The importance of supplements in bodybuilding

1 Sep

Supplements have been a controversial subject for too long now. However, that bulky effect that happens when you carve your body with weightlifting can’t happen without them. No matter how much you push yourself, you will not get bigger with even an inch without the right diet. Bodybuilding is a lifestyle, which means that its followers should adapt to a new set of rules on nutrition and physical activity than an ordinary person would. In this article, you will learn why supplements are essential when it comes to sculpting your body and any additional information you should know about them.

What are Supplements?

These dietary supplements are edible formulas that are created having bodybuilders, weightlifters, and athletes in mind. Why are they particularly for these types of people? Because when you want more strength, your mind and body must evolve to adapt to this requirement.

Your system goes through a very challenging task when you work out. When you lift that 100 pounds gear and push your limits, your body has to deplete many sources of energy to make that massive effort possible. Not only that but your muscles have to flex so much, that they will tear themselves to shreds. You will feel the consequences after your training when you experience muscle soreness.

This is when the supplements are most needed. They provide all the nutrients your body needs to fuel the muscles with the right kind of energy plus to healing the torn muscles as soon as possible.

Why Can’t Whole Foods Replace Supplements?

Whole Foods are Nutrient Deficient

First of all, the concept of nutrition is about fueling your body only the enzymes it needs to function at its best capacity. However, the whole foods recommended by the food pyramid don’t contain all the beneficial properties needed. To score the right quantity of nutrients you required for an active lifestyle through whole foods, you would have to spend a lot of money on them and eat way too much.

Whole Foods Contain Toxins

Besides the small number of nutrients they have, legumes, dairy, and grains contain toxins. These can be phytic acids, that prevent your system from absorbing the new foods in your body, lectins that cause leaky gut or FODMAPS which are carbohydrates that damage the digestive process. Not to mention that we react badly to dairy, no matter how nourishing it can be for us. They contain inflammatory agents and mycotoxins that can cause many problems.

Low-Calorie Diets

When you want to lose weight and get a slender body, a diet low in calories is necessary to accompany your training. All the efforts you do at the gym will have no positive impact if your body receives a high quantity of calories.

However, studies show that micronutrient deficiency is directly linked to higher chances of obesity. So, you can’t consume too many calories, but you can’t leave your body without vital micronutrients either. This is why supplements can give a viable solution to this impossible situation. You get only the right nutrients, without the intake of calories that usually come with whole foods.

You need 27,575 calories from whole foods

Your body needs 27 kinds of micronutrients daily to run all its functions at high capacity. To achieve this integral diet with whole foods, you would need to consume at least 27,575 calories. However, your body needs 4,000 calories at most to maintain a highly active life. Supplements can overcome the massive intake of unnecessary nutrients by offering only the ones you require.

Types of Supplements

a. Protein

Bodybuilding puts your body to an unmeasurable strain. The unique physical training routine that is needed here requires a special diet that is rich in proteins. Our body tissues have amino acids in their composition. The fibrous tissues which are muscles are the most exposed part of our body during the process of bulking up. Proteins have large chains of amino acids that can regenerate the damaged tissues and rebuild them in a stronger form.

This is why athletes and bodybuilders are dependent on a surplus of proteins. Many supplements can offer the right quantity of these nutrients, unlike their counterparts, namely whole foods. Most importantly, our system can’t produce amino acids on their own, so they need an external source to help them out create muscular tissues.

Types of protein supplements:

Whey protein – this is the most common source of amino acids for bodybuilders. Whey products are mostly powders that contain the right nutrients which target muscle recovery. This is why it is recommended to take one whey shake within an hour after an exhausting workout routine. The liquid amino acids are absorbed faster into the system, and they are immediately used to regenerate damaged areas. Moreover, they help create fibrous tissues in these locations, which will come to be your new muscles that increase your strength.

Casein protein – also known as milk protein, this supplement takes only the quality nutrients from dairy products leaving toxins behind. It is a formula rich in glutamine and casomorphin, and you can take it before going to sleep. The best thing about casein is that it fuels your body with amino acids for a longer period, which makes it more efficient than other supplements.

Soy protein – the soy protein replaces the animal proteins with the vegetal type. It is considered a complete protein because it covers all essential amino acids that our body needs. Besides its beneficial nutritional attributes, it can also lower the chances for bad cholesterol and heart diseases to do damages to your system.

Egg white protein – an exquisite source of proteins that works in a natural way. One egg white provides six grams of proteins which is 13% of the daily recommended intake. It is a good dietary option even for people with a high risk of heart diseases or diabetes.

b. Creatine

Our body produces small quantities of an organic acid named creatine. This compound provides short bursts of energy that are especially needed when bodybuilders lift heavy weights. They don’t need a continuous effort that can last for hours. The quantity of weights is more important than exercising for longer periods. As long as you leave the gym with your muscles torn, this means that you have pushed your limits and made way for new muscles to build up.

Creatine helps you improve your strength, gives you more energy sources, increases your muscle mass, and decreases the time you need for recovery. You can find creatine in whole foods like herring, beef, and salmon. However, creatine supplements will fuel you with the right quantity of nutrients you require in a day.

b. Multivitamins

Some of the vital nutrients you need to unlock your best physical capacity are minerals and vitamins. Without these, your metabolism will not be able to sustain any activity of high intensity for too long.

Bodybuilders need a bigger intake of vitamin supplements to sustain their challenging lifestyle. However, they don’t have a direct impact on your strength, so marketers don’t advertise them to athletes too much. But you need a healthy foundation to sustain heavy training, which vitamins can build for you.

Bodybuilders take multivitamin supplements first thing when they wake up. This way, their body gets ready for the day from the beginning. They will take these again after a workout, to ensure a faster recovery.

Vitamins ensure a better and quicker chemical reaction that turns food either into energy or vital body tissue. This way, your multivitamin supplements will make sure that your metabolism receives energy to sustain an intensive activity. Moreover, they will supply cells to regenerate faster the muscles that were damaged during your workout.

Such a supplement should contain vitamin A, B complex, C, D, E, K, and Zinc. They should also offer you major minerals such as Boron, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Selenium, Vanadium, Magnesium, Iodine, Chromium, and Lycopene.

b. Herbal supplements

MuscleMax Xtreme is a non-steroidal muscle building supplement for men and women that will support muscle build and tone, alongside your usual workout routine.

All in all, bodybuilders should sustain their special lifestyle with a daily intake of supplements. Taking all their benefits into consideration, it is easy to understand how important they are as a nutritional addition for extremely active people. Supplements are there to close the gap of essential nutrients, which whole foods alone cannot provide.

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