Top Things You Need to Know About Supplements for Muscle Building

Perhaps the dream of many young men is to build muscles that make them the envy of their peers. Nevertheless, many will go about it the wrong way. This might manifest as performing exercises with incorrect form, causing injury, not sticking to a strict regime of workouts, and not eating large quantities of clean food. Fortunately, building muscle isn’t as tricky as many make it out to be. It takes herculean patience and dedication, but there will come a time when you look in the mirror and realize you are the person you have always desired. Moreover, with correct supplementation, you can slightly expedite the process while keeping your joints and tissues in fine fettle. This post will examine the primary considerations you must take if you want to use supplements to help give you a head start in your muscle-building journey.

Supplements Alone Aren’t Enough To Build Mass

If a statuesque figure is what you’re hoping to achieve, supplements alone simply won’t cut it. Now, that isn’t to say you shouldn’t use them at all; they are certainly a valuable addition to any workout routine. Nonetheless, it’s critical to understand that they are only one part of the puzzle. In order to build muscle, you will break down your muscle fibers, causing what are known as microtears. Then, the food you intake will help to repair these tears, just slightly larger. 

Consequently, you need to intake a vast amount of healthy calories to aid your body in this process. As you can see from these Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass details, each serving constitutes a whopping 1250 calories per serving, helping to provide your body with all the fuel it requires to build itself back stronger. Moreover, as with that example, the ingredients are of a very high quality, which is really what you need to be looking out for, also leading nicely onto the next point.

Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Although there is a famous quote that states quantity is a quality all by itself, when it comes to supplements, this simply doesn’t ring true. Anything you put inside your body should be of the utmost quality to ensure that it can be correctly digested into your bloodstream, minus any nasty after-effects. Nutrition science has shown time and again that it’s more important to choose products with ingredients that are bioavailable and from reputable sources. A supplement with smaller amounts of highly absorbable nutrients may provide more significant benefits than one packed with large quantities of low-quality or synthetic ingredients that the body cannot use effectively. 

Supplements Won’t Work Overnight

Building muscle mass is a long, laborious process. If you have watched any videos about the subject, you will repeatedly find that many of the most successful bodybuilders spend years (sometimes decades) to achieve the physique they want. Just because you begin ingesting a few scoops of protein or creatine powder doesn’t mean you will see gains any faster. However, these supplements help with assisting your body to heal in a certain way and providing you with more energy to complete workouts to failure. Even testosterone and HGH supplements are no guarantee of rapid muscle gain. Consequently, you should probably avoid any supplement that claims to offer instant results, as these are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. 

It’s Wise To Discuss Supplementation With A Doctor

Nobody wants to hear this point, but it might be a good idea to discuss your plans with a doctor before setting out to shove a load of pills down your throat. Although it has been shown that supplements like protein powder are safe to consume (as long as they use quality ingredients), other options like specific amino acids and creatine do have a slight possibility of causing issues with your body. It’s fair to say that you most likely won’t see any adverse effects, but it is always better to err on the side of caution, particularly if you opt for more intense workouts.

Supplements Should Only Be Used In Conjunction With A Healthy Diet

Go ahead and watch any video that showcases a day in the life of a Mr. Universe or Stongman contestant. While you will definitely see their usual workout routine, most of the time is spent discussing their meal plans. This is simply because eating is 80% of the battle when it comes to building mass. Moreover, without a healthy diet, any supplements you use will be less effective. While it is true that you can gain muscle by binging on pizza and burgers, it is crucial to keep in mind that eating clean, healthy food is always recommended due to the long-term health benefits it will bring.

Supplements are merely one piece of a larger puzzle regarding building muscle. While they are proven to provide a significant boost to your efforts, opting for lower quality products or not pairing them with clean food, you will almost certainly fail to attain the muscle development you want.