FormicaLinoleum wrote:
Remember, this show was about the evidence for supplements for the average gym-goer, not serious or professional athletes. Just as they said that sugary water (i.e., sports drinks) can actually help performance during truly intense exercise but does nothing for someone just going to the gym, other products might be useful for competing bodybuilders but not for the average person lifting weights sometimes.
They did say that there is evidence for the effectiveness of creatine (and caffeine).
However, I think the show was pretty thorough and if I had to decide on whether to believe researchers who have pored through loads of actual studies on a topic, and people's stories of how they feel using products, I'll go with the research. Unless individuals are doing really controlled investigations of how different products affect them (e.g., being sure to change nothing other than the one thing they are interested in, carefully measuring objective outcomes), anecdotes really don't mean much at all. The whole point of research is to try to eliminate all those other factors that can come into play (e.g., placebo effect, lack of objectivity in assessing one's outcomes) and to gather information on a number of people together. Just because you feel that something is helping you, doesn't mean it really is. Though I guess if you get a placebo effect from using something, that can still be helpful in practical terms.
Oh yes but they didn't actually do much research or look at much research on what things do. A lot of bodybuilders / strength lifters, even casual ones use things like protein powders even if they use nothing else and it seems to work, muscles need protein and carbs (to some degree) and if a powder actually gives you that (really actually does it) then why not.
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