You train hard and eat right, but sometimes you need a little extra boost to help you get the results you desire. Whatever your goals, these are the five must-have muscle-building supplements to aid in fat loss and help sculpt the look you’ve always wanted.
Creatine
What is it? Creatine’s main function is to supply muscles with fast energy, which will allow you to train longer and harder once your natural stores of creatine diminish. Produced naturally by your liver, kidneys, and pancreas, creatine also can be found in most animal proteins such as meat, fish, and poultry. It also holds water within the muscle not under the skin, keeping your muscle bellies full while increasing their size. Supplementing with creatine helps you train harder and longer.
How to take it: You don’t need to “load” creatine, meaning you don’t need to take large doses for several days to “saturate” the muscles, which can cause bloating and an upset stomach. Instead, a daily dose of 2.5 to 5 grams either preworkout or postworkout is adequate. If your liver and kidneys are healthy, creatine use will not cause damage to those organs. You also don’t need fancy expensive creatine either. A simple monohydrate will work perfectly. There is also new topical creatine that you can use along with your monohydrate in order to get more energy and strength from your workouts.
DHEA
What is it? DHEA, which stands for dehydroepiandrosterone, is a hormone produced by your adrenal glands, which sit on top of your kidneys. DHEA functions as a precursor to male and female sex hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. Precursors are substances that are converted by the body into a hormone.
DHEA is the most prevalent hormone in the body, and production is highest in your 20s — the average adult produces about 25 milligrams of DHEA per day — but that decreases with age. Your adrenals also produce cortisol and adrenaline, so during times of high stress, the body simply can’t manufacture enough DHEA to maintain a healthy hormonal balance, causing everything from extreme fatigue to a decrease in muscle mass.
Supplementing with DHEA can help naturally raise your testosterone levels in order to build more muscle mass.
How to take it: It can be taken daily in amounts ranging from 50 milligrams up to 200 milligrams, depending on your goals. Higher amounts will help build more lean muscle.
Whey Protein
What is it? Generally thought to be the gold standard of proteins, whey is a fast-digesting protein, meaning it quickly floods the bloodstream with amino acids. It’s ideal for promoting muscle synthesis, and it also aids in postworkout recovery. Paired with a simple carbohydrate (preferably fruit), the absorption rate is even quicker. Whey protein is also ideal to consume preworkout, bringing nutrients to muscles before strenuous activity.
How to take it: One scoop usually yields about 20 to 25 grams of protein. Take it preworkout and postworkout or in between meals as a snack to assist with weight loss.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids
What is it? Branched chain amino acids consist of three essential amino acids: leucine, valine, and isoleucine. Your body isn’t able to create BCAAs, making it necessary to get them from dietary sources instead.
In addition to maintaining your existing muscle tissue, BCAAs keep your muscles fueled while you train and keep exercise-induced muscle fatigue at bay. Leucine is responsible for protein synthesis, which in turn promotes muscle growth. BCAAs aid in muscle recovery and help reduce soreness.
How to take it: BCAAs can be taken as a tablet or powder that you can put in your preworkout and/or postworkout shakes, or you can put flavored BCAAs in your water and drink while you train. Flavored BCAAs are excellent to drink in between meals to keep hunger and unnecessary snacking at bay. Take 5 to 10 grams of BCAAs with preworkout and postworkout shakes.
Glutamine
What is it? Glutamine is a nonessential amino acid, which simply means that your body makes it. Glutamine is also the most abundant amino acid in the body. You’ll find it in two places: your plasma (blood) and skeletal muscle. It’s easily depleted by stress, illness or intense workouts. During times of stress, glutamine becomes a conditionally essential amino acid, meaning that you need to take in foods or supplements containing glutamine to help replenish levels. Glutamine aids in muscle recovery and has been shown to increase levels of growth hormone.
How to take it: Supplementing with glutamine all year long, especially during cold and flu season, will keep your immune system going strong. Glutamine will keep your gastrointestinal tract functioning properly, and it will calm down any GI problems you may be experiencing. The suggested daily dosage is 10 to 15 grams daily. You can add glutamine powder to preworkout and postworkout shakes. Be careful not to heat it (i.e., putting it in your oatmeal before you add hot water) because it will destroy any of the benefits.
Using all the supplements listed above will aid in building the strong and fit body you envision along with a good gym routine and proper nutrition. As with any new supplement program, always be aware of any reactions you may experience. If you have any pre-existing health conditions, always speak to your qualified healthcare practitioner before starting any new supplement.
Written by Linda Stephens for Oxygen Magazine and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.
Featured image provided by Oxygen Magazine
Whey Isolate, BCAAs, and L-Glutamine with MariGold!
Exercising regularly takes planning, valuable time, and physical exertion. The benefits of making it happen are of course plentiful.
But, if you’re going to put all that effort into working out, you probably ought to get the most out of it that you can, right?
Fueling your muscles the right way helps to give you bigger, stronger, healthier muscles but also helps to prevent injury before, during, and after your workout. Having healthy muscles helps to prevent injury in everyday life, so you can enjoy a variety of fun activities and feel great in your own body.
That’s why MariGold began creating healthy, REAL FOOD Protein Bars. We wanted to create a delicious tasting snack that housed all the good stuff your body needs for muscle fuel, boosting your immune system, supporting a healthy gut, and more.
But, we didn’t stop there. We now have a whole line of snacks and foods for supporting strong, healthy muscles and treating your body well.
Our premium quality, Grass-Fed Whey Isolate Protein Powder (also in our Protein Bars) is derived from sweet Irish milk given from Truly Grass-Fed™ cows who spend 95% of their time roaming freely and feasting upon the delicious green grasses of the breathtaking Irish countryside. This means our protein powder is 100% pure, clean, premium quality protein your body wants and needs.
Our Whey Isolate Protein Powder NOW comes in 4 delicious flavors (as well as our Unflavored). Our flavored Protein Powders contain L-Glutamine for extra muscle building and recovery benefits, as well as healthy gut and immune system support.
Each unique and tasty flavor contains 20+ grams of protein per serving and are rich in BCAAs. They can be enjoyed all on their own mixed with water or milk, but are also great for combining with your favorite fruits and vegetables for a superfood smoothie!
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Our Protein Bars (and smaller size Protein Nuggets) are a great on-the-go snack for taking to the gym and enjoying before or after a strength training session to help give you the energy you need to boost performance, and refuel afterwards.
