Supplement Basics

Tablets, powder, bars and more...

Supplementation can make a big difference to the results of your bodybuilding. There are many fantastic high quality supplements on the market which, if taken correctly, will help you build muscle quicker or lose fat. However, the supplement industry has more than its fair share of scammers and charletons and so you must not only know which types of supplements will benefit you but also which supplement companies can be trusted.

Thankfully, with the advent of the internet, we the consumers are much better equiped to identify the dodgy supplements and supplement companies. Through bodybuilding forum websites (such as muscle-talk.co.uk), we can share information and opinions with each other and so hopefully we can avoid wasting time and money on useless supplements and corrupt companies who don't put into their supplements what it says on their labels - this is, unfortunately, not as rare as you might like to think.

It's not all doom and gloom though! There are at least as many reputable companies as their are bad ones, and there are many many types of supplement that will help you reach your bodybuilding goals.

Of all the supplements, I would recommend protein powders and multi vitamin & mineral tablets as the Must-Have supplements for beginners. We have a dedicated supplements section where you will learn all about the different supplements but I quickly tell you here why I recommend these two supplements.

Protein Powders - the bread and butter of bodybuilding supplementation

To build muscle, your body needs plenty of water, calories, protein and all the multitudes of vitamins and minerals found in our diet. As long as you're eating well and drinking plenty of water you should be getting enough water and calories from your diet. Protein, however, is a different story.

Weight-training is an incredibly demanding activity - one that really knocks your body for six each and every time you work out. Because of this, your protein requirements - just to repair the damage done to your muscles - almost literally shoots through the roof. Your average protein intake (from dairy products, meat, fish and eggs) is not nearly enough to cover these requirements, let alone give your body enough to actually make your muscles bigger.

Sure, you can increase your protein intake by eating tons of meat, milk, eggs etc. at every meal but many people can't actually eat enough protein to get enough to grow on. You'd be amazed how many people train like animals in the gym yet don't grow very well because they aren't getting enough protein.

The answer, then, is protein supplementation. Protein powders have been on the market for many, many years and today they are more sophisticated than ever before, with all manner of special nutrients and protein types in them to make them work better than ever. Originally they were just powdered egg and milk but now many of them have amazing mixtures of all different sorts of proteins to help the protein be available to you over a longer period of time and thus help your body to grow better.

Whilst these new fangled protein powders do help, they are expensive and I would recommend that you stick with the more basic whey protein powders until you have a very good knowledge and understanding of nutrition and can make a more educated choice. Try to have a couple of drinks a day, mixed however the powder you buy suggests. You can normally mix then with milk (skimmed is best), fruit juice or just plain water. The extra protein you get from these drinks, along with the protein from your diet will go a long way to giving your body enough protein so that it grows, and grows quickly.

Multi Vitamin & Mineral tablets

I can't recommend that you take a high dose mutli vitamin & mineral supplement highly enough. As I've already said above, the demands on your body from bodybuilding are incredible and a normal diet will never give you all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function optimally. Sure, you'll get by, but that's definitely not the name of the game here. You want to grow, and grow fast. To do this you need to ensure your body has everything that it needs, when it needs it. This is where mega vit and mins come in. They make sure that you aren't deficient in any micro nutrient and also give your body lots of anti-oxidants which help reduce the amount of damage your weight-training will do to your body. Essential supplement!

So, please consider supplementing with protein powders and mega multi vitamin & mineral tablets as soon as you can, whilst continuing to learn all you can about supplementation. Good luck!

Want to learn more? We have an entire supplements section for you to enjoy!