The Context Problem
Half the supplement recommendations you'll watch on YouTube come with a discount code. The creator gets 10–20% commission on every sale their code generates. This isn't inherently dishonest, but it creates a systematic incentive to recommend more products, more expensive products, and products that have a wide appeal, regardless of whether they're optimal for you.
CBum promotes RawNutrition. Alex Eubank has his Ryse stack. Sam Sulek keeps his supplement use surprisingly quiet. The Tren Twins flip between sponsors regularly. None of this tells you what you should be taking.
This is the supplement stack based on evidence, not sponsorship deals. Some of these overlap with what the creators above use. Some don't. The logic will be clear.
My full monthly supplement spend is £42. Creatine monohydrate (£8), whey concentrate (£20), vitamin D3+K2 (£6), magnesium glycinate (£8). That covers every evidence-backed base. Everything else I have tried over the years — BCAAs, fat burners, test boosters — made no measurable difference on bloodwork or body composition.
The Foundation (Non-Negotiable for Physique Goals)
1. Creatine Monohydrate, 5g Daily
The single most evidence-backed supplement in sports nutrition. More than 500 studies. Increases phosphocreatine in muscle, enabling more reps at a given weight, faster ATP regeneration between sets, and slight muscle volumisation from intracellular water retention.
Jeff Nippard covers this extensively, the evidence is as clear as anything in nutrition research. Every serious physique athlete takes creatine. The ones who don't are leaving measurable muscle on the table.
How to take it: 5g daily in water. Timing doesn't matter, pick a time you'll remember and stick to it. No loading phase required, though you can accelerate saturation with 20g/day for 5 days if you want faster results.
What to buy: Bulk Creatine Monohydrate → or MyProtein Creatine Monohydrate →. Both are micronised, both are effective. Under £15 for 100+ servings. Don't pay more.
2. Whey Protein, 1–2 Shakes Daily (As Needed)
protein powder is a food supplement, a convenient way to hit your daily protein target, not a performance enhancer in itself. The target for aesthetic training is 1.8–2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight daily. Most people can get 80–120g from whole food alone. Protein powder fills the gap.
Post-workout, when food isn't immediately practical and you want to initiate muscle protein synthesis within a couple of hours of training, a whey shake is the most convenient option.
Between meals, if you're hitting your protein target across 3 meals, you don't need it. If you're short at the end of the day, a shake is the simplest fix.
What to buy (UK): Bulk Whey Protein Concentrate → (best value), MyProtein Impact Whey → (best availability and flavour range), Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey → (most reliable, slightly pricier). Check protein per 100g, you want 75g+ per 100g. Don't buy mass gainers.
Shop whey protein on Amazon UK
3. Caffeine, 150–300mg Pre-Workout
Caffeine is the most effective legal performance-enhancing substance for training. At 3–6mg per kg bodyweight, it reduces perceived effort, improves strength and endurance performance, and increases focus. A pre-workout that doesn't have adequate caffeine isn't a pre-workout, it's vitamins with a label.
The most cost-effective approach: black coffee (100–150mg per strong cup) 45–60 minutes before training. Free, effective, no frills.
If you want a structured dose, caffeine tablets (200mg) cost around £4–6 for 100 from any health store or Amazon UK. More economical than any pre-workout supplement at 5–10× the price per dose.
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If you want the full pre-workout experience, pump, focus, beta-alanine tingle, Applied Nutrition ABE or Gorilla Mode (imported) are the honest UK recommendations. See the full pre-workout guide for detail.
The Upgrades (Strong Evidence, Worth Adding)
4. Vitamin D3 + K2, 2,000–4,000 IU Daily
UK population is chronically vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D functions as a steroid hormone precursor and is directly involved in testosterone synthesis. If you're deficient (and many UK men are), supplementing restores function you're currently missing.
Combined D3/K2 supplements ensure the calcium absorption increase from vitamin D is directed to bones rather than soft tissue.
What to buy: Bulk D3+K2 →, Garden of Life Vitamin D3+K2 →, or any quality combined supplement. Around £10–15/month.
Shop Vitamin D3+K2 on Amazon UK
5. Omega-3 (Fish Oil), 2–3g EPA+DHA Daily
EPA and DHA omega-3s are anti-inflammatory, support joint health (relevant when training volume is high), and have moderate evidence for supporting testosterone production. After training hard consistently, reducing systemic inflammation is a genuine performance-supporting intervention.
Critical note: Dosing is on EPA+DHA content, not total fish oil. A standard supermarket fish oil capsule has 300mg EPA+DHA per 1g capsule, you'd need 7+ capsules. Buy a high-concentration formula.
What to buy: Bare Biology Lion Heart → (UK brand, high concentration), Wiley's Finest →, or Nordic Naturals →. 2–3 capsules daily of a quality product.
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6. Magnesium Glycinate, 300–400mg Before Bed
Sleep quality directly impacts testosterone, cortisol, recovery, and training performance. Most people in the UK are magnesium insufficient due to modern agricultural soil depletion. magnesium glycinate supplementation consistently improves deep sleep stages, reduces cortisol, and supports muscle recovery.
The glycinate form is essential, magnesium oxide (the cheap form in most supplements) is barely absorbed and primarily acts as a laxative. Glycinate or malate.
What to buy: Doctor's Best Magnesium Glycinate →, Bulk Magnesium Glycinate →, or Pure Encapsulations Magnesium →.
Shop Magnesium Glycinate on Amazon UK
The Situation-Specific Additions
Pre-Workout (If You Want It)
The pre-workout market is enormous and mostly noise. The effective ingredients are: caffeine (150–300mg), citrulline malate (6–8g), beta-alanine (3.2g). Everything else is secondary.
UK recommendations: Applied Nutrition ABE → (£25–30, reliable, UK-available), Gorilla Mode (£45–55 imported, clinical doses of everything), Bulk Pre-Workout → (£20–25, honest value option).
Casein Protein, Before Bed
Slow-digesting protein that sustains amino acid release through the night, supporting muscle protein synthesis during sleep. Not essential if you're hitting total protein targets, but useful for people who go more than 8–10 hours overnight without food.
Greek yoghurt or cottage cheese before bed achieves the same effect from whole food. Casein powder is the supplement alternative.
Beta-Alanine, If High-Rep Training Is Your Focus
Beta-alanine accumulates in muscle over time, buffering hydrogen ions during high-rep work. The tingling (paresthesia) is harmless. At 3.2–6.4g daily, it provides measurable endurance improvement on sets above 10 reps. Sam Sulek-style high-volume training is where beta-alanine produces the most noticeable benefit.
Takes 2–4 weeks of daily use to reach effective muscle saturation. Many pre-workouts include it, check the dose. Under 2g is underdosed.
What CBum, Sam Sulek, and Jeff Nippard Actually Use
CBum (RawNutrition stack): Pre-workout (RAW EAA), intra-workout EAAs, whey protein, creatine. He has his own brand, the products are quality, and he's transparent about what he actually takes.
Sam Sulek: Doesn't push supplements heavily relative to his audience size. Occasional mentions of creatine and protein powder. Notably low-key about supplementation for a creator of his size.
Jeff Nippard: Evidence-based as expected. Creatine, protein, caffeine, omega-3s, vitamin D. Explicitly says the evidence doesn't support the majority of what the supplement industry sells.
The overlap between all three: creatine, protein, caffeine. That's the core. Everything else is additions.
What Not to Buy
Testosterone boosters, Combinations of fenugreek, DAA, zinc, and herbal extracts with a premium label. The individual ingredients (zinc, ashwagandha, tongkat ali) have merit at correct doses; the blended "booster" format is underdosed marketing.
Fat burners, Almost entirely caffeine in elaborate packaging, sometimes with added thyroid stimulants or compounds with questionable safety profiles. The caloric deficit and training do the work. No supplement accelerates fat loss in a meaningful way.
BCAAs during training, If you're hitting your total protein target, intra-workout BCAAs provide no additional benefit. Your existing protein intake already contains adequate BCAAs. Spend the money on quality whole food protein instead.
Anything a creator is promoting with a code, Not because creators are dishonest, but because the incentive structure selects for products that convert well, not products that work best.
The Stack Summary
Non-negotiable: creatine monohydrate (5g daily), protein powder (to hit daily targets), caffeine pre-workout.
Strong additions: vitamin D3+K2 (2,000–4,000 IU daily), omega-3 (2–3g EPA+DHA daily), magnesium glycinate (300–400mg before bed).
Situational: Pre-workout, casein before bed, beta-alanine for high-volume training.
Total monthly cost for the core stack: £40–55 from UK brands (Bulk, MyProtein, Amazon UK). Less than a month's gym membership.
Train. Eat enough protein. Sleep. The supplements are the margin. A small but real one.
Ross et al. - Creatine and Resistance Training
Creatine monohydrate supplementation at 3-5 g/day significantly improves lean mass gains and strength performance when combined with resistance training.
The evidence-backed aesthetic stack is creatine (5 g/day), protein powder (to hit daily targets), vitamin D3+K2, and magnesium — total cost under £55/month from UK brands.
For the creatine deep-dive, see our best creatine UK guide. If you want to add testosterone-specific supplementation, the best testosterone supplements UK guide covers vitamin D, zinc, ashwagandha, and tongkat ali. And for choosing the right protein powder, the best protein powder UK guide ranks the UK market by value.
