John “The Mountain Dog” Meadows’ Supplement Stack!

John Meadows still trains just as hard as he used to.

John Meadows needs no introduction — he’s one of the most well-respected guys in the fitness and supplement industry. This is demonstrated incredibly well with the superb formulas he creates with his brand, Granite Supplements (including our recent coverage of Granite Supplements Protein). However, in case you haven’t heard of him yet, let us get you familiar with what John has accomplished and overcame throughout his journey to becoming one of the biggest names in fitness.

The Story of The Mountain Dog

Even if you know of John Meadows, you’re probably wondering how he got the nickname ‘The Mountain Dog’. Well, John has always been a big fan of Bernese Mountain Dogs, and 10-15 years ago, he was on several forums helping answer people’s questions about health, fitness, training, and nutrition. After making several appearances on forums, people started to refer to John as ‘The Mountain Dog’. He loved the nickname and it has stuck with him throughout his whole career. To this day, John continues to engage and answer questions, except on newer platforms — and on a much bigger scale!

A Snapshot of John’s Career

John has been involved in bodybuilding longer than almost anyone else in the industry — he fell in love with the sport when he was just a teenager. He played several sports in school, and always loved pushing his limits. John found that the weight room was the best place for him to be in order to fuel that itch for progression, because there’s always room for improvement.

Overcoming Obstacles

John’s love for the sport of bodybuilding kept him pushing, no matter what obstacles got in his way.

However, John never had it easy growing up, he faced many trials and tribulations that would crush most people. His mother died at a very young age, and he never met his father. Therefore, John’s grandmother took care of him as long as she could.

Unfortunately, the adversities didn’t end once John got older. In 2005, he was diagnosed with a rare disease, which led to removal of part of his large intestine (colon). This was very early on into John’s bodybuilding career, and several people told him that his days of competing were over. However, John’s love for the sport kept him pushing on and he fought back.

Becoming an IFBB Pro

John came back after an extensive recovery, more driven than ever to win his pro card. After years of competing, he finally became a pro after taking first place at the NPC Universe bodybuilding competition. After becoming an IFBB Pro, The Mountain Dog continued to compete for a few more years. Now, he’s a successful entrepreneur, business owner, YouTuber, and coach. John’s story has inspired thousands of people, and he really enjoys helping others reach their own fitness and health goals, regardless of what obstacles try to stop them.

Granite Supplements

Although John lives in Ohio, he loves traveling to various gyms around the US, like Gold’s Venice in California.

John owns Granite Supplements, which is quickly becoming one of the most popular supplement companies in the industry – and for good reason. John and his team use high quality ingredients, efficacious dosages, and amazing flavors in a successful effort to formulate a product line The Mountain Dog can use himself, and be proud of while he’s at it.

Since John has years of experience and learned from some of the best bodybuilders, coaches, and physicians in the health and supplement industry, he has plenty of knowledge to share. John gives out a ton of free information on his YouTube channel, and he deserves some credit, because others would charge for that.

A few months ago, John made a video explaining his supplement stack, and even though he owns a supplement company, he openly says that he takes some other companies’ products. John has always been extremely honest and transparent, which is why so many people love what he has to say.

In this post, we’re going to breakdown what supplements John is using and explain why he’s choosing to utilize them. We also give you a sneak peek of what Granite will be releasing in 2020! But before we get to that, make sure you’re subscribed to PricePlow to stay up to date with the latest deals, news, and supplement reviews.

To see John explain his stack, watch the video down below! He also has several other videos on nutrition and training!

John Meadows’ Supplement Stack

A complete muscle building stack for optimal performance!

As we mentioned, John uses several supplements made by his own company, however there are a few that are made by other companies which he takes as well. However, John knows how important proper training, nutrition, and sleep protocols are to reaching your health and fitness goals, so those should be perfected first before buying random supplements. John always trains hard, sleeps at least 6-8 hours a night, and has a solid diet, thus these supplements help him get an extra edge.

Consider the season

Most of the supplements in this list he takes year round, but he does say it will change depending on what season it is. A prime example is Vitamin D3, John lives in Ohio where there’s little to no sun for several months. Therefore, during those times he makes sure to supplement. However, during the summer he may back off taking it, since he tries to get plenty of sun exposure. John typically adds in a few more supplements closer to spring/summer that help aid fat loss, because he likes being a little leaner during that time.

Now on to the stack:

• Protein Powder – Granite Supplements

  Granite Supplements Protein Powder took months to formulate because John wanted to make sure the flavors and blend were perfect. He doesn’t digest protein powders very well, so he even made sure to include some digestive enzymes to help with absorption. John uses this product year round to make sure he hits his daily protein intake.

  The blend consists of 80% whey protein from both concentrate and isolate, 10% micellar casein, 5% beef protein isolate, and 5% egg white protein. It’s an incredible product with excellent macros and taste. Granite protein launched in three flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, and John’s favorite, Salted Caramel. We have a feeling more flavors are on the way! For more information, check out our Granite Supplements Protein blog post!

• Recovery – Granite Supplements

  

  John’s favorite flavor of Granite’s new protein powder is Salted Caramel!

  John uses Recovery from Granite year round as well — it’s a staple product for intra-workout. The key ingredients in this product include: essential amino acids (EAAs), electrolytes, carbohydrates in the form of Cluster Dextrin (carbs), and ashwagandha (Sensoril). This is a great combination of ingredients to kick start recovery, and fuel hard training sessions.

• Joint Care – Granite Supplements

  John wants to do the most he can to make sure his joints are taken care of, one of the ways he does that is by including beef protein isolate in Granite Protein. It’s high in certain amino acids like proline and glycine that are great for joint health. He also uses Granite Supplements Joint Care, which is a multi-faceted joint care formula that features, undenatured collagen as UCII, curcumin as C3 Complex, and Bioperine. Another solid supplement that ensures you can perform at your best.

• Fish Oil – Brand Varies

  Fish oil is a great source of omega-3s and rich in both docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Many people fail to hit their daily recommended intake of omega-3 fatty acids, therefore taking fish oil is recommended for most people. Fish oil has several benefits, including supporting heart health, eye health, and reducing inflammation.

  John varies what brand of fish oil he takes. However, he does prefer to refrigerate it and get a darker colored bottle, to prevent the fish oil from becoming rancid.

• Baby Aspirin – Generic

  This is not technically a supplement, but John takes baby aspirin in order to improve blood flow and prevent blood clots.

• Taurine – Brand Varies

  

  Taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids that helps draw water and nutrients into muscles that helps with endurance but also doubles as a focus booster.

  John recently started taking Taurine because of all the proposed benefits it can provide. Taurine an organic acid that acts as an intermediate in procedures throughout the body. Taurine is involved in several processes like bile formation, osmoregulation, and calcium signaling. A study done in 2018 even showed taurine supplementation can boost endurance in its first use!^[1]

  Therefore, John wanted to give it a shot to see how it can positively affect his health and performance in the gym.

• Vitamin D3, K2, and Sea Iodine

  Both Vitamin D and K are fat soluble vitamins that play several roles in the body, and help support bone health. Iodine is a crucial mineral for proper thyroid function because it’s required to synthesize thyroid hormones. This supplement is very well rounded since it includes three key nutrients that can be difficult to get adequate amounts from diet alone.

  Also, since John lives in Ohio, getting enough Vitamin D from the sun is nearly impossible, thus supplementing is crucial.

  A lot of people would see health and performance benefits from supplementing with Vitamin D, K, and Iodine. John uses Life Extension’s Vitamins D and K with Sea-Iodine.

• Morphocalm – Morphogen Nutrition

  John knows excessive stress can quickly halt progress and lead to negative consequences. Not only does he try to manage stress the best he can, John also he looks for ingredients and products that help lower stress.

  Although there are several supplements that claim to help manage stress, John is really good friends with the owner of Morphogen, and trusts that they make really solid products, thus he chooses to take Morphocalm.

  Some key ingredients included in Morphocalm include: Phosphatidylserine, KSM-66 Ashwagandha, Diindoylymethane, L-Theanine, Calcium D-Glucarate, and Kanna.

• Tudca – Morphogen Nutrition

  Another product John takes for liver support is Tudca from Morphogen Nutrition is Tudca. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (Tudca) is a water soluble bile acid that assists in liver function. Morphogen’s Tudca also contains Bioperine and Astragin for increased bioavailability and absorption. John’s never had any liver problems, but it’s important to ensure your organs stay healthy for optimal performance.

• Pre Workout: PRE-MIUM – Granite Supplements

  

  A PRE-MIUM pre workout formulated for elite athletes.

  John typically cycles his pre workouts, meaning he will take them for a month and then be off them for the next month. This just helps his body get resensitized to the ingredients, and avoid building any kind of tolerance.

  However, when he does take pre workout, his top choice is Granite Supplements PRE-MIUM. This is an all-in-one pre workout that’s formulated to increase power, energy, focus, and pump. Some key ingredients include: theacrine, creatine, beta-alanine, betaine, L-citrulline, lion’s mane, and N-Acetyl-Tyrosine. Great dosages with premium ingredients are exactly what you can expect from Granite.

  There’s all the supplements John is taking for health and performance. As we mentioned some products he takes year round, while others he swaps out. Now lets see what Granite has in store for this year!

What To Expect From Granite Supplements in 2020

At the very beginning of 2020, Granite released their highly anticipated protein powder in three flavors, which are all phenomenal. It’s doing so well that Granite’s already working on formulating another flavor that’s expected to be released this year.

If you’ve seen the protein, it has different packaging than any of their other products. That’s because Granite announced that they are switching over to eco-friendly packaging for the whole supplement line. So expect to see all Granite’s products get an updated look! John also announced that they are working on a non-stim pump product that he’s really excited about.

They’re tweaking the formula of their existing pre workout, and it’s getting an additional new flavor. Granite’s Essential Aminos formula is getting revamped to include larger amounts EAAs per serving, but at a lower price! Lastly, Granite is testing out some functional foods that will hopefully be released in the future!

Final Thoughts: Granite is Just Getting Started!

Granite is always looking for ways to improve! The new environmentally-friendly packaging is just one way they can give back.

Granite Supplements has always made very solid supplements, but 2020 is going to be an incredible year for them. John is more excited than ever to start launching new products, flavors, and revamping old formulas. It all started with the protein powder, but now they’re ready to take off. John knows they are in the best position possible to really make some progress this year and reach more people. PricePlow is very excited to be apart of their journey!

As you can see Granite is going to be incredibly busy with everything they have planned. That’s why PricePlow is here to make sure you don’t miss a beat. We will be covering all the new products, flavors, and formulas, so stay tuned!

John Discusses 2019

Last but not least, see some of the other trials and tribulations (the business kind) that John went through in this interview with Mike in the fall of 2019: