Bulk up for success

Hi Marc,

I’m an avid reader of your column. I find your articles on food supplements very interesting. I want to know more about the use of Celltech. Where is a good place to buy this supplement? How much does it cost? How much should take? I am a medium built guy about 5’6 in height and weigh about 129 lbs. and I’m 26.

Michael Patrick

There are two main supplements that I recommend for people who are working out and want to put on muscle. Creatine and protein powder. I’ve tried different supplements that have come and gone, and I find these two have been the most consistently effective.

The Celltech brand that you remember is a creatine-based powder that incorporates a transport formula. The advantage of this over plain creatine is that the glucose and other additions in the formula aid creatine absorption into the bloodstream, making it more effective. There will always be a certain amount of loss as creatine passes through the body, so the more effective the absorption, the lesser the creatine wastage.

It’s been a while since I’ve written about supplements, so let me give you a quick refresher course on the effects of creatine and protein. Creatine is found naturally in the body in small amounts, and can also be found in lean red meat. By supplementing your regular diet with creatine powder, you can increase your natural creatine levels and therefore benefit from more creatine in your system. So what are the advantages of having more creatine in your body you ask? Well essentially creatine increases your stamina, strength and pump. This means that you can push heavier weights for more reps than usual. If taken correctly, you’ll notice some impressive gains within the first month or two of use. Make a point of taking note of the weights and reps you do before taking it, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you compare them to what you’ll be pushing after a month on creatine.

As I said, you can get these gains if you use creatine properly. This means going through a loading phase that will saturate your body with creatine. For someone your size, it will mean taking a five-gram scoop four times a day (20 grams total). Make sure you spread these doses out over the day, as you may get an upset stomach if you try to take 20 grams in one go. Continue taking this loading dose for four to five days. After that, just take one five-gram scoop each day, even if you’re not working out. Continue this for a couple of months, and then take a break so that your body can get used to producing its own creatine again. You may notice that you’ll lose some of your size when you get off it, but that’s mainly water retention and you’ll still be considerably bigger and stronger than when you started.

There are no dangerous side effects of creatine and it has been used by professional athletes for years. However, some people have complained about slight headaches and occasionally pimples while on creatine. The headaches are often due to dehydration (remember to drink a lot of water), and the pimples may be an allergic reaction or because you’re not hitting the gym hard enough to use up the creatine excess in much the same way that excess protein and amino acids can cause pimples when not used up (solution: go to the gym more often and push harder!).

When looking to buy creatine, always make sure it contains at least five grams of pure creatine monohydrate per serving, and use that as a yardstick for comparing prices (just because it’s in a bigger bottle doesn’t necessarily mean it contains more creatine). Most manufacturers will tell you how many servings are in each bottle, and how much creatine each serving has. You may wish to use a more generic (and therefore less expensive) brand of creatine for your loading phase, and then a transport system like Celltech for the daily maintenance.

Of course after your extra heavy-duty creatine workout, your muscles now need some growth food. This is where protein powder comes in. When you work out, you tear your muscles with additional strain, and it is actually after your workout that they repair themselves and in doing so become bigger. However, in order for them to repair larger, they need protein to fuel the growth. A regular and well-balanced diet is good, but often cannot supply the necessary amount of protein needed for muscle increase.

The most effective time to take protein is straight after the workout, and then again that night before going to bed (a lot of the muscle growth happens while you rest which explains that tight feeling in your muscles the next morning). I usually take about 30 grams after my workout, another 30 grams before sleeping, and an additional 30 grams the next morning.

Now there are a lot of protein powders on the market, and it’s sometimes hard to know which is better for you. I’ve tried quite a few and have a couple of favorites. Nitrotech is the sister brand of Celltech, and pretty effective. The powder is fairly easy to mix (I hate it when it gets clumpy) and tastes OK too. Maxxon is probably the tastiest powder available, and very easy to mix. My favorite though is probably Designer Protein’s Glycerlean. It has a couple of advantages over most proteins. Firstly, it’s a time-released protein which means that it will gradually release the protein over a space of five to eight hours, thus ensuring there is less wastage as your muscles repair themselves (you’re not flushing as much protein down the toilet bowl so to speak). Second of all, it is lactose reduced (most protein powders are made from whey peptides that come from cow’s milk), which means it’s perfect for lactose-intolerant people like me (it won’t give you a bloated, gassy stomach afterwards).

All of these products can be found at Health Express that has stores in malls all over the place. I get mine from the branch located on the second level of Glorietta 3 in Makati. If you’re serious about it, get a membership and you’ll automatically get 20 percent off which is a great help. Start off with one large bottle each of protein and creatine and see how you go. If you take them properly, I’m fairly confident you’ll be happy with the results. Just don’t forget to work out.

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