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As with most things in life that are worth achieving, great results in strength training will not come easily. You'll always be disappointed if you expect supplements to do all the work for you. The danger is that you end up broke and discouraged about building muscle.
Does that mean that all supplements are worthless? Not at all. There are a few supplements that can be helpful, as long as you don't expect them to do all the work for you! In addition to products that help you build muscle, there are some great supplements that can help reduce inflammation. You may want to consider these three supplements:
Protein powders: Protein powders offer a convenient and effective way to add protein to your diet. That new muscle that you're seeking has to come from somewhere, but it's often difficult to squeeze enough protein into your meals. These powders, or liquid meals, should be used as supplements and not as your primary source of food throughout the day. Relying too much on these products would deprive you essential minerals, fiber, and other nutrients.
Creatine: Creatine helps you do more in the gym by increasing energy available to muscles. The molecule known as ATP acts as the essential energy compound for the body. As it is used up, it loses a phosphate group, and as you use up your ATP you get tired. Creatine adds a phosphate group back to the molecule to recharge it so it can continue to produce energy. Thus, creatine can help you accomplish a longer, more intense workout that will stimulate more muscle growth.
Fish oil: Fish oil is not going to add muscle to your frame directly, but it can be very helpful in reducing overall inflammation in your body. This is important in protecting your body, including your joints, from damage during your intense workouts.
I've always tried not to rely too much on supplements. As a matter of fact, supplements like creatine or glutamine will probably give you little benefit if you have not mastered the fundamentals of strength training and muscle building nutrition.
In an earlier article we concluded that muscles must be worked to failure if an adequate hypertrophic response is to occur. Whether this involves one or more sets is irrelevant as in either scenario the muscles must be worked to failure and beyond. This causes significant microscopic damage to the muscle tissues and it is during the period of recovery that protein synthesis undertakes the repair process that results in bigger muscle fibers.
But how long does this process take and when is it safe to expose those same muscles to further intensive exercise? Scientific studies suggest that muscle fiber degradation takes approximately five to seven days to repair and recover. Any further exposure of the affected muscle to intensive activity will interfere with the recovery process and actually prevent it from achieving maximum growth. However, using the muscle to assist in exercising other body parts or even taking part in low intensity aerobic exercise will not prevent recovery.
It follows therefore that each muscle group should be trained intensively only once each week in order to allow full recovery. This can be achieved by incorportating a split training regime that allows you to work out several times each week but still exercise each muscle group intensively only once every seven days.