Bodybuilding requires continuous progressive resistance training to develop and increase the growth of muscles. It’s pretty hard to do, as you need patience and determination to keep training to develop your muscles. That said, if you’re looking for something that can help you greatly in your bodybuilding journey, there is something that might be useful: bodybuilding supplements. What is gear in bodybuilding?
With that in mind, there are a lot of bodybuilding supplements you can see in the market nowadays. Before we discuss why you should try out bodybuilding supplements, let’s first list some of the most popular bodybuilding supplements in the market.
Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is a power-enhancing, muscle-developing supplement with a high safety profile among veteran bodybuilders and scientists. It has a range of evidence supporting its claim that it is an excellent supplement to help you build larger muscles more efficiently, making it essential for bodybuilding for for those people who are trying to gain muscle mass.
How does it work? It creates more phosphocreatine and creatine in your muscles during high-intensity training. Due to the increased phosphocreatine and creatine available in your muscles, you’ll last longer during these workout sessions because it helps your muscles recover faster in between sets.
BCAAs
If you’ve been in the bodybuilding industry for a while or are researching which supplement to take in your bodybuilding journey, then surely you’ve heard about Branched-Chain Amino Acids or BCAAs.
BCAAs work like creatine monohydrate supplements as they help you recover faster in between sets. It also helps you reduce soreness after a workout session and can help promote protein metabolism by reducing protein degradation.
Whey Protein
This supplement is also one of the most popular supplements in the market. It also reduces soreness and promotes faster recovery speeds every session, and it has a more active approach to protein synthesis than casein protein and soy. However, people often pair up casein and whey protein because some users say it has a much more significant effect than taking them individually.
With the combination of slow-digesting casein protein and fast-digesting whey protein, your body will have a higher rate of protein synthesis and reduced muscle breakdown because of the more extended anabolic periods in your body.
Fish Oil Supplements
This one is also reasonably popular in the market right now. Fish oils are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which significantly affect your body, especially if you’re a bodybuilder or a fitness enthusiast. This is because fish oils provide a lot of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. High-intensity workouts produced microscopic tears. Because of these tears, your muscles will become inflamed and damaged.
While these traits are desired to some extent, too much damage in your muscle fibers worsens your recovery rate, which fish oils supplements can help with. Like the other supplements listed above, fish oil supplements promote protein synthesis, increasing muscle gain.
Here’s what you need to know; When and how much to take?
Now that you know some of the most popular bodybuilding supplements, why should you try them? Here are some reasons why.
1. It Boosts Your Energy
Working out requires you to do something your body is not usually capable of doing, especially with weights. Because of this, you get tired quickly, especially if you don’t have enough experience, although, over time, this will change. This is especially true for high-intensity workouts where it’s more hardcore.
If you get tired quickly in every session, trying out bodybuilding supplements will help you immensely. A lot of people take bodybuilding supplements mainly because of how it improves their performance in the gym. Many people turn to creatine because it’s a good energy source, allowing you to last longer and build more muscles.
2. Aids in Fat Loss
Trimming out extra body fat is crucial, especially for professional bodybuilders. This is because they do professional bodybuilding for aesthetics, which can help them win competitions. That said, bodybuilding supplements can help trim the extra fat away from your body. This is because bodybuilding supplements promote a higher rate of metabolism, which burns your fat away faster.
3. Helps You Achieve Better Muscles
Bodybuilding is not just about gaining bigger muscles. It’s also about gaining muscles in an aesthetically pleasing way; hence it’s not just about getting bigger muscles. However, if you’re having a hard time in that aspect, many bodybuilding supplements can help you in the market. For one, protein supplements are a natural way to boost muscle gains and enhance endurance and strength. Protein is one of the essential nutrients your body needs to gain muscle. This is because, as mentioned earlier, it promotes muscle growth by enhancing protein synthesis, reducing
protein degradation, and helping muscles repair themselves faster. You can also pair your protein supplements with vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, glutamine, and B-complex vitamins to enhance muscle growth and increase muscle recovery speed and endurance.
4. Aids Muscle Health As You Age
Aging is usually associated with progressive loss of muscle mass. In fact, after 30, your body will start declining in muscle mass by about 0.1 to 0.5% every year. This rate gets higher the moment you’re over 65 years old. However, there is a way to avoid that. Bodybuilding supplements, especially fish oil, help your muscles retain their strength even as you grow older.
For example, a 16-week study showed that supplementing a daily dose of 4200 mg of omega-3s significantly helps older adults increase their muscle growth after being paired with the right amount of exercise. Not only that, but other studies also show that when paired with resistance training, fish oils can promote boosted muscle growth and maintenance when taken regularly.
Final Words
If you’re looking for something that can help you on your bodybuilding journey, then supplements will be a great help. Not only do they promote muscle growth, but they can also help you avoid having too much soreness every after-session, which is a huge annoyance for most of us. They are a god-sent for bodybuilders and if you’re planning to be one, start by getting a good routine and a trusty bodybuilding supplement.
Feature image: Pixabay
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