Jun 21, 2026 · 28 min · 7 segments
The supplement industry is a 200 billion dollar global machine designed to convince you that the gap between you and your goals is a powder. It is not. The gap is sleep, food, training, consistency…
So look, we have this three tier system that we're going to be talking about today, necessary, optional and gimmick.
And that's going to be the spine of everything, right? So to be perfectly honest, the reason most people are confused about supplements is the industry deliberately blurs these three categories.
Everything is sold to you with the same energy.
The thing that genuinely works gets the same flashy ad as the thing that does nothing.
They all sponsor famous sports stars or celebrities, and they get these endorsements to put these famous faces on the side of an Instagram ad or whatever it is that makes you think, oh, well, if David Beckham is supporting this glutamine tablet, maybe I should take glutamine for my recovery, right? That's how that works.
That's the marketer's job.
But we're going to try to help you cut through that today by sorting it into three buckets.
So necessary.
These are supplements that are meaningfully improving your training, your recovery or health for almost any adult who lifts.
And you're going to notice that these are generally the cheaper ones.
They're generally quite boring when I describe their benefits.
And they have decades worth of evidence behind them.
I know.
Crazy.
I just...
Thousands of scientists spending thousands of hours researching what they do.
So if you can buy these ones, you have the game sorted, right? Then there's optional.
So these are supplements that have some evidence behind them.
And they might help people in certain situations.
So they're not essential.
However, if you fit into a certain bracket, then maybe it would have some benefit for you.
So they're not essential, but they're not snake oil either.
These are things that if you have a specific reason, then we might be recommending them for you.
So an example here, without diving too much into it, is recommending vitamin B12 supplements for someone who doesn't eat a whole lot of red meat due to dietary choices, be it vegetarianism or veganism.
So look, we have this three tier system that we're going to be talking about today, necessary, optional and gimmick.
And that's going to be the spine of everything, right? So to be perfectly honest, the reason most people are confused about supplements is the industry deliberately blurs these three categories.
Everything is sold to you with the same energy.
The thing that genuinely works gets the same flashy ad as the thing that does nothing.
They all sponsor famous sports stars or celebrities, and they get these endorsements to put these famous faces on the side of an Instagram ad or whatever it is that makes you think, oh, well, if David Beckham is supporting this glutamine tablet, maybe I should take glutamine for my recovery, right? That's how that works.
That's the marketer's job.
But we're going to try to help you cut through that today by sorting it into three buckets.
So necessary.
These are supplements that are meaningfully improving your training, your recovery or health for almost any adult who lifts.
And you're going to notice that these are generally the cheaper ones.
They're generally quite boring when I describe their benefits.
And they have decades worth of evidence behind them.
I know.
Crazy.
I just...
Thousands of scientists spending thousands of hours researching what they do.
So if you can buy these ones, you have the game sorted, right? Then there's optional.
So these are supplements that have some evidence behind them.
And they might help people in certain situations.
So they're not essential.
However, if you fit into a certain bracket, then maybe it would have some benefit for you.
So they're not essential, but they're not snake oil either.
These are things that if you have a specific reason, then we might be recommending them for you.
So an example here, without diving too much into it, is recommending vitamin B12 supplements for someone who doesn't eat a whole lot of red meat due to dietary choices, be it vegetarianism or veganism.
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