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.
While the huge advancements we have made in nutrition and sports science are a great advantage for our generation to have on our side in our quest to build better bodies, the sad fact of the matter is most people find this to be a disadvantage. They find this because it presents them with a situation where there is simply too much information.
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.
It doesn't have to be like that. In fact, it's not supposed to be like that.
It is very easy to see why so many gym users get lost in the world of bodybuilding supplements. It's a billion dollar business, so you are going to find that competition for your money is very strong indeed. This often results in companies trying to out-do each other with bold statements on why you need their product to get a good gym session.
The first thing you will notice when you begin to learn what to look for in a product is that things are not as complicated as they seem. There are a few basic rules with each product to look for.
* Whey Protein
* Creatine is a very good product for size and strength
* Casein Protein
* Carbohydrates
* BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) are the building blocks of hypertrophy
* Glutamine can return enviable results in muscular recovery
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.
Whey protein is easily the most popular health product on the market nowadays. Despite this, many people falsely believe that you should only use it if you intend to get bigger. This often puts many people, particularly women, off the product entirely and it is simply not true. Whey is a great way to pack in more protein to your daily diet and it's such a popular product due to the speed at which your body can digest it. There are three main categories of whey, they are hydrolized, isolate and concentrate. Hydolized is the quickest digesting form and therefore tends to cost the most money. Isolate is second and concentrate is third.
However, the massive difference in prices between these three formulas doesn't reflect the fact that there isn't too much difference in terms of the quality of the protein itself. While a hydrolized product would return optimal results, you will certainly still be able to achieve success using either of the other blends if money is tight.
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.
There are tons of different formulas available with this particular product. However, this is one supplement where it isn't difficult to discover which one you should use. Most of the newer forms are surviving purely on hype and word of mouth alone, with few scientific studies to show their true effectiveness. Believe it or not, creatine monohydrate is the blend which has by far the most proof to back it up, despite it being the oldest and cheapest form.
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.
If you have ever tried losing fat you will probably have encountered the myth that carbohydrates are the enemy. Of course, this is nonsense and carb avoidance has been shown to result in short-term losses but long-term weight gain.
Complex, slow-release carbohydrates are your main sources of energy but in the 45 minute window which follows any gym workout you should look to find the opposite. Remember, during this time your body wants nutrition it can use immediately. So eating some oats which take hours to digest isn't going to cut it for you. Quick-release sources of carbohydrates, such as dextrose and maltodextrin, are very useful during this short period of time.
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.
Learning how to build muscle can become an experience which is thoroughly enjoyable if you are able to see past the huge amount of nonsense and sales pitches which populate many of the products you will see on store shelves. Rather than having to use an expensive trial and error approach, you now have the knowledge to determine which supplements to take to achieve a leaner, muscular body this year.
While the huge advancements we have made in nutrition and sports science are a great advantage for our generation to have on our side in our quest to build better bodies, the sad fact of the matter is most people find this to be a disadvantage. They find this because it presents them with a situation where there is simply too much information.
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.
It doesn't have to be like that. In fact, it's not supposed to be like that.
It is very easy to see why so many gym users get lost in the world of bodybuilding supplements. It's a billion dollar business, so you are going to find that competition for your money is very strong indeed. This often results in companies trying to out-do each other with bold statements on why you need their product to get a good gym session.
The first thing you will notice when you begin to learn what to look for in a product is that things are not as complicated as they seem. There are a few basic rules with each product to look for.
* Whey Protein
* Creatine is a very good product for size and strength
* Casein Protein
* Carbohydrates
* BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) are the building blocks of hypertrophy
* Glutamine can return enviable results in muscular recovery
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.
Whey protein is easily the most popular health product on the market nowadays. Despite this, many people falsely believe that you should only use it if you intend to get bigger. This often puts many people, particularly women, off the product entirely and it is simply not true. Whey is a great way to pack in more protein to your daily diet and it's such a popular product due to the speed at which your body can digest it. There are three main categories of whey, they are hydrolized, isolate and concentrate. Hydolized is the quickest digesting form and therefore tends to cost the most money. Isolate is second and concentrate is third.
However, the massive difference in prices between these three formulas doesn't reflect the fact that there isn't too much difference in terms of the quality of the protein itself. While a hydrolized product would return optimal results, you will certainly still be able to achieve success using either of the other blends if money is tight.
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.
There are tons of different formulas available with this particular product. However, this is one supplement where it isn't difficult to discover which one you should use. Most of the newer forms are surviving purely on hype and word of mouth alone, with few scientific studies to show their true effectiveness. Believe it or not, creatine monohydrate is the blend which has by far the most proof to back it up, despite it being the oldest and cheapest form.
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.
If you have ever tried losing fat you will probably have encountered the myth that carbohydrates are the enemy. Of course, this is nonsense and carb avoidance has been shown to result in short-term losses but long-term weight gain.
Complex, slow-release carbohydrates are your main sources of energy but in the 45 minute window which follows any gym workout you should look to find the opposite. Remember, during this time your body wants nutrition it can use immediately. So eating some oats which take hours to digest isn't going to cut it for you. Quick-release sources of carbohydrates, such as dextrose and maltodextrin, are very useful during this short period of time.
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.
Learning how to build muscle can become an experience which is thoroughly enjoyable if you are able to see past the huge amount of nonsense and sales pitches which populate many of the products you will see on store shelves. Rather than having to use an expensive trial and error approach, you now have the knowledge to determine which supplements to take to achieve a leaner, muscular body this year.
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Next: Discover which supplements to take to build a leaner frame with the UK's most watched fitness instructor, Russ Howe PTI. Learning how to build muscle doesn't need to be hard, as you have seen today.