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Four things worth taking. Four we refuse to sell.

Sports nutrition sells roughly forty products to athletes and about four of them do anything. Here is what we make, why, and what we have deliberately left off the shelf.

01

The one that actually works

Creatine

The best-evidenced supplement in sport, and it is not close.

Hundreds of trials, forty years of them, and a conclusion that has not meaningfully shifted. Five grams a day, every day. Loading phases are optional and mostly a way of selling you more powder faster.

AmountNutrientWhy
5 gCreatine monohydrateIncreases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high-intensity exercise.
—Not HCl, not ethyl esterMonohydrate is the form the research used. The alternatives cost more and have less behind them.

What to avoid

Paying extra for a 'newer' form. Creapure monohydrate is the reference standard and everything else is marketing on top of it.

Worth knowing

It takes two to four weeks of daily use to saturate. Timing around your session matters far less than not missing days.

02

A target, not a magic powder

Protein

Powder is a convenience, not an ingredient with powers.

If you are hitting your protein target from food, you do not need this. Most people training regularly are not, and a scoop is simply the easiest way to close a 25 to 30 gram gap without cooking.

AmountNutrientWhy
25 gProtein per servingContributes to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass.
2.7 gLeucineOccurs naturally in whey. The amino acid most associated with the muscle protein synthesis response.

What to avoid

Anything marketed on a proprietary 'blend' of aminos. You are buying protein. The label should say how much, and from what.

Worth knowing

Our whey uses halal-certified rennet, which is a genuine sourcing constraint and the reason most whey is not halal certified.

03

Only if you actually sweat

Electrolytes

Useful in a hot gym or a long session. Pointless otherwise.

Sodium and potassium are lost in sweat and worth replacing when you lose a lot of it. If you train for forty minutes in a cool room, water is fine and anything else is flavoured water with a markup.

AmountNutrientWhy
300 mgSodiumReplaces what is lost in sweat during longer or hotter sessions.
200 mgPotassiumContributes to normal muscle function.

What to avoid

Electrolyte products sold for everyday hydration. Unless you are sweating heavily, your diet already covers this.

Worth knowing

They are included in Load rather than sold separately, because selling you two tubs to do one job is how this category normally works.

04

Where the adaptation happens

Recovery

You do not get stronger in the session. You get stronger after it.

Training is the stimulus; the adaptation happens while you recover from it. Magnesium contributes to normal muscle function and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, and most people training hard are not getting enough of it from food.

AmountNutrientWhy
300 mgMagnesium bisglycinateContributes to normal muscle function, to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, and to normal psychological function.

What to avoid

Magnesium oxide, which is what most cheap supplements use. It is poorly absorbed and is the reason people think magnesium upsets their stomach.

Worth knowing

Taken in the evening, with or without food. There is no need to time it around training.

05

And why

What we don't sell

The four things we were told we should stock, and did not.

BCAAs. If you are eating enough protein, they add nothing. If you are not, fix that instead.

Pre-workout. Mostly caffeine at a price. Coffee is cheaper and you know the dose.

Testosterone boosters. No supplement raises testosterone in a healthy man to any degree that matters.

Fat burners. The effective ingredients are banned and the legal ones do very little.

The honest version

These four categories are among the most profitable in sports nutrition. That is precisely why so many brands sell them.

The short version

If you only do one thing, do creatine.

Start here

Five grams of creatine monohydrate daily. Consistency beats timing, and two to four weeks beats a loading phase.

Then protein

Only if you are not hitting your target from food. It is a convenience, not a compound.

Then sleep

Which no supplement fixes, but magnesium contributes to normal muscle function and the reduction of tiredness.

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