How Food Supplements Can Help You Build Muscles

Today, food supplements are used in large quantities by bodybuilders and weightlifters. Some use these supplements with intelligence; others do not. In general, there is something of a mystic confusion clouding over the entire issue. It is to bring this confusion to order that this article is dedicated...

by Joe Weider, World's Formost Trainer of Perfect Men

IT HAS been just about 3 years since the true value of food supplements was made commonly known to the bodybuilding world. It started like a soft echo in the night which surprisingly fell upon a million ears which eagerly heeded the call of what gave promise to be a new and more glorious era in the history of weight training.

Today, however, this promise of a glorious future has given way to some extent to a state of confusion, in which the bodybuilder finds himself wondering which supplements are best for him, if every advertised brand should be taken at the same time, and if a major portion of his day must be spent in the taking of supplements for them to do him any good. Indeed, there are some bodybuilders who presently place more importance on the taking of food supplements than in their weight training programs. Obviously, such confusion must be eliminated. And now, is the time to do it, at the infancy of the subject.

We, in our advertising, and in our articles on food supplements, readily admit the immense value of them; however, we have always attempted to clearly distinguish between the various supplements and to point out the specific properties of each. We have never been interested in making any sale, purely for the sake of making it. Instead, our entire functions as publisher and supplier of bodybuilding equipment has been to guide our followers correctly, so that they will save both time and money in their bodybuilding efforts. We will always continue to follow this plan. however, when this office receives hundreds of letters, of the type being reproduced below, we feel that the time has come to act, for the benefit of all.

From the above, it is obvious that the writer of this letter, with the hundreds of others who have written along similar lines, do not know the exact use of our supplements. They know that supplements can help them, but they don't know which are the best for them.

To begin with, the use of food supplements is not new. The health building qualities of vitamins and minerals have been known for many years. We cannot claim this knowledge as a bodybuilding discovery. Just how long such products as Cod Liver Oil have been on the market, we do not know, but certainly parents gave such preparations to their children before most of us were born. The purpose behind the use of these products was primarily to build up the resistance against colds and other mild illnesses which are commonly caused by a vitamin and mineral deficiency. Cod Liver Oil also tended to improve the appetite, which in turn encouraged a gain in bodyweight, it helped digestion and improved the condition of the blood.

Today, in a more efficient formula, the Weider Vitamin-Mineral Food Supplement continues to supply these benefits. Therefore, the essential value of Weider Vitamin-Mineral Food Supplement is to overcome a general run down physical condition and to supply the body with nutrient materials which promote sound health. It can be taken by every member of the family as a daily food supplement with benefit. When you think of Weider Vitamin-Mineral Food Supplement, think more of improved general good health than anything else. That is the major purpose of the supplement.

The bodybuilder is usually more interested in some food supplement which will enable him to obtain specific bodybuilding gains, which to the majority means bodyweight increase. An ordinary Vitamin-Mineral Food Supplement helps here to some extent, but for most rapid results another product should be taken.

Some 15 years ago, Dr. Leo Di Cara, who trained with Barton Horvath at a gymnasium in New York City, entered the gymnasium one day, telling the members that medical authorities had just admitted the tremendous weight gain properties of Vitamin B. he announced that he was going to make himself a human guinea pig and take a substantial quantity of this vitamin for the next month. Barton, along with the other oldtime bodybuilders at the gym, laughed at Leo, calling him a crank.

One month later, Leo laughed at them. He had gained 12 pounds and had increased his power tremendously. It is possible that Leo was the first bodybuidler to use and benefit from what is now known as Weider Weight Gain Food Supplement. In an improved formula, Weider Weight Gain Food Supplement features an exceptionally high potency of Vitamin B Complex, fortified by other vitamins and minerals which are medically recognized for promoting bodyweight gains. The reason all the bodybuilders at the gym where Leo trained did not follow him in the use of Viatmin B was because it would have cost about a dollar a day to purchase and use the product at that time. Today, even better results can be gotten for pennies a day, thanks to improved manufacturing conditions.

Therefore, the underweight bodybuilder, the one who wants to add just as much bodyweight as possible as quickly as possible, should use Weider Weight Gaining Food Supplement. It is not necessary to use Vitamin-Mineral along with this, for as stated previously, Weider Weight Gain Food Supplement is fortified with these.

We have had some amazing reports from the use of this Weight Gaining Food Supplement. 15 to 20 pounds bodyweight increase in one month is not unusual. This is definitely the product for the extremely thin bodybuilder.

However, while it is true that Weider Weight Gaining Food Supplement encourages substantial bodyweight increases, it must be remembered that physical excellence does not depend solely on what the scales reveal. The aim of every bodybuilder should be for muscular bodyweight increases and not merely for added pounds of flesh.

A bodybuilder in hard training will of course convert his weight gains into muscle. Still, it is not unusual for such gains, particularly if they are fast ones, to smooth out the muscular appearance of the body to some extent. This does not mean that the bodybuilder will appear fat . . . it merely means that he will not have the hard lines of definition that he could have. Another Weider Product, Weider Hi-Protein, comes to the bodybuilder's protection here. Hi-Protein is not a weight reducing food supplement. Neither is it as valuable for weight gaining as the Weider Weight Gain Food Supplement. It is somewhat of an in-between product. The main virtue of Weider Hi-Protein is that it promotes the formation of hard muscle on the body. It makes the job of converting fatty tissue into muscle easier because it supplies the body with food materials from which only muscle can be built. Its use is specifically recommended for bodybuiders who are close to normal bodyweight or else those who are a bit above it, with well sized muscles. If used regularly, it will prohibit the possibility of these bodybuilders losing their definition as they gain further in size, or if they have already lost some of their definition because of their added bulk, it will quickly restore their hard body lines.

Weider Hi-Protein can also be taken in connection with Weider Weight Gaining Food Supplement, to assure a hard body appearance along with fast bodyweight gains.

Therefore, the bodybuilder should think of Weider Hi-Protein as a pure muscle builder. It will not reduce weight. It will help to promote some weight gains but not as dramatically as the Weight Gain Food Supplement. Used in combination with Weight Gain it will help to convert the underweight bodybuilder into a muscular giant.

Weider Hi-Protein is also fortified with quantities of Vitamins and Minerals, so whether it is used alone, or in combination with Weight Gain, there is no need for using Vitamin-Mineral Supplements with it.

Overweight has long been a medical and personal problem. Doctors agree, that except for the small amount of overweight cases which are due to glandular disturbances, that a person is fat because he eats too much and exercises too little. Diets have long been the accepted method of losing eight. Controlled diets are still the best plan. Some plan must be followed in which the overweight individual consumes less fattening foods. Many reducing diets feature large quantities of lettuce, cabbage, celery and other non fattening foods so that the appetite will be alleviated, and yet the person will not eat foods which encourage the formation of fat on the body. It is generally conceded that the normal appetite must be satisfied in some manner for a weight reduction plan to be successful.

The Weider Reduce Aid Food Supplement acknowledges this fact too. In this preparation are ingredients which lessen the craving for abnormal quantities of food. The individual then has a desire for less food, and if it is selected with intelligence he will definitely lose weight. In addition to this, Weider Reduce Aid Food supplement supplies the body with all the vitamins and minerals it needs for good health. This, at once, eliminates any danger of undernourishment while on a reducing diet. Then, once the person has lost his excess weight he can stop taking Reduce Aid Food Supplement and eat normally, permitting his weight training program to control his bodyweight.

The overweight person should therefore use Weider Aid Food Supplement. Since it contains a full allotment of Vitamins and Minerals, he need not add any to his daily diet.

Both the overweight and underweight individual are generally lacking in energy. They must follow some plan to increase their energy so that they can train hard and in this way benefit their conditions. It is here that Weider Energy Tablets are invaluable. Taken before and during a work-out, they step up the energy to the point where everyone can take a hard, muscle building workout. They are also of great importance to every bodybuilder. We all know that to a large extent we get out of our training exactly what we put into it. The more energy, training drive, ambition and pep we have for our work-outs . . . whether we hare a beginner or a star . . . the more benefit we will get from them.

Therefore, everyone -- beginner, champion, overweight individual, normal weight one or underweight person can use Weider Energy Tablets with benefit. They can be used in combination with any other supplement. They supply you with energy to train hard, and should be used for that purpose only.

Bodybuilders, as a general rule, are rather heavy liquid drinkers. Years ago, regular malted milks, or those with an egg or yeast mixed in them, were the preferred favorites of weight trainers. Usually, bodybuilders drink milk with meals.

Today, Protein Drinks are attracting more attention. Weider Chocolate Drink is the best of all these. It is a fine protein product, also being fortified with Vitamins and Minerals. It is not intended to take the place of any other food supplements, but rather to be used as a delicious food drink by bodybuilders. In fact it can be used by any member of the family, at any time. The carbohydrate content has been controlled, despite its appetizing chocolate flavor, making it absolutely non-fattening. It is the world's most healthful drink!

The above are the Food Supplement Products presently being offered by us. As you can see, each has a specific purpose. However, for all of their respective values, the reader must never overlook the fact that without weight training, while food supplements can and do improve the constitutional health of the individual, they cannot build a championship physique. It is only through the intelligent combination of Supplements and regular weight training sessions that the individual can become physically exceptional.

We had muscular giants before Food Supplements were ever offered to the bodybuilding public. Even today, there are some bodybuilders who do not use them. But those who do, and who train regularly, make faster, surer gains than ever before. They help to cut down the transitional period between underdevelopment and 'superman'. Used intelligently, for that job they are unsurpassed. You now have the full story. Confusion can no longer exist if you study this article well.