Bundles built around a clear goal

Who it's for

Anyone starting out who wants the two supplements with real evidence behind them, not a shelf full of guesses.

Why these products

Creatine helps you get an extra rep or two, session after session. Whey isolate tops up your protein when food falls short. No invented synergy, just the two best supported supplements you can buy.

• Creatine, 3 to 5 g daily, any time
• Protein on the days food falls short
• Two brands, picked on merit

The honest note

Creatine takes a few weeks before you'd notice anything, so judge it in month two. You don't need to load it and you don't need to cycle off it.

Who it's for

People who train hard and eat a lot. If the scales haven't moved in months, it's usually the calories.

Why these products

Whey covers the protein. Cream of rice is cheap, fast calories you can actually get down. Creatine is the daily one underneath both.

• Ryse Loaded Protein
• Adonis cream of rice, for the calories
• Clean Form creatine monohydrate, 3 to 5 g daily

The honest note

Carbs don't drive protein into your muscle, whatever you've read. They're there for the calories. And supplements make a big daily total easier to reach, they don't create one.

Who it's for

Long sessions, two-a-days, Hyrox, boxing and martial arts.

Why these products

Basic PRE gives you caffeine and citrulline for the session. Carbs and fluid are what a long one actually runs you out of, and both go down easier as a drink while you're working.

• 200 mg caffeine before you start, about two coffees
• Carbs during or straight after training
• Electrolytes through the session

The honest note

Most of what a pre-workout does, caffeine does, and this one has no beta-alanine, so no tingling either. It contains 1.5 g of creatine, so if you take creatine separately, count it toward your 3 to 5 g rather than on top. As for the carbs, they earn their place when sessions are long or close together. For one moderate session a day with normal meals, food does that job perfectly well.

Who it's for

Anyone who ends up buying these three one at a time anyway.

Why these products

Three powders that don't interact, so take them whenever suits. Collagen in the morning coffee, greens on the days your vegetables fall short, and the magnesium in the evening.

• Rule 1 collagen peptides
• Rule 1 Fruits and Greens, thirty fruit and vegetable concentrates
• Switch Sleep Magnesium Relax, one in the evening

The honest note

Collagen's evidence is genuinely mixed once you look at who funded the studies, so we won't call it proven. A greens powder is a top-up, not a replacement for eating them. And if you already take a magnesium or a multivitamin, check the labels before you add another.

Who it's for

People chasing the pump on training days, and anyone who'd rather not take a stimulant to get it.

Why these products

The pre-workout is the one doing the work here: 10 g of citrulline, plus beta-alanine, betaine and agmatine in a serve, and no caffeine in it at all, so a late session doesn't cost you the night. It's a big formula, so it's not the one to start on. Arginine is the same idea in a single ingredient if you want to push the dose, and the creatine is the daily one underneath both.

• King of Pumpz before you train, no caffeine in it
• Arginine if you want to push it further
• Clean Form creatine monohydrate, 3 to 5 g daily

The honest note

Two overlaps in here and both are worth saying plainly. The pre-workout already carries 5 g of creatine in a serve, so on training days the creatine tub is doubling up, and it's really there for the days you don't train. The arginine overlaps too: citrulline already raises your arginine, and agmatine comes from arginine in the first place. If you're buying two of the three, make it the pre-workout and the creatine. Larger doses of arginine can also upset your stomach, so start small.

Who it's for

Anyone training most days, or backing one session onto another.

Why these products

Aminos to sip through a session, electrolytes for what you sweat out, and collagen as the daily one underneath both. None of them interact, so the timing is whatever fits.

• Legit Recovery EAA, during training
• Switch Hydrate, for what you sweat out
• Rule 1 collagen peptides, daily

The honest note

Sleep, food and how hard you went matter more than anything in a tub, and we'd rather say that than sell around it. The honest case for these three is that they're easy to get down when you're tired. If you're already eating enough protein, the aminos are the first thing to drop.

Who it's for

Anyone who reads the back of the pack first. If the ingredient list is the thing that decides it for you, this is the shelf.

Why these products

The same three jobs as any starter set, chosen on what's in them rather than what's on the front. Natural Body Nutrition is Mel's own clean-label line, the creatine is unflavoured monohydrate and nothing else, and the greens are sweetened with stevia rather than sucralose.

• No artificial sweeteners in any of the three
• Creatine that's one ingredient
• Mel's own line, made to a clean label

The honest note

Clean is about the ingredient list, not about the product working better. An artificially sweetened protein does the same job for your daily total, and it's usually cheaper. This is for people who'd rather not, which is a fair reason on its own.

Who it's for

Anyone who reads an ingredients list before they buy, and would rather start with two things than six.

Why these products

Two essentials. No fillers, no fluff. Clean protein and pure creatine, packed by the store team. Everything in here has a reason.

• NBN natural whey isolate: two ingredients, the whey and acacia gum
• Clean Form creatine monohydrate, 3 to 5 g daily
• Two products, and no sweetener in either

The honest note

Unflavoured is the trade here. The isolate tastes of whatever you mix it into and the creatine tastes of nothing, which suits some people and really doesn't suit others. NBN do a vanilla and a chocolate if you'd rather have one, and it's the same isolate underneath.

Who it's for

Anyone skipping dairy, whether that's a choice or because whey doesn't sit well.

Why these products

The same jobs as our beginner pair, without the milk, and something to drink through training. Plant protein covers your daily target, creatine improves your training, and the aminos go down while you're in the session. All three from Macro Mike, who make nothing else. Creatine monohydrate isn't animal derived, so it fits a vegan diet without qualification.

• Plant protein for your daily total
• Creatine, 3 to 5 g daily
• One plant based brand, no dairy in any of it

The honest note

Plant proteins vary more than whey does, so blends generally do better than single sources. The protein and the aminos are both almond and legume based, so it's not the bundle for you if nuts are a problem. And if it's dairy you're avoiding rather than lactose, worth knowing a whey isolate carries far less lactose than a concentrate. Ask Mel and she'll talk you through the difference.