The Truth About Supplement Ads

By Nick Nilsson

Ever been taken in by those before and after pix?  Parted with your hard-earned cash, only to end up feeling ripped-off?  Don’t let it happen again, learn the truth about those ads here!

If you’ve read my previous articles, you’ll already know that, whilst supplements CAN help you to lose fat and build muscle faster, they are NOT essential.  Your body is designed to work perfectly well on good nutrition and a decent training routine.

Go through any of the glossy magazines dedicated to muscle and training, and I guarantee that you’ll find page after page of high powered ads designed to get you to part with your cash.  Some of these advertisers may well be the good guys, but others will be using psychology and sneaky behavior to get you to think that, with their supplement, you’ll achieve the body beautiful.

Let’s just look at some of the underhanded practices these guys use to get you to part with your money:

How many times have you read phrases like “I lost 20lbs in the first week,”  or, “I increased my muscle mass by 20% in a month?”  This is designed to make you think, “Wow, I want some of that.  If it works for him, its so gonna work for me!”

Now, how many of those same ads prove that this body change (if it happened at all) was down to the supplements advertised?  Like you, I think it would be great if results like that were possible, but where’s the proof that they are?  They’re certainly not in the advertisement.  Did the guy take something illegal?  Was it the supplement that caused the change?  Did the change really happen?  Can you get a refund on your money?  Well, the answer to the last question is no, and nobody knows the answers to the others, except the guy himself.

Well, in the spirit of research, I did a study on myself a couple years ago to see how much weight I could gain in a week.  I wasn’t concerned about what the weight increase consisted of, I didn’t care a hoot about whether it was muscle, fat, or water – I just wanted to see the total amount possible.

I went on a really strict diet for two weeks, then I immediately reversed the process and loaded up on everything for seven days.  I gained a total of 25 pounds in that seven days, by supplementing with Hydrogen Dioxide (H2O).

Don’t you envy those guys you see in the mags!  All flabby and sad looking in the before photo and then, before your very eyes, transformed into a magnificent body with loads of charisma?

Well, you can do that too, if you follow the instructions below!

For the before picture:

For the after picture:

See, your own before and after picture – don’t you feel good!

What for?  To let himself get fat and then get back into shape again.  You know, its not unheard of for supplement companies to do this.  When the athlete has got himself out of shape, they take the before picture; then he trains back to his usual body, and they take the after picture.  Then, the advertiser tells you that it was their magic supplement that got this guy into perfect shape.  You don’t need me to tell you that, for the average person, this sort of transformation is impossible – with or without supplements.

Well-trained athletes can make spectacular body changes in a very short time – just as I did in my experiment when I gained 25 pounds in one week.

This is a very common ploy – these are the reports you read, only to realize halfway through that they’re trying to sell you a supplement.  You’ll sometimes see them called infomercials.  They look all the world like a genuine article to start off with.  Unfortunately, even the good guys do this, which is a real shame.

This one involves using an ingredient that has shown to be successful in one or two very small studies, that had nothing at all to do with weight training, and using it as an ingredient in the supplement.

Now, say the study says that 100 grams of the ingredient was the effective does, the supplement manufacturer will put something like 10 grams (so a tenth of the effective dose) in the supplement.

And, say the study of the ingredient proved it to be effective in child-bearing women, the supplement manufacturer makes the assumption that it will also work in male body builders!

They do this because they know that very few people, if any, will actually read the relevant studies.  In fact, if you’re bored one afternoon, why not call up some of these manufacturers and ask for copies of the studies they quote!  You might get a few price lists, but you’

You’ll find that some supplements have names that are very similar to the names of prescription only drugs.  Then, to make it seem more attractive still, the manufacturer claims its ‘almost illegal.’  Well, the fact is that something is either legal or illegal, there’s no almost about it.  Unfortunately, its not illegal to make up a name that’s similar to a drug name.

I can understand companies keeping secrets about their formulas because they don’t want anybody to steal it, but many ‘proprietary formula’ claims are made simply to hide the fact that the amounts of active ingredients in the supplement are negligible.  For instance, you might read a report that says a particular ingredient is effective at 10 grams.  What you don’t know is that in your serving you’re only getting 1 gram, which will achieve zilch.  Because the company states that their formula is proprietary, they don’t have to own up to the fact that the supplement is, actually, useless.

Do you honestly believe that a professional bodybuilder, weighing in at 280lbs with a body fat ratio of 4%, really got that way just by drinking a supplemental formula?

Just because something is new on the market, it doesn’t mean it works!  Lets look at NO2 (Nitric Oxide) supplementation as an example.  The ads say that this product will promote greater blood flow to the muscles to increase muscle growth.  Yeah, right!  I’ve tried it and I’ve researched it – don’t waste your money.

You want a better pump, you drink more water.  Why?  Because blood is mostly water and drinking more of the stuff will increase the flow, that’s why!  The better hydrated you are, that is, the more water you have in your body, the stronger your pumps will be. End of.

If you fall for this one, what you will actually be buying is some sort of stimulant to speed up your metabolism, or something that will block the absorption of fats or carbs from your diet.  If it’s a fat blocker, you will end up with extremely unpleasant, greasy diarrhea, which is, sometimes, uncontrollable.  Not very healthy eh?

And if the effective ingredient is a stimulant, you can say goodbye to any idea of getting a good nights sleep!

Conclusion

Supplements have their use and so do legitimate ads for them.  What, to my mind, is completely out of order is duping the customer into spending their hard-earned cash on an unattainable dream.  The thing is, the companies that do this, give the whole weight training community, and the good guys, a bad name.

Supplements DO have their place, which is in supporting a healthy eating and training regime.  I take supplements every day and have done for years – but I have taken the time to research the market and I choose my supplements with great care.  I’ve done the research, so you don’t have to!

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc.  He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years.  Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks, including ‘Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,’ ‘The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,’ Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!’ and ‘The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of.’  All are available at www.fitness-ebooks.com

He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com