Supplements
Supplements worth your money (and the ones that are not)
The short list of what works, what depends on context and what only drains your wallet, sorted by scientific evidence.
Ninety percent of your result comes from training, food and sleep. Supplements work on the remaining ten percent, and within that margin the gap between categories is huge: a handful have solid evidence and the rest live on marketing.
Tier A: solid evidence
| Supplement | What for | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Creatine monohydrate | Strength and muscle mass | 3-5 g/day |
| Protein powder | Hitting your daily target | 20-40 g as needed |
| Caffeine | Performance and focus | 3-6 mg/kg, 45 min before |
| Vitamin D | Common winter deficiency | 1000-2000 IU if deficient |
Tier B: useful in specific contexts
- Omega-3 (EPA+DHA): 1-2 g daily if you eat little oily fish.
- Beta-alanine: for 60-240 second efforts, 3-5 g daily; harmless tingling is normal.
- Citrulline malate: small improvement in reps, 6-8 g pre-workout.
- Electrolytes: heavy sweating or long sessions in heat.
- Multivitamin: only as a safety net on very restricted diets.
Tier C: skip and save the money
- BCAAs: irrelevant if your total protein intake is adequate.
- Thermogenic fat burners: marginal effect, often just expensive caffeine.
- Herbal testosterone boosters: do not raise testosterone in healthy men.
- Glutamine: no effect in healthy training individuals.
- 25-ingredient pre-workouts: underdosed and hidden behind proprietary blends.
Buying order on a tight budget
1) Creatine. 2) Protein powder if you struggle to hit your target. 3) Vitamin D if you live at a low-sunlight latitude. 4) Caffeine capsules, or just coffee. That covers nearly everything the evidence supports.
How to buy without being fooled
Look for independent certification (Informed Sport, NSF), an ingredient list without proprietary blends, and price per effective dose rather than per tub.
See the supplement buying guide
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Talk to a professional
Supplements can interact with medication and are not regulated like drugs. If you take chronic medication, are pregnant or have a medical condition, check with your doctor or pharmacist first.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need supplements to build muscle?
- No. They make it easier to meet requirements, but none replaces progressive training and enough protein.
- Do fat burners help with weight loss?
- Their effect is negligible next to a calorie deficit. They do not offset an inconsistent diet.
Keep reading
Supplements
Creatine: the complete guide to dosing, types and real effects
The most researched and cheapest sports supplement. Dosing, timing, types and what to genuinely expect in strength and body composition.
Supplements
How to choose protein powder: whey, casein, vegan and real cost
Do not buy by flavour or tub size: learn to read the label and work out what you actually pay per gram of protein.
Training
Hypertrophy guide: how to build muscle in a real, sustainable way
Volume, intensity, frequency and progression explained without hype: what actually makes muscle grow and how to apply it at your level.