Bodybuilder Supplements, Muscle Gaining Supplements, Most effective Bodybuilding Supplements

Your Guide to Bodybuilder Supplements & Sport Nutrition

Bodybuilding and sport supplements contain specific ingredients that help achieve your specific goals. It is important to understand what the main ingredients are and how they work.
This is the first part of this guide.
The second part of the guide tells you about individual types of supplements and what they can do for you.

PART ONE OF THE GUIDE

Protein

Protein is without doubt the most important supplement for bodybuilders and anyone engaged in weight training and muscle development. However endurance athletes and active individuals equally rate protein as an important part of their diet.

What is Protein?
Protein is the building material for the growth and maintenance of all body tissue including muscle, blood, skin, hair, nails, internal organs, brain and heart. It is also vital for formulating hormones such as testosterone, enzymes and antibodies. Protein is broken down during digestion into simpler units called amino acids, the building blocks of protein. The amino acids are stored in an amino acid 'pool' which the body draws on 24 hours a day. Once the amino acids enter the muscle they reform into protein again that the body then uses for tissue growth and repair.

Are There Different Kinds of Protein?
There are a number of different sources of protein each offering specific nutrition for bodybuilding and fitness enthusiasts. Below is a general guide to the most common and probably the best proteins.
Whey Protein:
Whey protein is a fast absorbing protein which can be taken at anytime of the day. Especially good post workout.
Whey Isolate Protein:
Whey Isolate protein is a fast absorbing low fat, low carb protein that is great for taking post workout. Ideal for those who want to build muscle and loose fat.
Soy Protein:
Soy protein is low fat, low carb vegetable protein ideal for general health and fitness.
Egg Protein:
Egg protein is lactose free and good for lean muscle growth and for developing a toned physique.
In addition there is also milk proteins, hydrolyzed whey protein and casein.

How Much Protein Should You Take?
This is a difficult one. Too little protein and you can suffer poor muscle tone, low energy levels, slow recovery from wounds and poor resistance to infection. Too much and you can cause damage to your kidneys. Active people, but particularly bodybuilders and those looking for a supplement for sports enhancement need more than the average person.
The amount of protein required is usually worked out on body weight and your activity levels. Below is a guide.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel of the human body. You get carbohydrates from pasta, bread, potatoes, grains, fruit and vegetables. The smallest molecules of carbohydrates are sugars. You can not train hard without a good carbohydrate source.

What are Carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are your bodies preferred energy source. When carbohydrates are digested they break down into single sugars. This sugar is then transported to the liver, where it is converted into glucose or blood sugar. Most of this glucose is carried by the bloodstream to provide energy to the muscles and brain. A small amount of glucose is converted into glycogen and stored in the muscle and liver. Glyocgen is the single most important fuel for endurance athletes. Excess glucose is converted into fat as a reserve fuel source.

Are There Different Kinds of Carbohydrates?
There are three main types of carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates (sugars),  complex carbohydrates (starches) and fibre.
Simple carbs:
Provide a great source of instant energy. They quickly enter the bloodstream and give an immediate energy boost. However it is short lived and if they are not used they can easily be stored as fat. So use simple carbs sparingly or when you need to deliver nutrients to the muscles at times when they most need it
Complex carbs:
These are the best carbohydrates to take as they release there energy over a long period of time and allow you more time to utilize their energy before they start their process of being stored as fat.
Fibre:
Does not provide any particular energy source but is vital at removing waste from the body.

Creatine Monohydrate

One of the most talked about supplements of the last decade. Research has shown that Creatine increase muscle mass and performance in sport and in explosive activities such as weight training, bodybuilding, sprinting and combat sports

What is Creatine?
Creatine is a natural product, not a steroid and has no deadly side effects. It is derived from an amino acid manufactured in the liver, pancreas and kidneys. From there it is transported by the bloodstream to the muscles. More than 90% of Creatine is stored in the muscles with a small amount in the brain and heart. Put very simply, Creatine helps create energy through a complex chemical process in the muscle to provide the muscle with quicker muscle contraction. It also acts as a lactic acid buffer. Lactic acid is a chemical compound that builds up in the muscle and causes that tight burning feeling. The energy from Creatine is short lived which makes it only important for short, high intensity activities.
Creatine powders and Creatine tablets are available to be taken as a supplement.

PART TWO OF THE GUIDE

Protein Supplements

Protein supplements are a convenient way of adding protein to you diet. They are specially formulated to help you achieve your desired results. You can buy it in various ways. They can take the form of protein powders, ready mixed protein shakes, and protein meal bars. For a fast absorbing protein look for Whey protein such as NRG Pure Protein powder. Slow absorbing protein supplements contain both whey protein and other sourced protein such as Soy and egg and can be found in
Sci-Mx GRS-5 Protein System

The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients such as so be careful with the very cheapest protein powder and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Protein Powders

Weight Gain Supplements

To gain weight you have to be taking in more calories than you use. Weight gaining supplements are designed to add extra calories to your diet, with the correct blend of high quality proteins, carbohydrates and fats,
Most bodybuilders need to meet extreme calorie requirements (4000 plus calories a day) and to do this with food alone is very difficult but by taking a weight gain supplement such as
Muscletech Mass Tech Weight Gainer at nearly 1000 calories a serving, it is possible. Look for a weight gainer that has as little saturated fat as possible. If you are taking it immediately before or after a workout go for one with a high carbohydrate content. This is the prime time to feed your muscles with fast acting carbs, so they can drive the insulin cycle and get the amino acids into the muscle cells quickly. You body will need the calories during this time, so don't be afraid of taking in a lot of calories. Just keep the fat content lower. If you struggle to put on weight go for the high calorie weight gainer.

Creatine is a great addition to a weight gainer for Creatine requires high amounts of quick acting carbs which most weight gainers are made from. The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients so be careful with very cheap bodybuilding supplements and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Weight Gain Powders

Weight Loss Supplements

Losing weight is not easy and will require a great deal of discipline, will power and planning. However there are now a range of weight loss supplements that can assist in reaching your goal. They are not wonder drugs and will not make you lose weight if you continue to sit on your bottom and eat large amounts of calories. But used along side an exercise routine they are now showing to improve the weight loss outcome.

There is still a lot of research going on but the ingredients used have been getting very positive results.
One of the main ingredients used in weight loss supplements is Green Tea. Green Tea appears to help the body heat up, (thermogenic) in other words increase fat metabolism. Other ingredients act as appetite suppressants and one, white bean extract, decreases starch absorption, preventing high calorie carbs getting into your system.

The weight loss supplements that increase the metabolism are also called fat burners.
Not all fat burners are created equal! Fat burners differ greatly in price due to their ingredients list. The simplest fat burners will contain things like L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, and L-Organine. These are amino acids normally found in protein which have been found to assist in the breakdown and utilisation of dietary fat (the fat you eat). Next up are the stimulant based fat burners. These aim to increase the speed at which your body works, thus increasing the daily calorie expenditure. The most effective (and, not unusually, the most expensive) are the thermogenic supplements. These actually tell your body to generate more heat and therefore use more calories even when you‘re resting. These are usually combined with all the other elements mentioned to give a three-pronged attack to the calorie burning process.

Weight loss supplements have come along way and the antidotal evidence has been very good.
The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients so be careful with very cheap bodybuilding supplements and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Weight Loss Supplements

Performance Supplements

Peformance supplements or ergogenic supplements are one of the big growth areas in supplementation in recent years. Massive leaps have been made in the formulation of these products to enable real results to be obtained. All the products listed are natural and are intended to support and boost the body‘s own systems, unlike drugs which are designed to over-ride and mask them.

Test-9-Meth is designed to boost testosterone in the male body. Testosterone is one of the key hormones responsible for muscle growth and fat storage and levels have been proven to drop with age. Secreta-GH helps to boost natural growth hormone levels. Growth hormone is produced during deep sleep and in response to very intense exercise and works in conjunction with testosterone (in the male body at least) to promote healthy tissue growth and repair, and in part is responsible for regulating fat storage. Both men and women can take this to boost natural levels of growth hormone to increase rates of fat burning and muscle growth.

Sci-Mx‘s 17-T Somatocri-Mx combines growth hormone and testosterone boosters in one effective product.
Other aids like Leu-Mx and GAK-Mx have been shown to boost muscle contraction strength resulting in more intense workouts, whilst HMB is a well-proven supplement for reducing muscle catabolism.
The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients so be careful with very cheap bodybuilding supplements and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Performance Supplements

Meal Bar Supplements

The majority of nutritional supplements come in powder or tablets but meal bars are a great way of getting the best proteins and energy boosting carbohydrates in an easy to consume bar that can be eaten anytime.
The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients so be careful with very cheap bodybuilding supplements and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Meal Bar Supplements

Creatine Supplements

Creatine can be taken as Creatine powder or Creatine tablets. What Creatine does has been described in detail above. Some Creatine supplements however have added ingredients to make it more effective. In standard formulations Creatine has to have a 'loading phase' where you take more in the first few days/weeks and then drop back to a maintenance dose. Some formulations such as Sci-Mx CREA-MX Hardcore no longer require this loading phase and it also includes ingredients that transport the Creatine faster.
The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients so be careful with very cheap bodybuilding supplements and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Creatine Supplements

Energy Supplements

Energy drinks come in various guises depending on what you want them to do. From the Sci-Mx EnduroFuel which is a simple/complex carb mix designed simply to give both an instant and a prolonged energy boost for endurance events, to the Nitro Blast and Viper which combine an energy drink with Creatine, muscle volumisers, vitamins, and a stimulant to give the most intense workout imaginable. Viper also comes in capsule form which contains more of the stimulant side of things rather than the carbohydrate boosters.
Recovery complexes are intended to be used straight after a workout as they contain, along with protein and other nutritional elements, simple carbs which are absorbed very quickly to replenish tired muscles.
The best supplements are those that use quality ingredients so be careful with very cheap bodybuilding supplements and cheap sport nutrition supplements.

View our full range of Energy Supplements

All in One Supplements

All In One supplements take away the guess work. They are designed to offer everything you need for strength, endurance and growth in one tub. The have been formulated to have the correct balance of protein, carbohydrates, creatine, branch chain amino acids, vitamins and minerals in one handy serving. Sci-Mx Omni-Mx and NRG TTP are two of the most popular. They are perfect for the individual who is short on time or who has not got the budget to work out an individually designed bodybuilding supplement program. Serious bodybuilders may not find enough of certain ingredients in an All In One, particularly if taken over a period of time but they still make a great supplement to fall back on if time and money is tight even for the most hardcore bodybuilder.

View our full range of All-in-One Formula's


Back to Part One of the Guide
Back to Part Two of the Guide