If you’re working out hard and want to gain or keep your muscle, you’re going to need a lot of protein.

If you’re bulking, you probably don’t care about some carbs and sugars in your protein powders. You can basically use any protein that you find tasty and doesn’t bloat you or give you gas/upset stomach. If you’re cutting, you’ll want as few artificial carbs and sugars as possible. The brand really doesn’t matter – the nutrition labels and price tags do.

When dealing with whey protein, there are two primary categories: whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate. Whey protein isolates are higher quality and are processed to remove the fat and lactose (milk sugars). They are 90%+ protein by weight. If cheaper protein gives you gas or cramps, you’ll have to go with these.

Whey protein concentrates contain low fat and cholesterol but are lower quality at 29%-89% protein by weight. Not all of the lactose is removed, so some people may get gas from this. Most people are fine.

It doesn’t matter what protein you use, so long as you are hitting your mark on protein per day from a combination of meat, poultry, fish, nuts, and shakes.

Either way, our preferred choice in protein is Dymatize ISO-100. This is a pure whey protein isolate from a highly reputable brand that tastes amazing and has a price tag that beats most inferior mixed proteins.

There are two supplements we recommend for everyone, regardless of whether you’re bulking or cutting:

1. Multivitamin
   

   Animal Pak

   When you’re working out as hard as you do with Jack3d, you need something intense. We’re big fans of Animal Pak for intense lifters and competitive athletes.

   They’re a bit expensive, but we do feel better when on them. Take one pack a day with a meal and you’re set for the day. If you need something cheaper, consider Higher Power Multi-XS.

2. Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Fish Oil
   

   NOW Fish Oil

   We like NOW FOODS Omega-3. Good for the heart, joints, and blood.

   The dosage depends on what’s already in your diet. Your Omega-3:Omega-6 ratio should be between 1:1 and 1:4, but most Americans have something near 1:20 through 1:30. This leads to inflammation, plaque, and cardiovascular disease.

   To equalize my fats, I supplement five 1000mg capsules each night before bed. Freeze them so that they digest slower and you won’t get any bad burps.

Note: Any multivitamin or mecury-screened fish oil will do. The products recommended above have nothing to do with USPLabs or Jack3d. We just like them.

Introducing THE ASTEROID STACK

The USPlabs Asteroid Stack is a combination of three amazing USPLabs products – Prime, Anabolic-Pump, and PowerFULL – that work together over a 12-week cycle to naturally boost your testosterone and growth hormone levels without giving nasty side effects. Get ready to read about the stack to end all stacks.

You can use these separately for great gains, but we highly recommend using them together as prescribed in the table below for incredible gains.

Need convincing and not sure where to start? Head over to the official Asteroid Stack page and download the free Asteroid Stack manual (PDF). See the before and after results for yourself! Combined with a proper diet and workout plan, you will not only gain muscle, but you’ll drop fat!

THE STACK TO END ALL STACKS

Asteroid Stack Instructions:

The Asteroid Stack is optional, but we highly recommend taking the challenge to blast through your plateaus! Regardless, the following advice for nutrient timing is very important.

Workout Day Jack3d Stack for Bulking:

Whey Protein Isolate

1. 90 minutes pre-workout:

   30-40g Whey Protein Isolate

2. 30 minutes Pre-Workout:

   Your preferred dosage of Jack3d and the recommended PowerFULL dosage (2 or 3 capsules) from the Asteroid Stack above.

3. Immediately Post-Workout:

   30-40g Whey Protein Isolate + 20g Carbs (Dextrose) + Creatine Monohydrate Powder (see below).

   

   Creatine Mono

   

   Get Jack3d

   You can skip the extra carbs if your protein has a high carb content, or just eat a banana or two.

   Post-Workout Creatine Monohydrate Protocol: Let’s try to get a total of 5g of creatine. Any creatine monohydrate will do, but we link you to a great deal above. Did you take 1 Scoop Jack3d? Then add 4g creatine post-workout. 2 Scoops Jack3d? 2g creatine. 3 Scoops of Jack3d? No creatine needed.

4. 30-60min later:

   EAT! Protein/carbs/natural fats



Casein Protein

5. Before Bed:

   Optimum Nutrition 100% Casein Protein or cottage cheese and almond butter or natural peanut butter. These will digest slowly and will keep your body satisfied overnight. This is also a good time to take your NOW FOODS Omega-3 from the freezer.

Remember, follow your diet and get in at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight each and every day. Use shakes to do that as needed.

Off Day Jack3d Stack for Bulking:

1. First thing in the morning: 5-10g Creatine Monohydrate Powder with juice
2. Asteroid Stack, as directed above
3. EAT!

Weight Gainers for Bulking

Weightgainers are fine to occasionally use, but don’t rely on them. Food is and always will be king. Use a maximum of one gainer shake per day, and work it into your macronutrient goals if you cannot eat enough food. Check out Dymatize Super Mass Gainer Hardcore for a killer deal – but WATCH OUT with this stuff – one serving is enough to feed an army – so divide the servings by two and just use one scoop!

What about Testosterone Boosters?

We’ve already thrown enough at you, but we’ve been through two cycles of USP Labs’ new all-natural testosterone booster, Pink Magic, and this stuff is the REAL DEAL.

It would be costly to add it to the Asteroid Stack, so one thing you could consider is a stack of Jack3d + Prime + Pink Magic. The reason I say this is because I used this before a massive race and had the best results ever in my life. It’s for real but to bulk on it, you really need to eat well above maintenance.

Pink Magic also works incredibly well for cutting stacks, as fat-burning is accelerated by it’s cAMP-activating mechanisms.

So you’re done bulking, or it’s just time to lean out? We have the stack for you here. Once again, if you don’t have an nutrition plan, you won’t be getting your money’s worth.

Run this stack for a maximum of 8 weeks.

Every Day Cutting Extra – CLA and BCAAs

On top of your Every Day Base of fish oil and multivitamin, we also recommend 3-4g of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) when cutting. It has been shown to help reduce body fat in placebo-controlled studies, and is only about $10/month.

Our recommended CLA is NOW Foods CLA. Take 2g before bed and 2g when you wake up.

Modern BCAA

Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) will also be employed here. It is wise to keep BCAAs in your bloodstream when you are cutting so that your body does not attack your muscle when it needs amino acids — it will get the aminos from the BCAAs in your bloodstream. These also help reduce fatigue and assist in post-workout recovery.

You can use any BCAA product, but our preferred solution is Modern BCAA. Modern BCAA is a new product from USPLabs. You get a ton of powder for your money, the flavoring is great, the sustamine inside really works, and no BCAA product mixes close to this well!

Note: This section has changed from the original. We no longer recommend Jack3d and OxyElite Pro on the same day. Read more at our Jack3d and OxyElite Pro page for more info.

When cutting, we recommend using USPLabs OxyELITE Pro as your fatburner on non-workout days, and Recreate on workout days. If you trust USP with your pre-workout, you’ll flip out over OxyElite Pro. It’s like Jack3d but with crazy fat-burning!

Workout and/or Cardio Days Jack3d Stack

Recreate - Low Stim for Workout Days

1. First thing in the morning:

   2 capsules of Recreate as directed by the label.



Cut with Jack3d

2. 30 Minutes Pre-Workout:

   Your full serving of Jack3d. With a clean diet, this has many fat-burning components already inside!

3. 15 Minutes Pre-Workout:

   Start drinking some Modern BCAA

4. During Workout/Cardio:

   Sip on Modern BCAA

5. Post-Workout:

   Finish Modern BCAA



Whey Protein Isolate

6. 15 Minutes Post-Workout:

   Whey Protein Isolate + 3g Creatine Monohydrate Powder (creatine is optional)

7. Hours later, 30 minutes before a meal:

   Take one more Recreate. Recreate is low-stim – less caffeine than a half cup of coffee – so you should not have any sleep problems.

Off Days – Jack3d Cutting Stack

OxyELITE Pro Fat Burner

Modern BCAA

1. Get your everyday base + CLA regimen.
2. Take OxyELITE Pro per the label instructions
3. Follow your diet
4. Sip on Modern BCAA throughout the day.

You’re fit, healthy, active, and pretty happy with where you are. You just want to keep slowly making gains and having insane workouts with jack3d.

This one’s pretty easy. Simply follow the Jack3d Bulking Protocol, but don’t worry about the Asteroid Stack and ignore the part about weightgainers. Jack3d, protein, and some optional extra post-workout creatine is all you need on top of a healthy lifestyle.

Don’t forget your Everyday Base of Fish Oil and Multivitamins!

Yes, you should cycle off of Jack3d.

Go for 8 weeks on, 3-4 weeks off. If you’re doing the Asteroid Stack, consider staying the entire 12 weeks on Jack3d, but then get off for 4 weeks.

Your body needs to get off of the stimulants so that they have the proper effect on you. You should not replace Jack3d with some other pre-workout drink unless it is stimulant-free.

Creatine and protein, on the other hand, do not need to be cycled, although many cycle off of creatine as well.