I'm trying to find the right products to build muscle mass, get stronger and faster and build endurance.

Anyone have any products to suggest?

What kind of product do you mean? Something like whey?
I've heard that the new creatine products are pretty good, but I still think a good routine and diet will work best...

Get your training and diet right and then worry about supplements (Don't believe the marketing)

A decent protein powder
Creatine (if you respond to it)
Maybe a preworkout supplement to get you going

Well there are some legal prohormone products that you could use, and are very effective, but I don't recommend them, especially at your young age. Having a balanced diet is more important than taking supplements. Eat a decent amount of protein and stay away from foods that cause a hormonal imbalance, especially high fructose corn syrup. Taking a multivitamin also helps keep your hormones balanced.

As far as workouts, focus on compound movements, such as bench press, cable rows, and squats. And most importantly, just like a good metal song, GO HEAVY \m/ If you can do more than 5 reps, you're not going heavy enough.

I lift regularly for Cross Country/Track.

I want something to give me more of an edge because I'm fit and do my daily running and I lift every other day.

I use the Musclepharm BCAAs.

Right now I'm looking into strictly musclepharm products (mostly because they are the only ones I'm familiar with).

I was looking into Assault for my pre-workout, Combat as my Whey Protein and then Bullet Proof as an added booster.

Mate, I am lifting weights since 2006 with small interruptions - my recipe is Weigh Protein, 7 hrs a sleep at night, eating as healthy as possible and total focus during the training

Ive been weight training for about 15 years and really the above is pretty much spot on.

building mass , getting faster and building endurance are 3 different goals and depending on what you mean by 'endurance' will each need to be focused on with your training.

Ive stopped using BCAAs because I really find that if your protein intake is sufficient there is no need to supplement with bcaas. they are expensive and the money would be better served elsewhere.
Ive also found that I need to cycle any pre-workout supps because with the stimulant based ones its easy to build up a tolerance to them.

for speed - interval sprints, sled work etc are great to include. vary the intensity of your workouts as well...... actually you are probably doing this kind of thing already. If you are happy with your current training routine I would focus on your diet and just include a couple of supplements, A whey protein powder would be first on my list.

Thanks for info Bleez!

By endurance I mean running endurance. I know only running can REALLY help that but I need my muscles to get better at handling high mileage without breaking down quickly.

how high a mileage are you running?
it is tempting to look at something like bcaas when you are getting into marathon or ultra style training for their alleged muscle sparing properties but tbh Im not convinced on their effectiveness even for that. If you need to re-fuel during a run then you'd be looking at carbs with water and recovery after would be simple carbs first and then back to including protein... imo.

have you ever read stuff by Dean Karnazes ( before he was getting sponsorship deals ), his nutrition during races / long runs was very basic foods ( junk foods sometimes ) Also Graeme Obree( world champion cyclist ) would use jam sandwiches as his recovery meal, basically simple carbs. I really do think that this approach is all thats needed.


Ive been tempted to lately to increase my own running, currently I do a 3 mile run 3-4 times per week and just vary the speed each time so at least once per week Im going flat out but Im thinking about switching it up and maybe looking at a marathon ( or half marathon, probably! )

I run and do a lot of core training, but I don't lift weights. Every time I do, my wrists seem to get injured for some reason. They hurt a lot the next day. Does anyone have any suggestions? The pain isn't muscle fatigue. I guess I might describe it as 'wrist splints'.

is it all movements which hurt, pressing AND pulling?
I know a lot of people get sore wrists from certain exercises like curls. have you tried any type of strapping or adjusting your form?

I have adjusted my form a bit, but I haven't tried, or heard of, strapping. Can you enlighten me about that process?

I don't really try pressing all that often, it is mostly pulling. I don't like to bulk up, I just try building against my own body. I prefer to be lean as opposed to large.

I usually do chin - ups, pull - ups, and push - ups for exercising my upper body.

with push ups the angle of your hands flat on the ground can be a bit harsh, if you get pain doing these you could try using handles whch would change the angle of your hands and you could even have it so your hands are straight as if you were holding a hammer. You could also try dips instead which might be a different enough angle for your wrists, also dips are the daddy!

the same kind of thing for the pulling stuff like chins and pullups, have you tried various grips like close grip with palms facing each other? Personally I get a bit of pain when I do a reverse grip pullup so I tend to stick with the palms facing each other version.

Theres 2 types of straps which might help, the wraps version which might be more suitable or alternatively and stricly for pulling exercises you get the straps version, although these ones are more for grip issues but might be worth trying.

It has been awhile since I have tried using my handles, I will go and fish them out.

As for the straps, I will try the first option. Thanks for the suggestions, mate!

hope it helps bud, let me now how you get on

I actually have two of Dean Karnazes's books next to my bed.

I run competitive Cross Country. Right now my long run is 7 miles (not include the mile of warm up and the mile of cool down) and then other days are anywhere from 4-6 miles. I run 6 days a week for training purposes and it's only going to get higher.

I had to stop doing deadlifts and squats because I kept getting sharp pain in my elbow joints, on the inside. I changed my focus from mass building into strength training instead and now just do diamond pushups (not sure if that's the right name, hands like a diamond shaped in the middle) and pull ups and das ist das ! Oh, and beat the crap out of the heavy bag.. I guess some of us were just meant to stay skinny !!

What one really needs is enough money to sustain the good diet and enough protein supplement.. it's quite an expensive pastime if you wanna really go for it !

This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Jul 23 2012, 09:14 AM

I don't care about physique. I don't even exercise enough to really look as if I put muscle on. I just exercise to stay healthy. Plus, if I ever need to run to save my life, then I can be damned sure that I can run. I run with my 'functional' boots and my camping pack. Because I tend to go hiking often, so it really helps.

I have two sets of boots. My functional boots that I use for heavy duty stuff, and my dress boots. My Doc Martens that I wear at shows and stuff - because they look prettier.

My skinniness definitely helped me when I used to fence. I wasn't a very large target. Especially with my low stance

EDIT: I know only them as diamond push - ups. So if they have another name, I definitely don't know it!

This post has been edited by Nihilist1: Jul 23 2012, 09:20 AM

Are the 'functional boots' in case you either need to run over rugged terrain or break a guy's kneecap with one stomp ?

A little bit of both, but more for the rugged terrain. I like to be prepared!