Fat burning supplements. any good? or simply wishful thinking on the part of the consumer, and clever con by the manufacturers? id be interested to hear your opinions
It depends on which ones you are asking about. There have been some that worked really well and some that you'd have better luck using as a paper weight.
Lots of crap ones, some good once. Now they don't have ephedra in, many are now bad. I believe hot-rox from t-mag.com is very good and lean system 7 is also supposed to be very good. However, I would say that there are various criteria you should meet before you bother taking one. Check out the threads at the bottom of the page for more related topics.
Yeah, Adam McG is right...I like the HotRox. I've also been "test driving" a new one called Warp 9 for our store to see if we want to go ahead and order a supply. So far I've been very pleased with the product. Again like Adam McG said, if your house is not in order then it's a waste of time taking them. The fat burners are a supplement and like all supplements, they are to supplement a healthy diet and active lifestyle...so to speak.
Illegal ones are great, but not without sides. Depends how ripped you want to be. I wouldn't bother with most of the overpriced junk that claims to shed lbs of fat off you. The real stuff isn't expensive and if you do something you may aswell do it properly.
Amen to that Brother...Had excellent results on Hydroxycut,but that was before they removed the Ephedra..
wait, muscletech's hydroxycut doesn't have ephedra anymore? (not that i'm taking it, i'm as skinny as i can be) on a related note, has anybody tried these products? xenadrine efx; and mhp thyroslim? they're advertised as products that "increase metabolism" and help lose weight too. there's also weight loss lab's trim spa- however it contains 15mg of ephedrine alkoids. how about nitro-tech and meso-tech?
Because the body doesn't burn fat effectively on it's own. It stores fat excessively and the only way to combat this besides hours of muscle-wasting cardio is good ole' chemicals. I know I don't need to be at xx% bodyfat, but my body doesn't, so why not give it a helping hand?
Thats the funniest post I've ever read on these forums. Its called a "healthy diet".. try it some time. I didnt understand your last sentence though. You dont need to be at a certain bf% BUT your body doesnt SO why not help it lose bf%?? Huh? Btw, all the people I've seen who were muscular with pretty low bf% (single digit) never used a fat burning drug in their life.
Save your money, and watch what you eat. You have all the fat burning ability needed by running, jumping rope, working the heavybag etc.
I don't use fat-burners, I don't need to, but that's irrelevant anyway... Some people have slow metabolisms, meaning they put on a load of excess weight. Also, without steroids and the like, it's hard to put on serious bulk while staying at a low bodyfat. Is this desirable? No, of course not. What I'm trying to say is that the human body isn't too clever when it comes to things like putting on fat, because even in todays supermarket-laden society it still sees a need to store copious amounts of fat in case you have to 'survive'. Even if you have a healthy diet with reduced fat, then the body stores even more of that fat because you're getting less. Why go through months of eating a strict, boring diet, when you can take a supplement and MAKE your body use that fat? Why not use science to make up for the stupidity of the human body? Of course dieting is the preferred option but some people have such metabolisms that their diets would need to be crazy. I don't really see your problem... I'll try again. Say I want to be at 5% bodyfat. I don't need to be at say, 15, because I have a pantry full of food and i'm not gonna starve. My body doesn't know that though. So why not use supplements to make it burn the fat?
FYI I have tried the Lean System 7 product. These were very good apart from I woke up most nights for around 3 hours! This is the company I bought them from www.sncdirect.com There is more info on the product on the Isatori page. I would recommend these over most fat burners as there is no caffeine in them, just a natural stimulant!
Healthy diet has already been mentioned. It burns fat quite effectively. No need for chemical helpers.
Alright, just chuck protein supplements out the window too. And multivitamins. And sports drinks. They are, after all, chemical helpers. Healthy diets don't always cut it (especially with time constraints). And they're not always effective enough. Especially if you're trying to keep muscle mass and lose fat at the same time.
That is quite possibly the most ignorant statement I've seen in a while, with regard to exercise and nutrition. It is also, however, a very popular one among people who regularly read "fitness" magazines. There are no magical pills, any exercise machine advertised on t.v. doesn't work, and rice cakes are not "diet food". Mav, you sound very quick to jump into serious supplementing. And it sounds like you're planning to jump into juicing (no, not the vegetable kind). I'm getting the impression that you see supplements as cure-alls, which make up for inadequate diet and poorly planned training. If you believe that you can't make dramatic progress without turning to steroids (or, "good ole' chemicals", as you said) you've obviously been training incorrectly. Check out any of the myriad programs at www.t-nation.com There are dozens of effective programs and you can certainly find one that fits your goals (maximum results in minimum time). The one part that has to change, however, is your seeming attitude of minumum effort. Anything worth having, is worth fighting for, including the body and performance you want. For motivation, give this a read (caution, it contains some R-rated language): A Great New Diet Keep in mind, however, that T-mag is openly pro-steroid...in certain cases. Once you've reached your genetic potential, through years of consistent weight-training and proper nutrition, they see nothing wrong with "supplementing" intelligently. I don't agree, but that's another matter. The moral of this story is...find the right weight-training program, clean up your nutrition, supplement with multi-vitamins and an MRP, and you'll see results. If you want to take it to the next step, that's up to you.
Don't read them, and can you explain why it's ignorant? Ignorant of what exactly? Every day we (as martial artists, bodybuilders etc) use science to make up for the inefficiency of the human body. Whether it's using stretching techniques to increase our range of movement, or taking large shots of protein in one go, instead of eating normal food. Taking creatine because our bodies don't produce nearly enough as is ideal. Weightlifting itself causes increases in muscle mass that wouldn't 'naturally' be there if we didn't lift heavy stuff (as 99% of us don't in everyday life). So why don't fat burners count? Or steroids, for that matter (although you mentioned them, not me, and I'm not too keen on getting in an argument over them) The human body might be a marvellous spectacle of evolution but it isn't that clever in this context. I fail to see how anyone can argue against this. If it was, we'd all look like Schwarzenegger and have 7% bodyfat. I didn't say there were magical pills...you don't need to patronise me dude. I don't see supplements as cure-alls, I believe that things such as fat-burners and steroids should in themselves supplement an already healthy diet and a solid natural base of gains. Oh, and many years of experience. But on that note I wouldn't put fat-burners and steroids in the same league. Fat burners don't mess with your body in the ways that steroids do, which is why I'd consider a fat-burner without too much deliberation, if I needed to do so. You seem to be twisting what I said way out of proportion here, and assuming far too much. You don't know how often or how I workout..or even if I do it at all...or what gains I have/haven't had. How far do you take it back? What should be considered "chemicals" and what "supplements"? My point is that fat burners are fine when a healthy diet doesn't cut it. And that you may aswell get good (and possibly illegal) ones that WORK instead of spending £££'s on tubs of powder that have half the effect. (along the lines of ephedra)
First off, I wasn't trying to be patronizing. I was making my comments based on how I interpreted your posts. And if you think I'm assuming anything, it's only based on what I hear you say: I get the impression that you're looking for a quick fix, and there is no such thing. The ignorance in the statement (I was referring to the statement, to be clear, I'm not trying to infer that you're ignorant) lies in the false hope that "Supplement X" will compensate for a poor exercise and nutrition program, and will provide lasting results. This does not happen in real life. If you're impressed that Anna Nicole Smith went from a chubber back to Playboy material, and you think the only thing she did was pop some mass marketed diet pill three times a day, you're off your rocker. Now you're splitting hairs, but if you want to, that's cool. Obviously, if we choose a profession, or hobby, or sport (or whatever martial arts mean to you), we need to train a certain way, with things coming in proper sequence. However, just the same way that a beginning white belt student doesn't learn a black belt technique, people new to diet and exercise don't need to be using certain supplements. In weight-lifting, it's inappropriate for someone to try squatting double their bodyweight the first time they step into the gym. In nutrition, it's inappropriate for someone who's just decided to lose weight to use fat burners from day one. But, after some time (maybe weeks, maybe months, depending on the person) they are physically and mentally prepared to use the next "tool" if that's what is necessary to get them closer to their goal, whether that "tool" is more weight on the bar or the correct nutritional supplement. It's not a matter of a diet "working" or not "working". If you're not seeing the results you want, you need to review your current training, nutrition, and supplement program, and make adjustments all around. You can't just say "Hmm, I'm still chubby, so I'll pop a pill." It's slightly more involved than that. And, as an aside: You seem to have this bad habit of calling the body stupid. The body is incredibly smart...you just have to know what to tell it, by sending the right messages through nutrition and exercise. If your body isn't doing what you want it to, in terms of visable results, you're doing something wrong. Figure out the right pieces of the puzzle, and progress will flow like a river.