Top Nutrition Supplement Brands for Gaining Muscle: Guide for Quicker Results

How do Nutrition Supplements help benefit others?

When someone is pursuing a passion for fitness and is working out consistently, nutrition supplements are key to provide an extra boost in gaining muscle and obtaining the desired physique. There is a large variety of supplements all with a different purpose. Some of the key supplements are protein, creatine, and BCAA. In my opinion, protein is the most important supplement of them all as it has many different functions. For example, it enhances muscle growth through the amino acids in the powder which helps repair and maintain muscle tissue that could have been teared during the workout. Protein is also used in losing weight, improving sport performance, and overall wellness. Creatine is one of the main supplements to really notice muscle growth. Its main benefits are to improve strength, increase lean muscle mass, and help in the recovery process. It is recommended to drink a lot of water while taking Creatine as the water gets drawn into your muscle cells causing you to gain weight based on fluid retention. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are used to build muscle, decrease muscle fatigue, and reduce muscle soreness. BCAAs are quite beneficial to get through a workout with minimal pain and is also used in the recovery stage post-workout to not have muscle soreness the next day.

How to know which Supplement Brand to use?

For protein powders, most supplement brands provide similar amount of protein per scoop of about 24g-25g. Some of the main and most reliable brands for protein include Pro JYM as it earned the 2020 Protein of the Year Award, Gold Standard as it has several flavours and a long quality track record. Another brand I would recommend is Ghost as I believe it is the best tasting protein powder on the market for a reasonable price. When deciding which Protein powder to buy, you will have the option of different kinds of protein as well as a concentrate or isolate. The best and most common protein powder is whey protein as it contains a large range of essential amino acids which are absorbed quickly. Whey Protein Isolate is slightly better than Whey Protein Concentrate as it provides a slightly less fat consumption in the powder due to more process steps in production. However, you will have to pay a bit more for the Isolate due to this benefit. You will experience relatively the same results using either a Concentrate or Isolate.

For creatine powders, I believe the best brands are Platinum Creatine, Optimum Nutrition, and Allmax as they provide the key ingredient known as Creatine Monohydrate in a micronized form directed to muscle absorption. I would recommend these three brands as they are held to strict standards and provide pure creatine with no additives. Lastly, for BCAAs, some key brands include XTEND, Pure Vita Labs (PVL), and Evlution Nutrition. One of the main reasons I have chosen these three brands is because the BCAA ratio for all three is 2:1:1 which is influential in promoting muscle growth and protein synthesis. The ratio refers to the amount of L-Leucine in the BCAA powder compared to L-Isoleucine and L-Valine. This ratio is a key indicator when deciding which BCAAs to purchase. The 2:1:1 ratio is the most important figure to look for no matter the brand.

Additional Tips to Achieve your Objectives

·      Consistency is key: To see your desired results, you must work out on a consistent basis while taking these supplements regularly. Failure to do so will affect your results and it will take much longer to achieve your goals.

·      Maximize Efficiency of Supplements: To help build muscle, it is beneficial to know when to take each nutritional supplement. According to healthline, the best time to take protein is after a workout as you need to consume more protein than your body breaks down during the workout. Similar to protein, healthline indicates the best time to take creatine is slightly before or after you exercise, rather than long before or after. Additionally, it is said to take creatine with food during rest days. For BCAAs, Fast&Up suggests the best time to take BCAAs is during your workout as it helps with less fatigue, more energy, and increase strength.

Ultimately, this blog is intended to provide information on the specifics to look for when selecting fitness supplements as many individuals only look at price as an indicator and are not aware of the reasoning behind why some supplements may be cheaper than others. One thing to remember is that no matter how long it takes to achieve your desired results, do not give up! We are all in this together and I promise you with these key tips on selecting supplements, you will be on the right path to achieve your goals! I invite all of you to connect with me about any additional questions and feedback you may have!

Resources:

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/7-tips-choosing-best-protein-powder/

https://www.healthline.com/health/diet-and-weight-loss/does-creatine-make-you-fat#:~:text=Also%20known%20as%20fluid%20retention,ve%20just%20begun%20your%20training.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-bcaa#:~:text=The%20branched%2Dchain%20amino%20acids%20(BCAAs)%20are%20a%20group,fatigue%20and%20alleviate%20muscle%20soreness.

https://rbarenergy.com/pages/why-you-should-maintain-a-bcaa-ratio-of-211#:~:text=The%20best%20BCAA%20ratio%20is,strength%20and%20lean%20muscle%20mass.