Muscle-Building Supplements

Glutamine

Glutamine is the single-best overall product for people involved in sports and weight training. Its benefits even extend into the fat-burning and general health-enhancing categories as well. Glutamine has been around in vitamin stores forever and is probably the most underrated physique-enhancement supplement on the market today. Glutamine is an amino acid, which does many good things.

It has been shown to decrease catabolism (muscle breakdown), increase growth hormone levels, reduce body-fat deposition, and lead to better muscle recovery, growth, and protein synthesis. In fact it’s called the “anti-overtraining” supplement since it’s very effective at preserving muscle mass  when people are following a lower-calorie, fat-burning nutrition plan.

You should use one to two teaspoons of glutamine daily, and you should cycle it six weeks on and four weeks off (which means that you take it for six weeks then stop for four weeks). If you use any supplement without cycling off it for a while, your body adjusts to it. Your results diminish while your cash outlay for the product remains the same. Giving your body a bit of a rest allows it to normalize before reintroducing a supplement back into your program. You should take one teaspoon of glutamine blended in a protein shake with your post-workout meal to replenish glycogen reserves and, you will increase protein synthesis during this important muscle-mass recovery and growth period.

Creatine

Creatine is one of the most popular muscle-building supplements on the market and with good reason. It’s great for hydrating the muscles, which increases bulk, strength, and energy. Creatine occurs naturally in our skeletal systems and helps supply energy to muscle cells. We also get creatine from food, mostly meat and fish. In recent years creatine supplementation has been used not only by people looking to build muscle but also as a therapy for certain neurological and neuromuscular diseases.

Creatine is best when you’re in a building phase; it is less effective when you are trying to cut up. That’s because, in addition to hydrating the muscles, creatine also causes your body to hold some water between the skin and muscle layers, which creates a puffy, smooth look. That’s something no one wants when trying to maximize definition.

Posted in: Nutrition,Supplements