In this 2-Part Series, Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding, we will look at the best supplements available for the natty lifter. We will cover the most effective supplements for mass and fat loss, and yes, we will include prohormones. Sure they are a gray area to some, but to others, they might be the holy grail. Whether or not you use them is up to you, but you should be informed. That’s the best way to make intelligent choices. With that in mind, let’s jump into Part 1!
The Goal Of This Guide
When I started bodybuilding I trained at home, so I never heard about steroids. The only thing you heard about in the magazines had to do with Weider. (unless you didn’t read a Weider magazine). I was reading Muscle & Fitness, so everything was a Weider Principle or Weider creation. His marketing approach was simple: if it was even remotely related to bodybuilding, he created it. Being a newbie, I didn’t know any better. I thought all the top guys like Arnold and Lou were big because of Weider, his principles and his supplements.
Of course, much of that was simply Weider’s marketing. Looking back, I wish I had access to a guide like this back then. The time I could have saved! The goal of this guide, then, is to provide information that can save natural bodybuilders wasted time and effort. In addition, I have assigned a rating system to make it easier to know what supplements are worth trying.
What Natural Bodybuilders Should Expect
If you’re a natural bodybuilder, gains tend to come a little slower than you might like, especially compared to the lifters on steroids. You can’t look at someone using steroids and think you can match their gains. It’s just not going to happen. The truth is the individual on roids will get bigger biceps just lifting their coffee cup in the morning. The sad thing is, they don’t have to give much thought to their training program. That’s because pretty much anything works.
On the other hand, the natural bodybuilder must give it a lot of thought. The best gains come to those natural bodybuilders that apply the most knowledge. Part of that knowledge is to understand what supplements are useful for natural bodybuilding.
Natural Supplements For Muscle Growth
The first group of supplements we will look at are the ones that support muscle growth. Before we continue, it should be understood that supplements are just that, a “supplement” to your hard work in the gym and dedication in the kitchen. They are not steroids. They will never work as well as steroids. Still, you can get some good results from the right choices. With that being said, let’s get going!
Protein Powders
A quality protein powder is one of the most important supplements you can use. It is absolutely a cornerstone product. If you know my articles, the importance of protein is something I’ve written about quite a bit. Therefore, I won’t go into extreme detail here. Suffice it to say, protein powder is an easy, convenient way to help you meet your daily protein requirements (I advocate at least 1 gram per pound of bodyweight).
It’s also important to think in terms of protein timing. Despite the current trends that suggest that timing doesn’t matter, ultimately there’s no harm in consuming protein every few hours. (1)
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating – 5 Stars
I’d rather know I’ve had enough protein timed sufficiently throughout the day by using a powder than to wonder if I’ve ingested enough.
Types Of Protein
This article assumes some knowledge on the part of the reader. Still, here’s a quick look at the most popular types of protein powders:
Whey
This is generally accepted as the highest quality of any protein source. It is available in isolate, hydrolysate, and concentrate. The major advantages of whey protein are quality and bio-availability. It’s a fast-digesting protein that’s perfect for using first thing in the morning and after a workout.
Micellar Casein
The main advantage of casein protein is that it digests slowly. That makes it ideal for bedtime, or at the start of a long day where ingesting protein might be difficult.
Digestion Speed
The biggest advancement in protein in recent years has arguably been the concept of varying digestion speeds. Whey digests fast and is great for key times of the day when the chances of being in a catabolic state are at their highest. Casein can help you stay in an anabolic state for hours longer than what would otherwise be possible.
The Convenience Of Protein Powder
The advantages of casein are especially true if you happen to lead a busy lifestyle. I have always led a busy life. I’m retired now, but when I worked, I worked a lot of hours. I’ve been the only person at work in an active retail store and just didn’t have time for meals. I did have time for a shake because they are fast, easy, and can be made ahead of time. Many times my lunch “break” was me standing in the backroom doorway gulping a protein shake.
This is the point of protein powder and if it’s going to be awhile before I could eat again, it’s the point of a slow-digesting powder like casein, which is digested and released gradually over 6-7 hours. There are different forms such as calcium caseinate, but micellar casein is the purest form of casein protein on the market.
Egg White Protein
This was the king of protein powder until whey came along. It’s a medium digesting protein that you can usually bake with as well as drink.
Beef Protein
Beef protein is a good, medium-digesting protein source. It’s popular with companies that push “real food” protein powders, such as 5% Nutrition and Redcon1.
Plant Protein
This currently popular protein requires that several plant-sources such as pea and brown rice be combined to create a high-quality, complete protein. Plant-based protein powders can be quite good and are becoming more popular by the day. This is a medium digesting protein powder.
Creatine
First, when I mention creatine, I’m thinking creatine monohydrate. No other form has, to me, worked as effectively. With that said, creatine is one of the most researched and proven effective supplements you can buy. When you consider the modest beginnings of this ingredient and the fact that it was such a hard sell that the originators had to start their own company (EAS), it’s come a long way.
BTW, it was being presented to the major supplement companies at the time of the high calorie weight gainer craze. Creatine is calorie free, and companies couldn’t see past that. Creatine monohydrate comes in a micronized form and is often patented. While it’s not necessary to load creatine (4-5 doses a day for 5-7 days), it’s a good idea to follow that approach for faster muscle saturation. (2)
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating – 5 Stars
This is a cornerstone product.
Betaine
Betaine is one of the more impressive supplements I’ve seen. Also known as TMG, betaine is the amino acid glycine with three methyl groups attached to it, and is typically found in beets. It’s mainly an osmolyte, which means it helps pull water into the muscle cells. It’s also thought to help improve strength and power. This makes it similar to creatine. It’s not a cornerstone product but should be high on your list of supplements to try. You can find it as a stand-alone product, or in many pre-workouts. (3)
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating – 4 Stars
Glycerol
As many of you probably know, I think this is one of, if not the, best new supplement available. Glycerol can come in various patented versions and, like creatine and betaine, helps pull water into the muscles. Glycerol, creatine, betaine, and taurine, are referred to as cell volumizers and produce water-based pumps. It also can dramatically improve endurance. You can find it as a stand-alone product, or in many pre-workouts. (4)
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating – 5 Stars
For me, this is a cornerstone product.
Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine is a popular ingredient is a non-essential amino acid that when combined with histidine produces carnosine. Carnosine is then stored in your muscles where it reduces the buildup of lactic acid buildup that occurs when you work out. This leads to improved endurance.
You will find this ingredient in almost every pre-workout on the market, and as a stand-alone product. The other thing it’s known for is a short-term, harmless tingling effect. You can tell when your pre-workout is kicking when the tingling starts! (5)
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating – 4 Stars
Pre-Workouts
Man, have pre-workouts come a long way since the early days of Ultimate Orange, N.O. Xplode and Super Pump. There were others but these were the first pre-workouts. Most of them were little more than caffeine. Do a google search on pre-workouts and you’ll see things like “do pre-workouts really work”? Well, come on now, try one or two and see! For me, this is a cornerstone product, but read the label and choose carefully.
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating – 5 Stars
There are two main types:
Stim-Based
Many users love the buzz. I’m one of those, I want the pumps, focus, endurance, and performance benefits, but mainly I want to be buzzed out of my mind! Having said that, some products have too much caffeine, even for a stim-freak like me. It makes more sense to keep the caffeine moderately dosed and supplement it with other stims as well as ingredients that smooth caffeine’s effects.
Non-Stim
For years I didn’t use a pre-workout because I trained at night. Then I began using a non-stim pre-workout. I admit, even the focus-heavy versions didn’t do much, but they did support pumps and performance. This type of pre-workout hinges on the pump and will often include focus and endurance enhancers.
It should be noted that many pre-workouts target 1-2 areas. For example, there are Pre’s that target mental enhancement, including motivation. Others target energy. For me, the best pre-workouts are balanced, targeting every benefit. Examples include Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode, 5% Nutrition Reloaded, and Kaged Pre-Workout (formerly Kaged Muscle Pre-Kaged)
Intra-Workouts
Intra-workouts are relatively new, and I saw the benefit of these right away. If you consider that training is a catabolic event and the more you’re in an anabolic environment the better, an intra workout can help keep you in an anabolic state before you have a chance to fall into a catabolic state.
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating: 4.5 Stars
I think they should contain creatine and supporting nutrients such as betaine.
Typically, they also contain:
BCAAs/EAAs
BCAAs/EAAs are tied directly to protein synthesis, which has become a big thing in bodybuilding. This was one of those things you just didn’t hear about back in the day. Now, it’s well-known that protein synthesis is a direct key to muscle growth. It was initially thought that the BCAAs were primarily responsible, now it’s believed that all the EAAs are important.
Still, leucine is known to be the most anabolic of any amino acid. These are often a stand-alone supplement. You’ll also find them in most intra-workouts and some pre-workouts. (6)
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating: 4.5 Stars
Nitric Oxide Boosters
Yes, they are their own category. They’re also common in both intra and pre-workouts. They include such ingredients as citrulline, arginine, agmatine sulfate, and nitrosigine®, to name a few. These supplements increase the body’s natural production of nitric oxide which helps promote huge pumps.
NO2 – The First Nitric Oxide Booster
NO boosters were brought to market in 2002 by none other than Mr. Creatine himself, Ed Byrd. At the time I was a Regional Sales Director for a major supplement retailer and had the pleasure of touring with Mr. Byrd as he introduced us to his new product “NO2”. I can remember I had to introduce him and he’d come down the aisle from the back of the room, like a Hollywood star, high-fiving everybody. The thing is, no one knew who he was!
One of his stories was of sitting in board meetings at EAS, the supplement company he helped create back when no one wanted his soon-to-be-famous creatine. He talked of one of the founders just sitting there and staring admirably at his biceps and forearm muscles. He’d flex and grin, flex and grin. He didn’t care about the business at hand, he only cared about how great his arms looked! Despite mixed research findings, I feel N.O. boosters are an effective supplement. Try them for yourself and see if you agree.
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating: 4.5 Stars
Post-Workouts
This is not a big category but consists mainly of products that contain protein and fast-digesting carbs. They might include other ingredients, such as added EAAs, and glutamine. My rating is based on the fact that you can simply mix up some protein with fruit and you have a good post-workout drink.
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating: 3 Stars
Glutamine
This is one of the most common recovery amino acids on the market. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in muscle tissue. It’s thought to act as an anti-catabolic by preserving muscle, it’s involved in protein synthesis and helps repair muscle tissue after a workout. The research is a little mixed.
Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding Rating: 3.5 Stars
Summary
In Part 1 of the Supplement Guide For Natural Bodybuilding, we have looked at some of the most important supplements and a few that get a lot of hype but may not have the research to back them up. This is how you want to approach buying a supplement – look past the hype and investigate the research. In Part 2, we will continue looking at muscle builders and close out this Series with fat loss products. Check it out!
References:
- Tarnopolsky, M. A., MacDougall, J. D., & Atkinson, S. A. (1988). Influence of protein intake and training status on nitrogen balance and lean body mass. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 64(1), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1988.64.1.187
- Häussinger, D., Roth, E., Lang, F., & Gerok, W. (1993). Cellular hydration state: an important determinant of protein catabolism in health and disease. Lancet (London, England), 341(8856), 1330–1332. https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-6736(93)90828-5
- Cholewa, J. M., Guimarães-Ferreira, L., & Zanchi, N. E. (2014). Effects of betaine on performance and body composition: a review of recent findings and potential mechanisms. Amino acids, 46(8), 1785–1793. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-014-1748-5
-
Nelson, J. L., & Robergs, R. A. (2007). Exploring the potential ergogenic effects of glycerol hyperhydration. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 37(11), 981–1000. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200737110-00005
- Derave, W., Ozdemir, M. S., Harris, R. C., Pottier, A., Reyngoudt, H., Koppo, K., Wise, J. A., & Achten, E. (2007). beta-Alanine supplementation augments muscle carnosine content and attenuates fatigue during repeated isokinetic contraction bouts in trained sprinters. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 103(5), 1736–1743. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00397.2007
- Jackman, S. R., Witard, O. C., Philp, A., Wallis, G. A., Baar, K., & Tipton, K. D. (2017). Branched-Chain Amino Acid Ingestion Stimulates Muscle Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following Resistance Exercise in Humans. Frontiers in physiology, 8, 390. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00390
- Curis, E., Crenn, P., & Cynober, L. (2007). Citrulline and the gut. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 10(5), 620–626. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCO.0b013e32829fb38d