After 18 years of running Supplement Giant stores across Colorado and Kansas, I can tell you that the most important supplements to be taking are actually some of the oldest.
A lot of people walk through the door and ask "what should I add?" The question I usually reply with is "what are you already taking?"
People are always looking for the latest supplement to give them an edge. A new pre-workout. Something brand new to help them defy the laws of physics.
But the best supplements are some of the oldest.
Protein. You can't build or preserve muscle without enough protein. Most people aren't even close. (I always recommend 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight). Protein powder is an easy way to fill that gap without adding much in the way of calories.
Creatine. The most researched performance supplement in existence. More peer-reviewed studies than almost anything on my shelves. Creatine helps your muscles produce energy more efficiently, so you can train harder and recover better. It works, and most importantly it is very safe.
Pre-workout. Some people will disagree with me here, but training quality matters. If you're dragging through every lift, you're leaving results on the table.
That's the foundation. That's the base of your pyramid. A lot of people want to skip it and jump straight to something more advanced or more marketed products from their favorite influencer.
You don't build a pyramid from the top down.
What Comes After
There are boatloads of other supplements worth taking. Omega-3s, magnesium, carbs, aminos, intra-workouts, the list goes on. But they're not where to start. They're what you add once the foundation is in place.
The pattern I've seen repeat itself for 18 years: people jump from product to product looking for something to move the needle, never realizing the needle moves because that foundation isn't in place.
Most people don't need MORE supplements. They just need to get consistent.
That's not a popular thing to say in a supplement store, but I'll say it anyway because it's what works. When people get results, they come back.