The Best Supplements To Build Muscle and Lose Weight

Are you caught up in this supplement hype taking as many supplements as you can in hope that they will be the fast track to your goal?

Are you avoiding taking any supplements because you think they are bad for your health and might make you add too much muscle or put on weight?

Well let me start by saying that taking most supplements are NOT needed and you are getting suckered into believing they will make a different when they Won’t…

Also you are 100% WRONG to think that taking supplements will make you put on weight or make you ‘too muscly’’.

So with this in mind, do you want to know 3 supplements that you should be taking and why?

Would you like to know how to make your exercise more worthwhile and get better results inside and outside of the gym?

I am presuming the answer is yes so read on and discover why you should be taking supplements to build the body you want.

First of all what are supplements and why do we need to take them?

Nutrition supplements are fast becoming a staple in every household and if you are someone that likes to exercise then they are certainly going to be very important and should not be overlooked and here’s why;-

Taking nutrition supplements or not could be the difference between success and failure.

A good workout can become a great one if you use the correct supplements alongside it. Before, during and after we exercise we need to ensure that our body is in an optimal state to help us build, repair and maintain muscle mass.

You may know that from time if we don’t supply our body with the correct nutrition our body goes into what we call a ‘catabolic’ state where we start to break muscle down, which is the last thing we want. So keeping our body in an anabolic state where we can build muscle is critical.

If we were to rely on just food alone it would nearly be impossible to provide our body with the right nutrients at the right times to stay anabolic and build muscle.

So…. Enter Mr Supplement.

When building muscle and muscle recovery is concerned nutrition timing is everything. Since our bodies take a lot longer to digest and process food as opposed to specific supplements it makes sense for food to take a back seat.

After a hard training session in order to maximize the potential muscle growth and repair and keep our body anabolic, research shows that a post workout supplement should be taken immediately for best results.

Do you want to know exactly what take post workout for best results? Find out by reading this here.

So now we know the importance of supplements is two-fold:

1.     To help provide our body with the correct nutritional intake that we don’t manage to get from food sources.

2.     To ensure we can deliver the required nutrients to the muscles in as little time as possible.

With this in mind, which 3 supplements are most beneficial for you to get lean build muscle faster than ever?

1. Whey Protein

Do you want to lose fat or gain muscle?

Then a whey protein supplement is going to be one supplement that you will need to use. But why?

As mentioned above after we workout we need to get a rapid supply of protein to the working muscles in order to kick-start immediate muscle recovery.

Why is whey protein considered the best choice?

Whey protein is easily digested by the body meaning the nutrients are quickly absorbed by the muscles. This makes whey the go to choice after a workout so that the recovery process can start immediately.

Whey protein supplements also give you a metabolism boost.

Consuming large amounts of protein throughout the day helps to give us an energy boost by raising metabolism. This is turn has a positive effect on calorie expenditure to support weight loss and lower body fat percentage.

This is down to the effect that protein has on our appetite.

Do you want to stop snacking?

Then Whey protein is shown to stop snacking by up to 60% and when combined with weight training replacing calories from other sources with a high quality whey protein supplement is likely to help you reduce body fat at a greater rate.

Packed Full of Essential Amino Acids

The make up of protein is of smaller molecules named amino acids, which are the building blocks for everything essential in the human body. Including muscle growth!

Some of these amino acids are known as ‘essential amino acids’ that we can only get from foods and guess what Whey Protein is packed full of them!

Particularly Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s) providing the biggest support to muscle growth than any other amino acids.

How much protein do you really need though? Research shows that aiming somewhere between 30-50g post workout will get you best results. To learn exactly how much protein you need read my blog on the perfect pre and post workout nutrition by clicking here.

Did you know that if you aren’t taking a BCAA supplement you could be breaking down muscle tissue throughout the day? Read further to see the importance of BCCA’s as a stand alone supplement.

2. Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s)

Did you know that evidence shows having a high BCAA intake will help produce greater muscle gains?

But do you know what BCAA’s are and when you should take them as a supplement? No…. Your about to find out!

So as we now know from above BCAA’s are a branch of essential amino acids that can’t be developed by the human body so we must get these from food and supplements.

The 3 essential amino acids that make up BCAA’s are Valine, Leucine and isoleucine. Out of these 3 essential amino acids research has shown that Leucine is more effective that any other amino acid in promoting protein synthesis and stimulating muscle growth.

Just to clarify protein synthesis is the process in the body where we build new proteins to replace existing ones making sure there is a constant supply of amino acids so that muscle tissue can be repaired helping to reduce muscle breakdown and soreness but most importantly…. Muscle growth!

This process stars even before we begin exercising so if you aren’t giving yourself an adequate supply of proteins and amino acids before during and after your training then you could be putting in all that hard work only to miss out on the results you are searching for.

Yes that’s right consuming BCAA’s before during and after a workout will help stimulate more muscle growth.

However is using a BCAA supplement focused solely around stimulating protein synthesis and muscle growth?

Studies have shown that people that consume a higher concentration of BCAA’s are likely to have less body fat. This is partly down to that magic like Leucine, which increases energy expenditure and fat oxidation.

So if you want to build more muscle and burn more fat then a BCAA supplement needs to be added to your routine.

Another question you might want answering though… Why can’t you rely on the amino acids present in other proteins such as food sources and whey protein?

When taken as a stand alone supplement BCAA’s are require no digestion and are absorbed straight into the blood stream.

On to the next…

3. Creatine

Do you want to increase your workout intensity? Who doesn’t….

Creatine can help you do just that. So there’s no wonder it’s found its way into my top 3 supplements because increased workout intensity means better results right!

Let me explain why you should consider adding creatine to your supplement list.

What is it?

Creatine is also made up of amino acids (We all know what amino acids are by now). Its main purpose is to help us restore Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) levels in the muscle. ATP is the body’s main energy source so if this energy isn’t readily available then there will be a negative impact on workout intensity and performance.

So supplementing creatine helps to restore ATP levels meaning we can train harder for longer! Perfect!!

Think of it like this… Towards the end of a workout you will be experiencing muscle fatigue and more likely to fail on reaching the required repetitions in each set. Creatine goes a long way in helping you to push out those final repetitions.

What is the result of taking creatine for this benefit? Quite simple really it’s More Muscle Mass!

So here is an important question… Who should take creatine?

Is creatine only effective for building muscle and size or can you use it to aid weight loss too?

Well another huge benefit from supplementing creatine is that it helps to gives you a metabolic boost. One of the most effective ways to burn body fat when we want to lose weight is sprints.

Purely down to the huge metabolism boost sprints give us. When we increase our metabolic rate we are going to burn more energy and since sprints are a very explosive exercise creatine supplementation allows you to recover quicker and work harder throughout each sprint.

That’s not all though..

Even when we are on a weight loss diet we will need to reduce carbohydrates and be in a calorie deficit. This is going to leave us more fatigued so in order to ensure the amount of weight we can lift remains as high as possible creatine supplementation can assist us in achieving that.

Remember Heavy Weight lifting is recommended as the number one way to continue burning calories after you finish exercising.

How is this possible and how many more calories can you burn?

Read my post on the ‘after-burn’ effect and burn more fat than ever. Click here.

One final thing…

Are there any side effects of taking creatine?

When supplementing with creatine it is important to increase water intake, which is a good thing anyway as we could all do with drinking more!

This is because creatine will retain water in the body by storing it in the muscles so dehydration is likely to occur hence the reason for more water consumption to combat this.

Do I still recommend using creatine for weight loss?

Certainly! But only if you can get everything else in your nutrition plan spot on and manage to successfully keep yourself in a calorie deficit.

Want to learn how many calories you need to be in a calorie deficit? Check out my online plans here.

When are you going to take your creatine supplement?

Research shows that taking 5mg either pre or post workout will have the best impact on athletic performance.

To Conclude…

Are these the only 3 supplements that you should be taking? No but these 3 can help you go along way to hitting your fitness goals.

Please also bear in mind that these are my top 3 supplements and there are others than can benefit you.

But hopefully the evidence presented above will can you an insight into what your body really needs to build muscle and burn fat.

Until Next Time

EJP