Monday, January 14, 2013

Which Supplements To Take To Build Muscle

By Russ Howe


Nowadays, it would be impossible to teach somebody how to build muscle more effectively without touching upon the subject of supplements. Learning how to decipher which supplements to take to suit your goals can be a valuable asset in helping you to achieve your fitness goals.

In the fitness industry, your worst enemy isn't something physical. It's information. With all of the various products being released and studies being performed each day, it is hard to find a piece of information which isn't contradicted elsewhere. This leads many people into the bizarre situation of having more information available to them than any previous generation, yet being unable to achieve their fitness goals because they simply don't know who to believe or where to get started.

Rather than being stuck back in the old days where the science behind fitness and nutrition was still fairly basic and more difficult to come by, they now find themselves in the opposite situation. They can't move without being told that they need to purchase a particular product or buy a workout program which will deliver better results than any others. This often leads to people simply quitting to avoid all the confusion which comes with getting fit.

The bottom line is that fitness is not rocket science.

One of the main reasons that people get lost in the world of supplements is that it's designed to get you lost. It's a billion dollar business each year, with a lot of that money being made at the expense of people picking up products they aren't sure if they really need. Plus, with so many companies competing against each other you tend to get tons of hype on every new item which is released.

However, once you get past all that hype and learn the most important products to use you will begin to realize that bodybuilding supplements are not very difficult to master. That's what we'll be teaching you here today.


Discover which supplements to take with today\'s simple video rules.



* A tub of whey protein

* Creatine is a very good product for size and strength

* Casein Protein

* Quick-release carbohydrates

* BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) are the building blocks of hypertrophy

* Glutamine

The 6 items listed above are a great place to start if you were previously unsure which products would work best for your goals. If you are trying to become leaner and more muscular these are the foundation from which to base your supplement plan. Here is a guide of what each of them actually does.

Most people today have had a brief look into whey protein shakes and what they are designed to do. However, quite a lot of people are falsely advised that whey is designed to help you gain weight. This isn't true, it can be and should used by those looking to get leaner, too. Of the three main types of whey available, hydrolized formulas will hit your muscles faster and this is why they tend to cost more. Isolate and concentrate are slightly slower.

Each type is highly effective and the difference between the digestion speeds doesn't warrant the often huge differences in price, so although you would get better results with a hydrolized product you don't need to go down that route if you cannot afford to.

Creatine first hit the market twenty years ago during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It was primarily used by sprinters as it helps you to increase your ability to perform short bursts of explosive activity. It's a perfectly safe and natural substance which is actually produced by the human body, too. It made the transition into bodybuilding due to the fact that it helps you to increase your short-term explosive strength, meaning it can lead to more reps in the gym.

With countless different formulas and blends of creatine, it seems every trainer and gym user has a different opinion on which one you should use. However, if you want to base your decision on scientific evidence then you won't have too much difficulty finding the solution. Creatine monohydate is light years ahead of any other formula on the market, despite being the oldest and most easily available of all.

Until recently, the theories behind why casein products are important seemed to stack up but there was no actual research to prove it. That all changed in late 2012 when studies revealed it did indeed do the job it claimed to do. While whey is designed to hit your starving post-workout muscles as quickly as possible, casein does the opposite. This means it is great for consumption before you go to sleep.

Studies recently reveals that individuals who combined they regular whey product with casein were able to experience greater hypertrophy, due to the ability of casein to keep protein synthesis going overnight.

Immediately following a workout your body desires nutrition. While your protein can be covered with some quick digesting whey, carbohydrates can also be useful during this period. Don't buy into the nonsense philosophies that carbohydrates should be avoided at all costs, because these approaches have been proven to lead to long-term fat gain.

While the majority of your daily carb intake should arrive from complex sources, the post-workout period is very important and you should look to hit your body with some fast absorbing carbs here. While not strictly a supplement, carbohydrates can be easily obtained from food and there is no need to buy a pill or powder to perform this task.

BCAA supplements are growing in reputation as one of the key choices for size and strength. There are over 20 amino acids, some essential and others non-essential. While you will get a good spread of these from any whey protein product, you can enhance your results even further by supplementing it with an all-out BCAA product as well.

There are three major benefits to the final product on today's list, which is glutamine. This is designed to help your body to release more natural growth hormone, enhance your body's immune system and help your muscles to recover faster from workouts. Combine those three facts and you have a product which is designed to help you hit the gym at maximum ability more often than you could without it.

If you are trying to figure out how to build muscle, one to the toughest areas is nutrition. A lot of gym users struggle on for years without truly knowing which supplements to take to help them reach their goals. This can be an expensive mistake to make, so be sure to take your time and learn the information in today's post before you write down your preferred stack.




About the Author:



No comments: