Sports Supplements for Muscle Growth
Recently, the use of sports nutrition has become quite a popular phenomenon. This is because specially designed sports supplements are ideal in order to achieve the best possible effect from strength training and cardio loads.
Today, on the shelves of stores, you can find sports supplements that are used for a wide variety of purposes: from rapid weight loss to an equally rapid increase in muscle mass. Modern manufacturers offer such a wide range of products that even professional athletes, not to mention beginners in this matter, can find it difficult to decide on the selection of a product.
Why sports supplements are generally necessary, and what types of it will help to gain weight?
Functions and Types of Sports Supplements
Many people dream of having a slender, beautiful fit body. However, it should be understood that it is much more difficult to achieve this than it seems at first glance. All professional trainers claim that in order to get the desired result, you need to go through several of the most important stages:
- Refuse bad habits (alcohol, smoking);
- Normalize your daily routine;
- Ensure a full 7-8 hour sleep;
- Review the diet, including as many vegetables, cereals, fruits as possible;
- Regularly engage in physical activity (strength training, cardio).
However, if for a long time after you have completed all of the above points, the result is still not noticeable, you need to pay attention to a variety of sports supplements. They are specially designed to help athletes get a beautiful body and help the body recover from exertion, protecting the muscles from injury and damage.
Given that at present, when many people live in a state of stress, and a normalized working day is sometimes a completely inaccessible phenomenon, sports nutrition contributes to the supply of cells and tissues of our body with all the substances it needs. For example, taking certain types of sports food (gainer and protein) can replace the full consumption of food in a situation where you do not have time for this.
Of course, it should be remembered that such products are not a complete substitute for food; therefore, completely abandoning breakfast lunches and dinners, giving preference to sports supplements, is not worth it. That is, despite the fact that you use special supplements for athletes, you should try to eat three, four, and preferably five times a day. Hoping for a protein or gainer as a panacea for mass gain is one of the most costly mistakes in using sports supplements.
However, sports supplements can not only replace one of the meals. Its functions are so vast and diverse that anyone who wants to find an option that suits them perfectly can easily do it. The only thing you need to know before you buy sports nutrition is what types it is divided into and by what principles it works.
Supplements to Increase Muscle Mass
At the moment, there are two main goals for which people acquire sports nutrition. The first of these is getting rid of excess weight. This is due to the use of special products, such as fat burners, l-carnitine, and thermogenics. Such sports supplements, if properly selected, contribute to the acceleration of metabolism and a marked decrease in appetite, which leads to the burning of body fat.
However, their effect will be noticeable only if, in addition to their use, you revise your diet in favor of more wholesome foods and will regularly visit the gym. Otherwise, the effect may not be achieved.
An even more popular function of sports nutrition is to help athletes and bodybuilders gain muscle mass. Specially designed supplements are able to provide the athlete with an additional portion of useful substances that help to make the body more toned and embossed. For weight gain, the following items are included:
Protein | Sports supplement for muscle building material
Perhaps the most popular option in order to build muscle. For a long time now, athletes have been taking various types of protein options on a regular basis. The supplement itself implies a concentrated protein, which, entering the muscles after training, contributes to their hypertrophy. However, choosing protein is not easy – sports food manufacturers produce such a wide range of different types of these products that it will be easy for you to get confused about the choice.
Currently, there are several types of protein that you can find on the shelves of specialized stores: whey protein (isolate), egg, beef protein, casein, etc. The most effective among them is whey protein, which contains 85-95% pure concentrated protein.
Such a protein, due to its high amino acid content, can not only stimulate muscle growth, but it also helps the body recover from the stress that it undergoes during exhausting workouts in the gym. You can use it both before and after training.
I consider soya to be the least effective among all the proteins. Its only advantage is the absence of lactose, which some people may be allergic to, and animal products that are not consumed by vegetarians. However, you should know that the effect of such a protein will be less noticeable.
Whey Mass Gainer | Energy recovery
The Mass Gainer is a carbohydrate-protein mixture, which, along with proteins, is the most popular sports supplement for weight gain. They not only help to build muscle but also quickly restore strength and energy in the body after playing sports. All gainers are usually divided into: fast and slow.
The first type is suitable for athletes with lean complexion who do not suffer from excess fat.
It is most difficult for such people to build muscle, so experts recommend that they use weight gainers on a regular basis, not only after training but also in between meals.
As for slow mixtures, they contain more protein than carbohydrates. Therefore, this option of sports nutrition is suitable for athletes who have a slow metabolism. In addition, this supplement contains much fewer calories than fast gainers, because it has a markedly reduced sugar concentration.
Creatine | Strength
Creatine is a completely natural substance derived from meat, which is able to store the energy reserve necessary for our body. During strength training, creatine releases energy. This is why it is the fuel for the tissues of our body.
Besides the fact that with the help of creatine, you can significantly increase muscle mass, it also helps to significantly increase endurance during sports, which will make your workouts even more effective. Due to the fact that creatine stimulates an increase in muscle tissue, you can work with heavier weights for further in time. The sports nutrition market has a wide variety of supplements, but it is creatine that is considered the simplest, most studied, effective, and cheapest sports supplement for weight gain.
Pre-Workout Complex | Sports supplements to enhance your workout
Today it is the most difficult sports nutrition in its structure, which includes the most effective ingredients for gaining muscle mass and increasing strength indicators.
It consists of: creatine, which increases endurance and guarantees an increase in the number of plates on the bar, caffeine – the nervous system leading to a fighting mood, arginine – which widens the lumen in the blood vessels and accelerates the filling of muscles with nutrients. And nootropic matrix, which is also an integral part of each pre-workout complex, enhances motivation and mental attitude.
The pre-workout complex significantly increases endurance and allows you to turn an ordinary hard workout in the gym into a fierce battle for lean muscle mass, without excess fat. If you run into a wall of stagnation, it’s the pre-workout complex that will become that sports supplement that will move muscle growth from a dead point.
Amino Acids | Sports supplements to protect muscle from damage
Amino acids are the building block of protein molecules. Therefore, as you can understand, this sports supplement is great for gaining lean body mass. But the main function of amino acids is to protect muscles from destruction and accelerate recovery processes in the body.
The use of this type of sports nutrition is mandatory for athletes who are aimed at increasing muscle mass at an accelerated pace. Using amino acids regularly, you can reduce the layer of subcutaneous fat and become the owner of powerful and, at the same time, embossed muscles.
Currently, on the shelves of stores, you can see three types of amino acids: EAAs, BCAAs (a specially developed complex, which consists of the three amino acids most necessary for each athlete) and separate. Taking this type of sports nutrition is quite simple, given that it has many forms of release: tablets, capsules, powder mixtures, or injections.
All of them have their own advantages and disadvantages and are distinguished by practicality and speed of assimilation in the body. The most popular is the powder version, which is very convenient to use during training. It is enough just to dilute it with a certain amount of liquid, after which the resulting mixture can be taken in between sets.
The Bottom Line
All of the above sports supplements help athletes and bodybuilders significantly increase muscle mass. These drugs are designed in such a way as to maximize help the athlete get the most positive effect of the training and help the body recover from physical exertion.
Depending on what goals you set for yourself, you can choose one or the other option of sports nutrition.
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