muscle you have to repeatedly increase what you ask of your muscle.

If you take protein supplements, creatine, l-glutamine, etc. without putting in the work that causes your body to build muscle, they will be going to waste. Anything your body does not need is excess, and all excess is either discarded (as waste product) or stored as fat.

In short, no pain, no gain.

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I have visible result, with muscle mass gain (and some pain) with what I am doing. – Olav Oct 9 '11 at 6:09
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What I am saying is that low levels of exercise is enough to cause the visible result you are seeing. However, those supplements are designed for people who are putting in a lot of work. – Berin Loritsch Oct 9 '11 at 18:46
ALC, fish oil and Glutamine are mainstream. Creatine is not, but it should work the same. (Previously people has said that I look bigger when I have just been taking Glutamine/Creatine) – Olav Oct 10 '11 at 22:35

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