Do Bodybuilders Really Need Supplements?

By Sean Nalewanyj. Natural Bodybuilding Expert & Best-Selling Fitness Author. www.MuscleGainTruth.com. To supplement or not to supplement? That is the question, and an important one at that. "Do bodybuilders really need supplements?" Let's examine that question. 

The first thing to look at when trying to answer the million-dollar question about supplements (with the ever-increasing revenues of the supplement industry I should more accurately call it a "billion-dollar question") is what do we define as "need"?

The question seems to be, "do we really need supplements"? But the answer to that completely depends upon what it is that we do or do not need them for. Let's examine a couple of different definitions.

"Do bodybuilders need supplements to become bigger and stronger?"

The answer to this question? No!
Regardless of what the million-dollar supplement companies would have you believe, supplementation is not mandatory in the pursuit of increased muscle mass and strength.

Anyone who trains hard and focuses on consuming adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats from whole foods can and will see a significant increase in muscle size and strength.

If you want to become bigger and stronger, supplements are not mandatory. Period.

So given this fact, bodybuilders shouldn't use any supplements, right? Wrong. Let's examine the second definition. 

"Do bodybuilders need supplements to become as big and strong as they possibly can?" The answer to this question? Yes! 

Although supplements are not mandatory to become bigger and stronger, they ARE mandatory if your goal is to become as big and strong as you possibly can. By investing in the right products and using the proper amounts, you can definitely gain an extra edge and see superior gains than a person who has chosen not to go the supplement route.

With the endless hours of hard work and dedication that you put in at the gym and at home on your quest to achieving the physique you desire, it only seems logical that a few extra bucks should be spent each month on a few reputable products in order to maximize your gains.

The question you simply have to ask yourself is, "how much are my muscle gains worth to me?"

If an extra boost in strength at the gym is worth the price of that bottle of creatine, then it makes sense to purchase it. If improving the convenience of your eating plan is worth the price of that tub of whey protein, then it makes sense to purchase it.

"Do bodybuilders really need supplements?"

If you're serious about achieving the most significant muscle size and strength gains that you possibly can, then I definitely would recommend a basic and straightforward supplement plan to maximize your results.

Here are the 4 most basic supplements that I would recommend:
1) Whey Protein
2) Creatine
3) High-Potency Multivitamin
4) Essential Fatty Acids

This is a great place to start and will go a long way in increasing your lean muscle mass, strength and fat burning capabilities. There are definitely a lot of worthless, ineffective supplements out there, but these 4 basic products have been shown time and time again to be both effective and worth the cost.

If you're looking to gain an extra edge and are serious about reaching your muscle-building goals, they are definitely worth looking into.

To learn the details of these 4 supplements including proper dosages and product recommendations, visit www.MuscleGainTruth.com.

You can also access my honest and unbiased reviews of over 20 of the most popular muscle building supplements on the market today. This could potentially save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars, so I would strongly urge you to check it out.

About The Author. Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert, best-selling fitness author, and creator of the wildly popular online muscle building program, "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

Discover the 1 powerful secret to rapid muscle gains by visiting:www.MuscleGainTruth.com.

Note to the reader: You are free to reprint and redistribute this article as long as the content is not altered in any way, the links remain live and the author resource box (including this message) is left intact. 

Glutamine: A Good Supplement for Bodybuilding?

There is a lot of debate over glutamine as to whether or not it’s a good supplement for bodybuilding.

Glutamine is only popular with some people, unlike creatine, which is considered a “no brainier” supplement for bodybuilding. According to some others, its benefits as a supplement for bodybuilding are not proven. Glutamine was considered to be a “must-have” supplement for bodybuilding until very recently. But recent studies have shown that the benefits of glutamine have been much overrated.

So, as a bodybuilder, should you include glutamine as a vital supplement on your list? I’ll tell you. Sixty five percent of the amino acids in your body are made up of glutamine, and it is a non-essential amino acid, which means that the body can make it from other amino acids and molecules in times of deficit. Our amino acids are diminished during stress, which limits muscle growth.

So, it makes sense to use glutamine as a supplement for bodybuilding for some people. Some people claim that glutamine is important to be able to repair damaged muscles and prevent post-exercise muscle soreness. Yet, others claim that because it boosts immune function, taking it as a pre-workout supplement helps enhance strength. However, current research does not show that glutamine is an essential supplement for bodybuilding.

Some interesting findings of the research are that while glutamine does work under clinical stress testing, it doesn’t do anything to enhance a workout; quantities of glutamine that would cost an average bodybuilder anywhere up to $1000 a year were used for this test. The types of “stress” that the studies refer to are also important, and include severe burns, AIDS, and extensive surgery.

According to the tests, taking a glutamine supplement during weight training did not affect muscle performance, body composition, or muscle breakdown in a healthy adult. A research study even disproved some people’s belief that glutamine improves cell volume. It was also proved that exercise-induced immune system reduction is not changed by glutamine.

The one question that the studies do not directly answer is whether or not glutamine improves glycogen stores after exercise; however, some bodybuilders say that this fact isn’t important since one consumes a high-carbohydrate shake after a workout anyway.

Finally, one study showed that consuming an amino acid drink after a workout increased protein synthesis by up to 48 percent. However, adding glutamine to the mix did not change protein synthesis. So, what do you believe now? Is glutamine a good supplement for bodybuilding? As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.

Glutamine definitely isn’t everything that it was chalked out to be in the past, but it does provide some benefits. It can apparently be a good supplement for bodybuilding as it restores testosterone levels post-workout. It can also be a good supplement for bodybuilding as it helps to get the hard, ripped look, especially when combined with a fat loss program.

So glutamine is a good way to preserve muscle for those who are trying to get extremely lean.

Click this link to know more about using glutamine as a supplement for bodybuilding….

Top Bodybuilding Supplement: MRPs

The sad thing about the supplement industry is that they have lost almost all credibility by steadily introducing products whose benefits are to a great extent debatable.

I don’t mean that all supplements are bad. In fact, in your path to muscle building, you will find a number of top bodybuilding supplements that are actually good and can help you.

Separating the truth from the lies becomes a little difficult when there’s so much false information out there. Well, you’ve come to the right place, if you’re confused about supplements that can actually help you pack on muscle. Are you wondering why what I tell you will be different from all the false information perpetuated by the supplement industry?

Well, I’m not on any of their payrolls, and I really don’t make any money out of the products that they sell. If an honest, unbiased, and informed opinion is what you’re looking for, read on. Protein is the top bodybuilding supplement.

You probably already know that muscle fibers that are torn down in the process of weight training are repaired and built by protein. The truth is that you will not see any appreciable gains if you don’t consume protein in adequate quantities; it is the single most important nutrient required by your body for building muscle. For optimal gains, the amount of protein that you consume should be as high as 30% to 40% of your total caloric intake.

Now that’s a lot of protein that needs to be consumed. While you can obtain this protein only from your diet, you’d have to eat quite a bit of lean red meat, chicken, fish, and cottage cheese to ensure that you’re getting enough. Given how our lives are always busy and fast-paced, this may not always be possible, making protein supplements the ideal alternative.

Whey protein is one of the top bodybuilding supplements. Many brands sell tubs of this top bodybuilding supplement, which almost everyone has heard of. Moreover, it’s really good for you, and it’s not even too expensive. Many different kinds of whey protein are available in the market, but we’ll have that discussion some other day.

Instead, I’m going to talk about MRPs; these are another protein supplement that can also be regarded as the top bodybuilding supplement. In addition to providing your body with all the protein that it requires, MRPs, or meal replacement powders, provide you with good carbs, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Sounds like the top bodybuilding supplement is no longer whey protein, right?

It all depends on how much you are willing to spend. While MRPs are the perfect way of getting all the nutrition that you require, they are also very expensive. A box of 20 MRP packets will be as expensive as a tub of whey protein. That’s equal to almost three times the price of whey protein. I bet you’re thinking what options you have! Well, if you have the money and don’t have the time, MRPs are the best replacements (and good supplements) for at least one or two of your five to seven daily meals.

Don’t fret if money is an issue. All the good stuff (good carbs, vitamins and minerals) that makes MRPs such a good bodybuilding supplement can be added to your diet at a fraction of the cost. Just add a banana and some oatmeal to your whey protein powder; blended together with about 1-2 cups of milk will give you your own inexpensive top bodybuilding supplement. For additional information on MRPs and their benefits as a top bodybuilding supplement, click on this link.

Best Muscle Building Supplement: Creatine

In the bodybuilding world, supplements have always been dogged by controversy.

There are those who can’t do without them, and those who wouldn’t use them if their life depended on it. Not surprisingly, the truth lies in between these two extreme viewpoints. Simply ingesting a cocktail of the best bodybuilding supplements won’t help you to get the body of your dreams, no matter what the supplement makers tell you. Supplements simply help you to provide your body with all the nutrition that it requires to build muscle in a convenient manner. The word “convenient” is the key. Yes, it’s possible to get all the nutrition that you need from your diet alone, but when you factor in the time and effort that you will be spending in preparing the five to seven meals that you will consume, supplements start to look like a good option. As far as I’m concerned, creatine is one of the best muscle building supplements. Creatine not only helps in muscle building but also benefits other parts of your body. Not only does creatine protect you from muscular dystrophy and other diseases of the neuromuscular system, it also reduces high levels of cholesterol in the body.

What exactly is creatine? Creatine occurs naturally in the human body; it is also found in foods like salmon, beef, and herring. However, the best source of creatine is its powdered form. The efficiency with which your body uses Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) is enhanced by creatine. This compound (ATP) is used to give the body a sustainable energy source.

Higher levels of ATP in a cell improve its functioning. Creatine is considered the best muscle building supplement because it helps to maintain or increase cellular ATP levels. Creatine is stored as creatine phosphate in the body; it gives this phosphate component to the cells, and this allows them to convert Adenosine Di-Phosphate (ADP) to ATP and recharge themselves.

When the cells use ATP for energy, it is converted to ADP; creatine helps the cells to recharge by converting ADP back to ATP. Research has proven that consuming creatine increases the levels of creatine phosphate that is available to your cells, and this, in turn, helps to sustain any anaerobic activity such as sprinting or weight lifting. It is especially used in weight training to increase your performance. As if that wasn’t enough, creatine, the best muscle building supplement, also improves the functioning of the heart and is very useful for those who have suffered heart failure. It increases the ejection fraction of the heart, a number that indicates how strongly the heart pumps, and this leads to an increase in your capacity to exercise. Bodybuilders who consume creatine monohydrate, the form in which creatine is most commonly available, can expect to see moderate to large gains in their ability to lift heavier poundages. Creatine is not new; it was discovered in 1832, but it took almost a hundred years (1923) to discover that the majority of creatine (up to 95 percent) is stored in the muscles. Three years later, its effects on bodybuilding were discovered. Creatine is naturally found in the body and is produced in the liver, kidney, and pancreas to strengthen the muscles. Taking creatine as a supplement adds to this effect. Creatine is naturally occurring compound that is found in many different foods, and so its use in sports has never been banned. The best muscle building supplement that you can take is creatine monohydrate; you should consume 5 grams of this supplement every day. The best times to consume creatine supplements are early in the morning or immediately after your workout. The best way to consume creatine is with a liquid serving of simple sugars as this maximizes its absorption in the body. Find out more about creatine, the best muscle building supplement, by clicking on this link.

Top Muscle Growth Supplement: Whey Protein

Whey protein is a top muscle growth supplement, and if you want serious muscle gains, you should incorporate it into your diet.

A quality source of protein, consuming just a small amount of why protein ensures that you are able to obtain your protein requirements. The biological value of whey protein is also high. This means that whey protein’s amino acid ratio is ideal for building muscle tissue. A higher proportion of the protein is absorbed by the body and utilized by the cells when your daily protein requirement is obtained from whey protein.

This top muscle growth supplement also makes the immune system stronger. Do you remember the nursery rhyme about Little Miss Muffet? Well, she definitely knew a thing or two about the top muscle growth supplement because she enjoyed her curds and whey. The fact that whey protein is obtained from all-natural sources is what makes it a top muscle growth supplement.

Whey is produced naturally as a byproduct in the cheese-making process. It is not the healthiest thing to consume when it is in its raw state, because it contains a great deal of fat and milk sugar, or lactose, at this stage. You obtain a very concentrated form of protein, which is one of the top muscle growth supplements, only after this raw whey is filtered to remove the fat and lactose through microfiltration or ion exchange.

So now you’re ready to include whey protein in your diet for some serious muscle gains. What’s the right whey protein to choose? Concentrates and isolates are the two types of whey protein that are available in the market. Purity is what makes the two different. An isolate contains more protein and less lactose and fat per serving, and is this considered more pure than a concentrate. Whey concentrates contain about 70 to 85 percent protein, while whey isolates contain 90 to 94 percent protein, making them a top muscle growth supplement.

No doubt whey isolates also are costlier than whey concentrates. So now you’re thinking that the isolate is the better option because it costs more, right? Well, not exactly. For those who have gas and bloating issues after consuming whey protein or are lactose intolerant, whey isolate is definitely better. Keep in mind that although the isolate is a top muscle growth supplement, it doesn’t necessarily produce better muscle growth than whey concentrate. Whey protein concentrate should only be avoided by those who are lactose intolerant; for the most part, it is equally good and less expensive than the isolate.

It also has a tendency to coagulate and form chunks when mixed. For all practical purposes, both whey concentrate and isolate are top muscle growth supplement proteins, so don’t lose sleep over which kind of protein to buy.

In reality, protein nutrition is very simple. If you are trying to build muscle mass, you should eat between 25 and 50 grams of protein every three hours. The necessary protein can be obtained from a whey isolate, egg whites, fish, chicken, lean red meat, or whey concentrate. Where the quality protein comes from doesn’t really matter. Whey protein is a convenient top muscle growth supplement.

Instead of cooking egg whites for breakfast, you can throw in a couple of scoops into your morning oatmeal. If you’re in a hurry, opt for a protein shake instead of a meat protein. Visit this website for more information on this top muscle growth supplement….

Supplement For Bodybuilding: Vitamin C

When you get enough vitamins in your diet, your muscle building and fat burning processes can function at their full potential.

Even if you are deficient in just one vitamin, your body processes can be affected in a major way.

Even though each individual vitamin is important overall, one vitamin, in particular, stands out for the specific needs of a hard training bodybuilder. especially when it comes to the specific needs of a hard training bodybuilder.

Water-soluble Vitamin C is hugely important for lifters and is a supplement for bodybuilding that cannot be ignored.

There are many benefits to this important supplement for bodybuilding, some of which include….
1) It has antioxidant properties.
Your body develops “free radicals” when oxygen mixes with other compounds due to natural bodily processes or intense exercise. These free radicals are metabolic waste products that attack cells, mutate cell membranes, and have been associated with diseases like cancer and diabetes.

Antioxidants have the ability to neutralize free radicals or prevent their formation altogether. Since Vitamin C works as an antioxidant, this supplement for bodybuilding is excellent at protecting the body from free radical damage.

2) It helps suppress the production of cortisol.
Cortisol, a powerful catabolic hormone, is triggered as a result of stress; this stress may be caused due to the pressures of everyday life or your workouts. Cortisol can do everything from increasing fat storage in the abdominal area, slowing down the movement of nutrients to the muscles, stimulating the breakdown of muscle tissue for energy, and inhibiting the recovery of muscles between workouts.

Vitamin C is a supplement for bodybuilding that helps to lower the secretion of cortisol in the body.

3) It helps steroid hormones to form in your body.
The body’s natural hormone levels help to determine how much muscle you can actually build. Vitamin C, a great supplement for bodybuilding, really helps in forming these hormones.

4) You can absorb iron better.
Iron helps oxygen bind to the hemoglobin in your blood; this is then sent to your muscles to enhance performance. Low iron levels work against you because they reduce the amount of weight you can lift and also decrease the duration for which you can perform high intensity exercises.

5) It helps the immune system.
If you are following an intense training program, it’s critical to keep your immune system functioning at the top level. This way, you will stay healthy and continue to workout with full intensity.

6) It reduces the soreness in your muscles.
This supplement for bodybuilding has been shown to reduce muscle soreness in the days after a training session, as long as you take it close to your workout. This is a bonus for those who want to get rid of that painful ache inside their muscles, following a hard workout.

When you take Vitamin C, you now know you are on the road to maximizing your program results, whether your goal is to build muscle or to burn fat, and that you have found a key supplement for bodybuilding.

The recommended daily allowance for Vitamin C is only 60 mg, but this dose is for average people, not hard training athletes. When you are following an intense program of muscle building or fat burning, you obviously require more.

There are some people who encourage “mega doses” of Vitamin C. Mega-dosing is not something natural to our biochemistry and might interrupt other bodily functions, so even though it’s water-soluble and can be flushed out with sweat or urine, stick with normal doses.

Overall, this supplement for bodybuilding should be consumed in daily dosages of about 500 mg to 1500 mg, spread out over 2 to 3 doses.

Take one dose of this supplement for bodybuilding with your pre-workout meal, and fit in another dose earlier in the day, sometime in the morning. Getting a separate Vitamin C supplement is important, since your multivitamin will probably only contain 50 mg to 200 mg.

You can also get more Vitamin C through foods like oranges, tomatoes, apples, or red and green peppers.

Remember, you probably won’t notice any immediate effects to your bottom line progress thanks to Vitamin C supplementation, but in the long run, it can and should be a big part of your overall plan to maximize your physical results.

Click here for more info and full bodybuilding techniques that will transform you.

Supplements For Muscle Gain: Multivitamins

One of the most debated issues in bodybuilding, at present, is how big a role multivitamins have in enhancing health both in and out of the gym.

Do bodybuilders actually benefit from multivitamin supplements for muscle gain? Studying basic biology and the function behind each vitamin can help us find the answer...

Basically, our bodies are made up of a number of chemical reactions. Each individual reaction is fueled by tiny little proteins called enzymes; enzymes work to reduce the amount of energy required to create a reaction in the body.

Enzymes need the assistance of a “co-enzyme” to help change their shape so that they can do their job properly. Guess what co-enzymes are—vitamins!

Ultimately, vitamin supplements for muscle gain are very important, considering the major part they play in fueling the thousands of chemical reactions within the human body. They are important not only to overall metabolism and body health but also to the muscle-building process. This means that you can benefit from supplements for muscle gain.

Study this list of vitamins to find out how they can help you at home and at the gym as one of your supplements for muscle gain….

Vitamin A: Is critical to protein synthesis, the process wherein single amino acids combine to create new muscle tissue in the body. It assists with glycogen production; glycogen is the form in which carbs are stored inside the body.

Vitamin B1 - Also known as "thiamine" and is heavily involved in protein metabolism as well as the production of hemoglobin which helps to carry oxygen around the body.
Vitamin B2: This vitamin is also called “riboflavin”; it does a great job helping burn fat and changing carbs into energy.
Vitamin B3: Also termed “niacin,” this vitamin works to increase vasodilation inside your muscle tissue, which helps you look bigger and fuller.
Vitamin B6: A big player in protein digestion, this vitamin is also known as “pyridoxine.”. Muscle-building diets need more protein than most people do, so it’s important to get a higher amount of vitamin B6 than most people would take.
Vitamin B12: This particular vitamin makes certain that the brain and muscle tissue are working as a team so that you can achieve maximum muscle growth and coordination; it is also known as “cobalamin.”.
Biotin: As it works to metabolize amino acids, it has the power to help create energy for your workouts.
Vitamin C: Important for creating collagen and metabolizing amino acids. Healthy and firm joints come from the collagen within the connective tissue. Not only that, vitamin C helps with the production of steroid hormones and enhances iron absorption. Moreover, vitamin C is also a hugely powerful antioxidant that helps to wash out free radicals from your system, thereby preventing cellular damage.
Vitamin D: This vitamin works to help the body absorb calcium and phosphorus. Calcium maintains strong bones and joints, not to mention its role in muscle contractions. Phosphorus helps with the synthesis of ATP, which is how the body stores usable energy.
Vitamin E: Important for hunting out and neutralizing free radicals, this is a very strong antioxidant. As your body produces many natural metabolic waste products, it’s important to have an agent to flush them out to maintain your cell membrane health, and this vitamin serves that function.

Using vitamins as supplements for muscle gain is clearly a wise choice, when you review the information above. As intense weight training depletes vitamin resources, bodybuilders need to get more of these vitamins than the typical guy does.

It’s also important to keep in mind that your high-calorie diet will require greater effort to digest, and vitamins can aid with the process. When you are deficient even in just one vitamin, there are literally thousands of small processes within the body that can be affected.

So, are multivitamins essential supplements for muscle gain? For sure!

Multivitamins should play a big part in any supplements for muscle gain plan, whether we’re talking about digestion or protein synthesis or energy metabolism or even vasodilation.

Click here to get the full low down on what you should take and when.