Avoid Dependence and Optimize Your Training
Are stimulants always bad? No, but overusing them can lead to low T. Nootropics may be a better option. Details here.
If you NEED to get amped up for every workout with stimulants, it may be a sign that your programming is off. And continuing to hide your fatigue with stimulants may be lowering your testosterone.
Here’s why and how to fix it:
The Bullet Points
- Use stimulants occasionally when trying to achieve your top-level performance, like testing your 1RM or competing in a powerlifting competition. The problem is when you become reliant on stimulants during every single workout. It hides problems in programming.
- If you HAVE to use stimulants to be amped up for your workout (because you’re too tired), then your programming likely sucks: too much volume, not enough rest days, poor exercise selection, etc.
- Review your programming instead of masking fatigue with stimulants.
- Using too many stimulants and training in a way that doesn’t allow for enough recovery decreases testosterone.
- Nootropics are different than stimulants. They’re products that optimize brain chemistry.
- Nootropics are hard to recommend because people need different things: dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, and other neurotransmitters. There’s no one-size-fits-all product since people have different needs.
- If you do use nootropics, you’ll need to find the ones that work best with your specific brain chemistry.
- Brain Candy is a nootropic that increases dopamine and works very well for most lifters.
Note: For weekly videos like this and more Q&A with Coach Thibaudeau, join him in his exclusive T Nation Plus Thibaudeau Talks Training forum.
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