When getting into shape is your goal, one of the best weight loss tips I can give is to get the proper nutrients to your muscles. Muscle building supplements rank right up there with fat loss supplements as far as popularity and demand are concerned. Ask one hundred different people how to build muscle and what supplements you need, I’m sure you will get one hundred different answers, but the one constant will be protein. Protein in its many forms is the most widely used and, in my opinion, the best muscle building supplement money can buy. Protein is the basic building block of the body so everyone looking for muscle gains needs it. I have written an article on protein so I don’t want to spend a lot of time on it, but make sure you read that article.
What I do want to cover here are some of the lesser known muscle supplements with a brief description about how they help you.
- Creatine – This helps your muscles get the fuel they need and also increases the muscles cell fluid volume thereby increasing size. This may be the second most used muscle supplement after protein.
- Glutamine – Also called L-Glutamine benefits your body in many ways, but one you need to know about for muscle building is it’s ability to reduce your muscles recovery time through faster muscle synthesis. A lot of protein shakes have glutamine already in it you just need to make sure it has enough.
- Nitric Oxide – Not to be confused with nitrous oxide which makes you laugh and cars go fast. Nitric oxide is also referred to as NO. N.O. helps you build muscle by increasing blood flow through blood vessel dilatation, allowing your muscles to get more oxygen and all the nutrients they need for faster recovery. Also results in greater lean muscle gains and increased strength.
- ZMA – Is zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. Regular weight lifting and any strenuous exercise can lower or deplete these vitamins. ZMA’s blend of vitamins replenishes the supply that is available to your muscles and also boosts your testosterone. I read an account of someone that used ZMA for six weeks and gained 5 lbs of muscle.
- Multi- Vitamins – You really should be taking a multi-vitamin anyway, because our food isn’t what it used to be. The vitamin and mineral supply is much lower than it was years ago. If you are lacking any vitamins or minerals that your muscles need it will make it very hard for them to grow.
I could go on for pages and pages with all the muscle supplements on the market. These are the most popular and effective. Don’t be surprised if you see massive improvement once you start taking these, that’s why they were made.