 I feel like we can't do this in with a hat on when you have the best hair that 2019's ever seen. Happy New Year my friends, Sal and Mike back with another video. Today we're going to tackle controversial, maybe not controversial, but the hot topic of supplements, be sure to like this video, subscribe, or drop the two videos a week. I'm twitching five times a week if you guys are into any kind of video games or just hanging out with me, check the link below. So a long time friend, very strong guy, very intelligent, strength conditioning, powerlifting coach, John Stewart. You can check him out on Twitter at JSstrength or Instagram, I believe the similar name, don't quote me. My Canadian friend, he tweeted out, which made me brain's thing, sometimes in between sets at the gym, I give myself like 30 seconds right now, you know, I'm doing a legs push pull, I'm in and out in an hour, I get 10 minutes of hard cardio done, and in between sets I'll just read Twitter a little bit, because I love Twitter a lot, sorry Instagram, it was a great time when we were there, but now our relationships getting a little fuzzy. He said, taking a new supplement in hopes of increasing your fat loss progress is akin to banning straws to save the environment. While admirable, it's less than 1% of the big picture and won't make any noticeable difference in everything else isn't already in line. I honestly, you know, 99% agree with John here, except for that I don't even think if everything else is in line, that it will make more than 1% difference. The only thing that is, you could say is that if you have everything else in line, sleep, nutrition, hydration, everything, recovery, massages, whatever you think it is, which we don't even know what 100% is, that maybe supplements are then worth the money. I don't think then they'll add more than 1% to your progress, and that's coming from someone who I absolutely love shortcuts. My entire goal in life is to optimize and make more efficient everything I do, and that's why I'm a little bit OCD, a little bit too passionate or intense into everything I do before I hop in, which isn't always the best thing, but before I hop in, I like to learn everything I can on the topic, so I'm not spinning my wheels or wasting my time, and that's what I did with training over the last 10 years, that's what I'm doing with content creating, that's what I do with podcasting, that's what I do when I research to buy a new computer or a new TV. I like to get all my data straight so I can make the best purchase, the most efficient, if not I freak out a little bit on the inside, and so I absolutely love the idea of supplements. I've tried every supplement under the sun from ages, I'm 30 now, when I was 18 to 23, 24, maybe even 26, I spent thousands of dollars on supplements that never once actually had an effect besides some caffeine like me up. Another quick shout out to examine.com, they are not affiliated with me whatsoever, but it's a highly, highly recommended website where you can check out any ingredient and any supplement, and then it gives you a basic rundown, a review of the studies it's been put through, and whether it has any application, side effects, what kind of doses, what you're looking for in a supplement, if it's even worth your money, and the type of side effects you might have. Now with me, my best lifts in powerlifting are very above average, but not great. I've spent a lot of time at this thing, I squatted 590, bench 405, and deadlifted 705, went around 220, and all of those were my best years of training. I still am yet to look my best. I believe around 35 I'm going to be a shredded, mean looking bodybuilder, but point to those are that all my best progress and strength and aesthetics will come without supplements. If you get your protein requirements in from food, sure, a protein powder is, you know, you could argue it's food and not a supplement, you know, whether we want to play semantics in this video or not, you can use some supplementing protein powder if you can't get in the chicken steak, fish, veggies, legumes, whatever it is to reach your protein maxes, but I think if you get your protein from your foods, you get your micronutrients from your veggies, your fruits, you stay hydrated, you get a lot of sleep, and you have a good program, and I don't mean just a workout for anybody that's new. The difference between a workout is sets, reps, what you're doing in a day. A program allows you to progress with intent over time. If you have those set in line, you're bound to have some success if you stay and play the long game. Now consistency is going to be number one, and I was super dialed in. I was dialed in as an athlete from basically age 12 as a basketball player all the way up until maybe 26, 27, 28 as a power lifter. And within that, I eat, sleep, dream of my success as an athlete. I was dedicated to the max, and I still don't think that I was 100% in line. We are humans, and sure someone's going to comment below. Well, I heard someone so hasn't had a carb since 1988, and I know he's more dedicated than you. That may be a case. There may be more people more dedicated than I was as an athlete, but I still don't think that the majority of people that are reaching common goals or even extreme goals at the highest level, powerlifting, bodybuilding, NBA, whatever it might be, are on par 100% of the time. I'm sure LeBron James is having some late night red wine and staying up too late. I'm sure Kobe Bryant went out, played a little poker until 2am before a basketball game. We are human, we are here to enjoy our ride, we are here to write our own story. And I know we're getting off a little bit on a tangent, but I think that we shouldn't judge others for their progress or their dedication to a craft. I think that you should do the best. Whatever balance is or whatever fun is or whatever moderation is to you, my point being is that supplements beyond maybe a little caffeine to wake you up, maybe creatine because it's very inexpensive if you buy a raw monohydrate, maybe some fish oils, maybe some vitamin D3. These are very inexpensive supplements and won't hurt your progress and maybe can add a little bit to your longevity and how you feel. You know, a lot of people, it's a super gloomy day here in Northern California. Yes, I live in California. No, it's not 70 degrees all the time. I'm in Northern California, very different climate. I know there's seasonal depression and some things that can help with vitamin D3 and other supplements for life rather than just how big your biceps get. So if those are something you need for sure, look into it and it may be worth the dollar amount. They are less expensive than Nitro Super Pump 5000 to try to grow an inch on your biceps which is probably never going to happen because an inch on your biceps is very difficult without performance enhancing drugs. Onto the next topic of why you still see so many Instagrammers, YouTubers, whatever it might be, Tweeters, content creators, bloggers, pushing and preaching and talking about different supplements and all these things. Well, it's because one of two things, most likely 90% of them are getting paid or free product and to the majority of these influencers, they may not understand business, they may be new to the game, they may have risen very quickly in their audience or influencers or fame on Instagram, they went from 10,000, now they have 150,000 people watching them so they're having companies approach them from left and right and they're getting $500, two grand, maybe just free product but they're so excited from this new found soap box that they're standing on that they get checks in the mail and new packages from a company that they used to read about in magazines and now they're going to promote it and shove it down your throat so they look better to this company and one day hopefully get a contract that's worth less than 10 grand that's worth less than the audience they have but they feel so damn good about it so they're going to sell you supplements and that's just the honest fact, do a lot of really great athletes take supplements? Yes, perhaps. Are those athletes great because of the supplements? Absolutely not and I'll argue anybody about that. There's no chance that Jerry Rice, LeBron James, Hapthor Bjornsson, Ray Williams all these guys are not who they are because of the supplements they take and that's just absolute fact but if you believe otherwise I'm very sorry for you but they're shoving supplements down your throat as audience, as influencers just to create more promotion so they can make money belong to a team, wear the cool jacket, show up to the Olympia shake hands and kiss babies at a booth it's not because they believe in the product or maybe it is because they believe in the product and I'm not giving them credit but it's not because they're educated on the product because the products absolutely just don't work again it's your money, it's your life, it's your routine, work out, lifestyle whatever, again you got to write your story if you want to basically throw your money down the drain and buy those supplements by all means, do it we have a saying around here, you do you, me do me I'm just here to tell you to cut down the blanket that is here on the social media world that everyone's just happy dandy taking their little pre-workout and that's what's helping their 800 squat PR it's absolutely dog, you know what I'm trying not to cursing these things anymore so, again make your choices but for me I think you'd be better invested in a nice a brittle water filter a nice bed to sleep in maybe a good coach, trainer or program maybe some educational things on how to outline your own diet for longevity or progress or you just save that money and go buy yourself whatever it is you want to buy a nice vacation with the family buy yourself a movie with the girlfriend instead of that $100 bottle of testosterone booster, $9000 again guys, Salamite, give this thing a thumbs up comment below what topics you guys want me to uncover what topics you guys want me to be a little bit more raw about that some people may just be dancing or sprinkling a little sugar on I appreciate you, I'll see you on Twitch, we'll see you in the next video I'm outta here