ok i havent read any of this... but theres NO2 and i think NOx2 or NO2x... NO2 is the cheaper stuff, but the same thing? something like that.. anyway i dont really believe in taking supliments because i think the body will become dependant on it to gain growth..... personally for me... im 6'3 maybe 6'4 and i weigh around 200-210... i eat about 5-7 times a day.. work out every other day, play basketball, have sex with my girlfriend and my hand and walk.. this is my exercise...and im a pretty big boy.. about 2 years ago or so i weighed 185 or so and had the 6 pack and etc... but i had a bad breakup with a chick and got pretty down and got lazy and i gained a few pounds and lost quite a bit of muscle and Alot of motivation(but im gettin there), anyway i personally dont think you have to eat all healthy and work out and run everyday to get to where you want.. you will just get their faster that way... but dont get me wrong, eating healthy and working out, running and everything everyday isnt a bad idea, i just wanted to do it my own way and still eat what i want and party just about every weekend all weekend.. and i did it my own way and im as healthy as a horse.. but to gain more mass.. eat 5 or more times a day.. not full meals.. i eat crackers quite a bit everyday aside from lunch and supper. you lose more weight by eating actually because your motabilism speeds up when you eat, which is why you see guys like the ones Worlds Strongest Man comps. get huge because they eat alot and work out alot.. but compared to guys like body builders.. they just work out to tone their bodies, but arent really all that strong.. compared to a body builder and them, the guys in World Strongest Man comps. will beat the body builders in just about every event, if not all events.. the guys on their may look all fat but thats mostly muscle.. anyway this is just all ..... if you want to get bigger and gain more muscle... eat more, but watch what you eat for sure.. dont eat fast food All the time.. and run, do curls, dead lifts..etc.. at the gym.. work on each part of the body each day of the week.. if you want to do supliments then go ahead, but im just not into that whole ordeal.. besides.. some of them can help you, but if you stop taking them you will lose most of what you gained if you dont work out considerably more after you stop taking them. oh and dont get with a girl and get depressed if you break up that wont help either.. anyway this is mostly what i did/do and these are my opinions.. LaTeR
i know this is kind of an old thread, but i have to throw my 2 cents in.
taylor, DO NOT take steroids! they are EXTREMELY unhealthy. take my word for it. as a former Division-1 college football player and the nephew of a former NFL athlete who played in the 80's (steroids were huge then), i've seen a lot. Deca, Anadrol, Winstrol, Dianabol, Oxadrin, etc. etc. I've never taken any of them but i've seen first hand how they will seriously mess up someone's body/health. one could argue that in small doses or only taking one cycle and quitting, they are not harmful, but everyone's body is different and is affected differently.
people also become dependent on them. i've seen guys say "i'm just gonna take one cycle this summer to get ready for the start of the season." then mid-season they start losing major muscle mass, strength, and performance which results in feelings of inadequacy because they are degressing, which causes them to take "one more cycle" to get through the season, and the next thing you know a year has gone by.
ok, so they're not healthy. how so?
well, taking steroids is basically introducing an artificial, man-made, derivative of testosterone into the body. this completely screws up your hormonal balance. testosterone is responsible for muscle growth, facial hair, and other characteristics that make us "manly." the influx of major amounts of "fake" testosterone boosts the process of muscle growth, etc. however, your body now sees that you have plenty of testosterone, so it stops making it. DHEA is a chemical in your body that eventually converts to testosterone. DHEA is made in your nuts. when your body doesnt need any more testosterone, there is no need to make more DHEA, so your nuts stop making it and basically shrivel up. not cool.
while the steroids are in your body they have androgenic effects (masculinizing effects) on the body. one such effect is muscle growth which is good, but you also get the effects of acne all over the body and hair loss. again, not cool.
now the hormonal balance is so screwed up in the body that estrogen related isssues arise. that's right, estrogen, the female hormone. all males have small amounts of estrogen in our body, but steroids can cause these levels to rise significantly. with all that testosterone in your body, some of it goes through a process called aromatisation in which the testosterone molecule is transformed into an estrone molecule. what are the effects? estrogen causes the body to retain water, making you look big but bloated. it also can cause the body to store more fat, and last but not least, estrogen can cause "bitch tits." that's right some men have actually experience the growth of breasts. again, not cool.
for teenagers though, the most detrimental thing that could happen is the stunting of growth plates. men dont stop growing until around age 21. and druring adolescence the growth plates are not set, and foreign testosterone can halt the setting process. meaning if you're 5'5" now, taking steroids could cause you to be 5'5" for the rest of your life.
some people never experience these side effects, and you'll probably know kids that took a bunch of steroids and never had any of the above mentioned things happen to them. there are also supplements that you can buy to counteract these effects, but as a teenager do you really want to be spending money on drugs that prevent hairloss, boost testosterone production, or prevent the growing of breasts?! personally, i'd rather spend my money on car audio equipment :) oh yeah, have you ever noticed how many pro baseball players are going bald?
now i hope i havent turned you off of weight lifting or getting big. that's certainly not my intention, weight training at your age has absolutely no negative effects. some people once believed that lifting weights as a teenager could stunt your growth, but that's completely false. just ask any 6'6" 300 pound NFL lineman when he started lifting. i guarantee it wasnt in college :)
if you wanna get big, here's my advice:
1. take a multi vitamin every day. our bodies never get enough vitamins and minerals, and the FDA recommended dose is intended for your average couch potato, not for athletes or people training hard. we need much more. those "One-a-Day" vitamins dont cut it. you want three to four times the recommended dose of vitamins. dont worry if your piss becomes neon yellow, it doesnt mean you're dehydrated, the vitamins go to your small intestine and are absorbed most efficiently there.
2. eat lots and lots of protien. this is the best way to gain mass. protien is composed of amino acids, the building blocks of life. protien aids muscle growth, recovery, strength, and the absorption of nutrients into your muscle cells. the body needs different types of protien too, so dont just buy one kind of protien shake and think that's all the body needs. there is whey protien and casein protein powders. whey gets into the bloodstream the fastest but it has a shorter duration of amino acids in the blood stream, so buy some whey powder and drink a shake right after your workout. casein protein on the other hand has a slower release and a prolonged duration of amino acids in the blood steam. this makes casein the ideal protein to take before bedtime because it provides a slow but continuous release of amino acids in the blood stream while you sleep, so drink one of these shakes right before bed each night. also, drink tons of milk. both whey and casein proteins are derived from milk and some body builders swear on it for being a major factor in mass building. fish, steak, chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, turkey, and almonds are all good sources protien. i used to keep a stockpile of tuna in my dorm room and every time i got a chance i would just eat a can, pure protein basically. eat quality fats too, like those found in peanut butter and olive oil.
3. train hard. there's no substiture for straight up hard work. be consistent with your workouts; dont skip workouts b/c missing a workout basically negates the gains from the last three workouts.
4. last but not least, get PLENTY of sleep. this is the one of the least known reasons why some people cant get big. your body needs time to rest and build muscle mass. seriously, like 8 to 10 hours a night.
there are also some good supplements out there you can try too. creatine is great, its basically a combination of amino acids and it helps add mass to your muscle cells and also helps with muscle contraction, making you stronger. it doesnt work for everyone though, only like 80% of people, and i didnt find it very helpful.
NO2, or Nitic Oxide, is good too. NO2 increases blood flow, and increased blood flow will deliver more nutrients to muscles, which helps the muscles get bigger. it also reduces inflammation, which helps reduce pain from muscle and joint recovery. It will give you random erections though.lol. NO2 is one of the main ingredients in viagra.
the good thing about these supplements is that that don't directly effect your hormonal balance, which is why steroids are so bad for you. creatine and NO2 are essentially just amino acids, like protein, in which the only side effects are possible nausea, diarrhea, and weakness. if you start getting sick or blowing up the toilet all the time, back off a little on the supplements; your body is overloaded with amino acids. just make sure you do plenty of research on any supplements you are considering and find out exactly how they affect your body, and stay away from those that alter hormone levels.
basically, you dont need a super strict diet or expensive drugs to get big. just eat a lot of whatever, and whenever you see protein, EAT IT. you've gotta train hard too. like i said there's no substitute for hard work.
good luck taylor, hope you found this helpful.
Yup, that helped a lot!
I think I'll try some of the protein stuff... a few people are taking all kinds of protine too.
You mintioned Why, what would you recomend and how often... and how much, and that sort of thing. I think someone at school was saying that you need to take in like 10 grams for every how minny sertain pounds. Do you know any thing about that?
Thanks for the hellp. I also believe that NO2 has afedra in it... wich makes me wory about taking it. On top of everything else, I'm also a diobetic.
Sorry, meant Whey... I also don't get that much sleep. Createen didn't really work for me either. I have a big bottle left over... do you think its still good to take? Its like a year old, and has already been opend. Theres no use in letting it go to waste.
as far as how much protein to take, shoot for at least one gram per pound of body weight. if you weigh 150lbs, i would suggest taking at least like 160 to 180 grams of protein a day. mix it up too. i cant stress milk enough; drink it as much as you can. skim milk is still my drink of choice to this day and i dont even "train" anymore. red meat is a better source of protein than chicken breasts and tuna, but those are still good though. eat eggs too. those and milk should be the base of your protein intake.
buy a jar of whey protein, ProLab is a good brand, and drink a shake after you workout. also, buy a jar of casein protein powder, i'm not sure what brand is the best, just get something that is like 100% casein and not some crazy sh1t; drink a shake before bed. make your shakes with your favorite ice cream and some milk. it'll still taste like ass, but it's the only way to put on mass. besides those two daily shakes, every time you get hungry you should think PROTEIN. get your mind trained that the reason you are hungry is because your cells need protein. don't be afraid of carbs either; they facilitate the absorption of protein. eat as many grams of carbs as you do protein.
in milk there is like 10g per 8oz, one egg has 6g, tuna is usually like 25g, chicken breasts have like 20 to 30g of protein. as you can see it takes a lot to get to 150grams so protein shakes are necessary when trying to put on weight.
creatine monohydrate has a very long shelf-life. since you have it you might as well try it again, 5grams 30 minutes before your workout.
umm, not sure what to tell you as far as concerns for diabetics so be sure to check with your doctor i guess. just taking a lot of protein shouldnt be that bad for you i wouldnt think. that should be all you need - protein, carbs, lots of sleep, and hard work.
What JW said is about right on the amount to take and so on. If you want something that taste good, look into EAS. I use their precision protien and creatine products and it taste pretty darn good. Definatly alot better that some of the other brands.
Thanks for all of you're help... I'll prob buy some in a few dayss sense school is fixing to be out and I can work out and eat/drink the shakes on a regular basis.
When you say a shake... what do you have in mind?
yeah egg whites contain the most protein that there is. In fact they make the protein scale, something like 97 out of 100 or something. We learned all about it in biology, we also learned how many grams you should eat a day for you bodyweight. I wanna say it was 1.5/kg, but I will double check. My teacher was pretty negative towards protein shakes, he said that if you have a healthy diet its more than likely you have enough protein in your diet. There is also something like your body can only break down 26g of protein every 3 hours, therefore any excess is just converted to glucose and stored as fat.
I dont know, I was hesitant to believe him at first, but then again, who has the degree and has been teaching/learning about it for 30years. So I decided that he was correct and I shouldn't be ignorant
so yeah, moral of the post, eat egg whites, and dont overload yourself with protein, for it wont help.
..... if you want to get bigger and gain more muscle... eat more, but watch what you eat for sure.. dont eat fast food All the time.. and run, do curls, dead lifts..etc.. at the gym.. work on each part of the body each day of the week.. if you want to do supliments then go ahead, but im just not into that whole ordeal.. besides.. some of them can help you, but if you stop taking them you will lose most of what you gained if you dont work out considerably more after you stop taking them. oh and dont get with a girl and get depressed if you break up 
that wont help either.. anyway this is mostly what i did/do and these are my opinions.. LaTeR 
