Nutrition supplement suggestions

Gorman

Branched out member
Location
Rhode Island
I’m 41 and climbing every day and feel it in my muscles at the end of the work day. Any supplement tips other than HGH to aid recovery?
 
I don't climb but do work pretty hard and have a pretty strict exercise and diet regimen.

Creatine can help with sustained muscle exertion as well as recovery. Forget the meat heads talking about tons of protein or BCAMs, most of us get plenty unless you're a vegan.

Electrolytes are super important for me. I make my own sports drinks with lite salt ( mix of NaCl and KCl) with Mio flavoring and get about 64 oz a day using 1/4+ teaspoon per quart. I also take about 300mg of a magnesium chelate each day.

Stretching and resistance training really does make a huge difference but convincing yourself to do it when sore and tired is the hard part
 
I swear it, a daily magnesium supplement changed my life for the better. Mood, sleep, depression, energy, motivation, all got better. Started taking a daily zinc and vitamin C around the same time, maybe it’s helpful too. Zinc is supposed to be super important for men in particular, or so I hear.
Magnesium citrate for me, word is it’s more soluble. Lots and lots of magnesium oxide on the shelves at the drug store, but you gotta eat a few grams of it.
 
Last edited:
I swear it, a daily magnesium supplement changed my life for the better. Mood, sleep, depression, energy, motivation, all got better. Started taking a daily zinc and vitamin C around the same time, maybe it’s helpful too. Zinc is supposed to be super important for men in particular, or so I hear.
Magnesium citrate for me, word is it’s more soluble. Lots and lots of magnesium oxide on the shelves at the drug store, but you gotta eat a few grams of it.
This is a great topic, and I agree with the responses thus far. I second the magnesium. I was/am fortunate enough to be working with a naturopath for many of the above mentioned things.... magnesium for sure. Many many people are deficient in it, and it leads to a host of problems, muscle fade/fatigue and soreness especially. Once I got dialed in on the magnesium my life changed noticeably for the better. I also highly recommend proper hydration. Proper electrolyte balance with quality water, tap water alone will not hydrate on a cellular level. Cutting out dairy, and added sugars or sweeteners also really helped with inflammation control.
 
Last edited:
I’m 41 and climbing every day and feel it in my muscles at the end of the work day. Any supplement tips other than HGH to aid recovery?
I’m a 49 yr old female climber, been climbing almost 4 yrs now. I’m a life long weight lifter, yoga guru & nutrition nut (I worked at a nutrition store for many years). I would highly recommend glucosamine, chondroitin, & MSM you can find it all in one as a pill, powder or liquid for joint health. Plus fermented cod liver oil for joints as well, bonus it’s good for brain health too! Last thing, trace minerals power paks year round for electrolytes, all the good stuff you need w/o the bad, like sugar, dyes, etc.
 
I have always just used a balanced diet, and don't overwork myself (I still get allot done :p)

red meat, eggs, potatoes are good too, water, and if I'm sweating allot a Gatorade always helps

and junk such as: Fast food on the way to work, 4 pepsi's a day, and a beer aint helping anything, I tried vitamins, didnt help me any, good diet has always worked wonders
 
While others have nailed it - and while this here late-30's male is facing the same problem after realizing last week I wasn't really up for a 6-day, all-days climbs week which I MUST be if I wanna be a 1-person company lol - I'll reiterate what's been said, add some, and keep it prioritized from most->least important (there's overlaps of course, and it varies person to person, and extremes in any of them can negate/help others) but there's:

- general health (eating well; not exerting/overexerting outside of tree-work; strict sleep schedule, no alcohol/narcotics that interfere etc etc, stretching/yoga if/as needed) Note- all subsequent, specific items increase 'general health'!

- TRT or testosterone-replacement-therapy, anyone over mid-30's who's able to spare the time and "jump the hurdles" for it, should strongly consider it IMO. Men go through andropause, just like women lost their hormones after 'our breeding years' and we begin a lifelong, downhil journey of weaker muscles / more porous bones / reduced overall vitality & strength & libido & self-reported quality of life....If I had the insurance I'd be on around 700-1200mg/week of test cypionate or enanthate w/o hesitation, heck in my area the clinics for this are EVERYWHERE with dr's eager to help you (note- there's no "optimal test value", like with temperature, rather it's a range....so if you're slightly on lower-end of range, Dr.'s willl write you Rx's for it, BUT to ensure proper dosage, and get Rx'd enough that you have extra in-case etc, it's best to have a lower reading when tested.....this is a simple googling but our test levels vary TREMENDOUSLY through each day, biggest thing is time-of-day for instance it's made while asleep so if you were to, say, pull an all nighter before your AM testing, especially combined w/ other 'tricks', will get reallllly low testosterone readings. Then you take 2x/wk or every 5ish days, see your Dr at least monthly for blood work and keeping an eye on your heart, and it'll be the best thing you've done in this area!

- Electrolytes: hydration is, of course, important; so is fueling-up on good foods late-in-day so your body's assimilated them during sleep for maximal recovery *and* maximal energy-reserve-sequestration for following day (dunno about you, but I can't climb well w/ much in my stomach..) So not just water, but water + electrolytes. For me, I simply use Morton's "Lite Salt" which is a 50/50 sodium/potassium mixture, I also take magnesium citrate pills (ONLY, never waste time w/ the oxide version your body absorbs almost none), I consider water adn those 3 supplemented electrolytes absolutely critical!!

- Multivitamins are smart, ideally find one w/ iron (usually a premenopausal woman's formula), and CREATINE should be taken by almost *everybody* IMO there's little good reason not to (it benefits brain not just muscle!) Protein powder can be useful but realistically you should just eat adequately if at all pssible!! Edited-in: B-vitamins, and even vit C, are water-soluble so you lose them quicker when sweating a lot, and extra replenishment of those is of value to some it seems!

If nothign else, I find that having adequate water, and gatorade/etc fluids, on-site is requisite (I've had days where I was cramping in-tree, could hardly stop charlie horses all over my body to get my fig.8 on and get to the ground for electrolytes, FL tree work is no joke am "bracing" for our summer now :D
 
- TRT or testosterone-replacement-therapy, anyone over mid-30's who's able to spare the time and "jump the hurdles" for it, should strongly consider it IMO. Men go through andropause, just like women lost their hormones after 'our breeding years' and we begin a lifelong, downhil journey of weaker muscles / more porous bones / reduced overall vitality & strength & libido & self-reported quality of life....If I had the insurance I'd be on around 700-1200mg/week of test cypionate or enanthate w/o hesitation, heck in my area the clinics for this are EVERYWHERE with dr's eager to help you (note- there's no "optimal test value", like with temperature, rather it's a range....so if you're slightly on lower-end of range, Dr.'s willl write you Rx's for it, BUT to ensure proper dosage, and get Rx'd enough that you have extra in-case etc, it's best to have a lower reading when tested.....this is a simple googling but our test levels vary TREMENDOUSLY through each day, biggest thing is time-of-day for instance it's made while asleep so if you were to, say, pull an all nighter before your AM testing, especially combined w/ other 'tricks', will get reallllly low testosterone readings. Then you take 2x/wk or every 5ish days, see your Dr at least monthly for blood work and keeping an eye on your heart, and it'll be the best thing you've done in this area!

:D
700-1200 mg of testosterone a week is WAY TOO much and will lead to serious problems if used long term....100mg a week is all that is needed to put most men at the highend range of what is considered healthy. ... Let also remember that taking test will cause your body to stop producing it on its own, which brings its own set of trouble, including taking meds to keep your testy's working. Unless someone in their 30's to mid 40's has endocrine system problems I would not recommend it....Just too early...
 
Last edited:
It starts with getting tested. Low T probably really sucks. I was on the low end of normal, and I’ll say I didn’t have much wind in my sails, but doc said it wasn’t low enough to warrant test shots or the topical gel stuff. So doctor prescribed exercise and to lose 10 pounds of butt and gut. He also said pretty much what Rico said. Replace the testosterone unnaturally, and you’ll feel great, for a little bit, but your body will stop naturally producing it, and the old gonads will atrophy. I never got tested again, but I felt way more like a normal man after a couple months of weightlifting and a 15 minute cardio session everyday. Cut all sugar and most carbs and a lot of the excess body fat melted away. This was almost 2 years ago, I was 38 at the time. I should get the level checked again at my next physical.
 
I have always just used a balanced diet, and don't overwork myself (I still get allot done :p)

red meat, eggs, potatoes are good too, water, and if I'm sweating allot a Gatorade always helps

and junk such as: Fast food on the way to work, 4 pepsi's a day, and a beer aint helping anything, I tried vitamins, didnt help me any, good diet has always worked wonders

Thanks but I haven’t eaten meat since 1997.
 
700-1200 mg a week is WAY TOO much and will lead to serious problems if used long term....100mg a week is all that is needed to put most men at the highend range of what is considered healthy. ... Let also remember that taking test will cause your body to stop producing it on its own, which brings its own set of trouble, including taking meds to keep your testy's working. Unless someone in their 30's to mid 40's has endocrine system problems I would not recommend it....Just too early...

So don’t take magnesium? Or take about 100mg a week?
 
Thanks but I haven’t eaten meat since 1997.
Most meat is garbage for your system but the cholesterol in quality meats and eggs is vital for proper testosterone production. Eggs are good enough, eat before bed ideally.

Testosterone/free HGH are vital for recovery. 6 years ago I went on a crazy strict diet for over half a year to promote T and general health, and my body got so good at healing that my teeth remineralized, among other benefits and general health. Didn’t know that could happen. T is a very delicate compound and can be easily affected by all sorts of interactions with other molecules. Part of the “diet” was phasing out processed food and switching to personal products with simple ingredients.

6 years later, running a business, raising kids, and climbing daily, I pretty much shove garbage in my mouth all day and try to eat a salad. It’s a lot of work to eat well, unfortunately. It’s also unpopular as a menu with kids and spouses.

I use a vegan hydration supplement called ulitma. I have yet to get heat sickness since using it, and was able to climb 12-hr days in 100 dg heat for a couple weeks down in Iowa last summer dragging a 5 gallon cooler of the stuff around for myself and my crew.
 
I dont recall the exact numbers but there are studies that indicated vitamin C enriched gelatin increased collagen production during exercise and reduced joint/tendon injury for 6 hours.

Couldn't tell ya if it changes anything but I make a packet of unflavored gelatin with mashed up fruit everyday and also take a vitamin C supplement. Pretty easy.
 

New threads New posts

Kask Stihl NORTHEASTERN Arborists Wesspur TreeStuff.com Teufelberger Westminster X-Rigging Teufelberger
Back
Top Bottom