Over the past year, I rotated through five popular performance supplements, taking each for 90 days at the recommended dose. I tracked workouts, energy, sleep, and recovery. No supplement company sponsored this. I bought all of them.
Here's the honest report on what worked.
1. Creatine monohydrate (5g daily)
Verdict: Worked.
By week 3, lifts noticeably moved up. Bench went from 195x5 to 205x5 over 90 days. Squat moved similarly. Most of this is probably the well-documented water-retention + slight performance boost effect, but the performance boost is real.
Side effects: about 2 lb of water weight gained in the first two weeks, then stable.
Cost: About $0.30/day. Cheap.
Would I keep using it: Yes. Already restarted.
2. Whey protein (30g per shake, 1-2x daily)
Verdict: Worked, but not as a magic bullet.
Total protein intake matters more than where it comes from. The whey shakes made hitting 160g/day much easier than trying to eat all of it. Without the shakes, I averaged 130g; with them, 160g. The protein difference produced the results, not the powder specifically.
Cost: About $1/day.
Would I keep using it: Yes, as a convenience. Real food first.
3. Magnesium glycinate (400mg before bed)
Verdict: Probably worked. Hard to measure.
Sleep felt slightly deeper. Tracker showed more time in deep sleep — about 8% increase over baseline. Could be placebo. Could be real. The literature on magnesium for sleep is mixed.
Cost: About $0.20/day.
Would I keep using it: Yes, given how cheap it is and the slight improvement.
4. Beta-alanine (3.2g daily)
Verdict: Did nothing measurable.
Marketed for endurance and high-rep lifting. I tested with 20-rep squat sets and high-rep accessory work. No noticeable improvement in rep counts or perceived exertion.
Side effects: the famous tingling sensation. Annoying but harmless.
Cost: About $0.40/day.
Would I keep using it: No. Cancelled the subscription.
5. Pre-workout (caffeine + various)
Verdict: Worked, but not because of the proprietary blend.
Pre-workout improved my workouts. So did a cup of coffee, taken 30 minutes before training. The pre-workout cost $1.50/serving. Coffee costs $0.20.
I don't think the "proprietary blend" did anything beyond what the caffeine did.
Cost: About $1.50/serving.
Would I keep using it: No. Switched to coffee.
What I learned
The two clear winners (creatine + whey) are also the two with the most research behind them. The unclear one (magnesium) is also unclear in the research. The two that did nothing for me (beta-alanine + pre-workout) are mostly marketing-heavy.
Pattern: the ones with strong research behind them worked. The ones with marketing behind them did not.
What this isn't
One person. One experiment. Supplements affect different people differently, and some have medical interactions that matter. Check with a doctor before adding anything, especially if you take medications.
This is just my log.
