[darkpuppet]

^--- I'd actually recommend staying away from GNC vitamins if you're not seriously training.

why?

because they just make expensive pee.

I have to dig around, but I have an article from a medical journal that goes through some of the absorption rates for vitamins and supplements.. and that typically, people absorb no more from 'Mega Vitamins than they do from regular consumer daily vitamins like centrum'.

I believe that nearly 40% of the population also get no benefit from taking creatine supplements (I was one of those)... I used to split my spending on supplements, thinking that creatine and moderate protein would work for me, and it did.. but I noticed real gains from switching to straight up protein.

But there's also a catch, because research has indicated that the body can only process so much protein per serving.. about 25gm I think... any more than that at a time and you're not gaining the full benefit.

I've spent years trying different things at the gym... I've made the mistake of mixing creatine citrate with milk... hell, I've made the mistake of trying to take creatine citrate plain from the spoon because someone said it was taseless (that's monohydrate btw)...

I've done protein powders, and found that a slow and steady supplement regeme (sp?) throughout the day works best.

My advice...
eat a balanced meal before your workout.. drink a 20g serving of protein shake during the workout, and have a snack afterwards if you're hungry.