When it comes to building muscle, people often get lost when it comes to what supplements they should use. Although there is a million options out there these five categories and product examples will keep you on the right track to reaching your muscle mass goals.
Creatine is an absolute essential in any stack. It serves many benefits when it comes to training, recovery, and muscle gain.
Creatine is naturally occurring in the body and used to replenish ATP stores. Unfortunately however, it does not often produce enough for gruelling workouts we put our body through. By supplementing with a creatine source we increase muscle saturation and are then able to have a greater energy output. As a result, you can move more weight, resulting in more damage to muscle fibres, which in turn, will lead to more muscle growth provided dietary requirements are met.
Creatine also increase intracellular water content, or, "more water stored in the muscles". This means recovery is enhanced, and performance in the gym is also enhanced as the muscle is kept much more hydrated.
Pre workout supplements are often associated solely with an energy boost and some tingles, however there is far more to it than that. The best way to describe a pre workout is based on the ingredients utilised, as they are ultimately "priming" the muscle for growth. Now energy is a big factor so which pre workout is best for you is dependant on your tolerance to stimulants. This being said, a pre workout containing ingredients such as:
- Beta Alanine
- Agmatine
- L-Citrulline
- Electrolytes
- & a stimulant blend is optimal as these ingredients improve endurance, blood flow, hydration, energy and mental focus. .
An amino acid blend is a perfect for someone looking to build lean muscle mass. This is because amino acids prevent muscle breakdown and you will also be setting up the recovery phase before the workout is done. There are an abundance of intra workout options; If you find you can gain weight steadily through diet, however if you find you cant gain weight quite as easily an amino acid blend containing carbohydrates is a much better alternative. The perfect example for a carbohydrate amino acid blend is Scitec Nutrition's Intra Edge.
When it comes to building lean muscle mass, post workout nutrition is an absolute necessity. While exercising you deplete your body of glucose and as a result will also start to utilise glycogen as an energy source. By consuming a carbohydrate and protein shake after exercise, you ensure the body replenishes depleted glycogen stores as well as deliver nutrients such as protein and creatine to the muscle cells as efficiently as possible. One of the best post workouts for this is Anabolic Armour by Anabol Nutrition, containing 35g of both Carbohydrates and Protein, you provide the body with the perfect amount of macro nutrients to kick start the recovery process whilst also minimizing the likelihood of fat storage.
This last product is extremely over looked on the market simply because there are very few companies which have a product like this. MyoPep by EST Sports is a unique and intricately formulated product, designed to increase the absorption of protein. Pharma grade peptide & serum is utilised to spike protein synthesis resulting in the body maximising protein intake, and this can be added to any food or shake, for eg. yogurt, oats or a protein shake.
