A new client asked me last week which supplements they should be taking. Hand on heart, I gave them an answer most people in the fitness industry will not give.
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, and roughly nothing else.
That said. There are a handful of supplements that actually do something. There are a lot of them that do nothing, and you are throwing money at them. And there is at least one that is, in my professional opinion, a scam. Not metaphorically. Actually.
This article is the long form companion to this week's podcast episode, and a punchier alternative to the full slide deck and Loom video we have built for the deepest version of this material. Three tiers. Plain language. No affiliate codes.
The Three Tier Framework
The reason most people are confused about supplements is that the industry deliberately blurs the categories. Everything is sold with the same energy. The thing that genuinely works gets the same flashy ad as the thing that does literally nothing.
So we sort things into three buckets.
Tier 1: Necessary. Supplements that meaningfully improve your training, recovery, or health for almost any adult who lifts. Cheap. Boring. Decades of evidence behind them. If you only buy these, you have the whole game.
Tier 2: Optional. Things with some evidence behind them, useful for certain people in certain situations. Not essential. Not snake oil. Buy if you have spare money and a specific reason.
Tier 3: Gimmick. Products sold with science-y words that do approximately nothing. Or so trivially little that you would never notice. Some are harmless waste of money. Some are actively misleading. We will name a few.
The whole framework boils down to this. You should not own anything from Tier 3 until you have done everything in Tier 1 properly for at least six months.
Tier 1: Necessary
Creatine monohydrate. The single best supplement that exists. 5 grams a day, every day, plain creatine monohydrate. Improves strength, muscle building, recovery, and there is growing evidence for cognitive benefits in older adults. It is not a steroid. It does not damage healthy kidneys. You do not need to cycle off it. Pay zero extra for "creatine HCL," "kre alkalyn," or any other "advanced form." It is all the same compound, and the cheap stuff is identical to the expensive stuff. The 2026 hype around creatine is one of the few in this industry that is actually justified.
Protein powder. Not magic. Not necessary if you eat enough protein from whole food. But for most adults who lift, it is the easiest way to hit your protein target. Most people who lift should aim for 1.6 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. The vast majority of adults are well below that. Protein powder is the convenient bridge. Whey for most people. Plant protein if you are vegan or sensitive to dairy. Isolate vs concentrate matters less than the industry would like you to think. Concentrate is cheaper and works fine.
Vitamin D3. In Ireland, at our latitude, with our weather, yes. Most Irish adults are functionally low or deficient for at least eight months of the year. 1000 to 2000 IU a day, taken with a meal that contains some fat. This is the one supplement your GP would probably also tell you to take, which is unusual.
Omega 3 (if you do not eat fish). Genuinely worth it if you do not eat oily fish at least twice a week. 1 to 2 grams of combined EPA and DHA per day from a basic fish oil. If you do eat oily fish regularly, you can skip this one.
Tier 2: Optional
Electrolytes. 2026 has been a banner year for electrolyte brands. They are everywhere. For most people, in most situations, water with a pinch of salt does the same job for free. For long training sessions in heat, Hyrox prep, marathon training, or low carb diets, the branded electrolyte powders are convenient. For a 45 minute strength session in Wicklow, you do not need a fancy sachet.
Caffeine. Yes, this is a supplement. Genuinely improves training performance at roughly 3 to 6 mg per kilogram of bodyweight, taken 30 to 45 minutes before training. Most people are getting it from coffee anyway. Pre workout powders are usually 70 percent caffeine plus 30 percent ingredients you do not need, sold at a 400 percent markup. Have an espresso instead.
Magnesium. Probably useful if you train hard, sleep poorly, or eat a low quality diet. Magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate, taken in the evening. Not magnesium oxide, which is poorly absorbed. Not a miracle, but a quiet improvement for many people.
A Note on GLP 1 Medications
Ozempic, Mounjaro, and the rest of the GLP 1 class are not supplements, but they are changing the fitness industry in a real way in 2026. We are not getting into the medical decision here. That is between you and your doctor. The relevant point: if you are on a GLP 1 and training, your protein intake matters MORE, not less. The risk of losing muscle is real, because appetite suppression makes hitting protein targets very hard. If that applies to you, talk to your coach. Talk to your doctor. Do not just take the drug and hope.
Tier 3: Gimmick
BCAAs. If you are hitting your protein target from food and whey protein, BCAAs add nothing. The marketing claims (muscle building, recovery, "anti catabolic" properties) are largely overstated for anyone eating enough protein. This is one of the most over sold categories in the industry. The specific scenario where BCAAs would help is so narrow (fasted training, very low total protein intake) that the vast majority of buyers are wasting their money. Save the money and buy more food.
Fat burners and thermogenics. As a category, largely a scam. The active ingredient in most of these is caffeine, sometimes paired with a vague "metabolism boosting" herb that has no meaningful effect. The labels are deliberately opaque about doses ("proprietary blend"). The category preys on people who are unhappy with their bodies and want a shortcut. The version of this that actually works is called "eat less, move more." It is not sexy. It is effective.
Over the counter testosterone boosters (for healthy men under 40). The legal "test boosters" sold without a prescription have, on the whole, zero meaningful effect on testosterone levels in healthy men. If your testosterone is genuinely low, see a doctor. There is real medicine for that. It is not what is in the bottle from the supplement shop.
What To Actually Do
Three things, in this order.
First, audit your cupboard. Sort everything you currently own into the three tiers. Use up what is in the Optional tier honestly. Throw out, or finish and do not replace, anything in the Gimmick tier. Make sure you actually own the Necessary tier.
Second, spend the money you save on food. The single biggest improvement most people could make to their nutrition is not adding a supplement. It is buying better groceries. Use the supplement budget on more meat, more fish, more vegetables, more eggs. Boring advice. Best return on investment in the entire industry.
Third, if you want the deeper version of this material, we have built a full presentation and Loom video that goes into the science behind everything we have covered here. Drop us a message and we will send it your way.
Listen to the Full Episode
This article is the written version. The podcast goes deeper on a few specific brands we stand by, names the one supplement we think is the biggest waste of money on shelves right now, and gets into the 2026 hype cycles around creatine, electrolytes, and GLP 1 medications in more detail. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows.
Want to Train With Us?
If you live in or around Wicklow Town and want a coach who will tell you the truth about supplements (and nutrition, and training, and everything else) without trying to sell you anything, that is what we do. New members start with our Jumpstart Program, designed to set you up properly from day one.
The first step is a free consultation. No pressure. No sales pitch. Just a conversation.
Book your free consultation here.
Train hard. Eat well. Save your money for groceries.
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