Anyone know a growth & recovery supp that's as good as R.A.M?

hatrickpatrick

Been taking RAM3 by Nutrition X for the last 3 months and my mind is absolutely blown by how amazing it is, not only have I noticed a massive increase in both mass and lifting ability (had been on a plateau for weeks beforehand), but DOMS, my main reason for looking into protein supps, are literally non existent. No longer do I ever have to take into account what I might be doing tomorrow morning when deciding whether to do a workout tonight. Don't feel like an injured soldier on waking up any more, in fact it hurts so little that it actually makes me question the intensity of my workouts until I look at my stats and realize how much progress I've made.

I'm out of it, however, and FightingFit seems to be closed like so many shops during this ridiculous ice age we're living with in Dublin, went there today and it was closed but then again so was half of Dublin and I slipped and fell no less than 4 times just walking up Grafton Street )

So Universal Nutrition is in Dun Laoghaire where I live, and since I don't know anywhere other than FightingFit which stocks RAM, I'll have to try something else for the moment until the weather gets back to normal. Anyone recommend something that's as good?

One problem I have is that most recovery products which are as good as RAM in terms of nutrition and price contain creatine, which is something I don't want to take until I feel like I actually need it. I've heard it's great for getting through walls you might hit, and since I haven't currently hit any walls I don't want to waste what could be an extra card I'll have to play at some point. That could be bollocks, just that I've told creatine is something which is most effective when you're not used to it so I'm avoiding it until I feel I need the extra boost.

Any suggestions?
This is obviously only for post workout by the way.

Hanley

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

I slipped and fell no less than 4 times just walking up Grafton Street :

You have much bigger problems than needing R.A.M.

For your own sake, stay in, lock the doors, cover yourself in bubble wrap and get into bed.

Also.... any protein/carb postworkout supplement will do the same. R.A.M doesn't have any magical properties!

hatrickpatrick

Hanley wrote: »

You have much bigger problems than needing R.A.M.

For your own sake, stay in, lock the doors, cover yourself in bubble wrap and get into bed.

I was sober, too... I'm going out tomorrow night and will probably end up utterly locked. Furthermore, the club I end up in will most likely have a beer garden

Also.... any protein/carb postworkout supplement will do the same. R.A.M doesn't have any magical properties!

No, it's just a very nice ratio and price - 6:3 protein:carbs, €30 for 1 month (15 servings) and no creatine, so anything in that general area will suit me!

dartstothesea

If you just want no DOMS you should probably just take creatine only instead of RAM. 30 euro for several months worth. Millions of servings. You won't become immune to it.

Hanley

dartstothesea wrote: »

If you just want no DOMS you should probably just take creatine only instead of RAM.

This is one of the MOST wrong things I've ever read on here. And that says a lot.

Sugar Free

I can't say I've heard of creatine being known for that. Glutamine maybe but if you're training hard there'll often be some DOMS.

OP I'm sure there are other brands out there with the 2:1 ratio and without containing creatine. Alternatively you could simply lump in x grams of whey and 2x grams of simple carbs - lucozade original maybe - and get it that way. Not ideal but it'll do.

BigDuffman

ON 2:1:1 Recovery (Chocolate flavour tastes like the milk from coc-pops!!!) is good shtuff. Or Aftermax

g'em

dartstothesea wrote: »

If you just want no DOMS you should probably just take creatine only instead of RAM. 30 euro for several months worth. Millions of servings. You won't become immune to it.

Can you explain your reasonings behind that? There's been numerous studies that suggest that a protein and carb combination (ideally 3:1) is optimal for recovery and DOMS reduction (specifically its' the carbs element that helps reduce soreness iirc) and a supplement like RAM delivers that from a tub.

OP chocolate milk is a fantastic substitute (and also proven just as effective - again iirc ) and mega cheap.

dartstothesea

I'm not saying he shouldn't take RAM at all but it seriously sounds so much cheaper to just use creatine. Haha I'm definitely not going off finding studies on this but I was under the distinct impression creatine reduced DOMS loads (something to do with less lactic acid in muscles was what I read, I believe) and I know neither will eliminate it entirely.

Incidentally this is actually the first time I've heard about carbs keeping DOMS away. That's not me saying you're all wrong so I'm going to say a pre-emptive chillax, there.

g'em

the OP said he'd rather not creatine for the time being though

dartstothesea

Oh yeah. I couldn't understand his thinking on that anyway. Again, I was pretty sure creatine wasn't a card you could play only once or only for a short amount of time.

Hanley

dartstothesea wrote: »

I'm not saying he shouldn't take RAM at all but it seriously sounds so much cheaper to just use creatine. Haha I'm definitely not going off finding studies on this but I was under the distinct impression creatine reduced DOMS loads (something to do with less lactic acid in muscles was what I read, I believe) and I know neither will eliminate it entirely.

Incidentally this is actually the first time I've heard about carbs keeping DOMS away. That's not me saying you're all wrong so I'm going to say a pre-emptive chillax, there.

You've either completely misunderstood what you've read, or you read some complete and utter crap.

Do you know what creatine does?

dartstothesea

Ha, not anymore by the sounds of it. Like I said, understood one of the main functions was reducing the onset of muscle soreness.
Feel free to enlighten me if my ignorance / misunderstanding of this is gonna be a huge deal...

Edit - That probably sounded pretty sarcastic or something, I would actually genuinely appreciate finding out.

Doug Cartel

dartstothesea wrote: »

H
Feel free to enlighten me if my ignorance / misunderstanding of this is gonna be a huge deal...

You've basically got your facts completely wrong, and you can't even say where you got them from. How much enlightenment do you need?

Doug Cartel

Double post, sorry.

curadh

im with dartstothesea here, creatine for me anyway does what it says it does, reduces doms, increases strength, and decreases recovery time. Good stuff although supposed to cycle it.
OP I find a good protein shake with lots of good aminos, incl glutamine taken after training and again going to bed reduces soreness and recovery rates....again that could be just for me, ya gotta experiment:)

g'em

lads relax.

dtts to cut a long story short creatine helps to make ATP which is an energy molecule in the body - the more ATP is available the more efficiently muscles contract.

dartstothesea

Doug Cartel wrote: »

You've basically got your facts completely wrong, and you can't even say where you got them from. How much enlightenment do you need?

Edit: Ah heya. Jus' relaxin' here.

Thanks for that anyway g'em. I had fully bought into claims about creatine curin' DOMS.

g'em

dartstothesea wrote: »

Thanks for that anyway g'em. I had fully bought into claims about creatine curin' DOMS.

to the best of my knowledge it hasn't been proven or disproven either way (but I stand to be corrected on that) but the method by which it works would suggest that it's not a big player in the mechanisms that cause DOMS. Sometimes you get people reporting great reduction in DOMS after taking in creatine but then you discover that they've been taking it along with carbs (which will help reduce it themselves) or they've just reached a point of training where DOMS wouldn't be expected anymore - the causation and correlation type of argument.

Creatine does work though, just not for this purpose