How to choose and buy

The final decision: what to get for your goal and your budget, how to compare prices honestly, and in what order to add products if you want to build up.

The previous ten chapters come down to a twenty-euro-a-month decision for most people. This chapter makes it concrete: what to buy, in what order, and how not to overpay for the same thing.

The order in which to add things

Start at the top and go down only when the previous step has been in place for months. Each step costs more and returns less than the one before: that is the shape of the curve, not an opinion.

1. 1

   Level 0 — Nothing. Fix the base

   A plan with progression, calories that match, protein covered and sleep. If any of that is failing, any purchase is premature. Cost: €0.

2. 2

   Level 1 — Creatine monohydrate

   The best euro-for-effect there is. 3-5 g a day, forever. About €4 a month.

3. 3

   Level 2 — Protein powder, if you fall short from food

   Only if your daily total is habitually short. It is food, not an ergogenic aid. Between €15 and €25 a month.

4. 4

   Level 3 — Caffeine

   Before demanding sessions or races. Coffee or capsules; the fashionable pre-workout adds nothing else. €2 to €8 a month.

5. 5

   Level 4 — Whatever is specific to your sport

   Carbohydrate during runs if you do distance; beta-alanine and bicarbonate if you race middle distance; nitrate if you are chasing the last 1%.

6. 6

   Level 5 — Whatever shows up in blood work

   Vitamin D, iron, omega-3. With data, not just in case. It is the only level decided by a test rather than a catalogue.

Stacks by what you actually do

Comparing prices without kidding yourself

The price on the packaging says nothing. What actually compares is the cost of the dose the studies used, for as long as they used it.

Protein

Price ÷ (kg × protein %)

A 1 kg tub at 70% for €20 is more expensive per gram of protein than a 1 kg tub at 85% for €23.

Creatine

Price ÷ total grams

At 5 g a day, a 1 kg tub is 200 days.

Race nutrition

Price per hour of running

Four gels at €2 is €8/h; the same carbohydrate as powder is under €1.

Any capsule

Price ÷ days at the studied dose

Many labels count servings at half the dose to stretch the pack.

• Large, unflavoured formats are almost always cheaper per dose and carry fewer additives.
• Own-brand ranges from large retailers are often made in the same plants as the branded ones. What changes is the packaging and the sponsorship.
• Distrust bundles. A "cutting stack" is usually one useful product and three fillers.
• Expiry and turnover. Protein and oils degrade; buying ten kilos on offer rarely works out.

How to tell whether it is doing anything

The only way to avoid accumulating "just in case" tubs is to check, and that requires logging. With weeks of data, a supplement that does nothing becomes visible.

1. 1

   Change one thing at a time

   If you start creatine, protein and a pre-workout on the same Monday, you will not know what did what. Leave three or four weeks between changes.

2. 2

   Decide in advance what you will look at

   Repetitions at a given weight, estimated 1RM, weekly volume, pace at a given heart rate. Decide before you start (which metrics).

3. 3

   Give it the time the product needs

   Caffeine, one session. Creatine, 3-4 weeks. Beta-alanine, 4-12. Judging earlier is judging noise.

4. 4

   If you see nothing, stop buying it

   Except for creatine, whose effect is slow and cumulative, almost everything else should show up in the metric you chose. If it does not, it is money.