Let’s get one thing straight right from the offset: you don’t actually need any kind of supplement in order to build muscle and burn fat. If you have the right training regime and diet and you’re committed enough to stick at it, then you don’t need to spend a single dime on anything that you might describe as a ‘supplement’.
But with that said, it’s also true that supplements can be incredibly helpful for accelerating your muscle gain and fat loss and for helping you to increase your strength and improve your progress. Some supplements can change your fortunes by orders of magnitude and they help you to get the very most from all your hard work.
The problem is knowing which ones do that and which ones are just a waste of your money.
So with everything we now know about the human body, which bodybuilding supplements stand the test of time and stand above the rest as the wisest ways to spend your cash?
Protein Shake
Protein shakes are in some way the best bodybuilding supplement and in some ways the worst. While it’s easy to disregard protein shakes seeing as you can get protein easily from your diet, the benefit that shakes offer comes from their ease of use. Protein shakes offer you a convenient way to add more amino acids to your diet, they don’t go off, they’re relatively affordable and they actually taste good. Even if you aim to get your protein requirements entirely from your diet, keeping a shake to hand is still a good idea for those days when you’re struggling.
Creatine
Forget pre-workouts, the only supplement you need to increase your energy in the gym is creatine. Creatine helps your body to recycle ATP, which in turn provides you with slightly more energy for pushing through those final reps. And as we all know, it’s the final reps that count!
What’s more, is that creatine actually boosts brain power by providing the brain cells with more energy and it encourages water retention making you look larger as soon as you start using it!
Vitamin Supplement
This is somewhat controversial. Again, it’s possible to get all the nutrition you need from your diet and if you do, you’ll find that it is much more readily absorbed by the body. But can you honestly say that you do get all the nutrients you need in your diet? Most of us do not and this means we need to get them from somewhere else – a multivitamin will do.
What do vitamins and minerals have to do with bodybuilding? Well, apart from enhancing testosterone production (zinc, magnesium, B6, D), increasing contractions (calcium, potassium), aiding cellular energy (B12, lutein) and more, they also help to strengthen the immune system which prevents us having to take time off from training due to colds and flus!
All-In-One
Don’t like the idea of having to individually chase down vitamins and minerals, creatine and protein? An all in one supplement can do all these things and will sometimes throw more into the mix!
Testosterone Boosters
Testosterone boosters are products that can naturally aid your production of testosterone using a host of laboratory-tested ingredients. The best of these include products from brands like Crazy Bulk which combine large numbers of active ingredients which together combine to provide amazing benefits. If you’re over forty then this can give you a huge boost in performance and recovery but even if you’re younger, you’ll find that it can give you more energy, drive, muscle mass and more. Check out Bulking Stack and Cutting Stack from Crazy Bulk for quick results, whether they relate to bulking or cutting.
