Q: What do you reccomend as some of the top fat burning supplements that are highly effective in: 1)burning fat, 2)appetite control, 3)thyroid enhancing, and 4)metabolism boosting all in one? (examples- Hot-Rox, MAN Scorch, Animal Cuts). Thanks for your expert opinion.

A: I really don't like endorsing any of the supps on the market. The truth about their effectiveness is very unclear with much of the 'evidence' coming from advertising hype or word-of-mouth hype (the line between the two is very blurry). I haven't come across any fat-burning type supp that everyone agrees on as being effective and certainly none that have been proven effective in a scientific study. This is in contrast to creatine or protein supplements which have solid scientific backing behind them. Plain old coffee is probably still as good as many supps out there, evidenced by the fact that caffeine or some derivative of it is one of the most common supp ingredients.

If you're a beginner or even intermediate lifter, I would encourage you to not even think about supps until you have truly optimized the heck out of your diet and exercise regimen. A good diet with no supps will take you a lot further than a mediocre diet with the best supps. It'll also be much more likely to be healthy. Few people's diets are as good as they could be. So focus on that first.

If you're an advanced lifter with many years of experience and have long since perfected your diet and training, then by all means start considering all the different supps out there but at least for now, unfortunately, I won't have a definitive recommendation for you. Talk to your fellow lifters, the ones who you know well and trust and see what has worked for them. Those recommendations are going to be just as good as mine. Sorry couldn't be more helpful, good luck.