The 3 Best Muscle Building Supplements - The Only Supplements You Need to Build Muscle Mass

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.

Best Muscle-Building Supplements to Build Muscle Mass Fast

There any many supplements that you can buy to help you to build muscle or burn fat, but some of them are just money wasting. If you are interested in best muscle-building supplements that you should buy to build muscle mass fast keep reading. 

If you want to know how to build muscle mass check out the complete guide to build muscle:

The Complete Guide to Build Muscle Mass Fast

Be aware that supplements are just there to help you build muscle faster, the key to building muscle mass is your workout routine and diet plan. Anyway, after hitting a muscle-building plateau supplements can be of great help to build more muscle mass. 

When it comes to nutrition, consume all three macronutrients that are important to fuel your muscles and make them grow:

20 Foods You Should Eat to Gain Muscle Mass

Are supplements really helpful for muscle building?

Supplements exist to help you to consume certain nutrients that are necessary to build muscle. For example, one protein shake will allow you to consume about 30 grams of protein. That is way easier and faster digesting than when eating whole food. 

The conclusion is that they do help people to build muscle mass easier and faster. 

Check out the list of best muscle-building supplements:

1. Creatine 

Probably the most popular supplement of all time. Creatine is widely used to fuel energy in the muscles especially for high-intensity training like lifting weights and sprinting. It is proved that creatine may help working out harder and longer and help muscles recover faster. Many studies have shown that creatine used after resistance training helps increasing lean muscle mass. 

Check out more facts about creatine:

Creatine - One of the Best Supplements Ever

2. Whey Protein Powder

Whey Protein digests very fast and makes your muscles growing immediately after consuming a post-workout protein shake. You can mix whey protein only with water or with low-fat milk. If you are a hard gainer, I recommend you to try one of homemade mass gainers recipes that you can find on this site:

Homemade Mass Gainers - Gain Muscle Mass Fast

If you want to buy mass gainers, I recommend you to buy a whey protein supplement instead and make your own mass gainers at home. It is cheaper and healthier solution. But, it is on you to decide about that.

3. Branched-Chain Amino Acid (BCAA)

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) are also one of the supplements that support muscle growth. BCAAs reduce muscle damage after a hard workout and help muscles to recover faster. That means, if you are consuming BCAAs your muscles will be less sore and you will be ready in less time for another hard training session. Consuming BCAAs have many benefits for muscle building, more energy, better performance and stimulate muscle protein synthesis. 

4. Beta-Alanine

When it comes to muscle-building supplements, Beta-Alanine has to be mentioned too. Beta-Alanine is a non-essential amino acid that comes from foods into our bodies, especially the foods that are rich in protein.

Foods That Are Best Source of Protein

Benefits of Beta-Alanine are very similar to creatine, but it can be a great addition to your diet. Supplementing with Beta-Alanine support increase of carnosine levels in our bodies which decrease the chance of muscle fatigue and failure. 

It is proven that Beta-Alanine supplementation improves muscle endurance and performance during high-intensity training.

5. Glutamine

Last on this list, but not less important than others. Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid involved in a production of HGH (human growth hormone). Glutamine has the ability to create muscle glycogen from blood glucose which increasing energy production during exercise. 

You can read more about Glutamine benefits for muscle building in another article:

Glutamine Supplement for Muscle Building