Which Muscle Building Supplements You “Should” Be Taking

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Creative Commons License photo credit: d_vdm

Today I want to go over something really important and it's muscle building supplements.

Just to set the record straight “You DON'T NEED Supplements to Build Muscle”

I used to think supplements were the holy Grail to muscle gains, especially as a naturally skinny guy. I used to think all I need to do is suck down as many supplements as I can and I’ll get huge. Boy was I wrong!!!

I remember one time back in college 90% of my diet consisted of sucking down protein supplements, after about two days of doing this.

My body eventually crashed. I remember waking up sucking down a shake before going to class, then realizing it had absolutely no energy at past out of my bed for hours.

Not only did I miss all my classes that day, but that was a huge wake-up call.

You NEED to have a balanced diet, not only to build muscle but to promote a healthy lifestyle as well.

So why take supplements and if they're not necessary to build muscle?

  1. the truth is supplements provide certain nutrients in various combinations of nutrients at peak times, whereas if you tried to get them from whole food sources. It would be very difficult and even in practical.
  2. Supplements also make it easier to consume the right combination of nutrients at the right time
  3. supplements help you reach your caloric goals (consuming six meals a day, not only is tough to cook, but it's also tough to eat, tough to store and also tough on the wallet)

So, which muscle building supplements to take (which ones are essential for muscle gains)?

Muscle Building Supplement #1- Protein Supplements

There are three types of protein supplements that I'm going to be discussing:

Whey protein: whey protein is the most common muscle building protein out there and for good reason. Whey protein hits the bloodstream very quickly. Which makes it the ideal protein to consume before during and after your workouts.

Casein Protein: casein protein is almost the exact opposite of whey protein. Casein protein is slowly digested within the body, where whey protein supplies almost a surge or immediate supply of protein casein protein provides a steady flow of protein to your body and muscles. This protein is ideal to consume throughout the day and right before you go to sleep.

Weight gain shakes: weight gain shakes is another popular dietary supplement. Weight gain shakes are high in primarily protein, carbohydrates.

These supplements are used to help you reach your caloric goals.

Remember you have to consume an extra 3500 calories in order to gain 1 pound of new muscle, weight gain shakes makes it easier to consume those extra calories.

Here are some quick tips I want to give you if you choose to use protein supplements or any supplements for that matter

Quick Tip#1: DRINK LOTS OF WATER - If you’re going to be increasing your protein and your caloric intake with supplements in any way shape or form drink LOTS of water. I recommend AT LEAST 6 – 8 cups per day, in all honesty you should be doing this anyway to promote a healthy body but it’s especially important when you begin increasing your caloric intake.

Quick Tip#2: Make sure you’re getting the MAJORITY of your protein from whole food sources - When I first started out, I thought supplements were way better than “actual’ food when it came to building muscle.
But that couldn’t be farther from the truth, whole foods have so much more benefits that supplements don’t have, so make sure you’re consuming NO MORE THAN 40% of your daily protein from supplements. Remember supplements are used to SUPPLEMENT (or assist) your diet not replace it so make sure you’re consuming the majority of your protein from whole food sources.

Muscle Building Supplement #2 - Essential Fatty Acid Supplement

Believe what all fat is not bad for you. Some fats actually help boost your metabolism, regulate you're hormone producing glands which helps keep your testosterone”the big daddy muscle building hormone” levels high, also reduces inflammation, and joint pain.

You can usually find EFA’s in whole food sources like:
walnuts, avocados, extra virgin olive oil etc.

But to ensure you get quality amounts of your a censure fatty acids. It is recommended that you take an Essential Fatty Acid Supplement

Supplements to REALLY consider

Just note that with a proper balance diet (unless you have a fulltime nutrtionist this is VERY hard to do) you don't need these but remember since you're putting alot of STRESS on your entire body when you workout you need to provide your body with an ABUNDANCE of nutrients.

This not only will this speed up your recovery, keep your energy levels high, but it'll also ensure your body (not just your muscles) stay in tip top shape while you're damaging and stressing it through your transformation phase.

  • Multi-Vitamin
  • Calcium
  • Vitamin C

But just remember, you don't need supplements to build muscle Supplements are just that “supplements”, the are used to assist your current diet. They're basically a convenient solution to help you reach your dietary goals.

No supplement can replace a well-balanced diet

Train hard,

Rich

Building Muscle Without Supplements

Can you really build muscle and get huge without supplements?

Yes you can!!!

If you think otherwise, either you've fallen for the hype that these supplement companies are selling you or you really don't understand the significant role whole foods have on the body.

Why whole foods are actually better than supplements? for starters whole foods are packed with nutrients, and unlike supplements whole foods aren't packed with preservatives and weird "man made" chemicals.

Plus don't forget your body was designed to break down whole foods (foods that are created by nature).

Reminder: You DON'T NEED Supplements to Build Muscle

Supplements are only "essential" at certain throughout the day when it's impractical to consume whole foods.

For example: right after your workout - Consuming Whey Protein is way more effective (will hit your muscles faster) then eating 6 - 10 eggs, or downing 5 tall glasses of milk right after your workout.

(you’d probably puke if you had to down all of that RIGHT after a workout)

Supplements are also ideal as a "Meal Backup" - an emergency meal alternative you can consume or quickly down when you're not able to have a "real" meal.

So please remember: “You DON’T NEED Supplements to Build Muscle”

Yes supplements make things alot more convenient but you don't NEED them to build muscle.

In fact, if you don't believe me. I highly recommend you try my 30 Day Build Muscle Challenge without taking supplements and if you follow it to the "T" I guarantee you'll see results, and it’ll literally open your eyes to the true power of what a proper muscle building diet can do.

So stop thinking supplements is the key to building muscle because it's not! I used to think this way, and trust me I've seen far better results when I focused on following a proper muscle building diet rather than what's the next super duper supplement coming out.

The truth is, as great as you may think supplements are they can't “replace” a proper muscle building diet.

So put this article down and start chowing down on some proper muscle building food.

Train hard,

Rich