11 essential sports supplements

Here is a question that we often get asked:

«"What dietary supplements should I take with my steroid cycle?"»

It's important to know that any dietary supplement added to your regimen can only be beneficial. Bodybuilding is the sport where the most supplements are consumed. It's a demanding sport where nutrition plays just as important a role as training.

There are many dietary supplements available. Here, we'll look at the most popular ones, categorized by their purpose.

 

Dietary supplements for muscle gain

Soy protein

Soy protein is an isolated protein. It is made from soy flour that has been hulled and defatted.

This product will delight vegetarian athletes or those allergic to lactose.

Soy protein is a "complete protein," it provides all the essential amino acids for nutrition.

 

Leucine

Adding leucine to your diet helps regulate the "nitrogen balance" and therefore promotes the production of muscle proteins.

It has been shown that leucine must be consumed in order for protein balance to become positive after training.

Leucine is one of the three branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and is unique in its ability to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. In fact, leucine has about 10 times more influence on protein synthesis than any other amino acid.

 

BCAA

A branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) is an amino acid having aliphatic side chains with a branch (one carbon atom bonded to more than two other carbon atoms).

Among the proteinogenic amino acids, there are three BCAAs:

• leucine
• isoleucine
• valine

BCAAs are among the nine essential amino acids for humans, representing 35 % of the essential amino acids in muscle proteins and 40 % of the preformed amino acids required by mammals.

Any conscientious athlete will add BCAAs to their diet.

 

Whey Protein

Whey is a type of protein powder, like casein or egg powder. It is derived from milk, of which it is composed in the form of whey (20%), the other part being casein.

This supplement has become very popular among bodybuilders for several reasons.

First, whey has a high biological value, meaning that it is very well absorbed and, moreover, quickly digested. It is also rich in BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids).

 

Gainer

Weight gainers are mixtures of protein and carbohydrates. They are used for weight gain with a high calorie intake, but they are more likely to cause you to gain fat if you don't pay attention to your diet.

Amino acids will be unnecessary in this case because you will find them in your weight gainer.

Weight gainers are composed of vitamins, iron, and magnesium.

• Magnesium, in addition to its anti-stress properties, helps with muscle relaxation and also contributes to the regulation of heart rhythm and the production of proteins.
• Iron helps in the formation of myoglobin contained in muscles and promotes vascularization.
• Vitamin E is an antioxidant vitamin and, moreover, it prolongs the lifespan of red blood cells.

 

Creatine 

Creatine is one of the most effective supplements for accelerating muscle gain.

With each dose, creatine will allow you to store more and more ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) for explosive strength and increased muscle cell volume.

Its role is to provide energy to cells for short, intense efforts. It promotes muscle recovery and growth.

 

Dietary supplements for strength and performance enhancement

Tribeulus

Tribulus is a plant that has the effect of "boosting" testosterone and has proven its effectiveness.

This plant, used in Chinese medicine for over 3,000 years, has attracted many bodybuilders due to its effectiveness.

It also helps to fight fatigue.

 

Dietary supplements for energy and cutting

Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant that acts on the central nervous system. It is used to reduce physical fatigue and to prevent or treat drowsiness. The amount of caffeine needed to produce these effects varies from person to person.

In athletes, moderate doses of caffeine can improve sprinting, endurance, and athletic performance.

 

Dietary supplements for cutting and weight loss

L-Carnitine

L-Carnitine has the unique ability to transform the body's fats into energy, it increases and accelerates fat burning, it also lowers cholesterol and improves skin texture.

L-Carnitine is a peptide that reduces the accumulation of organic waste such as lactic acid in muscles.

 

CLA (linoleic acid)

Linoleic acid will reduce the amount of fat stored after a meal. It will decrease fat mass by increasing natural physiological combustion, thus transforming fat into energy.

This will reduce body fat mass and therefore your weight as well.

 

Dietary supplements for cutting and performance enhancement

Glutamine

Glutamine can be used during lean muscle gain, cutting, or weight loss. It is one of the most popular dietary supplements among bodybuilders. It promotes recovery, digestion, and fat burning while also supporting glycogen storage.

GLUTAMINE is a perfect amino acid to prevent overtraining.

 

Conclusion

Here you only have a small part of the nutritional supplements used in sports, but you already have enough to see things more clearly, and you now have all the cards in hand to be able to build your next course of treatment under optimal conditions.

As you've seen, taking dietary supplements varies depending on your goals; some supplements will be more suitable than others. Therefore, the first question to ask yourself concerns your expectations and desires.

Taken alone, dietary supplements will help you enormously, but coupled with your anabolic steroid, peptide or HGH regimen, they will be the ideal supplementation to help you achieve your goals.