Muscle Building Supplements: Buying Guide

Muscle Building Supplement Advice

Building muscle is not just about working out, neither its only about using muscle building supplements. You have to balance it out, and there’s a right way – a scientifically proven way – to build mass muscle.

Here are some tips:

1. Get enough protein, through food and muscle building supplements. Also, the protein has to be high quality protein. Without the adequate amount of protein, your muscles will not grow, you will even lose muscle (if you don’t have enough proteins). You need 1.75 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight, each and every day (some people consume up to 1 gram per kilogram).
2. You must constantly feed your muscles. Muscles are always busy – even when you are at rest. They are constantly doing one of two things: they are either building up, or breaking down. If they aren’t fed, they are breaking down, and the only way that they build is by outpacing the breakdown process with the build up process. This requires the constant presence of protein. This is why bodybuilders typically eat six meals a day.
3. Make sure that Your Protein is doing the right thing. If you consume nothing but protein, which is a mistake that some bodybuilders make, you will find that you aren’t growing muscle. Instead, the protein is used for other body functions, such as turning into blood sugar for energy. It’s important to eat a well balanced diet, even though you will be taking in more protein than what the ‘normal’ diet consists of. The best way to do this is to include low-glycemic carbs with your protein. This way, the carbs can be used as fuel, and the protein can be used to build muscle.
4. Your muscles are 70% water, and water is essential to their growth. Water is used to move the proteins through the muscles. You can do everything else right, but if you aren’t getting enough water, your muscles simply won’t grow. The rule is to drink one ounce of water for every gram of protein that you eat.
5. Eat immediately after your workouts. Eat a meal that is high in protein, with low-Glycemic carbs as well. This meal should be eaten within one hour of finishing your workout. After that time, you lose your window of opportunity to help your muscles grow even more. Not only does this help your muscles to grow bigger, faster, it also helps them to heal faster.

   There is a great deal more to learn about muscle building supplements, but this is a start, and it will get you headed in the right direction to help you reach your bodybuilding goals. Remember that bodybuilding is more than working out, and it is more than using muscle building supplements. It is a combination of many things, and leaving just one element out can severely hinder your bodybuilding efforts.

More on Gaining Muscles

Fortunately, not everybody wants a stick-thin figure such as that of many popular celebrities. Not chooses the anorexic look. In fact, a significant number of people (bless them) want muscles, muscles and more hard lean muscles.

However, gaining muscles is not as easy as it seems. It can be a dilemma for some people because for most, there is a thin line between gaining muscles and gaining much dreaded fat. There are people who firmly believe that gorging on several pounds of cheese steaks every week is a surefire way of gaining muscles. Their way of gaining muscles, unfortunately, includes gaining fat.

Gaining muscles only require three things: a proper muscle-building workout, a recommended diet and great discipline. In addition, one could choose from the variety of supplements approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) which aids in building muscle mass.

Here’s a video that gives an overview of the various Muscle Building Supplements:

The following are the kinds of supplements approved by the DFA and are generally safe and effective.

– Increasing the intake of calories is one of the most common approaches to gaining muscles. Athletes and bodybuilders do this by consuming extra food or weight gain powders. However, research show that consuming 500-1,000 calories more than the recommended daily amount will only gain 30- 50 per cent weight and muscle mass. Majority of the extra calorie intake will only gain fat. Although it has no side effects, consuming weight gain powders is generally not recommended.

– HMB is a metabolite of leucine, an amino acid. This kind of amino acid and its metabolites can slow down the degradation of protein. Studies indicate that adding HMB to the diet increases and strengthens muscle mass among the elderly people and those who are just starting their training. Regular intake of HMB, coupled with regular exercise will likely gain anywhere from 0.5 to 1 kilogram of additional muscle mass in 3 to 6 weeks only. Additional research is needed however if the same effect can be achieved among athletes who have already undergone intense training for a long time.

– Numerous studies show that creatine is the most effective supplement available on the market to build up muscles during exercise or training. This is because the consumption of creatine improves the person’s ability or capacity to undergo high intensity workouts. Consumption of creatine also enables a person to train harder, leading to muscle hypertrophy. In addition, consumption of creatine also leads to weight gain. So far, studies report no long-term side effects.

– People undergoing intense activities need to increase their protein intake to prevent slowing their training adaptations and recovery. Protein supplements are an effective and convenient way of guaranteeing sufficient quality protein in the body. However, bear in mind that increased protein intake does not necessarily lead to muscle mass development.

In addition to these popular muscle-building supplements, there are a variety of other supplements available on the market. These supplements are possibly effective and more studies are being done to prove their worth.An example would be the Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) which has been reported to decrease the degradation of proteins in the body thereby leading to muscle gain sans the fat.

Another would be Glutamine that is the most abundant non-essential amino acid. Glutamine has been reported to increase the hydration of cells and the synthesis of proteins during training. Essential Amino Acids (EAA) is also reported to stimulate the synthesis of proteins.

Other supplements are still being researched for possible effectiveness in muscle gain. These supplements include Ecdysterones, Growth Hormone Releasing Peptides, isoflavones, Sulfo-Polysaccharides, Smilax Officinalis and Magnesium Aspartate.

Make sure to be extra careful in choosing your muscle-building supplements. There are numerous supplements on the market. And a significant number are not only ineffective, but also unsafe. Carelessness could lead to grave results.

Buy from reliable sources only and read the labels. Always check if these supplements are safe by checking if they are approved by the DFA. In addition, consult an exercise physiologist or sports nutritionist to ensure if these supplements are what you need and will not lead to contraindications.

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