The Only 4 Sports Suppliments You Need

The sports supplement market is one of the fastest growing industries in 2022. But the vast majority of sports supplements have been proven to be ineffective. So how do you know which supplements to trust?

We have compiled a list of the only 4 sports supplements that are scientifically backed and proven to help with muscle growth and performance. Supplements are no magic pill. However, if used correctly, supplements can provide great benefits to your training when coupled with the right exercise and nutrition plan.

1. protein powder

Protein powder is a great supplement to help you hit your daily protein goals. But it’s not all the same.
Whey protein powder is the highest quality protein source. It contains the most Leucine (an amino acid that builds muscle). When you buy protein powder, make sure to check that whey protein is the main ingredient.
View our favourite whey protein powders for building muscle here!

You should aim to get the majority of your protein intake from whole foods like lean chicken breast, eggs, or tofu.
However, protein powder is a great alternative for several reasons. It is significantly lower in fat and higher in protein compared to some whole-food protein sources like beef, pork, and fish. It is also easier to prepare than whole foods- you simply mix it into a smoothie or yoghourt bowl. All of this makes protein powder a great addition to help you meet your daily macro goals.
For those who are vegan or lactose intolerant, check out this chart for some great vegan alternatives. While they don’t have the super-food quality of whey protein sources, they’re still a great, lean addition to your diet to help boost your daily protein. Being a vegan will not impact your ability to put on muscle, provided you are getting an adequate variety of protein from different sources. There are also a great number of vegan protein powders available on the market too. View our favorite vegan protein powder for building muscle here!

How much protein should you consume each day? It depends on several factors such as your goals, age, gender, and weight. However, as a general rule of thumb, you should aim to get 0.8-1.2g of protein per kg. of body weight.

Calculate how much protein you need each day here.

2. Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring molecule in skeletal muscle. It helps provide strength and stamina when we use those muscles.
(Skeletal muscles are the muscles that are attached to our skeleton, such as our biceps, quads, deltoids, and abs.)
High rep strength training exercises and explosive exercises like sprinting or a round of boxing deplete our natural stores of creatine. Taking creatine supplements can quickly replensh your body’s store of creatine and allow you to push through another few reps or lift heavier weights.
A 2003 study reviewing 22 creatine based studies discovered that those who took creatine supplements developed an 8% increase in muscular strength compared to those who took a placebo supplement.
However, it’s important to remember that although creatine has been proven to help develop muscular strength, the muscular gains you will get are down to how much effort you put into your training. You will need to train hard to reap the rewards of creatine. Click here to view my recommended creatine product for building muscle.

3. caffeine

Caffeine is a widely used supplement that has been proven to enhance endurance-based activities. Muscular endurance, sprinting, jumping, and throwing performance can all benefit from caffeine.
Athletes who consumed caffeine saw an average increase of 20% in the amount of reps they were able to perform. Over time, caffeine can also enhance muscle growth through the increase of volume of weight the muscles have lifted.
A 2021 study showed that those who ingested between 3-6mg of caffeine per kg of body mass had improved exercise performance. It did not matter whether the individuals were trained or untrained.
In addition to its positive effects on aerobic and anaerobic exercises, caffeine is considered to be an ergogenic aid. This means that it enhances cognitive function, attentiveness and vigilance in most individuals, which may provide extra sports performance benefits.
We advise not ingesting caffeine until just before a workout where you really need an extra boost. This lowers your chance of developing a caffeine intolerance.

Habitual caffeine intake may severely reduce the effectiveness of caffeine on your performance. It’s possible that the ergogenic effects of caffeine will be less significant.

4. Beta-Alanine

Beta-alanine is an amino acid that increases the level of carnosine in your muscles. Carnosine is a buffer that helps prevent the “burning effect” you get when performing muscular strength, high rep and high endurance training.
Similar to caffeine, beta-alanine increases the volume you can lift in one session. Over time and with consistent effort, beta-alanine will assist in increasing muscular size and efficiency.
Beta-alanine has not been proven to improve performance when performing low-rep ranges, but it has improved performance in high-rep ranges and in endurance training. Click here to view my recommended beta-alanine product for building muscle.

Ready to increase your performance in a healthy, natural way?

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5 Reasons Why You’re Not Building Muscle

Fitness Blogs, Muscle Building, Online Personal Training / admin

5 Reasons Why You're Not Building Muscle

Muscle building is one of the most common reasons why people go to the gym. If you’re putting in the time and not seeing results, have a look at these 5 reasons why you’re not building muscle.

1. You aren't training at the right intensity level

You don’t have to take every set to the point of failure, but you do have to take every set close to the point where you’d find it difficult to complete another 1-3 reps.

How to train to build muscle effectively

Adaptations include; increasing the reps, weight, sets or varying the exercise because over time your muscles adapt to the movements to make them easier to complete.

Effective training to build muscle should be a combination of two things: how much your muscles tense during a workout and how fast you use up metabolic energy.

For those who want to maximise their muscle growth, a good workout foundation utilises both of these elements. Resistance training consisting of multiple sets (3−6) of six to twelve repetitions with short rest intervals (60 seconds) is a great foundation to build muscle.

How to adapt your workout to keep building muscle

If you find the last few reps are easy, you know you need to adapt your plan to put your muscles under enough stress to grow. Without consistent adaptations, you won’t build muscle.

Adaptations include increasing your reps, adding more weight, doing more sets or varying your exercises. Over time, your muscles adapt to the movements which makes them easier to complete. To keep growing, you have to push yourself to perform harder movements.

2. You're simply not eating enough

A calorie surplus is eating more than your body uses for energy each day.

But how do you know how much your body uses for energy each day, and how do you know how many calories you should consume?

The answer? It depends. Everyone is different, and factors such as our genetics, age, gender and training experience influence how our body is composed and our potential to gain muscle or fat.

But as a general rule of thumb, we should aim to eat 200-500 calories in surplus per day in order to gain muscle. Use this calorie calculator to determine your daily calorie intake.

However, the most important factor to consider is the quality of the calories you ingest. Your macronutrient intake must be able to provide your body with the quality nutrients it requires.

PT Marbella’s nutrition plans are tailored to you to ensure you receive the maximum benefit after a comprehensive analysis of your lifestyle and body type.

3. You're isolating your muscles too much

Don’t get me wrong, isolating muscles is a great way to push individual muscles to fatigue, give your muscles definition, and focus on areas of weakness.

However, compound movements produce the most functional benefits. Squats, dead-lifts and bench presses are compound movements.

These movements utilise multiple muscle groups in a rhythmic manner to improve coordination, overall posture and alignment, and balance and strength.

It’s important your workout routine contains a solid combination of both isolation movements and compound movements.

PT Marbella will develop a fully tailored online training plan specific to your goals. Our plans are personalised for home workouts, gym workouts and body-weight workouts. Explore the options here.

4. You're not getting enough sleep

Quality sleep is often overlooked as a factor that affects your muscle gains. Poor sleep can cause a lack of performance in the gym and a lack of muscle growth.

When you don’t get enough sleep, your hormones become imbalanced. Testosterone decreases, cortisol increases, and growth hormones that are essential for muscle repair decrease.

This effect is so pronounced that scientists now hypothesise that sleep deprivation can decrease the activity of the proteins responsible for repairing muscles, which means your muscles may not heal as quickly when you sleep. This can cause you to lose muscle mass and hinder muscle recovery after exercising.

Therefore, it’s important to get a good 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If you struggle to doze off, consider turning off electronics 30 minutes to 1 hour before bedtime and relaxing with a book or a warm bath before bed.

5. You're focusing too much on cardio

When your main goal is to build muscle, you don’t want to be spending too much time on the treadmill.

Cardio can actually be counterproductive to muscle growth as it can cause your body to break down your muscles to use for energy. This is called catabolism, and it stops you from building muscle.

If you’re looking to both build muscle and lose fat, slotting a cardio session or two into your weekly schedule can help you achieve that. But you need to ensure that the majority of your training is focused on weight-training.

Why not combine weight-training and cardio by including HIT (High Intensity Training) in your workout routine? I am a certified personal trainer dedicated to helping you meet your fitness goals. Contact me to learn more.

Still not building muscle?

If you feel you are meeting all of the above and still don’t know why you aren’t building muscle, or if you want more guidance as to exactly what you should be doing inside and outside the gym, fill out our free consultation form so we can offer our expert advice to help you reach your muscle gains goals.

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Muscle Building

The Only 4 Sports Supplements You Need