The Best Supplements for Muscle Gain and Strength – Which ones Do You Really Need ?
With the “off” season coming up, its time to build as much muscle as possible. The contest prep season is upon us and your goals will soon switch from building muscle to maintaining muscle during cutting.
Not that you can’t build muscle while cutting though. Choosing the best supplements for muscle gain helps you get the gains you want!
Although this article is intended to point out the best supplements for building mass. We can’t proceed without a little visit from Captain Obvious. Building muscle requires the right quantities of whole-food nutrition.
Eaten regularly throughout the day. A minimum of one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Plenty of complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.
The muscle growth machinery needs to be switched on every three hours with a meal or best supplements for muscle gain. Adequate carbohydrate and fat will optimize the hormonal milieu with proper rest and recovery.
Get your blood work, optimize your hormones and train smart.
With that being said, it is time to get to the topic at hand: supplements. When it comes to supplements for building muscle, we need to find combinations that work together.
Why stack supplements that are counterproductive? Who takes a fat burner when you are trying to gain weight? Why take two supplements that do the same thing?
We also need to use high quality supplements that actually work! Even if you choose a supplement that has a great science behind it, if you choose a brand of ill repute, you may end up with an under-dosed or toxic supplement. Choose wisely and consider the following supplements to maximize growth.
WHEY PROTEIN
Whey protein is the branched chain amino acid rich milk protein that is easily digested and rapidly absorbed. As we have discussed in previous articles, whey is particularly endowed with the amino acid leucine.
Leucine is a very special branched chain amino acid. Thought to be the key that turns on muscle protein synthesis through the switch called mTOR. As you will soon learn, there are many ways to turn on mTOR, a critical step in building muscle.
Gram for gram, because of its high leucine concentration, whey is more adept at building muscle than soy, casein or wheat protein.
It’s thought that most bodybuilders will optimize muscle protein synthesis with approximately three to four grams of leucine per meal. That would suggest that consuming 30 to 40 grams of whey protein will help build mass.
Combining whey protein with an equal amount of carbohydrate in post workout meal turns on mTOR through leucine and a concomitant boost in insulin. “Whey is the way” to build muscle.
LEGAL STEROID ALTERNATIVES for Faster Muscle Growth
If you are seeking something more advanced, there are options. Anabolic supplements are the perfect solution for the hardgainer, or the advanced weightlifter stuck at a plateau.
Diandrobol is a safe and legal dianabol alternative. It is far superior to any tradional supplements for muscle gain. This anabolic agent will aid the user in improving muscle mass and strength without any negative side effects.
The primary action of Diandrobol involves growth factors, peptides and IGF-1. If you do your research you’ll discover it is most often used for bulking and strength.
Muscle Labs USA is famous for its natural steroids and best supplements for muscle gain that aid weight lifters and body builders achieve their goals without causing any hormonal side effects or damage their internal body.
Diandrobol copies a steroid, but with none of the bad side effects. It is a powerful legal anabolic that helps gain lean muscle, increase the speed of muscle recovery and an increase in strength.
Diandrobol not only helps with gains, but increases the protein synthesis in the body. Most users report gains of 15-20 pounds of lean muscle within the first cycle. This supplement is great for both cutting and bulking.
Some of the highlighted points include the following:
-Gains of up to 20 pounds of muscle with in 30 days
-Increase in stamina
-Increase in strength
-Speeds up recovery
-Delays fatigue
-Taken orally
-Not toxic to kidney or liver
-No known negative side effects
-Excellent user reviews
Diandrobol, a safe alternative to steroids and will help you get the body you want. Each bottle contains 100 capsules that can be taken up to 3 times daily. Each cycle will last you 30 days.
This product is essential for anyone who wants to improve upon their physique and improve on their strength.
PHOSPHATIDIC ACID
Phosphatidic acid (PA) is a component of your cell membranes. Mechanical contraction of muscle is thought to stimulate enzymes that cleave PA from phosphatidylcholine in muscle cell membranes.
Increasing its levels in the cell. PA is then able to turn on mTOR through a domain that is separate from growth factors like IGF-1 or the amino acid leucine.
Therefore, it has been suggested that PA may act synergistially with leucine in boosting muscle growth.
CREATINE
Leucine and creatine are so powerful at building and maintaining muscle that a recent study explored their effects on muscle cells in culture.
Scientists showed that these compounds can prevent the actions of the muscle growth inhibitor that we all know very well. Myostatin.
Previous studies have also shown that creatine reduces myostatin levels and even boost the conversion of testosterone to DHT.
The elevation of DHT was almost 60 percent with the 25 gram per day loading phase at one week. Staying 40 percent elevated for an other seven days at a maintenance dose of 5 grams per day.
Creatine is clearly a strong performance enhancing supplement. One of the most researched of all sports nutrition products. There are many versions of creatine.
Creatine monohydrate (CM) appears to be the most consistent and effective. CM is most often loaded at five grams, four times per day for seven days. Then maintained at five grams per day.
Contrary to broscience, one does not need to take a “creatine holiday” unless of course you get explosive bowl habits. In that case, your significant other may force your to take a break.
BETA-ALANINE
Intense training builds muscle. Therefore, there are a lot of supplements out there to help improve your ability to push muscle to new limits.
Beta-alanine is a supplement that helps you train harder in the gym. Especially in combination with creatine. Beta-alanine supplementation is a more efficient way to build up muscle carnosine levels than by supplementing with carnosine itself.
Carnosine buffers acid in muscle, improving contractile force and limiting fatigue.
Moderate to high quality evidence suggests beta-alanine supplementation increases total work done, power output, physical working capacity and fatigue threshold. Suggested that 1.2 grams of beta-alanine per day was optimal for maintaining up to 50 percent more muscle carnosine over baseline.
CITRULLINE/ARGININE
Citrulline, produced in the gastrointestinal tract from glutamine or from the release of nitric oxide (NO) from arginine.
When citrulline absorbed, it clears ammonium and lactate from the blood via conversion to arginine in the kidneys.
In this way, citrulline actually augments arginine levels in the blood. Presumably, this augments your ability to produce NO.
The malate in “citrulline malate” supplements is also an energy intermediate that may augment ATP energy production.
Studies have shown that citrulline malate can increase the amount of work performed during strength training. Mitigate delayed onset muscle soreness as well.
In a study of experienced weightlifters, eight grams of citrulline malate given 60 minutes prior to training led to significant improvement in the number of repetitions performed on the hack squat, leg press and leg extensions to failure.
Citrulline malate a the same dose also improved upper body performance and recovery in another study. Don’t forget, your green leafy veggies and beetroots are your best sources of dietary nitrates for NO production!
MELATONIN
Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the circadian rhythm to elicit sleep physiology. Supplementation with melatonin has the ability to improve deep sleep onset.
It is during this deep sleep that your body undergoes reparative processes to recover from your training, in addition to releasing growth hormone.
In addition to many other antioxidant and metabolic effects, melatonin, when given in the evening, may be beneficial to the muscle building bodybuilder. Don’t neglect your sleep for optimal recovery from your training to build muscle.
VITAMIN D
Vitamin D, a hormone made from cholesterol, just as testosterone. Also, Vitamin D turns on nuclear receptor just like the anabolic steroids.
You must think of this “vitamin” as a vital hormone. Its function goes way beyond simply improving calcium absorption for healthy bones.
Supplementation with vitamin D3 at 1,00 to 2,000 IUs per day may improve actions of leucine and insulin in boosting muscle protein synthesis.
ANABOLIC FATS
Despite the belief that fats are bad for us, science is finally starting to accept the concept that fats are an essential macronutrient.
Limiting fats in our diets for fear of heart disease has led to a vilification of any fat that is not from fish. The fact of the matter is that fats come in all shapes and sizes with different effects on our metabolism.
Granted, trans fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils, are quite metabolically toxic and should be avoided. Fatty acids, including omega-3 fish oils, are important mediators of repari and recovery from exercise.
Don’t believe the “low fat” diet lie. Consume plenty of healthy fats from dairy, fish and grass-fed meats.
CAFFEINE
Caffeine is the quintessential component of all pre-workout supplements. Many designer stimulants have come and gone. But caffeine is here to stay.
A grande cup of Starbucks coffee, loaded with plenty of caffeine (330 mg) and antioxidants to boost your training in the gym. Studies suggest that caffeine limits perceived exertion, improves focus and helps with muscle recovery.
Pick your supplements wisely. Stick to trusted brands. More isn’t always better.
