weight lifting supplements, what do you take? Options

[Seeker]

What do you take? How much and when?

I take:

1. Ultimate Nutrition's whey isolate protein powder.
2. Some BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) from Optimum Nutrition pre/post workout for muscle recovery.
3. L-Glutamine for muscle recovery.

I've seen some amazing gains in the past few weeks just using these plain jane supplements. I try to avoid all the fancy flavored shit with additives like no-xplode, xceed, etc.

I might however try out some creatine in a few weeks.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

All you need is a good whey protein and a good multivitamin.

Creatine and all that other stuff will make you look bigger and may help with some gains, but it's all going to be lost as soon as you stop taking it.

Hate to break it to you folks, but the "increased size" due to creatine is really a side effect. Creatine is used by the muscles for more explosive power such as a 50 meter sprint. Creatine is not used to build the size of the muscle. The amount of creatine your body can hold is pre-determined by your biology, and you can take all the creatine powder you want, but the excess is just passed in your urine. Your muscles already contain creatine at all times, but taking creatine supplements may 'top off' the stores you already have. Unless you're only doing 1 rep max types of weight lifting, creatine will do you no good and is just a waste of money.

Also, creatine is not something you can just take before a workout....it takes time to absorb. If you want, I can explain more in-depth how creatine works in the ATP-> Energy system later.