Since I see have extra training in sportsmedicine, I would usually get this question thrown to me at the end of a physical or as I am about to discharge a patient from an injury we were working on. I come back with asking what weekly calorie intake is and the answer is a grab at the chin and a stare to the heavens. Usually the question comes from a 20-30 year old that is breaking into weight training and paying a trainer or someone with knowledge on exercise. The common problem I find is that most teen-to-20+ year olds will still be eating poorly. I attribute this to a learned behavior from high school. Most teens don't eat breakfast. (I remember my nephew forcefully stating to his parents "why would I want to wake up early just to eat breakfast?") Good question for his age, he probalby gets by with the poor nutrition and can function the whole day with little to no good calorie intake. Most people just "get by".
Building a body like Mr. Olympia, or being able to train to win a triathlon will take more than a cup of coffee for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and plateful of something for dinner. When my 20-30 year olds take massive protein mixes that cost a lot but skimp on basic meals....it's a waste. I always start out with suggesting a good multivitamin with multi B, calcium,D, zinc,selenium biotin and possibly coQ10. Add this to 4-5 meals a day to total about 3500 calories daily with 8 hours of sleep and a month to two month time table. A nice herbal antiinflammatory would help but thats over stepping the first suggestion. (The "saguil approach" suggests easy goals that are attainable over a short time with frequent checking in) Once they stick to the basics and 1-2 months has passed, I would for- sure suggest changing the work out schedule and add an herbal antiinflammatory like tumeric, white willow bark or boswelia. Sometimes a multi-ginseng, cordyceps combo capsule would help push the energy level for those stepping up the intensity of their exercise. The change would be power lifting movements for those trying to gain size; cardio or interval training for those trying to get cut, lose weight or get the heart tuned up and off a medication or two. I then would get start breaking down the amount of proteins, carbs and fats in a 2 week diet diary. I usually wait 2 months because I find good foundations have to be attained before I have them buy expensive protein supplements, energy bars or even talk about old fashion carb loading.
I always liked the way Mr Miagi would pace Daniel-san to do basic chores around the dojo before he would teach martial arts techniques. (Obviously trying to get Daniel to learn discipline and respect for power). Some of my well weathered patient athletes are already into proper health, nutrition and rest so when they ask about supplements, I do go straight for names, companies, brands and amounts. Bottom line is that many over the counter companies that advertise in muscle mags, runners world, triathlete boast many benefits to taking their supplements but they all fall under food supplements and the FDA has no control over the quality of what they place on the shelves. Something to look for would be if the company produces pharmaceutical grade supplements. Those that are bioavailable in the bloodstream at 90+% within 1-3 hours of digesting. Having samples tested by an independant lab would also add credence to company quality assurance. I also give the average athlete the example that a Division I NCAA college athlete on scholarship would usually take a season to improve on a technique, gain strength or shorten a time. This is essentially an olympic level athlete I am describing so if my average patient is wanting to see results of size increase in 2 months, I reset their thinking and give them more attainable goals.
In summary, 3000-3500 calories daily, 7-8 hours of sleep per night, multivitamin as stated above, flexibility routine daily, and 2 month goals. A risk factor review is good, hold the caffeine, tobacco, stress, and keep the chatter down in the gym. (I find too much conversation slows a work out down and before you know it, workouts are 2 hours not including travel). This kind of scheduling is a set up for failure. [To explain, average person works 40-50 hours a week, 10 hours a day, one hour of travel, 6 hours of sleep, 2-3 hours of chores and relaxation.] Now add two hours daily of exercise not including travel and that fills up the day. One hour would be better and less likely to end up in frustration and failure when winter holiday comes and days shorten with more responsibility that time of the year. "Fancy" supplements for exercise are whey protein, spirulina, L-arginine and cordyceps.
Before signing off, steroids will always be taboo but alot of people will try them just the same. People have to be made aware of the side effects to these short cuts not to mention getting arrested. In my "heyday" when I won Mr Natural New Jersey and Mr Novice East Coast, I competed against guys who did "roids" and I could see how fast these guys blew up and how synthetic they looked when in competition. I wonder how many had died, (one for sure since 1982 I saw in a local paper), many more I'm sure with other problems. From what I understand, "gym rats" are trying concoctions of herbs even to the point of using a milk thistle to clean out the liver between herbs. Unfortunately, there are too many underground body building pushers and just a couple of people who do what I do. That's ok, if I can change one person at a time, that's plenty.
