How usefull are amino acid tablets

C

ChuckGrill

New Member
I've been taking amino acid tablets for quite sometime. Much moreso than protein powders, MRPs, or creatine. Pretty much now I'm taking creatine and amino tablets. Will the tablets give me enough of the protein I need? Am I really confusing the benefits of amino acids to protein powders? Should I be taking what I'm taking now AND protein powder? My situation is that I want to gain lean muscle mass w/o any fat gain. My body type is a mesomorph (from what I've read). I'm terrible at dieting and at 42 my metabolism isn't all that great. I'm currently 5'9" at 200 lbs and around 16%- 17 % BF(mostly around the mid-section). I really want to get less BF w/o losing musclemass (don't we all). For once in my life I'd love to get cut abs. Any help, explanation and/or advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks.
 
My intake is as follows: Calories = 2200 approx. Protein = 250 grams Carbs = 190 grams Fat = 69 grams.

This is per day. The good news is I've reached my target weight of 200 lbs. Now I want to concentrate on losing BF. I've started doing cardio twice a week for 30 minutes each time at a good steady pace. I don't want anything impeding the gains I've made.

I guess the question is should I up the cardio or decrease my intake somewhere?

My diet is usually, 4 tblspns natural peanut butter, unsweetened breakfast cereal, 2 oz. boneless chicken, Tuna sandwich, apple, green vegetables, non fat yogurt, and some form of beef or chicken for dinner (broiled). And protein powder 3 times a day (most of my protein intake). This is throughout the day. That's pretty much all I know. Thanks for all of your help.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]My intake is as follows: Calories = 2200 approx. Protein = 250 grams Carbs = 190 grams Fat = 69 grams.
Click to expand...

250g protein = 1000 cals
190g carb = 760 cals
69g fat = 621

That's 2381. Depending on your activity level & age, that might even be above maintenance.

I would suggest:

- keep the cardio, but you might want to try it 1st thing in the morning, fasted-state
- do 15-20 minutes moderate cardio immediately post-workout
- after your weights/cardio, take your post- shake, but don't eat again for 2.5-3 hours, then a normal meal as follows
- keep protein about where it is
- lower the fat intake to maybe 20% (400-450 cals) which at 2200 would be 45-50g.
- your carbs would then be about right, but you could lower a bit as well
- watch the carb & fat intake late in the day

That's just my 2 cents, would love to hear other suggestions.
 
ChuckGrill,

IF you've been gaining weight at 2300 cals a day at 200 lbs start by cutting back
10-15%. Try to loose 1 -2 lbs a week.

The other thing that helps me loose fat on a "diet" is less rest between sets.
Have you tried to superset Legs, chest/back, shoulders/traps. bi/tri ?
This should help your metabolism.
Warning: the last day of each 2 weeks is no walk in the park.

I also do some HIIT treadmill or ride a bike on non training days.
(I might try the Lyle fasted-state carido but I HATE cardio)

When your fat lost stops, tweak your diet again, maybe swap nuts or fish oil for
the PB and tuna salad for the tuna sandwich.

Stick with it and the fat will drop (maybe slow but it will drop)
laugh.gif
 
Ha! I hate cardio as well, but I'm always happy AFTER i do it! One, because I need to do it, and two, because it's over. But I'm thinking I need to cut the pb and bread from my sandwich out and just have tuna salad. I try to eat as clean as possible, which is difficult with kids wo want junk food in the house (i.e. cookies, ice cream). But so far I've been pretty good with my willpower. I'm going to do what you've both suggested and also up the cardio from 2 days to maybe 4 days. It's difficult for me to do cardio in the mornings as I have to be at work at 7:30 in the morning. But I've got a treadmill at home so perhaps I can do some cardio in the evening. My lifting is done from 11:30 AM to roughly 12:30 PM. So evening cardio shouldn't hurt much at all as long as I keep it around a 1/2 hour.

Thanks!
 
I agree cliner9er. I have some left and then I'm going to stop the AA's. Also, I'll try the HIIT for a bit and see how that works. Hopefully i don't die from all of this! I just got used to supersetting musclegroups during HST so maybe it won't take me too long to get used to this.
I also read up on Leptin and how it all works (Thanks for the link, Mikeh). So I'll read that a couple more times, try to develop a good diet for myself, and refeed once a week....probably on the weekend. But I'm thinking the cardio is my best bet....nice short durations every other day....or maybe a 1/2 hour every night for 5 nights.
Thanks for all of you for your advice! These boards are great!
 
Well today was a pleasant surprise! Before I worked out I had my BF% checked and I dropped 2%! Not bad for someone who wasn't really trying all that hard until about 3-4 weeks ago to lose any. So I went and did 30 minutes of HIIT. That's a very intense workout but it really felt like I was accomplishing something in a short period of time.

So with the info you've all supplied me with I'm sure I'll get my BF down in no time. Thanks again!
 
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