Supplements for joint pain

[vwsam_]

I workout 4-5 times a week. It's mainly weightlifting, with a bit of cardio thrown in for good measure. I eat clean.

Each day I workout a different area of the body - for example, one day will be chest and bi's, the next shoulders and so on..

Recently, as I've started to lift heavier weights, I've noticed joint pain and aches, particularly in my left shoulder blade which can be quite painful at times and restrict my workouts. I also experience some pain in my elbows, almost like a grinding of bones, and my bones crack and creek from time to time. (I'm only early 20's!) I have been working out seriously for around 10/11 months now. It's a different pain/soreness from DOMs and usually comes and goes in bouts of about 2 weeks.

I've been reading up on supplements, and I've seen cod liver oil tablets are meant to work wonders. Anyone on here used/currently using these or have any other recommendations?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Sounds like you are overtraining, that's a lot of gym work a week, maybe also work on lower weights and better form

Supplements aren't going to fix a niggling injury , I would listen to your body and have a few weeks off

I say this as I do it myself and cycle too many days back to back causing knee aches!!

[popeyewhite]

No supplements will work for joint pain unless you buy them from a chemist. Best thing is to work out which exercises cause inflammation and avoid them for a few months. There's all the usual suspects...leg press, pullups, shoulder press etc

[LordGrover]

Growing doubts about fish oil supplementation, many clinical trials showing no benefit compared to placebo.

How's your diet?

[vwsam_]

LordGrover said:

Growing doubts about fish oil supplementation, many clinical trials showing no benefit compared to placebo.

How's your diet?

I consider my diet to be good - 'clean', as in plenty of protein in the form of chicken and tuna, lots of veggies, pasta for carbs, the odd piece of fruit. A normal, healthy and balanced diet.

[RTB]

I can only speak from my experience, but I suffered from a lot of aches and pains when I started training a few years ago and followed a classic body split isolation type programme. I suspect that the issue was down to muscles strengthening quicker than the connective tissue, therefore causing a lot of mild tendinitis. My muscles could stand the punishment but the connective tissue wasn't able to heal in time for the next beasting.

I switched from a split isolation type workout to a compound lift strength programme. I started really light and built up slowly and I don't suffer from any aches and pains, even though I occasionally do accessory exercises which would have crippled me a few years ago.

I'm now very much a believer in the old saying that if you want to get big you need to get strong first.

[shakotan]

LordGrover said:

Growing doubts about fish oil supplementation, many clinical trials showing no benefit compared to placebo.

How's your diet?

Seeing as a colleague of mine has just signed off a $20m invoice for a clinical trial regarding fish oils, I'd suggest otherwise.

[popeyewhite]

shakotan said:

LordGrover said:

Growing doubts about fish oil supplementation, many clinical trials showing no benefit compared to placebo.

How's your diet?

Seeing as a colleague of mine has just signed off a $20m invoice for a clinical trial regarding fish oils, I'd suggest otherwise.

Perhaps he works in fish oils?

[deckster]

shakotan said:

LordGrover said:

Growing doubts about fish oil supplementation, many clinical trials showing no benefit compared to placebo.

How's your diet?

Seeing as a colleague of mine has just signed off a $20m invoice for a clinical trial regarding fish oils, I'd suggest otherwise.

Repeated expensive clinical trials are a good indication of snake (or, indeed, fish) oil. If they worked, then they'd have the one trial and go "yep great, they work". If you have to keep re-asking the question because you don't like answer then you're almost certainly in the realm of vested interests trying to justify themselves.

[RTB]

shakotan said:

Seeing as a colleague of mine has just signed off a $20m invoice for a clinical trial regarding fish oils, I'd suggest otherwise.

I've just submitted an End of Trial notification for a study worth nearly 10 times that due to lack of efficacy (anticancer drug rather than fish oil though....).

[feef]

vwsam_ said:

LordGrover said:

Growing doubts about fish oil supplementation, many clinical trials showing no benefit compared to placebo.

How's your diet?

I consider my diet to be good - 'clean', as in plenty of protein in the form of chicken and tuna, lots of veggies, pasta for carbs, the odd piece of fruit. A normal, healthy and balanced diet.

The idea of that being 'healthy and balanced' is being challenged somewhat

[vwsam_]

feef said:

The idea of that being 'healthy and balanced' is being challenged somewhat

Please explain how..?

[feef]

vwsam_ said:

feef said:

The idea of that being 'healthy and balanced' is being challenged somewhat

Please explain how..?

There's an increasing wave of research showing that the 'food pyramid' should be the other way up, with minimal carbs, and far more fat than we've been led to believe is good. It's being shown that diets higher in fat are far better for heart-diease and diabetes, and also has links with improvements in Alzheimers and depression.

[LordGrover]

Now you've gone and done it...

[vwsam_]

LordGrover said:

Now you've gone and done it...

..and all I wanted to know is if anyone could recommend some supplements..

[deckster]

vwsam_ said:

..and all I wanted to know is if anyone could recommend some supplements..

Thing is, as you've seen that's not a simple question; the supplements industry is full of misinformation, poor research, and downright scams. People will give personal opinion as proven fact, and will defend their opinion to the death.

Truth be told, supplements give marginal gains at best and the vast majority do nothing at all. If anything actually worked, then we'd all be using it and we wouldn't be having these debates.

[RTB]

vwsam_ said:

..and all I wanted to know is if anyone could recommend some supplements..

Probably better to alter your work out programme to strengthen your weaknesses and allow good recovery. Get your connective tissue strong and then you can start doing more isolation work. In other words If you can squat 400lbs for 5 reps then you're knee and hip joints aren't going to worry about doing a few leg presses and leg extensions with half that weight.

Supplements aren't going to do a lot to magically get rid of aches and pains and aid recovery, unless you go for the more pharmaceutical grade "supplements" rather than the Holland and Barrett type supplements.

[Kenny Powers]

Inflammation. Replace the gallons of glucose with fat and you’ll see improvements. I had painful clicky knees my entire life until starting keto and now they are well oiled

I use fish oil supplements but only for added peace of mind as a...supplement. Supplements shouldn’t be used to mitigate the effects of a poor or incompatible diet, and certainly won’t fix any ailments.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

This might sound weird..

...but I used to drink a lot of diet pop and I suffered for years with joint pain. I cut it right back, and within a month all the joint pain had gone.

[thebraketester]

Reminds me of a Tommy cooper joke....

I went to the doctor the other day,
I said 'it hurts when I do that'
he said ' well don't do it'