When it comes to muscle growth there are three main criteria that must be met: eating more calories than you burn, consuming more protein than you break down and an exercise program that is challenging to your muscles.
It is possible to meet these criteria without taking supplements, so you must know that you don't have to buy any of them. Still, some of those supplements may help you gain muscle mass faster and easier.
You must know one thing before you buy any dietary supplement - the vast majority of supplements do absolutely nothing. That said, not all muscle building supplements are worthless. There are some of them that are scientifically proven to help you build muscle. Of course, they can't change proper diet and training and can't give you results as fast as anabolic steroids, but they are still worth buying if you want to gain muscle mass.
In this article, I will mention only muscle building supplements and three of them that are scientifically proven that they work. Many people wasted a fortune on supplements that didn't work, so don't make the same mistake.
1. PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS
Your muscles need more protein than you break down and beside protein-high diet, protein supplements can be very helpful when it comes to muscle building.
Protein supplements can make a fast and easy snack and can spare you much time. Of course, whole foods can give you all the protein that your body needs but it is faster and easier to make a protein shake. Especially after hard and intense workouts when you don't have much time before your muscle tissue starts breaking down.
The best type of protein powder is whey protein because of its fast digestion which is very important for your muscles after the workout. Casein protein is very good for consuming before bed because it digests slower and it fuels your muscles with high-quality protein while you sleep.
2. CREATINE
Creatine is a substance that naturally occurs in our muscle cells. As a supplement creatine has been popular since the 1990s and has been the subject of hundreds of studies since that time.
Hundreds of scientific studies have proven that creatine:
- Support Muscle Growth
- Improves Muscular Strength
- Improves Muscle Recovery
- Improves Performance During High-Intensity Training
The best part is that creatine does all these things naturally and safely.
Creatine can be found in many forms including monohydrate, hydrochloride, ethyl ester and others. Still, the most proven and cheapest form of creatine is Creatine Monohydrate. Even it is the cheapest one, it is probably the most effective one amongst all forms of creatine.
All of these facts are backed by research. You can check out results of some studies as a proof that creatine works:
- Earnest, C. P., Snell, P. G., Rodriguez, R., Almada, A. L., & Mitchell, T. L. (1995). The effect of creatine monohydrate ingestion on anaerobic power indices, muscular strength and body composition.a> Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 153(2), 207.
- Kilduff, L. P., Pitsiladis, Y. P., Tasker, L., Attwood, J., Hyslop, P., Dailly, A., ... & Grant, S. (2003). Effects of creatine on body composition and strength gains after 4 weeks of resistance training in previously nonresistance-trained humans. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 13(4), 504-520.
3. BETA-ALANINE
Beta-alanine is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid that comes into a body through foods that are high in protein. Although it is on this list Beta-Alanine Supplements can't compete with Protein and Creatine supplements when it comes to building muscle mass.
So why I put Beta-Alanine on this list? It has many benefits that help muscle building:
- Improves physical endurance
- Increases effectiveness of creatine
- Delaying fatigue during intense training
Those are some of the benefits of supplementation with Beta-Alanine but it still on the 3rd place on this list for a reason. Even it can help you build muscle mass you should first have whey protein and creatine monohydrate and if you think about another supplement to break muscle plateau I recommend buying Beta-Alanine.
