Everyone who has a regular workout wants to get the most benefit from it. Workout has many benefits such as strength and gaining muscle mass. There are three requirements, which will help you to get maximal muscle gain. The first is to consume more calories than you are burning, the second is to eat more protein than you are breaking down, and the third is to create a training plan that is challenging to your muscles. It is recommended to add supplements to your meals because without them is roughly impossible to achieve your goals.
Check some supplements below that help you to build muscle mass more effectively.
Creatine
Creatine is a substance, which is produced naturally in the body. It helps your muscles to produce energy during high-intensity training. Including this supplement in your meals, will improve your amount of creatine up to 40% than your normal level. Many studies have shown that creatine increases your muscle strength. It also affects the cells of your muscle’s workout performance and helps to gain muscle mass.
If you are trying to gain muscle, it may be a good supplement for you. It also tends to increase the amount of water in your muscles. It means that your muscle cells slightly increase, which leads to muscle gain. In addition, creatine also may boost your hormone levels that are responsible for muscle growth. Some research showed that creatine may lower the breakdown of proteins in your muscles. It also has been studied more widely, and it has a safety profile.
Protein Supplements
When you are trying to build muscle, protein is one of the most important requirements. It means that you need to eat more protein than your body breaks down during natural processes. One way to get protein is through foods, but you can also get protein from supplements. You can find many different supplements, but the most popular are soy protein, whey, and casein. If you choose another protein supplement it may contain protein isolated from chicken, beef, eggs, and other sources.
One study showed that including in your meals protein supplement rather than adding extra carbs is more effective in building muscle mass. Many studies suggest that overeating protein supplements may not help you to gain muscle. If you have doubts about how much protein to consume in a day, you need to eat between 0.5-0.9 grams of protein per pound of weight (1.2-2 grams per kilogram), it is considered the best choice. If you are getting enough protein from your diet, supplements are not necessary.
Weight Gainers
Weight Gainers are supplements, which help you to get more protein and calories. These types of supplements are helpful for those who are having problems with gaining muscle mass. It’s necessary to eat many calories and lift weights to build muscle, but anyway, many people find it hard. Weight gainer supplements contain different amounts of calories, it’s common to contain more than 1000 calories per portion. Although protein is very important for gaining mass, it’s not the main source of calories. Most of the calories we get from carbohydrates. One portion of high-calorie supplements often contains 20-60 grams of protein and 75-300 grams of carbohydrates.
Some studies have shown that physically inactive adults who are considerably increasing their amount of calories may increase lean mass if they are consuming enough protein. On the other hand, some studies have shown that physically trained adults, who are consuming supplements may not be effective in building lean mass.
In case you are having problems with eating, it is recommended to consume weight gainer supplements. However, if you don’t have problems with eating, you should try to avoid these high-calorie supplements. High-calorie supplements help you to gain more protein and calories. If you are not experiencing problems with eating it’s not necessary to consume these supplements.
Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine is an amino acid that can increase your exercise performance and lower fatigue. It also can help you to build muscle if you have an exercise program.
One research showed that eating 4 grams of beta-alanine per day for eight weeks increases lean body mass better than a placebo in football players and college wrestlers. However, another research showed that eating this supplement for six weeks, alongside a high-intensity training program increased lean body mass by roughly 1 pound.
Beta-alanine may help to increase your muscle mass only combined with a high-intensity training program. This supplement also needs more investigation into how it influences exercise performance.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids
Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) contain three individual types of amino acids such as leucine, valine, and isoleucine. You can find BCAAs in many animal foods such as meat, dairy, eggs, poultry, and fish. Every day you get BCAAs from foods, but it also becomes popular to consume them as a supplement.
There are few studies showing that BCAAs can improve muscle mass or decrease muscle loss, compared to a placebo. Other studies have shown that if you are following a training program BCAAs may not be effective. If you aren’t eating enough high-quality proteins, you should include them in your diet. BCAAs need more studies to be recommended as a weight gainer supplement.
HMB
When your body is processing the amino acid (leucine), it produces a molecule called beta-hydroxy beta-methyl butyrate (HMB). HMB is important because it helps to decrease the breakdown of the protein in the body. It also is responsible for some beneficial effects of leucine and protein in your diet. This molecule is produced naturally in your body, but eating it as a supplement may increase the amount of HMB in your body which may be beneficial for your muscles.
Research has shown that eating 3-6 grams of HMB by untrained adults helps to increase lean body mass from weight training. Other studies have shown that eating the same amounts of HMB is not effective at improving muscle mass in adults who have training experience. However, HMB may be helpful for you if you are beginning a training program, but it may be not effective for those who have experience in weight training.
Other Supplements
Many other supplements may improve your muscle mass. Some supplements are testosterone boosters, glutamine, carnitine, and conjugated linoleic acid.
Testosterone Boosters: These supplements contain Tribulus Terrestris, DHEA, ashwagandha, and D-aspartic acid. It is recommended to consume these supplements only if you are experiencing testosterone deficiency.
Glutamine and Carnitine: If you are young or middle-aged these supplements may be not effective for you. Some research has shown that if you are elderly carnitine may have some benefits for your muscle mass.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): CLA contains a group of omega-6 fatty acids that exert many effects on the body. CLA needs more studies because at the moment researchers have shown mixed results. Finally, it’s unclear if CLA is beneficial for you.
There are many supplements that can help you to build muscle mass but there is not enough evidence that they are effective.
