Longevity logo

The 3 Best Workout Supplements for Building Muscle Mass

Workout

By Harold CamayaPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
Like

Although most people don’t want to truly look like a bodybuilder or gain 100 pounds of muscle, building lean muscle mass is a very common goal for most people who are consistently going to the gym. Along with that, building lean muscle mass is also the best way to lose weight and keep a low body fat percentage in the long run.

Lifting weights or doing other forms of resistance training is the primary component of building muscle, but it is not the only factor. Your diet, lifestyle, and the supplements you use also can have a significant effect on how much muscle mass you gain from your training efforts.

Your diet and exercise program should be the first aspects of building muscle that you take care of, but after that, choosing to use a few supplements can help you build muscle quicker than you expected!

If you’re looking to build muscle mass and create an aesthetic body, keep reading below to learn about a few supplements that will make your life more comfortable!

Whey Protein

Whey protein powder is the most commonly used workout supplement, and for good reason. After training, the body needs amino acids (protein) to repair your muscles and become stronger. Whey protein is the most commonly used protein powder because it is affordable and effective.

For most people, drinking 20-30 grams of protein powder after a workout is sufficient to stimulate muscle growth and help you develop more lean muscle mass.

Whey Protein

Whey protein powder is the most commonly used workout supplement, and for good reason. After training, the body needs amino acids (protein) to repair your muscles and become stronger. Whey protein is the most commonly used protein powder because it is affordable and effective.

For most people, drinking 20-30 grams of protein powder after a workout is sufficient to stimulate muscle growth and help you develop more lean muscle mass.

Creatine Monohydrate

Aside from whey protein, creatine monohydrate is probably the most well-known workout supplement. For many years, people were commonly confused about whether or not creatine monohydrate was safe because the results seemed too good to be true!

You can also use creatine monohydrate along with whey protein to help develop lean muscle mass even better! According to a research study published by the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism:

“Males that supplemented with a combination of whey protein and creatine had greater increases in lean tissue mass and bench press than those who supplemented with only whey protein or placebo.”

Creatine monohydrate helps with energy metabolism and allows you to train both harder and longer. Unlike many other workout supplements, you don’t need to take creatine monohydrate directly before or after training. Instead, your body needs to “load” and then sustain a certain amount of creatine within it.

The recommended course of action for using creatine monohydrate is to begin by taking 25 grams per day for the first week (usually in five gram doses every few hours), and then maintain a five gram dosage per day for the course of six to eight weeks.

There are various other forms of creatine, but creatine monohydrate has been studied the most and is also the most affordable.

Citrulline Malate

Citrulline malate is one of the lesser-known workout supplements, but it is one of the most useful and powerful! Citrulline malate has many effects on muscle growth, but the primary effect is that it enables you to train significantly longer and harder than you would otherwise.

According to a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition:

“Acute CM supplementation in females increased upper- and lower-body resistance exercise performance and decreased RPE during upper-body exercise.”

However, there are other beneficial effects of citrulline malate as well. Citrulline malate helps improve blood circulation and nitric oxide production, which helps you get a better “pump” while lifting weights. This improvement in circulation helps deliver nutrients throughout the body better, allowing your muscles to recover much more easily.

You can also try drinking citrulline malate before bed, which can improve growth hormone production.

Concluding Thoughts

If you are not doing resistance training and eating a proper diet, you are not going to build lean muscle mass regardless of which workout supplements you choose to use. However, if you are already undergoing resistance training regiment, these supplements can help in a variety of ways!

Not only will these supplements help your muscles grown, but you will also experience less muscle soreness and have more energy each day.

Use them properly, and you will notice that building lean muscle mass is not as difficult as you once imagined!

list
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.