Supplements

Best supplements for muscle growth

Most people know that the body needs protein to build muscle, but that’s far from the whole picture. To enhance muscle mass and strength, the body needs to be consistently nourished with water, nutrients and calories. As well as these key intakes, you can also feed your body with muscle building supplements. So, what exactly does it take to build muscle? Our guide to the best supplements for muscle growth can help you improve your muscle-building journey.

What does the body need to build muscle?

There are a number of key natural muscle-building supplements the body needs to build muscle mass effectively and they are:

  • Water
  • Carbohydrates
  • Amino acids
  • Beta-alanine
  • Magnesium
  • Vitamin D3.

 

Water

Staying hydrated helps your body train harder, recover faster, and absorb the nutrients from the food and strength supplements you need.

Carbohydrates

Protein isn’t the only macronutrient that helps build muscle. Carbohydrates are a useful source of glycogen (the body’s favourite fuel source), so eating enough of the right kind of carbs will power up your workouts and boost your recovery.

Amino acids

Protein is made of amino acids, which are important supplements for muscle growth. The essential amino acids are the ones your body cannot produce itself, so you need to get them from your diet. Protein and amino acids help to build and repair muscle. They also support all of the body’s systems, including bones, hormones, and enzymes.

Beta-alanine

This non-essential amino acid can help buffer the cramps and soreness you get from tough strength training sessions, meaning you can train more effectively and with higher frequency.

Magnesium

Your body needs a number of micronutrients to build muscle, but magnesium is one of the most important. Magnesium helps your muscles to relax, which is why it’s often a feature of recovery formulas.

Vitamin D3

The “sunshine vitamin” is fundamental to your skeletal system, but it’s also important for building muscle. That’s because of its link to anabolic hormones, like testosterone.

Three reasons to use supplements for muscle-building

Your muscle-building journey should start with your meals and snacks. You must ensure you eat a serving of protein with every meal and focus on lean whole food sources, like poultry, seafood, eggs, low-fat dairy and vegan protein sources. However, on top of this, good quality, well-researched, muscle-building supplements can make a huge difference.

Here are three reasons why many people choose to use muscle-building supplements:

  1. Convenience: protein shakes, BCAA drinks, and all-in-one recovery formulas are very convenient, especially if you need to go from the gym to the office, or have a busy schedule.

  2. Cost-effective: protein supplements for muscle-building are a cost-effective way of consuming quality protein. They stay fresh for a long time and don’t need extra food preparation.

  3. Completeness: protein supplements are designed for athletic goals and have been engineered to contain complete amino acid profiles, precise amounts of carbohydrates, and extra nutrients.

Top 5 best supplements for muscle growth

In order to give yourself the best chance of effective muscle growth, you can use muscle-building supplements. Here are the 5 best supplements for muscle growth:

  • Creatine
  • Whey protein
  • All-in-one protein shake
  • Beta-alanine
  • BCAA.

Creatine

Creatine Monohydrate is one of the best-researched sports supplements for muscle-building in the world. It supports the body in bursts of intense effort during training (like lifting weights) and can help you gain strength and mass. Micronised Pharmaceutical Creatine Powder is pure and high-quality, making it very easy for you to take every day. Or you could try PhD’s Creapure, creatine in a capsule format – so you never forget to take it!

Whey protein

Find a good quality protein powder that you enjoy the taste of and it will revolutionise your approach to getting enough protein and balanced amino acids into your daily diet. A good protein powder should have 25g+ protein per serving, with minimal extras. Check out PhD’s full range of protein powders.

All-in-one protein shake

If you’re looking for a protein powder with carbohydrates and healthy fats, use an all-in-one protein product like Synergy. This multi-purpose shake combines protein, carbohydrates, creatine, leucine, and zinc. It’s the perfect supplement for muscle-building and is everything you need for a post-training recovery boost.

Beta-alanine

This amino acid buffers lactic acid and helps extend your muscular endurance during workouts. Beta-Alanine is available in capsules or as a powder, in an optimal 11:1 ratio of Beta Alanine to L-Histidine.

BCAA

The three branch chain amino acids are crucial for building muscle. We advise you to take a BCAA drink (like Intra BCAA+) or BCAA capsules before, during, or after training.

Muscle-building supplements at PhD

At PhD, we believe in maximising the things you can do. Whether it’s an extra rep or a recovery day, we know that small choices drive a big impact. That’s why we’ve spent years optimising our range, scrutinising the science behind every ingredient, giving you muscle-building supplements that work smarter and taste better, to help you get more out of each day.

From Diet Whey to our great tasting vegan vitamins and protein powders, we’ll always fuel your performance in the right way with the best supplements for muscle growth.

If you’d like to find out more about PhD and the products we stock, don’t hesitate to contact us today on 0800 012 9220 or email us at customerservice@phd.com.

Nicola is a specialist freelance copywriter for the fitness industry @thefitwriter