Supplements are a heavily debated subject in the fitness industry. Some see them as a necessity to get to their ultimate physical goal, while others see them as a cheat and believe that you should work hard in the gym to get your fitness goals and not cut corners.

In this articles, when we say ‘supplements’ we mean the safe and approved versions such as Whey Protein Powders or Creatine and not the hard stuff such as intravenous steroids.

To cut it short, we vote yes to supplements such as whey protein or creatine. If you’re on a mass and strength building workout routine then the first rule for reaching your goal is optimising your diet for a ripped and stacked physique.

Supps are an effective way and safe way to give your body the nutrition it needs. Below are 4 reasons why you should look to incorporate supplements such as protein whey powders or creatine into your pre and post-workout diet.

4 Reasons To ‘Supp’

Faster Muscle Recovery

Drinking protein shakes leads to faster muscle recovery. The claim is proven time and time again and there is a whole market out there developed to help you maximise your workouts and decrease the time it takes for you muscles to recover – meaning you can smash the next set quicker but reducing the aches on rest days. The British Journal of Sports Medicine published a study about the effects of supplements on muscle recovering, finding that they aid recovery, facilitate strength building and promote muscle mass – exactly what we want after smashing the squat rack.

The results aren’t experienced led either. Both beginners and professional athletes benefit from the muscle recovery action of protein whey shakes.

Convient Protein Source

After a heavy workout, its important to deliver a high source of protein within the anabolic window, the optimal time to build strength and size after physical exertion. We know that meats, for example, are a great source of protein but unfortunately the gym changing rooms don’t exactly come with a fully functioning kitchen, if they do then we need to change gyms.

Whey Protein Shakes are a great way of delivery the muscle building benefits in a convenient way… in a bottle. This way you can take confidence in knowing you’ve fully benefited from the anabolic window post workout by downing a shake.

 

 The above Impact Whey Protein from MyProtein delivers 20g of protein by serving. Serving made up of 25g of the whey protein and 150-200ml of water of milk. 

More Protein Per Pound

Now, unless you’ve got your eating habits and diet down to a fine art, you probably wont be getting enough of the right stuff. The average guy typically requires 0.8g of protein for every kg of body weight, per day – another golden rule in the fitness circle. For a man that is active in the gym 3-4 times a week, he typically requires an intact of around 150-180g of protein a day. This translates to around 4 chicken breasts or 10 cuts of lentils. However, don’t feel like you’ve got to go and sit down at a table for an hour why you demolish a chicken carcass after your workout.

Like we’ve said above, protein shakes are a convenient way to aid in muscle recovery. 100g of protein shake typically contains 80g of protein, more than enough to benefit from the anabolic window post workout. The equivalent weight in chicken would only delivery 27g of protein. One of the main reasons that protein shakes are heavily recommended after a workout.

Don’t Waste Away

So you’ve done the hard part, you’ve built the body you want by putting the reps in at the gym. But if you do a miss 1 or 2 days at the gym, then supplements are a great way to maintain your size in the short-term. Obviously, skipping the gym for a few weeks will decrease muscle size… supps are good but not that good.

Creatine helps to maintain size when your miss a sessions in the gym or training so should be considered when trying to maintain your goals.

Creatine Monohydrate from MyProtein above is ideal to maintain muscle mass but also great post work-out combined with a whey protein to maximise absorption and recovery.

Check out the workout routine that almost killed us – it’s hard alright!

Featured image credit – Bodybuilding.com