Are muscle building supplements worthless?
Recently I read a book on goal setting, and it had some important insights I wanted to share with you. The author provided many tips on setting a goal properly, including writing it down on paper, breaking it into smaller chunks, and identifying the obstacles that you’ll need to overcome to reach the goal. However, one concept that stuck with me was the emphasis on long-term achievements instead of short term gains.
When I look back on my successes and failures in life, I noticed a trend which is a little bit disturbing. Too many times I’ve focused on short term results. If a new project wasn’t yielding significant progress immediately, I would pretty much eliminate it right away. I gave up on many worthwhile projects easily, because I got bored or distracted. I suppose that many people are like me and tend to abandon a goal very quickly. You may be wondering what the connection is with strength training or muscle building.
I hope you see the relevance to weight training. Instead of focusing on immediate results, you have to be in this for the long haul. Instead of focusing on supplements, you must learn the foundations of muscle building. I’ve explained in other articles that supplements are not necessary (and usually not even helpful) when it comes to muscle building.
In order to better understand this, it’s helpful to look into the psychology behind muscle building supplements. That is, it’s helpful to understand why people purchase them.
If supplements are not necessary for muscle building, why are they so popular? I think the main reason is that many beginners (and perhaps a few veterans who should know better) are looking for an easy solution. If you look around in our society today, most people seem to be focused on short term gratification and not on long-term happiness. They look for the easy way out and are easily distracted by a new trend or fad. It is crucial for any beginning bodybuilder to understand that the fundamentals are all about proper workout techniques and a solid nutrition plan.
Most people don’t want to believe that muscle building supplements are not really necessary, but it’s true. They’re not going to help you unless you’re an advance trainee who has already optimized his workouts and nutrition plan.
Most supplements, however, are either useless or are simply not necessary. The essential components of any bodybuilding program will always be progressive resistance training and increasing one’s daily calories. Looking for shortcuts when you have not even mastered the basics will simply lead to disappointment and a lot of wasted money.
It may be more exciting to look for that special supplement that will magically deliver the results you are looking for, but in the long run a trainee looking for shortcuts will surely be disappointed. This lesson applies not only to bodybuilding and strength training; rather, it is a valuable lesson that can help you reach any goal you set. If you’ve done the research and gained the necessary knowledge, and if you set your goal properly (more on this later), then you can be certain that you’re on your way to accomplishing your objective. Do not be discouraged if your initial results are disappointing -focus on the cumulative effects of your daily actions and what this will bring you in the months to come.
