An excerpt from one of my favorite old magazines, issue 145 of MuscleMag International. It comes from the "News You Can Use, with Greg Zulak" column.
Most supplements are overhyped. After all, how well would supplements sell if the truth were told about them? For instance, suppose a manufacturer ran an ad that said, "Our protein powder has a high P.E.R., tastes good, supplies the body with extra protein and calories in an easily consumable form, and, along with a good diet and hard training, may encourage extra muscle growth." It probably wouldn't sell worth a $%#^, even if it was a very fine product.
But if the ad showed a photograph of a professional bodybuilder in all his glory, along with a testimonial from that pro that his huge muscle size and ripped condition were largely due to the ingestion of this product, supported by fancy charts and graphs indicating the supplement's effectiveness, of course, it would sell like gangbusters.
To a degree, I understand why some people would get upset. Right around the time MET-Rx hit its peak, people were singing the praises of this supplement. I remember the first box I bought, back in the mid-90s, when it cost $63-$75. When I didn't get the awesome gains about which I heard and saw in the mags, I was a bit miffed. However, it wasn't until I read MuscleMag's "Our Way - Probing the Pros" that I finally realized what the deal was.
Among the pros featued in that section of the magazine was Paul DeMayo and Milos Sarcev. DeMayo, who was also contracted with MET-Rx, sang the praises of the popular MRP. However, after further reading, I saw that DeMayo consumed MET-Rx to the tune of.........EIGHT SERVINGS PER DAY.
I did the math. Eight servings of MET-Rx is a cough under/over 300 grams of protein (depending on what flavor you get). No disrespect to the makers of MetaMyosyn, but I came to the realization that taking EIGHT servings of MET-Rx (or any other MRP, for that matter) will likely yield great results.
I couldn't afford to take MET-Rx like that. So, I had to stick to using the one supplement I could afford at that time: weight-gain powder (Mega Mass 2000, in particular). What I did incorporate from DeMayo and Sarcev (who stated that he ingested TEN SERVINGS of MET-Rx per day) was that I should consume more protein.
So, I ended using 30 oz. of Mega Mass powder per day: 3 ten-oz. servings mixed in water, with two consumed between classes and the third guzzled post-workout (I was in college at that time). The pros were endorsing Mega Mass, too. If I'm not mistaken, Nasser El Sonbaty's favorite is "BA-NAAAAA-NA!". That and some homemade shakes worked well for me, as I ended up putting on nearly twice the weight I had planned for that semester.
What MET-Rx did back then, MuscleTech does now. Jeramy Freeman, one of MuscleTech's athletes stated in one ad that he takes 9 servings of NITRO-TECH per day. If a "serving" is one scoop, that's at least 180 grams of protein. So, I don't see that as being deceptive at all. Freeman would likely be consuming tons of protein powder, regardless of who makes it. Since he works for MuscleTech, he uses NITRO-TECH.
