Supplements – the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY

Sounds like a movie title! And I am sure we are going to see a movie about this one-day. It is one of the biggest money turning industries and one of the shadiest mafia style operations out there. I would go so far as to say it is one of the biggest scams ever pulled on consumers.

One thing that is undeniable and proven by science is that the best of the best supplements out there makes less than a 3% contribution to your success in bodybuilding. It has a laughable small contribution for a LOT of money spend. (The key components are – Diet 80% and training +15%)

Thus, why supplement companies have to make such ridiculous fake claims and try and dress them up as facts to lure consumers into the trap of partying with their money. And they know consumers can’t really proof anything because it will take too much money and there are too many variables.

There is not a single supplement out there that comes even close to the claims of its marketing material. Even from the “trusted” and big companies. There simply is no integrity in the supplement industry.

It is all blatant exaggeration coupled with fake “proof” photos which are either stolen or where people are paid to lie. Not a single photo used in the marketing of ANY supplement is ever real. Listen to this…not a single photo is real! They are ALL fake.

All these fitness guys with their Instagram posts and YouTube videos showing off the supplements in a subtle or not so subtle way…they all get paid to do this!

I personally have, to date, more than a 100 supplement companies (I will list some of more prominent ones at the end of this article) that stole my before and after photo and used it as “proof” with fake stories of how great their supplement is supposed to be working. And there are 100’s of cases similar to mine. If you have a striking before and after photo roaming around on internet, I guarantee you, rather sooner than later that it will start appearing in online supplement advertisements, off course without you even knowing about it.

Or if it is one of the big well-known companies, they will contact you and pay you money for the rights to use your photo with all kinds of fake claims of how you “transformed” with their product.

You will eventually have many fake names and fake stories on the internet of how you were supposed to have reached success with this supplement.

Attorneys are unwilling to take on these cases because they know that, especially the internet “companies” are more slippery than jellyfish with one front-end company after the other easily disappearing of the radar and popping up under a different name in a different country.

Consider this: One of the most widely advertised type supplements are products claiming to increase a man’s testosterone levels (and now I am talking about them all, does not matter which one). Now, if they were so effective even in the smallest way, why would a Doctor/Urologist not prescribe them when treating low testosterone levels in men? Simply because these supplements do not work! None of the information presented in the marketing of such products are legitimate. All are either false or half-truths. None of the science experiments they quote are legitimate and objectively verified. All is simply well-dressed up lies and half-truths.

This is the exact same case with ALL other supplement marketing campaigns. And the uneducated population is standing queues to buy these supplements believing the lies they are fed.

What is even scarier is that a significant slice of these internet supplement companies are actual scams, just to get their hook into your credit card and then the monthly deductions starts! How do they operate? Let’s look at an example…

The following (Delta Prime marketing) is how they typically advertise, abusing platforms like ESPN, well-known magazines (aka MUSLCE & FITNESS) and well known celebreties and photos from many guys who work hard and long to get their muscled bodies…all of whom are completely unaware they are being abused and all who have never used the supplement advertised (you will spot me also in there!). No one has given permission.

The above is an example of not just a fake product but an actual scam. They just want access to your credit card. After that you will have the “pleasure” of rather large recurring monthly deductions from your credit card which you will not be able to stop unless you cancel your card.

Another scary aspect of some supplements, is dangerously raised liver values and strain on kidneys. If you have raised liver values this is about the first thing your health care provider will ask you “Are you using bodybuilding supplements?”. So please take care what you put into your body. Many of these supplements have unverified contents.

Even the few supplements which have legitimate science behind them, makes but a very small difference. That difference is less than 3% at best. The supplements with solid science behind them are: Creatine, Whey Protein, BCAA and L-Glutamine. Sure, there might be new ones emerging in future that is backed by real legitimate science studies but be very careful what to trust and believe. The science quoted in marketing campaigns are nearly always disinformation or half-truths and not legitimate science at all. You need to verify the science from medical journals and independent science studies.

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These are the reasons why I am so outspoken regarding bodybuilding supplements. Believe me I could have made a lot of money pushing brands and supplements by now! I had even companies trying to bribe me with money to keep me quiet about their products. We are made to believe supplements are the magic solution, but the truth is, it is lies and deceit carefully designed to simply get our money. Make your choices very careful.

Your focus in your bodybuilding goal must be your diet and your training. This is where more than 90% of your bodybuilding success lies. Supplements is what it says, “supplemental” and makes a very small difference, or none at all for most.

Considering the above and applying some wisdom, your budget allocation for transforming your body should be as follows:

• 80% budget should be allocated towards ensuring you have the necessary diet food (and containers, food scales, etc.) available to ensure your diet is effective in place.
• 15% of your budget should be allocated to gym fee’s and gym training clothes/attire.
• Less than 5% of your budget should be allocated towards supplements because it cannot make a bigger difference than 5% (probably not more than 3%) in your success.

But off course having the correct system in place is critical otherwise you will continue wasting money and bumping your head without reaching any significant success. I have the complete system that I follow, available for clients. I customise it for their goals, body type, shape and current condition. It is a very extensive system which ensures EVERYTHING is correctly in place thus preventing all the common mistakes newbies in bodybuilding make. If you are interested, you can signup here: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

As mentioned earlier in the article, here is just some of the more prominent scam and fake supplements out there that use fake photos and fake stories to try and proof their supplements. My photos (any other people’s) have been used and abused multiple times by all of them and the list is ever growing:

• ALPHA FUEL X
• ANABOL X1
• AMINO PRIME
• APEX T
• APEX IP
• BIO MUSCLE XR
• CRAZYBULK WINSITROL
• DELTA PRIME
• ELITE TEST 360
• HGH XL
• LIFEFORCE ENERGY
• LIFEFORCE T-2000
• NITRO FOCUS N03
• NITRIC MAX MUSCLE
• NIWALI TESTO BOOST
• NUTRAGENTEX
• NUTRA TESTERONE
• POWER NO2 MAX
• PROMAX PUMP
• SUPER TEST-O-BOOST
• T-ADVANCE
• TESTO XL
• TESTERONE XL
• T-REX MUSCLE
• TESTO XTRM
• TRIG X2
• ULTRAMAX BOOSTER
• XFORCE NO2
• XTREME NO
• XENGTH X1
• 1285 MUSCLE

And many, many more!

Wish you happy training

Gert Louw