BY THE END OF BUSINESS TODAY, February 25, if you don’t have your Expo tickets purchased, you’ll be out of luck so far as coming to Columbus to be a big part of the action there! If you want to go, call 800 297 9776 right after reading this blog and make arrangements to be there. You won’t regret it!

One of the questions that was submitted for the contest I ran a week ago was a request to submit a perfect supplementation plan for women. I thought that was a great idea, but I think I’ll do both men and women instead. It is below!

Supplementation is the third leg of the BFL stool, the first two being 1. adhering to the 6 small meals a day diet, and, 2. doing high intensity exercise six days a week, 3 resistance training sessions and three cardio sessions. But, what exactly should a trainee be using for her supplements?

To avoid confusion during the first challenge, Bill Phillips recommended using only the meal replacement supplements, a couple a day. That would be Myoplex Lite for women and Myoplex original or Myoplex deluxe for men. These are great sources of high quality whey protein, good carbohydrates and each shake has half the minerals and vitamins you need for the day.

For those who are in second or subsequent challenges, or who want to absolutely maximize their results and are not afraid of getting stronger by getting more muscle, here is what I recommend.

For ladies, Betagen twice a day, every day. One dose should be right after your workout and the other can be whenever you want. This will give you a supply of creatine for increasing muscle and decreasing recovery time, glutamine for helping with workout recovery, and HMB which does a lot of things, including the strength with which you work out. Understand please that the Betagen recommended dose is three a day, but for women two is enough, and it will really help. Sylvia Bortmann used Betagen throughout her challenge and still does. She swears by it. Why every day? Your muscles need it, that’s why!

Some ladies also use Thermodynamx, the EAS fat burner that helps with appetite suppression and raising the metabolic rate a bit. To me, it is a fairly minimal effect overall, and some people complain of heartburn or sleeplessness from it. The stuff is high quality, but it is more the nature of it that causes these symptoms. I think CLA probably works as well and has absolutely no side effects.

For guys, a full complement of Betagen works well–Bill Phillips takes it according to the original book. Or, to kick it up a notch, you might consider doing what I do, taking both Muscle Armor and Phosphagen Elite. These give you maximum recovery efforts from the MA, and excellent muscle growth and workout strength from the Phosphagen Elite. THe PE has not only creatine but also has beta alanine which will keep you from getting the lactic acid burn that occurs in calves, biceps and triceps and sometimes other muscles. SInce the burn is less because there is less lactic acid formed, then you can get a few more reps which makes for bigger muscles next time. If you combine MA and PE you will probably only need one dose of each a day, rather than the two that each of them recommend. Or, you could do what I do, as recommended by Brian Deeds of EAS, and that is to add a liquid or powder whey protein isolate to the supplement (use a compatible flavor) and make the supplementation a meal replacement instead. One scoop of orange flavored whey protein isolate and a scoop of orange PE, blended in a shaker cup, tastes a lot like an orange julius and is really the bomb. I can do the same thing with MA, only using a lemon flavor of WPI.

I usually take the PE before the workout and the MA after or at the end of the day. I realize that most people recommend PE after the workout, but it seems to work very well this way, And you have a ready supply of quickly digested protein (Whey protein isolate is the fastest digested protein there is).

There you have it, a quick primer on basics for women and guys! Questions?