Do they really work? Seems to be a lot of different products out there, and always advertised in the gym, to assist weight loss and help build muscle but I'm still a bit skeptical of them.

Anyone ever used any and got the results you wanted from them?

Protein is necessary when trying to build muscle and it's always best to have it relatively soon after a work out to help repair muscles.

With regard to fat loss I'm not sure there is a magic supplement, some may help in a minimal way but the most effective way is to eat the right diet.

I went through a phase of eating 6/7 meals a day that contained mainly protein and dropped a good few % body fat and also toned up really well...... Was also following a pretty extreme training programme too.

There seems to be no doubt that the new generation of supplements that reduce absorption of fat into the system work very well, but that there seem to considerable side effects including shhitting through the eye of a needle. No doubt though something that prevents your body from absorbing fat in the first place must help control weight.

There are supplements that help, although you're probably thinking about them the wrong way, as they aren't muscle building or fat losing. Getting your diet and training right is more important, and supplements come on the end of that - hence being called "supplements" !

When thinking "muscle building" you should really be thinking "recovery supporting" So meaning things that help you recover from training, meaning you can train harder and more frequently. Adequate protein is obviously particularly vital (especially after training) but along with that there are supplements like creatine, glutamine, and HMB. You can get those in all-in-one drinks like Cyclone. Worth taking a multi-vit supplement too.

The "fat loss" stuff can supposedly help speed your metabolism. Even just caffeine does that though, along with the right training programme.

Unless you are very new to training, it's difficult to both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. If you're new (<1 year typically) then it's hard not to do both and to some extent almost any programme and diet will see improvements. Beyond that, then you need to get more specific in your training and diet plans.

I've been trying for years to put weight on, and I can concur, all any of the supplements have done is had me on the loo within 20 minutes of drinking them, at first I thought I was lactose intolerant, bt having just wasted £50 on a "lactose free" supplement I have to say that they don't work, at least not for me.

A balanced diet and a good programme will always be the best place to start, supplements may help with marginal gains.

How old are you, what's your training programme, and how many calories a day are you taking now?

A lot of the fat burners are chock full of caffeine (more so than the likes of Red Bull) and something that heats up your body so it helps you lose weight by those methods.

Then there's the type that make you crap out the fat as mentioned above.

Muscle building - creatine and then protein after. A common thing people are told in regards to the protein is 1g per lbs of body weight...but don't do that entirely from the shakes, meat and the like need to be eaten more often too.

Although you will need to hit the weights a fair bit too, you can't just eat/drink and expect results, of course.

I've given up, I don't have time to follow the programme given to me by the idiot at DWSports, he didn't even know how to use the equipment properly, exercise for me now is walking/skiing etc. Not setting foot inside a gym again. I figure at 37 I am now whatever weight I am always going to be, unless I start having a poor diet.

Pity. Especially if you ski, for which a bit of leg and core strength is always handy.

FYI, I fancied a change in appearance so over the last few months went from my "big and strong" 16.5 second row (god knows why, I stopped playing yonks ago) build to a "lean and athletic" 14.12 stone in the space a few months without too much drastic lifestyle change.

I've no problem with core strength, 14 years teaching combat, body attack etc. and having free weights at home saw to that, I just wanted to weigh more so I could ski faster, although I am not sure I could handle te crashes anymore, maybe 77mph is my upper limit without breaking a leg!!

Just the sort of interesting assumption we should challenge! As a non-skier, I question if you've been working on the right assumption, as if you were right, and a heavier body slid down slippy surfaces faster, wouldn't I see loads of porkers winning the downhills, or extra-wide bobsleighs filled with the Golightlys cleaning up the medals?

I can see how if you just want to point in a straight line and go, that would work, but I don't think in general you can do that, can you? So what you gain in straight line you perhaps lose in having to change the vector of a heavier mass when zig-zagging or, in the case of a bob, going round bends?

And back to straight lines, why no 25 stone ski jumpers? If a heavy jumper could achieve a higher take-off speed, it's all surely down to gravity after that, and wouldn't a huge bloke jump further due to being better able to overcome forward air resistance?

Yet my all time ski jump hero (well, after Eddie the Eagle) Adam Małysz is only about 5'7" and looks like he'd be 9 stone wet through, yet he seems in his career to have been able to achieve a faster takeoff speed than most?

rlOne article about the physics of it.rl

For what it's worth, I'd have you and take this as only the opinions someone who's a rugby coach (well, IT services salesman, RL coaching is just a hobby) and trains himself, rather than a qualified personal trainer: Your weights work to gain weight should only be 3-4 sessions a week, 45 mins per session, containing one workout that contains only squats, deadlifts and pull up, and the other containing bench presses and overhead presses. No long aerobic sessions, but perhaps a couple of 30 minute interval session if you want to maintain fitness, and just keep upping the calories and spread them out over the day.

I don't think being heavier will help you ski faster though. Downhill skiers can tend to be heftier than the slalom racers, but I think that's from the need for strong legs rather than a need to carry weight. Otherwise they'd load their kit with lead weights

for gaining muscle ive had alot of the proteins.. promax, progain, creatine etc

they do work, help but weight on and lean muscle but you need to take them 3/4 times a day and they taste gastly! and only last a month and you buy another for £35 ..not cheap

you cant stay on them every month, not good for you body, it needs a break , so you have a break and your back to square one again, ive become bored with the cycle and just eat decent meals now

plus im sure creatine messed my bladder up as i pee alot more than i used to do!

creatine was the best one for muscle but it just retains water so you pee alot and have to drink alot of water too

you cant try them but it aint cheap and becomes a chore

I'd just like to point out that my lifestyle has so far, thankfully, precluded me from this sort of discussion.

I tried T4 or T5 fat burners for 2 weeks. Whizzing my tits off is the term I'd use.

Lost 5lb though.