Q&A Time! January 28, 2013

Q: Should I be cycling my supplements? If I am on them for an extended period of time, will they stop being as effective? If so, what would be a good cycle?

A: There really is no need to cycle supplements. They are nutrients that are found in the food we eat, so you wouldn’t be able to truly cycleoff of them anyway. There was oncea belief that the receptors in muscle cells would “burn out” and not be so effective at taking nutrients into the muscle. This is more hyperbole than fact. That said, you certainly can cycle off of these supplements for financial reasons if you want to give your wallet a break. One study found that men taking creatine who stopped for four weeks lost no muscle mass or strength. So it is possible to stop some supplements for a while with little detriment to your physique or your performance and then go back on. Just limit the “off” cycle to four weeks or less.