Which Muscle Building Supplements You “Should” Be Taking

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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

Why You Need to Workout Your Legs to Build Muscle

Today, we’re gonna be talking about the most important, yet most neglected body part in all of weight training: the legs.

This topic is so important that I feel the need to dedicate an entire article to just convincing you that training legs, and training them hard, is a MUST.

I could go on and on about why having big legs is not only good for your physique, but will also help you push past weight plateaus that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

However, seeing as we don’t have all day and you most likely don’t want to be reading 10 pages of ranting and raving, I’m going to list a couple of the top reasons for training legs and talk about each of them in a bit of detail. So without further ado:

You want to train legs because:

  1. You don’t want chicken legs
  2. Your legs support the rest of your body
  3. Training legs increases Testosterone (Your BIG DADDY Muscle Building Hormone)
  4. Leg strength is a major part of every compound exercise

So let’s dive right in and talk about number 1 on the list.

Reason #1: You're NOT BIG Without BIG LEGS

I can’t even count the number of times I go to a gym and see a bunch of guys working on chest, back, biceps, triceps, etc.

And they walk around, thinking their big and tough… except they’re all wearing pants… and when the AC blows… you can tell they’ve never trained legs a day in their life.

You think you’re big without big legs? You’re not. Your legs are LITERALLY HALF YOUR BODY.

So no matter how much you can bench, no matter how many pounds you can curl, no one is impressed if you have stick-figure legs.

Reason #2: Your Legs Support the Rest of Your Body

As a wise man once told me, your legs have to support all of your body weight. So if you’re legs aren’t big and strong, it’s going to be hard for your body to pack on mass. Your base just won’t be strong enough to support it. Makes sense right?

Reason #3: More TESTOSTERONE!!!

When someone tells me that they’ve hit a plateau and either they can’t gain weight or they’ve hit a sticking point in their bench press or deadlift, or what-have-you, the first thing I ask them is if they squat. Squatting regularly will increase your testosterone, making it:

1) more likely for you to get stronger
2) more likely for you to gain weight

And if you’re reading this right now, you don’t need any more than the two reasons listed above to start hitting the rack.

Reason #4: You Need Your Legs More Than You Think!

Finally, your legs are an essential part of every compound exercise that you do. And as we’ve learned previously, compound exercises are the best way to not only get stronger, but also to build more muscle and gain more weight.

Some food for thought: When you bench, you’re always told to keep a stable base and put your legs firmly and in a comfortable position on the floor.

Why is that? (because you drive with your legs even when you’re working your chest… that’s why its called a COMPOUND exercise).

Again, when you deadlift, why is it that you’re told to drive through your heels? (the power is primarily coming from your legs).

And finally, when you clean and press, why do you explode with your legs on the clean portion, squat down a bit, and then drive again with your legs in a fluid motion on the press portion? (because your legs generate the most power here).

"Be a Man...WORKOUT YOUR LEGS"

You can thank me later.

Until next time,

Jim

4 Steps to SUPERCHARGE Your Motivation and Build Muscle Fast

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Creative Commons License photo credit: familymwr

Since 90% of building muscle, gaining weight and ultimately transforming your body is mental, if you can't motivate yourself to push through the pain and fatigue of your workouts, consuming all of your muscle building meals, and all the obstacles that will come in your way then you might as well through in the towel now.

Occasionally I run surveys on my blog and one of the main things that are holding guys back is lack of motivation. And since motivation is so important.

I wanted to give you 4 steps to motivating yourself to huge muscle gains...

Step 1 – Find Out What You Respond to (What Lights a Fire Under You)

Every one is different. What I may respond to might be completely different from what you respond to as far as motivation goes.

For example: I respond to negative thoughts. For instance, when I'm weight lifting, and I'm trying to push myself to the Max, negative thoughts from high school usually pop into my head.

Thoughts of seeing people laughing and making fun of me, the embarrassment I’ve been put through (because I was skinny) and all the hurtful experiences I’ve gone through for obvious reasons light a HUGE fire under me.

It honestly gives me motivation to keep pushing even though my muscles are on fire, I'm tired, fatigued and feel like quitting, like people laughing at me in high school. And that’s what you need to find.

So the first thing you need to do is to find out what lights a fire under you, what do you respond to?

It can be anything from negative thoughts (i.e. - bad experiences, people you don't like) all away to positive thoughts, like girls you like or find attractive, how you felt when you achieve something BIG, someone you admire, family etc.

Step 2- Write Down 5 thoughts / Experiences / Things That Make You Want to Keep Going

Once you know what you respond to. Now it's time to list them. They did time now to write down at least five things that light a fire under you.

Keep in mind it to be a mixture of positive thoughts, negative thoughts, people in your life, people you admire, people you don't like, personal experiences, etc. for example your list could include things like:

  • the time, you won first place in a race
  • a cute girl in her class
  • your mom, your dad
  • a bully that you don't like
  • the time you fell playing football and everybody laughed

Step 3 -FEEL IT!

Now that you have these images in your head, it's time to channel them into motivation.

Just imagine how these thoughts come to life if you QUIT

For Example: If your thoughts were of people who made fun of you…

How much more would they make fun of you if they saw you quit or give up ?

…or, if one of your thoughts was of a girl you like or find attractive…
How would she look at you if you quit... if you reached your goal ?

…or, if one of your thoughts was of someone you care about or look up to…
How disappointed the people who look up to you would feel if you quit?

… or, if one of your thoughts was of someone who actually looks up to you…
How let down would they feel if you gave up?

Step 4 - Rewind and Press Play

Now it's time to Play these thoughts in your head over and over again:

  • while you're working out
  • when it's time to eat a meal and you don't feel like it
  • when you don't feel like pushing yourself in the gym
  • when you progress to a new weight and you're not sure if you can do it
  • pretty much any time you face a new obstacle
  • and especially during times when you feel like quitting or slacking off

Remember building muscle and gaining weight is 90% mental, if your head isn't in the game then your results will suffer, everything will feel worse than what it really is, and every obstacle will fill so hard to climb.

So use these tips build your motivation and become an unstoppable force.

Train hard,

Rich