Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Which Supplements To Take To Build Muscle

By Russ Howe


At one stage or another, most gym users want to learn how to build muscle more effectively. One of the areas people tend to get a little lost is supplements. Today we will be teaching you which supplements to take if your goal is to build a more muscular physique.

Despite all of the forward strides we have made in nutrition and science over the years, it is perhaps foolish to assume that people have all of the information they need to build whatever body they want. This is because there's a case of information overload in the fitness industry which tends to hold most people back.

One of the most common reasons people quit on themselves when they are trying to lose weight or build a more muscular physique is contradicting information. You've probably known somebody in your life who tends to turn something like fitness into rocket science, over complicating it to a point where you don't know where to even begin. The wealth of information we have at our fingertips in today's society is meant to be an advantage, but it often becomes a disadvantage to many people.

It doesn't have to be like that. In fact, it's not supposed to be like that.

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.

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


* A tub of whey protein

* Creatine

* Like whey, casein protein also has it's uses

* Quick-release carbohydrates

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

* Glutamine

We will now take a moment to run you through what you should expect from each item on today's list so you know why they made the cut. Despite the many products out there which survive purely on hype and word of mouth advertising, the items recommended today have a good base of scientific evidence to back them up. Here's a guide to each one.

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.

The facts on creatine are needlessly murky. This product has been around for 20 years and it's effectiveness is proven. It is designed to increase your explosive strength, which can lead to greater muscle gain if you are training regularly and watching your diet. Creatine was first used by sprinters looking to improve their times over short distances, then adopted by bodybuilders looking to push out a few more repetitions in their workouts.

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 revealed that using casein prior to sleep kept the body's muscle building process activated for far longer and resulted in superior gains in lean tissue to those using whey alone.

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.

Branched chain amino acids are a very underrated product in gyms around the world. While most people are desperately trying to pack on some lean muscle, the majority of them have never heard of this type of product despite it's proven hypertrophy results. You will get a good dosage of these in your whey protein product anyway, but if you can afford to add in a specific BCAA product as well you will notice greatly enhanced gains.

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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