A long time ago, in a gym far, far away, someone made the statement, “Man, you don’t need supplements, just eat a good diet and you get everything you need to be jacked”.
Saying you don’t “need” supplements to get jacked is kind of
like saying you don’t “need” to deadlift to get strong.
Sure, you might be able to do it. But if you ignore a tool
that can help your training, then you are leaving a lot of gains on the table.
Now, the world of supplements can be a bit of a quagmire. It
is hard to know exactly what supplements work, how they work, when to take
them, etc.
When it comes to building muscle and getting more out of
your training, there are 5 supplements that most people would benefit from.
1. CREATINE
Creatine supplementation appears to be the most effective
legal nutritional supplement currently available for getting you jacked (i.e.
enhancing your training and lean body mass). Long story short, creatine works
by improving your body’s capacity to produce ATP during short, intense
training.1
Related: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Bodybuilding
Supplements
The research surrounding the ergogenic effect of creatine
supplementation is pretty mind-blowing. There are easily over 500 peer-reviewed
papers on the topic and approximately 70% of the research has reported an
increase in exercise capacity.2,3,4
In both the short term and long-term, creatine
supplementation appears to enhance the overall quality of training. This often
leads to a 5 to 15% greater gains in strength and performance.
If you are trying to get bigger, faster, and stronger, but
you’re not taking creatine, you are missing out on some serious gains.
2. BETA-ALANINE
Muscle fatigue kills your training.
Remember the last time you were doing weighted dips and you
hit the wall and just couldn’t hammer out another rep even if your life
depended on it? Beta-Alanine may help you get that extra rep in as it has been
shown to reduce muscular fatigue and increase work capacity.
Several studies on beta-alanine have that supplementation
can increase your work capacity by a few reps when training in moderate rep
ranges (8-15).5,6,7 That means more dips for you!
As a result of being able train harder and longer,
beta-alanine is effective for muscle hypertrophy, greater fat loss, and
improved recovery between sets. Just think about it, if you can train harder
and longer you accumulate more volume. More volume = more muscle. Training
harder and longer also creates a larger calorie deficit, leading to greater fat
loss.
There is also evidence that beta alanine can augment fat
loss. However, the most likely reason for this is not due to beta-alanine
directly, but the fact that it increases work capacity.8
Beta alanine is also often marketed as a pre-workout
ingredient. It is likely marketed that way because the feeling that beta
alanine can give you in high doses (the itchy face) makes it seem
efficacious. Don’t let the marketing
itchy face and “I’m flying feeling” hype cloud your science. It isn’t really a
pre-workout.
Beta-alanine works through bioaccumulation in the muscles.
Like creatine, it really doesn’t and probably shouldn’t be taken right before
training. In fact, some evidence
indicates that taking it with a meal is best9.
Related: Essential Supplementation - Beta-Alanine: Help or
Hype?
Our first two supplements, beta-alanine and creatine, are
often stacked together and have been shown to be an excellent combination for
individuals looking to increase performance in their anaerobic training. They
both work through different mechanisms to increase work capacity, so you might
think about taking them together.
The typical dose for beta-alanine is 2-5g/ day. Similar to
creatine, it is not dependent upon timing, so it can be consumed at any point
during the day, but again taking it with a meal appears to be a bit more
effective.
3. CAFFEINE
Caffeine is currently the best pre-workout supplements for
increasing energy, focus, and training capacity. Not only that, caffeine is
also capable of increasing aerobic capacity and improving sustained power
output.
Several studies have shown that caffeine pre-workout can
increase power output 10, 11, 12. However, it appears to not be related to
improvements in 1 repetition maximums, but in sustaining power, meaning your
5x3 or 5x5 sets, are likely to improve when taking caffeine.
There have been documented increases in aerobic capacity
from caffeine supplementation 13, 14, 15. This could actually be a bad thing.
It means you will probably have the physical energy to spend a few more minutes
on that torturous stair master.
Scientists think the increased aerobic capacity is due to
the increased free fatty acid (FFA) release; however, they aren’t really sure
about that. It is likely more of a mental thing than.
Caffeine is often touted to be a good “fat burner”. Sadly
the science on this suggests it’s not really that great at burning extra fat.
Most of the fat that is released from fat cells by caffeine dosing is just
recylced16. So caffeine probably won’t directly increase fat loss. But like
beta-alanine, it may increase your training capacity, making increased fat-loss
a byproduct.
Dosing of caffeine is highly variable. Your genetics and
habitual use of caffeine play a large role in how much is needed to elicit an
effect. The more you consume on a daily basis, the more you will need to
consume in order to see any training benefit.
Additionally, there appears to be a “saturation” limit where
you only receive an anti-fatigue benefit and no additional effects from higher
levels of caffeine intake. Don’t go too high, as too much caffeine actually can
kill you (don’t worry about it you 3 pots of coffee a day drinkers, the amount
you have to drink is almost physically impossible).
4. WHEY PROTEIN
There is an extensive body of research surrounding the
efficacy of whey protein supplementation in increasing strength and muscle
mass. There is a substantial amount of
evidence suggesting that whey protein helps to increase both strength and
muscle mass.
Interestingly, the things that make up whey protein seem to
increase the cell signaling pathways, specifically mTOR, responsible for muscle
protein synthesis and muscle hypertrophy. It is believed that this in large
part due to high concentrations of leucine present in whey protein.
Whey protein is an excellent source of a wide range of amino
acids and additional nutrients that are beneficial to health. Whey protein has
been shown to increase lean body mass in conjunction with resistance training,
bolster glutathione status, have immunomodulatory effects and improve gut
health.
If you have access to a good whey protein and struggle
hitting your daily protein needs, you definitely should think about
supplementing with whey protein.
5. ZMA
To most of us vitamins aren’t a sexy supplement to take.
They either a) remind you of the Flinstone ones you took as a kid or b) some
hippy new-age stuff that has nothing to do with getting jacked. Well, it turns
out you might want to actually give vitamins and minerals a second chance,
especially if you train hard.
Related: ZMA Supplements - Do They Improve Sleep & Test
Levels?
ZMA is a supplement that contains the micronutrients Zinc,
Magnesium, and Vitamin B.
Zinc is excreted in our sweat, making athletes more
susceptible to zinc deficiency.17 Also,
unless you are chewing on your zinc plated barbell, it is likely you are aren’t
getting much zinc in your diet which makes ZMA a go to supplement for many
hard-charging athletes.
Want to keep your testosterone levels from crashing when you
are training hard or cutting? Well it turns out that supplementing with zinc
during periods of high-training volumes and/or caloric deficits can prevent
reductions in testosterone in men18,19.
Not only does zinc affect testosterone, it also can affect
the other important “T” hormone, your thyroid. Supplementing with zinc in
athletes has been shown to prevent loses in both T4 and the more bioactive
T318,20. Why is this important? Well, the thyroid hormone can kind of be
considered the gas pedal to your metabolism. Having robust thyroid function is
critical to maximizing your training.
While magnesium has a lot of benefits, the most well known
in popular press is that it can help some people with sleep issues. Taking magnesium was able to improve sleep
quality and reduce sleeping cortisol levels in people who had less than
desirable sleep21. In another study, taking magnesium improved sleep quality in
people who were magnesium deficient22.
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