What Supplements Should I Use To Gain Muscle Mass?

 

Before supplements are used to gain muscle mass make sure the basics are in place:

1. You are training hard and working every muscle once every 5-7 days.

2. Your diet is clean, wholesome and full of vibrant foods, in that you are consuming on the whole, 5-6 meals daily with protein in each meal.

3. You are getting approximately 7-8 plus hours of sleep per night and ideally asleep before 10pm to maximise your biggest natural release of GH which occurs around 10-10.30pm when asleep.

With the basics covered we can then look at what supplements and other foods to use to help with gaining muscle mass.

PROTEIN

Protein is key to rebuilding muscle tissue that has been broken down during training as well as minimises unnecessary tissue breakdown.

Here we recommend in order of preference.

1. Hydrolysed Protein - as its faster and is absorbed more efficiently due to the small molecular size of the protein fractions. They are perfect to use around your workouts or for people who have trouble absorbing protein as they are already pre-digested. Your digestive system does very little in order to get them into your blood stream. However be warned they do not taste good and have been highly processed to get the molecular weight to be so small.

2. Blended Protein - with fast, medium and slow releasing proteins always overlapping and feeding your muscle tissues along with a vast variety of protein fractions means you can consume it anytime and you will recover and grow. Plus with a blended protein powder such as our Elite 3.0 Protein Blend you get three whole proteins in one from egg white, casein and whey.

3. Whey Protein - either WPC or WPI - It's a solid protein and has and will serve us well for years. Whilst it is quick releasing and gets protein synthesis up it soon crashes down within 2-3 hours, therefore needing more protein coming in at that 2-3 hour mark. However it is a whole protein and can help with health and well being.

CARBS

Essential to mainly keep your glycogen stores full and most of the time are necessary post workout.

Here we recommend in no particular order any or a mix of the following:

1. Organic Instant Oats - our version of these is actually an oat flour/oat meal so they are easy to mix with a shake whilst being healthy, wholesome and full of nutrients.

2. Organic Steel Cut Oats - not so easy to mix with a shake but are the most unprocessed/raw oats you will find and are full of nutrients.

3. Dextrose - super fast acting and easy to digest and replenishes glycogen super fast. however it is a refined sugar so should only ever really be used post workout.

4. Maltodextrin - fast acting and easy to digest and perfect to combine with Dextrose, however like dextrose it is a refined sugar so should only be used around your workouts.

5. Waxy Maize Starch - many people swear Waxy Maize is superior to Dextrose and Maltodextrin, however with very little to no scientific data to prove it, we just have to go on anecdotal evidence.

FATS

Help with increasing calories and optimising hormone levels such as testosterone which help with building of muscle.

Here we recommend in no particular order any or a mix of the following:

1. Organic Nuts such as Organic Walnuts, Cashews, Brazil Nuts and Almonds - snack on or add to meals - plus these have heaps of other great nutrients

2. Organic Coconut Oil - to cook with as its highly stable under high heat and tastes great to add to smoothies and hot drinks.

3. Organic Olive Oil - drizzle on salads/vegetables and you can cook with it on a medium heat.

4. Organic Butter - to cook with and/or place on vegetables to assist with more absorption of vitamins and minerals from the veggies plus the fat soluble vitamins from the butter. We recommend Paris Creek as its bio-dynamic, organic, grass fed and homogenised.

5. Organic Cream - add to healthy desserts, home made protein bars or protein shakes. We recommend Barambah Pure Cream as its organic and grass fed and silky smooth.

6. Blue Ice Royal Fermented Cod Liver/Butter Oil - supports health and well being.

7. Egg Yolks - If you consume organic/pasture raised whole eggs you will get a healthy range of fats from the yolks.

Please note: we are not big advocates of pure omega 3 oils as most, by the time they reach the consumer are not fit for human consumption. Omega-3 in nature is stabilised and protected by protein or other fats which are generally monounsaturated or saturated. However if you do introduce pure omega 3's then just make sure you have an amazing source that you are willing to pay for.

SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS

As we have already covered protein and carbs powders above, the final sports supplements that will help with everything already suggested are mainly amino acids and creatine.

The list below is in order of preference:

1. BCAA's or Leucine - works similar to the hydrolysed proteins in that they are absorbed well and quickly and BCAA's can be taken alone during the workout or with other supplements as an intra workout drink. Leucine you would add to a protein shake. Both help increase muscle growth and recovery via protein synthesis.

2. Creatine - helps put on size and strength.

3. Glutamine - helps with recovery and is anti catabolic.

4. Beta Alanine - helps increase your strength and work output.

5. Taurine - Helps with recovery.

6. Citrulline Malate 2:1 - Helps increase workout intensity.

Finally it would be a great idea to increase your intake of superfoods to help with natural vitamin/mineral/antioxidant intake to keep you healthy, full of energy, vitality and recovering well.