Heavy Hammer Gym

I decided that I was spending WAY too much money on supplements.  Because supplements are supposed to be SUPPLEMENTAL to what I am already consuming I thought it was a waste of money to pay for the Big Name Brands with their fancy Proprietary Blends and what not.  I decided to try to create my own personal Pre and Post workout supplements.  I buy ingredients in bulk.  My last bill was around $140.00.  This included ingredients for both the pre and post workout stuff.  The amount of ingredients that I bought should supply enough material for around 3 months of training (1-2 times a day, 5-6t times a week).  The equates to around $1.50 a day or $45 a month.  I was spending $100-150 a month on the Big Name Brands. I tried to keep it simple and easy.  I researched what a lot of the Big Name Brands used for ingredients in their supplements and tried to replicate it as closely as I could. What I found was that most pre and post workout supplements contained roughly the same ingredients as other pre and post workout supplements.  Here are the main ingredients:

Pre-Workout

1. Caffeine
2. BCAAs
3. Beta Alanine
4. Creatine
5. Flavoring

Post-Workout

1. Whey Protein
2. BCAAs
3. Creatine
4. Flavoring

These along with a few other ingredients (glutamine, vitamin c, etc) make up the bulk of most pre and post workout supplements.  I decided to go to BulkSupplements.Com to see how cheap (but good) of ingredients I could get.  After I placed my order (I actually ordered through Amazon so I could get 2 day free shipping so I could get it faster) I figured out how much of each ingredient to use to get me to the average amount that most other supplements used.  Here is what I came up with:

Pre-Workout

1. Green Coffee Bean – 1/8 tsp = ~212mg of Caffeine
2. BCAAs (2:1:1) – 3 tsp = ~5.3g
3. Beta Alanine – 1/2 tsp = ~2.3g
4. Creatine Monohydrate (Micronized) – 1 tsp = ~5g
5. Great Value (Wal-mart brand) Sugar free-Low calorie Pink Lemonade Drink Mix – 1/2 packet = 1/2 tsp = 5 cal, o carbs 15mg Potassium, and flavoring to cover up the other stuff.

Post-Workout

1. Whey Protein Isolate – 2 Tbsp = ~30g
2. BCAAs (2:1:1) – 3 tsp = ~5.3g (yes, I know I probably didn’t need to double up on the BCAAs)
3. Creatine Monohydrate (Micronized) – 1/2 tsp = ~2.5g (yes, I know I probably don’t need much more than 5g of Creatine a day)
4. Gatorade Powder – 1 scoop/12 oz = 80 cal, 21g carbs, and is good flavoring.

I poured the powders into (better)sealable containers and labeled them.  I measure them out each time.

If any of my readers have other ideas or a better way/cheaper way, etc. let me know.  I am open to trying anything.  I have been using my DIY supplements for a few weeks and I think they do help with my pre-workout energy and post-workout muscle soreness.