Supplement Savvy: Which Ones Will Help Your Workouts?

So you’ve decided to lose a little bit of fat and pack on a little bit more muscle. You think, hey, maybe a supplement could give you the wellness edge you need. However, when you go to your local health food store, you have no idea where to begin. There are so many supplements out there, how do you know which ones will actually benefit your well-being? On top of your healthy diet and cardio and various weight-training exercises, there are six scientifically researched supplements that can help you in your quest to reach your physical best.

 

1. Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). According to researchers at the University of Birmingham, taking BCAAs before and after exercise can reduce muscle soreness. Plus, Brazilian investigators discovered that these supplements help when your glycogen stores are depleted, leading to a less fatigued and better fat burning body.

 

2. Creatine. As a result of an eight-week study, researchers in Canada found that supplementing with creatine when performing resistance-training exercises increases your insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) by more than 20%. IGF-1 produces anabolic effects in adults, but make sure you don’t take any more than three grams of creatine a day.

 

3. Protein bars and powders. Any wellness expert will tell you that you need to consume protein both before and after a workout if you want to stimulate muscle growth, and protein supplements are a really convenient way of doing this, as well as providing you with essential fats and carbs.

 

4. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). Published in the Journal of Nutrition, a University of Wisconsin study found that CLA caused 71% of participants to lose an average of six pounds, while preserving their muscle tissue.

 

5. Glutamine. In Italy, researchers found that glutamine can reduce inflammation and infection, which prevents sickness from getting in the way of your training. Plus, Scottish investigators note that glutamine regulates and boosts glycogen within your body, and this enhances your performance and muscle growth.

 

6. Multivitamins. Evidence shows that working out a lot leaves many people vitamin deficient, but multivitamins can help remedy that loss. Remember; you should never take more than the recommended amount and always consult your doctor before starting to take any supplement.

Categories: Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), Creatine, Glutamine, Muscle, muscle growth, nbsp, Supplements, training exercises, Workouts

How to Boost Your Performance with Creatine Supplements

There are thousands of products in the vitamin and mineral supplement industry, and many are backed by outrageous claims or nothing more than expensive junk foods. With all that media hype and sneaky marketing going on, it can be confusing trying to find a supplement that benefits your wellness, if one at all exists. However, when it comes to overall wellbeing and performance power, you can’t go wrong with creatine.

Your body uses creatine in energy production. The only source of energy that your body can directly use for muscle contraction is Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is generated through three energy systems: the ATP-PCr (ATP-phosphocreatine), glycolytic and oxidative energy systems. The ATP-PCr system is where creatine comes in.

The ATP-PCr system sustains your muscles’ energy needs for three to 15 seconds. The phosphocreatine in your muscles is immediately available when you begin your exercise, and can help to re-synthesise ATP at a high rate, which corresponds to a high power output. However, this system has a severely limited capacity, which means, without creatine supplementation, it’s at a major disadvantage. As the total amount of energy that the system makes available is so small, you can rapidly experience fatigue.

During intense exercise, your PCr stores become depleted. This means that there is less energy available because your body can no longer re-synthesise ATP at the rate required to sustain high-intensity exercise. Your PCr stores can even become depleted almost completely during very intense exercise, and so you lack the ability to maintain maximal effort for exercise. Creatine supplementation works by increasing the rate of ATP re-synthesis during and following your high-intensity, short-duration exercise, meaning that you have a greater ability to maintain maximal intensity exercise and work per bout or set, and a quicker recovery time.

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), within established guidelines, the use of creatine is safe, effective and ethical. They report that hundreds of studies have shown the effectiveness of Creatine Monohydrate (CM) supplementation in improving anaerobic capacity, strength, and lean body mass in conjunction with training, as well as being possibly beneficial in preventing injury. The ISSN recommends consuming 0.3 grams of CM per kilogram of body weight for three days, followed by three to five grams per day, to increase your muscles’ creatine stores.

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How to Boost Your Performance with Creatine Supplements

Categories: Creatine, Intense Exercise, Muscle