Building Muscle: Protein, Creatine and Supplements

For many men, and some women, their main goal when hitting the gym is to build muscle. They want to look good, lean, ripped and feel confident in their bodies.

But what is the best way to achieve that goal in the quickest possible way?

How to Build Muscle

Good question and one which I’d like to talk about today from three different angles:

  • Protein – Why you need it and how to get it
  • Creatine – Why it’s useful and the best way to get it
  • Crazy Bulk – Supplements which are reported to help you achieve big muscle gain

But first, let’s get back to basics…

Protein PowderProtein is known as the building blocks of life. Our bodies are made up of proteins and it’s an incredibly important macro-nutrient.

Protein is required to build muscle as well as maintain a healthy body. Protein is made up of amino acids. Some the body can manufacture from other materials, but some it can’t and these are known as essential amino acids.

Takeaway Point: We all need to consume protein, whether that’s from plants or meat. You can get all of your protein requirements from non-meat sources, you just have to be a little more conscious about it and eat a wide range of plants.

I personally aim to get most of my protein from natural sources, such as eggs, meat, nuts, fish and beans.

I do have a protein powder a few times a week when I need extra convenience. For that purpose, I always use one called No Cow Cacao by Enrichd.

Note: You can get 10% discount by using the code: MINIMALFIT10

Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound which is found throughout the tissues of the body. It is used for muscular contraction.

Some people naturally have higher levels of creatine than others in their bodies, so whether or not you should supplement is dependent on how high your levels currently are.

Takeaway point: Creating will be useful for some people to supplement and not as useful for others.

I have personally used creatine to try out but I don’t take it regularly and haven’t used it in years. I found that it made me a little more moody and aggressive when I first took it so it put me off using it for longer.

Human Growth HormoneHuman Growth Hormone

With all this talk of gaining muscle, it would only be right to mention human growth hormone (HGH). There are reported natural ways to increase HGH, so it’s worth checking them out to make sure you are topping up as naturally as possible.

As with all supplements, they will not work the same for every person. My advice is to always aim for a natural source of a specific vitamin, mineral or macro-nutrient before deciding if supplementation is right for you.

Muscle Building Supplements

I recently found out about some crazy bulk supplements which pitch themselves as 100% natural and plant based. I checked them out and Muscle Building Supplementsto be fair, they do look like they are made up of only naturally occurring ingredients. Whether those vitamins have been synthetically made is another question, however.

I haven’t tried them but there appear to be quite a lot of reviews for these muscle building supplements out there on the web.

In Summary

There is no quick fix approach to gaining muscle. You have to work hard and be consistent with your training while eating well, sleeping enough and reducing stress as much as possible.

Some supplements can help you, with protein being the most widely used, safest and readily available.

Some people swear by using protein, creatine, crazy bulk supplements and human growth hormone to improve their muscle mass while others go for a fully natural route.