At some point within our fitness journey, we all look for that one magical supplement.

The best muscle building supplement that can get us stronger, more defined, and bigger ASAP. Is there such a thing in a society where we lay witness to all these points of view, credits, & discredit. It can leave one wondering whether its all marketing just to get us to spend money or is there something there that can work in our favor to evolve our fitness journey.

Recovery is king

Within the fitness community, everyone has an opinion on what works what doesn’t work and science-based studies to prove otherwise. But what is behind building insane amounts of muscle mass & growing stronger? You guessed it! Recovery. As mentioned in the previous post, muscle building is all about the effectiveness of breaking down muscle tissue and the ability to allow it to grow back stronger than its previous state. We can go into further discussions about the types of workouts performed. Such as women who seek treadmills for fat loss and how leptin may just inhibit your body fat loss or males who train hard or longer than “45 minutes” and how the cortisol can affect their testosterone and recovery. Overall it all boils down to recovery and how your body performs after the gym through nutrition and supplementation that can evolve you to the next level.

Top 3 Best Muscle Building Supplements

Creatine

By far one of my top recommendations even if you just started your fitness journey. Creatine is natural, the body produces it at a rate of 1-2 grams a day. It’s also found in red meats and many other foods. Most importantly it is all around your muscle cells. It has been shown to improve muscle performance during high-intensity exercise, weight lifting, running, & other intense activities. If you are vegan this is one supplement you should join in on as meat intake which is a main source of creatine is not available in most vegan diets. Now let’s talk about some of the benefits.

• Increased ATP – Creatine has been shown to aid the body with this organic complex chemical that is the main driving force to provide energy to all living cells. Like Glutamine stores within the muscles, they can easily get depleted during a workout & so can ATP. In fact, in as little as 8-10 seconds of high-intensity training, creatine can be depleted. By supplementing with creatine it has been shown to allow individuals to have the reserves needed to push past their normal limitations. 
• Raises anabolic hormones – Reduces muscle/protein breakdown which in turn can aid in building muscle mass. 

Creatine is a strong player when it comes to muscle building and overall health. Aside from the 2 major talking points, you also want to know of the cognitive enhancements, cell hydration, ability to lower blood sugar, & many neurological diseases that have been aided by creatine. This is why creatine is one of the best bodybuilding supplements that even vegetarians should enjoy. Overall health supplement mixed with the ability to retain muscle, hydrate, and aid in recovery is a win.

Glutamine

Another natural source, pretty much all of our foods contains glutamine plus it’s an essential amino acid. Which means like creatine our body can produce and store it. So why would we need this supplement? Because now in days, stress is at an all-time high according to statistics, we are not getting enough sleep, and adding in a muscle-building workout can cause glutamine stores to deplete. Imagine you working so hard in the gym and 5 minutes into your workout glutamine stores deplete. When this occurs you run the major risk of catabolism, making you lose your gains as you work out, in this state glutamine will then move out from the muscles in order to maintain the entire body.

Working with glutamine can provide exceptional benefits to building muscle and there for you as an insurance policy during strenuous workouts so you don’t lose an ounce of muscle tissue. This is why normally you would see on a label “Anti-Catabolic”. So whether you suffered an injury, a stressed day at work, intense workout, or intermittent fasting while interested in maintaining muscle mass, Glutamine is your go-to supplement. Aside from muscle-building properties, it’s also been shown to boost immunity, promote digestive and brain health.

ZMA (ZINC, MAGNESIUM, B6)

Surprised its not a protein supplement? Well, I can tell you now that if your building muscle, this form of exercise requires a lot of calories and 9 out of 10 times if the individual is taking in the meals needed throughout the day there is no need for protein supplement as you will find the meals will meet your daily protein needs. 

ZMA is one of my favorites. Have you ever went to bed with a headache or any type of ache, felt mentally drained. Then after a good night’s rest, you woke up feeling a new person? Well to me overall health and muscle building are linked to recovery. Using ZMA before bed helps improve sleep duration and length. When one doesn’t get enough sleep it has been shown to inhibit growth hormones, muscle repair and all the essentials needed to optimize your efforts of growth. 

When combined, zinc, magnesium, & vitamin b6 that has been shown to provide better sleep, immune system support, muscle growth, & reduction of inflammation.

• Zinc – provides support of testosterone, regulates hormone levels, aids in protein synthesis.
• Magnesium – lowers inflammation, maximizes mitochondria, aids metabolism, muscle health & sleep.
• Vitamin B6 – Improves mood, lowers depression, brain health, melatonin production, carries oxygen throughout the body.

Final Thoughts

Over the years through trial and error. Money wasted through experimentation to see what works and is effective. This is my personally concluded essential muscle building stack that everyone can benefit from to maximize their efforts in the gym but most importantly allow them to recover faster and train more. Don’t let the efforts of your hard work go to waste because your not taking advantage of the right supplements. Understand that it’s not a necessity but if you want to take your game to the next level faster. Treating the body with respect and giving it the correct weapon to go to war and win is something I encourage a lot of my peers to take a look at, you can work hard but working smart will scale your wins to the next level. Keep Evolving!

Medical/Healthcare Disclaimer & Affiliate Disclosure. This post may contain affiliate links.