How many of you take supplements for piano?

[theholygideons]

What are some nutrients and supplements you take while practicing piano, either the purposes of energy, endurance or concentration? Do you know whether supplement use is prevalent among a lot of famous pianists, given the high demands of piano playing?

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Lol supplements for PIANO???

Supplements don't do anything for piano.  Piano isn't like lifting or running.  If you think of piano as some sort of sport, then you're doing it wrong.  (Idk if it's cause you think you need supplements or you're just curious)

That has gotta be some of the weakest sh*t I've ever heard lmao.
 
Nobody needs no supplements for no piano playing man, just play the damn piano!  If you're tired, just take a break or stop all together.  If you have trouble concentrating...  Then you have a bigger problem that can't be solved with just taking adderal.  And if stamina is the problem, taking creatine ain't finna do sh*t.

[theholygideons]

Lol supplements for PIANO???

Supplements don't do anything for piano.  Piano isn't like lifting or running.  If you think of piano as some sort of sport, then you're doing it wrong.  (Idk if it's cause you think you need supplements or you're just curious)

That has gotta be some of the weakest sh*t I've ever heard lmao.
 
Nobody needs no supplements for no piano playing man, just play the damn piano!

I never said we were trying to break the guiness world record for the fastest octaves by taking performance enhancing drugs. I'm just talking about taking supplements as a thing on the side, especially if you're under the demands of concertising and practise or nearing old age. Wait until you're 70 bro.. I'm basing supplement use on the assumption that one already has a decent technique and therefore isn't using supplements as a substitute for it.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I never said we were trying to break the guiness world record for the fastest octaves by taking performance enhancing drugs. I'm just talking about taking supplements as a thing on the side, especially if you're under the demands of concertising and practise or nearing old age. Wait until you're 70 bro..

ALL supplements are things you take on the side.  And yeah supplements are for supplementing, not substituting...  thats why they're called supplements...  Using it as a substitute is even worse!!!

Nobody needs to take sh*t even if they're doing concerts regularly.  You're a pianist not a pro athlete lol.  And still I doubt anyone takes sh*t when they're 70 exclusively for piano.  If they gotta take sh*t it's probably cause they're worried about not dying instead of playing piano.

[theholygideons]

ALL supplements are things you take on the side.

Nobody needs to take sh*t even if they're doing concerts regularly.  You're a pianist not a pro athlete lol.

And still I doubt anyone takes sh*t when they're 70 exclusively for piano.

If they gotta take sh*t it's probably cause they're worried about not dying instead of playing piano.

Piano playing takes ENERGY. How are you going to play Rachmaninoff when you get to 70 years old and your weak sauce muscles start to burn with lactic acid because of all those octaves. I'm not talking about you only!! Of course black man is going to be strong when he gets to 70 years old. Look at Floyd Mayweather Senior, that m*therf*cker is ripped as a bull although he 63! 

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Piano playing takes ENERGY. How are you going to play Rachmaninoff when you get to 70 years old and your weak sauce muscles start to burn with lactic acid because of all those octaves. I'm not talking about you only!! Of course black man is going to be strong when he gets to 70 years old. Look at Floyd Mayweather Senior, that m*therf*cker is ripped as a bull even though he 63!  

Okay okay true true...  

Facts...

BUT...

Let's say one were to actually take supplements at old age for stamina.

ALRIGHT SO...

If your arms are tired, thr only thing I can think of is to take creatine.  but that sh*t is only good for high intensity sh*t.  Not aerobic stuff.  And if you're not doing high intensity sh*t,  you'll just get fat FAST.  And let's not forget that this dude is old so his sh*t is probably gonna be all fucked up from taking that sh*t.

But let's say he just gets winded a lot.  Take a red bull or a 5 hour energy or some sh*t.  HE'S GONNA DIE ON STAGE!!!  His heart is gonna explode through his freaking chest and splutter blood into the first three rows!

If an old pianist is taking supplements, it's probably not for piano, it's probably either old mans Viagra so he can get it on with the 25 year old girl who gives him flowers at the end of his concert, or some other heavy duty prescription stuff so he doesn't die within the next few days.

[swagmaster420x]

All about the Addy

[theholygideons]

Okay okay true true... 

Facts...

BUT...

Let's say one were to actually take supplements at old age for stamina.

ALRIGHT SO...

If your arms are tired, thr only thing I can think of is to take creatine.  but that sh*t is only good for high intensity sh*t.  Not aerobic stuff.  And if you're not doing high intensity sh*t,  you'll just get fat FAST.  And let's not forget that this dude is old so his sh*t is probably gonna be all fucked up from taking that sh*t.

But let's say he just gets winded a lot.  Take a red bull or a 5 hour energy or some sh*t.  HE'S GONNA DIE ON STAGE!!!  His heart is gonna explode through his freaking chest and splutter blood into the first three rows!

If an old pianist is taking supplements, it's probably not for piano, it's probably either old mans Viagra so he can get it on with the 25 year old girl who gives him flowers at the end of his concert, or some other heavy duty prescription stuff so he doesn't die within the next few days.

Oh come on, after all the research that goes into sports nutrition, there must be more to supplementation than just creatine monohydrate and red bull...Dude, if I'm a pianist who's competing at a piano competition and have to practise 8 hours every day, and wants every advantage I can get, I would take Creatine, *** that.

[visitor]

There are specific   nutrients that taken properly have almost or greater than pharmacological effects.
however its takes a lot of self experimentatuon to see what works or makes things worse.
o specidically had elsucces in the past deoending on circumstances withe the use of smart stacking of specidic doses of
caffeine univers anti fatgue and focus be smart w it

l tyrosine
l phenylalanine
these on an emptystomach and ddepening on dosing can prime neurotransmiter pump, hels w fatigue and focus fir some, will wire up some people like a space suttle, again dosing is important, usually at least a couple grams of ea

dimethy amino ethanol or DMAE (its an good acetylcholine reuptake inhibitor), this enhances all of the above effects but again fir certain individuals , make do thenopposite Depends on how your brain is wired.

Be careful w these, do your research , these also work extremely well as pre exercise staciks, its how i found it helped my piano practice , mainly at times if high stress and tried w less sleep etc

[timothy42b]

Let's be honest.

The vast majority of supplement advice is pure hype by people who are not only not well informed, but actively distrust and disbelieve in both modern medicine and science.

That doesn't mean there might not be value to some of them, but it DOES mean you can't put much stock in what you hear about them.

3 points:   

Medications have to be tested for safety AND efficacy, and still some problems get through.  Supplements are considered food, and are completely unregulated.  At least in the US - I know this is an international list.   But I lived in Germany a few years, and it was true there too.

All supplements you find for sale are made by the same Big Pharma that make the medications, but they are enormously more profitable as there are virtually no development or testing costs, and they don't have to advertise much because gullible people will buy anything.

If there are no side effects, that is proof they don't and can't work.  There are NO medications, natural or not, that have any effect on the body that don't also have some side effects. 

[brogers70]

There's a saying that gambling is a tax on those who didn't pay attention in math class. Supplements are a tax on those who didn't pay attention in another class.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Oh come on, after all the research that goes into sports nutrition, there must be more to supplementation than just creatine monohydrate and red bull...Dude, if I'm a pianist who's competing at a piano competition and have to practise 8 hours every day, and wants every advantage I can get, I would take Creatine, *** that.

Yeah SPORTS nutrition.  Piano isn't that physically demanding.

Aye I do competitions too, and taking drugs won't make you a better pianist or help you win competitions.  Neither do I think practicing 8 hours a day but that's another discussion for another topic.

Sure you can take a 5 hour energy if you're tired, but if you practice to the point of fatiguing yourself, you need to stop practicing and you won't improve on anything (maybe a tiny bit) doing the same thing over and over for an extra five hours.  Unless you need to learn a crazy hard piece in a short amount of time, but that's a different situation.

WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA!!!

What if you get really nervous right?  So you just take a couple shots of vodka or something to get a little buzzed before a performance.  BAM!!!  Stage fright cured.

[kawai_cs]

 but that sh*t is only good for high intensity sh*t.  Not aerobic stuff.  And if you're not doing high intensity sh*t,  you'll just get fat FAST.  And let's not forget that this dude is old so his sh*t is probably gonna be all fucked up from taking that sh*t.

But let's say he just gets winded a lot.  Take a red bull or a 5 hour energy or some sh*t.

I know you mean it good, but if you go on like this your posts will start to smell

To OP: why not try to get energy from natural stuff, changing your diet to a very healthy one and exercising? Maybe you do already, I don't know, but I feel on the long run this is what gives you the most benefit not only for piano.
Good advice which I read somewhere, I don't know where anymore, is to add coconut oil or coconut butter to your coffee and a little regular, unsalted butter of supreme quality, too. I do it all the time. If you drink it in the morning and eat, e.g. salmon -that is a champion's breakfast.
There are so many possibilities to eat healthy in order to achieve what you need. I just don't know if you are interested bc most people aren't.

[chopinlover01]

WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA!!!

What if you get really nervous right?  So you just take a couple shots of vodka or something to get a little buzzed before a performance.  BAM!!!  Stage fright cured.

2 shots of vodka only gets you a little buzzed? Damn, how high is your tolerance?

I've used caffeine before as a quasi supplement, but only to stay awake through a concert, because I didn't sleep the night before (wrote an English paper in >24 hours).

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I know you mean it good, but if you go on like this your posts will start to smell

Aye man my posts are unprofessional, but I keep it 100 thousand at ALL TIMES

I SPEAK WITH PASSION

[rachmaninoff_forever]

2 shots of vodka only gets you a little buzzed? Damn, how high is your tolerance?

I've used caffeine before as a quasi supplement, but only to stay awake through a concert, because I didn't sleep the night before (wrote an English paper in >24 hours).

Part of the reason why I don't drink is cause it takes A LOT for me to feel it.  And I'm only 160 pounds!  I'm like immune to this ish man!

I just said two shots just cause I picked an arbitrary number.  Idk how many shots it takes for people to get buzzed.

[Bob]

Caffeine, coffee.  That actually works.

Lots of other stuff, vitamins, etc.  Can't tell if it mattered.

Common sense stuff -- rest/sleep, eating right, getting exercise, etc. -- makes more of a noticeable difference than any supplement.

[chopinlover01]

I just said two shots just cause I picked an arbitrary number.  Idk how many shots it takes for people to get buzzed.

There's a much better (and far less dangerous) way to get buzzed, mah' man.

[indianajo]

I take a multivitamin as a recommendation from the NPN, because I don't eat very much meat.  If you don't eat a lot of meat you need some B vitamins.  If you do eat a lot of meat you get a stent in your heart arteries at my age, if not a heart attack. 
Creatin and glaucosen are highly recommended for arthritis, which I have.  However, when UK medical service studied these supplements, 70% of what they bought was fake.  See bbc news.    In USA, supplements are non-regulated, and even Wall-Mart has been caught selling fake supplements - see the PBS Frontline show.  So I don't bother taking creatin or glaucosin either. 

[Bob]

I have heard of beta blockers, but that seemed too far off for me.

And smokers.  I wouldn't, but there is some kind of nicotine high.