Gaining muscle mass is a pursuit that requires a meticulous approach to training, diet and supplementation. As you already know, intense and heavy training sessions are the foundation of muscle growth, but the same can’t occur without supplying the muscles with adequate amounts of nutrients essential to anabolism.
But the number of bodybuilders who manage to grow huge and super strong and stay that way by getting only these two things right is really small. Most of them introduce another factor in the equation: muscle-building supplements that stimulate better growth at cellular level and promote the body’s production of hormones that ensure lean mass gains.
Without further ado, here are the 5 size-up supplements that you should use to progress faster towards the completion of your muscle building goals.
5 supplements for size and strength
#1. Protein Powder
Protein powder is one of the main supplements for putting on size. Bodybuilders, in particular, require at least twice as much protein as the average moderately active individual. This adds up to 1.1 to 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight per day, which is not an easy goal if you’re trying to get all of your protein from whole food. Protein powder blends offer a convenient way to meet your daily protein requirements and power through heavy lifting sessions.
Taking a protein supplement before training will raise the amount of amino acids in your blood and up your performance, while taking it after the workout will ensure a smooth repair and recovery process. The best protein powder blends contain adequate amounts of fast-digesting whey protein hydrolysates and isolates and slow-digesting milk protein isolates and micellar casein.
WHEN TO TAKE
- Training Days – 30 minutes before your workout and immediately after your workout.
- Rest Days – 2 times daily, once upon waking and before going to bed.
#2. Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)
Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) contain the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine, which have to be acquired through your diet or supplementation because the body can’t make them on its own. The beauty of supplementation with BCAAs is that these amino acids are readily broken down for fuel during strenuous exercise and can therefore help athletes increase force production and optimize their performance.
Certain studies have even shown that BCAAs supplementation can decrease your perception of exertion and fatigue during intense training by managing the brain’s tryptophan levels. This way, taking BCAAs before a workout will help prevent catabolism and reduce muscle soreness, while also helping you train heavy for longer.
On the other hand, supplementing with BCAAs after a training session will accelerate recovery and boost insulin production. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that helps muscle cells get all the nutrients they need to repair and grow, so elevating your insulin levels after working out will help you make bigger mass gains during recovery.
WHEN TO TAKE
- Training Days – 30 minutes before your workout and immediately after your workout.
- Rest Days – 2 times daily, once upon waking and before going to bed.
#3. Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine is one of the most effective supplements out there, and it has long been recognized as a product that delivers on its promise of improved strength. Also, there’s an abundance of positive research on the benefits of creatine supplementation. During exercise, creatine plays a fundamental role in energy production by being a fuel source for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is an energy system used for explosive muscle contractions.
By supplying fast-twitch muscle fibers with immediate energy, creatine ensures that these fibers don’t prematurely fatigue and strengthens their contraction.
Therefore, creatine supplementation can drastically enhance the body’s capacity to perform high-intensity work and help you get better size and strength gains as a result. When taken after exercise, creatine will boost muscle creatine stores and promote greater protein synthesis during recovery by increasing the amount of water taken up by muscle cells and increasing the release of the anabolic hormone insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1).
WHEN TO TAKE
- Training Days – 30 minutes before your workout and immediately after your workout.
- Rest Days – 2 times daily, with breakfast and with last meal
#4. HMB (β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyric Acid)
HMB is one of the more rarely used supplements for building size. It is an active anabolic metabolite of leucine which is naturally found in skeletal muscle, meaning that once in the body, a portion of leucine gets metabolized into HMB. In its supplemental form, HMB is commonly used by bodybuilders who are looking to increase the benefits of strength training.
Multiple studies have shown that the combination of heavy weightlifting and HMB supplementation leads to superior results in terms of increased lean body mass, decreased body fat and strength gains, compared to weightlifting without adequate HMB supplementation.
Although the exact mechanisms by which HMB affects muscle function remain unknown, the latest reports show that HMB may inhibit protein degradation during periods of resistance lifting, which could be the reason why this supplement is so effective at preventing muscle catabolism.
WHEN TO TAKE
- Training Days – 2 times daily, for best results take your first serving 40 minutes before your workout(or immediately before/after your workout) and a second serving at night.
- Rest Days – 2 times daily, first serving in the morning and a second serving at night.
#5. LCLT (L-Carnitine-L-Tartrate)
LCLT is a blend of L-carnitine, a compound synthesized by the liver from the amino acids methionine and lysine, and L-tartrate, a salt of tartaric acid which is a powerful antioxidant. L-carnitine functions as a carrier molecule that transports activated long-chain fatty acids from the cytosol to mitochondria where ATP is produced by metabolizing fatty acids.
The blend of L-carnitine and L-tartrate creates a highly bioavailable form of carnitine which works as an anabolic catalyst – it boosts anabolism in skeletal muscle and supports recovery – and it’s widely regarded as superior to its predecessor L-carnitine.
In one randomized, placebo-controlled study, 21 days of LCLT supplementation were found to boost the number of testosterone receptors in skeletal muscle and promote luteinizing hormone secretion in male lifters.
Another relevant study found that LCTL supplementation reduced catabolism after squatting and enhanced fat loss by increasing the number of fat cells metabolized into energy in the form of ATP. All in all, supplementing with LCLT can greatly improve your recovery from high-intensity exercise, enhance your metabolic response to exercise and help you reduce your body fat percentage at the same time.
WHEN TO TAKE
- Training Days – once daily, with pre-workout meal.
- Rest Days – once daily, ideally with carbohydrates to improve uptake
