Hola from hot S Padre Island,

The wind is finally coming back up, which means my funky chicken wind dance must have finally worked.

Picture a large pale exercise physiologist on the beach, flapping around like a caffeinated sandhill crane who just discovered pre-workout.

You’re welcome, Texas. hahaha.

First off, huge thanks to everyone who enrolled in the Phys Flex Cert.

Super stoked for you — especially the few of you who snuck in at the buzzer before the doors slammed shut at midnight like some weird physiology dungeon with better references.

Phys Flex opens again in October.

Flex Diet opens again in June.

Now we turn the page, cue the Metallica version. because, metal!

This week I’m going deep into creatine and supplements, including a podcast with Dr. Darren Candow — one of the top creatine researchers on the planet and a guy who has forgotten more about phosphocreatine than most internet creatine GooRoos will ever know.

So let’s start with the big picture.

Because supplements are weird.

And the way most people think about them is even weirder.

Two Supplement Cults

This past Saturday, I popped on the ole Zoom with Funk Roberts and a long list of supplement questions on the table.

Men over 40.

The useful stuff.

Overpriced garbage.

Boring basics that still win.

What should be shoved into the dumpster behind a GNC and set on fire by a raccoon listening to "The Grudge" by Tool.

The talk was originally supposed to be about supplements.

But it turned into something more useful:

How to decide what actually matters.

The second you say the word “supplements,” every man over 40 gets sorted into one of two camps.

Camp #1 thinks supplements are magic fairy dust.

Take the right capsule, cue the cinematic montage, wake up Tuesday with abs, testosterone like a Viking warlord, and joints that no longer sound like a haunted rocking chair.

Camp #2 thinks every supplement is a scam invented by guys with neck tattoos selling crushed flour for $79 a bottle while yelling about “proprietary blends, Bro" and why velvet deer antler dust is the "next big thing."

Both camps are wrong.

Annoyingly wrong.

Wrong in the way only the internet can be wrong — with confidence, affiliate banners, and a podcast microphone.

The answer lives in the math almost nobody bothers to run.

Real Numbers

Many legit supplements move the needle in small percentages.

2%.

Maybe 5%.

In a few cases a bit higher.

Lots of variables hers such as the person, the dose, and whether the rest of their life is held together with duct tape, gas station coffee, and a sleep schedule designed by a drunk ferret.

That number sounds insulting.

I know.

You wanted a 30% bump, a parade, and your mitochondria to salute you at sunrise.

But hold the eye-roll for thirty more seconds.

Because the rest of the math changes everything.

Coaching leverage

I call it coaching leverage (TM)

Coaching leverage = physiologic response × ability to change

Physiologic Effect =the size of the biological effect.

How much does this thing actually move strength, recovery, sleep, VO2 max, muscle protein synthesis, inflammation, glucose control, or whatever else we’re measuring?

Next is the part everyone conveniently ignores while arguing online like caffeinated lab rats.

Ability To Change (Psych) = How likely are you — actual you, in your actual life — to do the thing consistently without needing to rebuild your entire existence from scratch each AM like you did too much DMT again?

A perfectly designed 12-week training cycle can have a huge physiologic response.

Beautiful number.

Massive.

Sexy enough to put on a slide deck and make coaches nod like they just discovered fire.

But the ability-to-change side?

Sometimes brutal.

You have to rearrange your week.

Train when you’re sore.

Stop watching “just one more episode” at 11:47 PM.

Prep food.

Get to the gym.

Warm up.

Track progress.

Repeat with violent consistency until your soul files paperwork.

Multiply those two together and the leverage might be moderate.

Sometimes low.

Depends on the hoooman.

A supplement is often the inverse.

For supplements the effect size: usually small.

Ability to change: stupid high.

You scoop the powder.

Swallow the capsule.

Drink the weird little health potion.

Then go about your morning like a semi-functional adult.

Easy peasy.

Multiply that out and you get something almost nobody talks about:

A respectable return for almost zero life disruption.

That’s coaching leverage.

Creatine and The Purge

This is exactly why creatine keeps surviving every supplement purge I’ve ever done.

It’s cheap, boring.and studied to death.

You can take it daily without needing a second mortgage, a monk robe, a glucose monitor taped to your forehead, or a spreadsheet named “Protocol FINAL v17 no really this time.”

Creatine supports the phosphocreatine system — your fast ATP recycling system for short, hard efforts.

Think heavy sets.

Sprints.

Repeated bursts.

That “I need energy right now before this bar stapled to my chest turns me into a cautionary tale” system.

Not magic.

Just basic physiology with a very useful shovel.

And that is the key.

Supplements are not supposed to replace training, protein, sleep, cardio, calories, sunlight, bloodwork, or not living like a fuzzy man in the van done by the river with a Starlink connection.

...After 40?

That is the point of the upcoming "Ultimate Men Over 40 Global Virtual Health Summit, June 8–14."

It’s free to register.

There are over 100 experts covering hormones, training, sleep, recovery, mindset, longevity, and the strange biological carnival of being a man past 40.

In my talks I covered the decision tree, what basics most men miss, bloodwork, supplement traps, and even took a detour into cardiovascular training and VO2 max because apparently I can’t behave when physiology is left unattended.

If your bathroom cabinet looks like a half-finished science experiment run by a raccoon pharmacist, this talk will help.

Register free below

>> Ultimate Men Over 40 Global Virtual Health Summit<<

Heads up — that’s my unique speaker affiliate link.

If you grab the optional VIP upgrade through it, I make a small commission.

Costs you nothing extra.

As always, I’ll be straight with you about that.

Much love from S Padre,

Dr Mike

PS - My summit session lands on Day 4 under the Nutrition & Supplementation pillar.

>> Ultimate Men Over 40 Global Virtual Health Summit<<

PPS- Tomorrow we start ripping into creatine properly.

Not the TikTok meat puppet version.

The real physiology: phosphocreatine, ATP recycling, muscle, aging, brain function, recovery, and why Dr. Candow’s work keeps dragging creatine back into the spotlight like a jacked lab rat with tenure.

_____________________

Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD
Associate Professor, Carrick Institute
Owner, Extreme Human Performance, LLC
Editorial Board Member, STRONG Fitness Mag

Mike T Nelson is a PhD and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.

..