What Supplements Do I Need to Gain Muscle

Since the debut of supplements, they have been fine-tuned and tweaked to offer a plethora of perks for your training goals. A common goal? To build muscle. Whether you’re new to supps or you’re just now warming up to them, you’ve found yourself asking “What supplements do I need to gain muscle.”

Well, some may say you don’t need any. You can do it naturally. That’s true, if you’re healthy and still youthful. But, as we age we lose muscle, our metabolism slows and it’s not as easy. And if you’re still considered a spring chicken, why wouldn’t you want a supplement that can double the rate of muscle protein synthesis? One that builds lean mass and burns fat? Why wouldn’t you want to expedite your goals. You a masochist, bro?

Just kidding, but seriously…why wouldn’t you?

So, if you’re asking yourself that question in addition to what supplements build muscle, we think you’ll find the answers here.

Let’s build some brain muscle.

Whey Protein Will Help You Gain Muscle

Everyone knows protein makes muscle, right?  If you slept through that part in science, let’s do a quick refresher.

The primary role of protein is for anabolic, or muscle building, processes in the body.

It’s why athletes consume protein—to gain muscle.  This is because training breaks down muscle protein in the body. Replenishing it helps turn your body from catabolic to anabolic.

Moral of the story—the more protein you have, the more anabolic your body will be and the quicker you will gain muscle. Especially when taken right after working out.

So now we’re at Whey Protein. It’s probably the most popular form of protein and that’s because whey is absorbed more quickly by the body so it can get to the muscles and feed them.

If you are out there looking for a good form of whey protein, cold-processed whey protein is higher quality and more effective because it is not acid-flushed and heat-processed which denatures and strips it of nutrients.

Branched Chain Amino Acids Will Help You Build Muscle

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) are the only three amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) that are metabolized by muscle tissue. As such, they provide immediate assistance, repair, rebuilding and recovery to muscles after training. They also trigger muscle protein synthesis so you can build muscle post-workout.

This is important because after training muscle protein breakdown is high and your body will stay in a catabolic process until it gets enough protein and amino acids. Feeding your muscles the amino acids it will metabolize directly will help trigger muscle protein synthesis and as such, you’ll gain muscle post-training.

While you’re scarfing BCAAs down, they also enhance recovery, lean mass, performance and endurance.  So, gain muscle and raise the bar with BCAAs.

L-Glutamine Will Help You Preserve Muscle

Glutamine is an amino acid that fights stress. Not the “I can’t stand the way my co-worker chews” stress….but the stress of training. The body responds to exercise as if it were an illness or trauma to the body. When that happens, glutamine becomes the main fuel source for the body such as immune system processes, fueling cells, creating aminos and producing glucose for energy.

The immune system is dependent on glutamine as its primary fuel source, when glutamine is depleted, the body will get energy from the muscles. In other words, it breaks down muscle for energy. It munches on your muscles.

So in order to build muscle, you must preserve it. Supplementing with glutamine makes it available so your muscles can do what you’re training them to do: grow.

Creatine Monohydrate Will Help You Gain Muscle

Creatine doesn’t just give your muscles a temporary swell, it provides your muscles with nutrients AND fuel to grow.

Creatine is converted by the body into phosphocreatine which makes ATP. ATP is the energy source for muscles. The more ATP you have, the more fuel your muscles have.

Creatine monohydrate is the most studied of the supplements, so it should be on your list. But if you want a better version, look into Creatine Magnapower. It’s a magnesium-chelated creatine that increases the body’s ability to create ATP, increases creatine absorption, carb metabolism and creatine bioavailability.

Beta Alanine Will Help Your Muscles Recover

Beta alanine is mostly known for the tingle it produces when you take it. But it also increases the carnosine levels inside your muscles.  Through this increase, you can improve muscle recovery and fatigue post-training.

This is because post-conversion, carnosine buffers lactic-acid buffer due to its role in regulating pH levels in the muscles.

Because build-up of acid in the muscles can diminish endurance and stamina having carnosine replenished can improve performance and recovery so you can continue to build muscles rather than taking time off to let them heal.

While carnosine is the byproduct of the pairing of beta alaninine, beta-alanine should not be replaced by taking carnosine only. This is because the muscle cannot perform carnosine uptake directly, beta alanine is, which is when the conversion to carnosine occurs. Otherwise, carnosine taken directly is broken down in the gastrointestinal tract and wasted.

Vitamin D Helps Build Muscle

Finally, vitamin D is a major player in the muscle building game.

First, your muscles literally need it to move.

Vitamin D is critical to muscle development and growth because it maintains the function of your type 2 muscle fibers. With a deficiency, you experience loss of muscle and strength.

Because the body responds to training with muscle protein break down—it’s imperative to re-balance the processes in the body so that more anabolic processes take place to trigger protein synthesis. Vitamin D helps with this battle by reducing a component called myostatin that blocks muscle protein synthesis. It also triggers protein synthesis directly inside cells.

Finally, it works synergistically with BCAAs, protein and/or amino acids because during protein synthesis.

Get Supplements with Ingredients Proven to Build and Preserve Muscle

There you have it, the top contenders in the battle to build more muscle. Now that your brain got buff on this blog, go get some supplements so your muscles can keep up.