Add These 10 Supplements To Your Daily List

The key to bodybuilding success is doing all you can do every day with consistency. If you’re on a hardcore training regimen and your nutrition program is supplying your body with all the necessary calories and nutrients, you’re in a position to get the most from your supplementation regimen. This can give you a significant edge. Bodybuilders often believe that the key to bodybuilding success is supplementation in the absence of one of the above constituents, but they’re missing the point. The best way to grow is to first take care of your training and nutrition, and then tackle supplementation for an additional edge.

When you implement a supplement plan with dedication, you’ll get far more from it. Read through our daily to-do list, and incorporate any, many or all of the recommendations. You may be surprised at how much better your muscle-building results are when you are committed.

1 | Whey To Start The Day

Take in a whey protein shake immediately after you wake up in the morning. You’ve been sleeping for as many as eight hours, so you have not been providing your body with aminos for muscle building, muscle maintenance and other body processes. Although sleep allows your body to grow and recover, it leads to a catabolic state in which your body breaks down muscle mass to get the necessary aminos for conversion into energy. Whey is among the fastest digesting proteins, and it will give your body amino acids for fuel and growth. This will prevent your body from turning to muscle for those amino acids. Jump-start growth from the very beginning of the day by taking in whey protein first thing in the morning, even before you shower or brush your teeth.

Mix whey protein with water for faster digestion. At this time of day, avoid consuming fats, complex carbs and fiber as these will only slow down digestion and absorption of protein, working against your goals.

Prescription:

Take in 30 to 50 grams (g) of whey protein upon waking.

2 | Multiply Gains With A Multi

Twenty minutes later, you’ve taken your shower and dressed. Now, it’s time for breakfast. You’ve given your body an instant hit of fast-digesting protein. Next, you should consume a whole-food meal that includes slow-burning fuel. Eat a breakfast consisting mainly of protein (such as eggs and breakfast meat) and complex carbs (such as oatmeal or whole-grain toast). A piece or two of fruit is good at this time, as well. The fructose in fruit will directly replenish the glycogen stores in your liver, which will turn off the catabolic processes and help you get into an anabolic mode quicker. In addition, take a multivitamin.

It’s beneficial to take a multi with breakfast for two reasons: one, it’s easier to digest and process these nutrients when consumed with a whole-food meal; two, you provide your body with these nutrients at the very start of the day so that they can begin supporting muscle growth and enhancing immunity.

Prescription:

Eat a breakfast comprising protein, fruit and complex carbs, and take multivitamins/multiminerals.

3 | Fiber Up

You can also elect to take a fiber supplement with breakfast. Fiber provides a host of bodybuilding benefits, including digestion improvement and absorption of nutrients and amino acids. Fiber also slows digestion, helping your body to process protein more slowly to give you more bang for your buck. It’s not critical to take fiber with breakfast, but doing so will help slow the release of amino acids so that they will remain available in the bloodstream until the next meal. At any rate, fiber should be taken with whole-food meals (or a protein shake before bedtime) to most effectively slow the release of aminos. To boost fiber intake take another dose of a fiber supplement just before going to bed.

Doing so with or right before your last protein shake of the day will not only boost your overall fiber intake, but it will also slow down digestion of the protein supplement. This will help keep aminos circulating in your bloodstream longer, helping to protect hard-earned muscle mass from overnight breakdown.

Prescription:

Take a fiber supplement with at least 3 g of fiber at breakfast. Take another 3 g of fiber with or just before your last protein shake of the day.

4 | Crank Up The Caffeine

Caffeine is one of the most basic and most effective sports supplements. In that case, it’s not surprising that it’s also one of the best bodybuilding supplements. Caffeine is an excellent option, no matter what phase of the bodybuilding season you’re in. It’s great for growth because it can help boost training intensity and focus. It’s also beneficial when you’re trying to shed bodyfat because it helps your body remove fat from storage and use it as energy. Of course, too much caffeine can make you jittery and can keep you from sleeping. For best results, supplement with caffeine once or twice a day, preferably early in the day.

Prescription:

Drink one or two cups of coffee or take 200-400 mg of a supplemental form, especially before exercise. To combat fatigue, take 200 mg as needed. For fat loss, go with 100-300 mg every four hours.

5 | Create More Muscle With Creatine

The benefits of creatine are well established. Taking creatine before and after a workout can provide numerous bodybuilding benefits. First, creatine can help drive water into muscles, helping them to be temporarily stronger. When you train with more weight (and reps), you stimulate more muscle growth. Second, after a workout, creatine can help drive nutrients into muscle mass to better facilitate recovery. In addition, newer research is demonstrating that creatine offers antioxidantlike protection and can boost the benefits of cardiovascular training. For all these reasons, creatine is the number-one bodybuilding supplement.

Prescription:

Take 2-3 g of creatine with a whey protein shake before you work out, and take 2-3 g of creatine (for a total of about 5 g) with a whey protein shake afterward.

6 | Grow With Glutamine

Along with creatine, glutamine is one of the best bodybuilding supplements on the market. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body, and as such it’s used for myriad physiological processes. Among these, glutamine offers the following advantages for bodybuilders: it improves digestion, enhances immunity and promotes recovery. Glutamine also provides energy by supplying muscles with important metabolic intermediates. In addition, it aids in the production of bicarbonate, which buffers fatigue-producing chemicals formed during intense exercise. Glutamine helps muscles to load up better with glycogen after exercise. These reasons make it important to take the supplement both before and after exercise. Your body can manufacture this amino from other aminos in your body, but to do so, it pulls them from storage, breaking down muscle mass in the process. Supplementing with glutamine gives your body what it needs without tearing apart the muscles you’ve worked so hard to build.

Prescription:

Take 5-10 g of glutamine before training and the same amount afterward. Add glutamine to whey shakes or drink it with water at other times of the day. Build up the dosage slowly, and keep your total daily dose under 40 g.

7 | Whey To Work Out

One of the best things for your body is a whey protein shake before and after you work out. This is the time of day when bodybuilders put the heaviest nutritional demand upon their bodies, and whey protein helps to add more muscle mass. If you drink a whey protein shake before training, it typically won’t negatively affect your workout because whey is easy to digest. It will also provide aminos to your body to help recover and build muscle mass. Another shake right after you work out will kick the recovery and growth processes into high gear. Take both with fast-digesting carbs (like sugars, such as dextrose, maltodextrin or Vitargo). These drive protein (and the creatine you’ll also have around that time) into your muscles and help restock glycogen stores that were burned up while training.

Prescription:

Pretraining, drink 20 to 40 g of whey protein with 40 to 80 g of simple carbs. Posttraining, drink the same. You can add glutamine and creatine to the mix, as described previously.

8 | Boost Antioxidants

When you train hard or put your body under other types of strain, you create harmful free radicals. Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E can combat free radicals and help keep your muscles growing. Your multi most likely already contains these basic nutrients, but having a second dose later in the day is a great way to ensure the availability of the vitamins for bodybuilding benefits. So, include an additional dose of these antioxidants with dinner (or with your postworkout whey shake) as they are most effective when taken in conjunction with calories.

Prescription:

Consume 500 mg of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E with a large whole-food dinner or postworkout with a shake.

9 | Get Z’s With Zinc And Magnesium

Bodybuilders and other athletes are notoriously deficient in zinc and magnesium. The demands of training increase the body’s need for these minerals. In addition, minerals tend to be lost through sweat, creating an even greater deficit. Taking a zinc and magnesium formulation such as ZMA can help overcome the effects of overtraining and can increase anabolic hormone levels, including free testosterone and insulinlike growth factor-1. Those hormones may otherwise be suppressed in hard-training athletes. ZMA can also improve the quality of sleep (thus, additionally aiding recovery). Keep in mind that ZMA works most effectively on an empty stomach, especially in the absence of calcium. If need be, you can take it with a protein shake, but you’ll get much better results if you can take ZMA a half-hour or so before the shake.

Prescription:

Supplement with ZMA on an empty stomach about a half-hour before your last protein shake of the day. Follow label instructions. Most products provide 30 mg of zinc, 450 mg of magnesium and about 11 mg of vitamin [B.sub.6].

10 | The Case For Casein

Casein protein, like whey protein, is a fraction of milk protein. Unlike whey, case in protein is slowly digested. Consume a fast-digesting protein around your workout and when you first get up, but emphasize slow-digesting proteins at other times of day. Probably the most important time to take in a slow-digesting protein is just before bedtime, as you may go eight or more hours without eating. The longer you can keep amino acids in your bloodstream, the less likely your body is to tap into your muscle mass for its amino needs. You can also use casein as a meal replacement when you can’t get in a whole-food meal, but you’re looking to provide your body with a slow and steady source of aminos.

Prescription:

Take in 30 to 50 g of casein protein with or without carbs just before bedtime. Those trying to shed bodyfat should avoid carbs; those trying to add size should consume carbs (up to 50 g).

Follow this timeline of supplementation, train hard and smart, and muscular progress will be guaranteed on a day-to-day basis.