How to Supplement Your Fitness Goals
Eating right and working out will make it simpler to achieve your fitness goals. But is this all you need for you to achieve your dream physique? As much as you try to eat all the right foods and stay away from harmful toxins, there will still be gaps that you need to fill.
And this is what supplements are meant to do. Their job is to fill in the gaps left by food and supply the body with all the minerals and vitamins it requires to stay in top condition.
Consistency in your supplements intake will accentuate all the hard work you are doing at the gym. Supplements are designed to assist muscle recovery, aid with weight loss, enhance your moods, and give you more energy.
But which supplements should you take for your individual goals?
Goal: Strength
Muscle strength is significant for every person who works out as it boasts all the different parts of their lives. It comes in handy when performing daily activities, playing sports, and working out in the gym.
Whey protein is the go-to supplement during your pre-workout sessions as it guarantees optimal results and performance. Additional supplements to consider during the pre-workout session to boost muscle strength include:
- Creatine: Operates by boosting the muscles’ energy when lifting weights, allowing you to pump out a few extra reps. You should take it half an hour before and after your workouts.
- Betaine: The amino acid, also known as trimethylglycine, is often regarded as a methyl donor. It’s essential for maintaining your health and ensuring you get to perform better. Bodybuilders taking this supplement get to enhance their muscle strength by up to twenty-five percent.
Goal: Build Muscle
Building muscle mass is also referred to as hypertrophy. Professional athletes interested in this fitness aspect ought to increase the overall length of time their muscles spend under tension.
The supplements they ingest will allow them to tap into the glycolytic energy system in the body. It’s a system that’s heavily reliant on the energy held in your muscles. The energy is closely associated with the stimulation of muscle growth.
Supplements recommended for this goal include:
- Whey Protein: It’s regarded as the purest form of protein supplements, more so if you opt to use protein isolate. This form of whey protein has more proteins per serving. It assists in supplying blood to your muscles after taking part in resistance training. The extra blood supply is crucial to kick-starting muscle development.
- Beta-Alanine: This is a naturally occurring amino acid that works together with other amino acids to regulate the amount of acid in your muscles. Too much acidity means the muscles are unable to contract. Beta-alanine ensures they are always ready to get to work by reducing cramps, fatigue, and acid buildup.
Goal: Weight Loss
Fat burning requires a combination of proper nutrition, strength training, and cardio. However, for the body to lose fat sustainably, it will also need to build (or preserve) existing muscle mass.
Typically, the more muscle mass a person has, the higher their resting metabolic rate. It also means they don’t have to lose many calories to get to their intended weight levels. To shed fat and maximize muscle mass, you have to train the same way you would for muscle building.
Recommended supplements include:
- Garcinia Cambogia: This is a popular weight loss supplement whose main ingredient is HCA (hydroxy citric acid). Although further studies are required to confirm how effective it is, HCA is thought to work by suppressing appetite. It’s also thought to be an efficient blocker of enzymes associated with fat-building.
- Green-Tea Extract: Compared to other teas, this particular tea isn’t oxidized or withered. Therefore, it gets to retain the catechins, which assist in driving the fat burning process.
There you have it, the supplements mentioned above will aid with all your fitness goals, regardless of what you may have in mind.
