Take a stroll through the store section on Bodybuilding.com and you will see tons of supplements geared toward building lean muscle and restoring the body after a strenuous workout. For the most part, these supplements work well for people, but not all supplements work for all people. Due to the unique nature of our bodies, some athletes will respond differently to some supplements. Despite those differences, there are a number of supplements that show the greatest benefit and the most return across the board. Here are the five I feel work best with muscle growth.
CREATINE
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance within our muscle cells, primarily around the skeletal muscle tissue where approximately 95 percent of the body's creatine supply can be found. The remainder is stored throughout the rest of the body.
This naturally occurring metabolite has been reproduced as creatine monohydrate for dietary supplement purposes. It's used for cellular energy production and modulation.
The perks of creatine supplementation:
The promotion of lean body mass
Increased muscle cell volume
Faster post-workout recovery
Increased glycogen storage
Increase high-intensity muscle performance
Athletes typically prefer creatine when weight training and bodybuilding because of the rapid pace at which muscle mass is built. Likewise, for many it's easy to stop taking creatine because it's naturally produced by the body. When an athlete stops taking this supplement, the creatine levels in the body return to normal within 3-4 weeks.
Recommended Dosing: 5-10 grams. Take half of your daily serving with your pre-workout meal and the second half of your daily serving with your post-workout shake.
BETA-ALANINE
This is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid that comes into the body through foods that are rich in protein such as poultry. The performance enhancement in beta-alanine (BA) is due to its ability to increase intra-muscular levels of carnosine. This increase in beta-alanine through supplementation suggests carnosine levels are raised by over 60% in as quickly as four weeks.
This is significant because during high-intensity exercise our bodies accumulate a large amount of hydrogen which causes our pH to drop (whereby we become more acidic). This acidification (lactic acid) can cause severe fatigue, decrease muscle performance, and shut down the neural drive which can force muscle failure. By maintaining increased levels of carnosine through BA supplementation a bodybuilder is able to delay the accumulation of hydrogen and the resulting acidity which can, subsequently, delay muscle fatigue and failure.