4 Natural Sources of the Best Supplements for Muscle Gain

The only way to make sure that your efforts at the gym are matched by the gains you want

Natural supplements can help you get your gains.

is to get high quality nutrition which makes your body a machine for growth. Just like a well oiled machine, you need more than just the standard materials to get the best out. Anyone who wants to build muscle will know that you need protein to build the muscle fibres, but thats not the end of the story. Without a complex mix of micronutrients the extra protein you take becomes ineffective and you're sure to miss out on the definition you're training hard to achieve.

There are hundreds of supplements on the market that claim to give you the right amount of these essential supporting nutrients, but isolated supplements can often provide excessive levels of individual nutrients as well as failing to provide all the necessary nutrients you need for optimal gains. Here we will show you how to get 4 of the best supplements for muscle gain from all-natural, healthy and compounded sources that will get you ripped up in no time.

Creatine – Beef, Tuna or Pork

Creatine has been an established supplement for many years now, and its benefits are well

documented. As part of your body's short term, powerful energy system, creatine gives you a boost when lifting that can really benefit as you push yourself to complete the set. Current creatine guidelines suggest taking in 20g of creatine for 5 days before maintaining your saturated levels with 2-3g per day. If you take the 20g per day using a powder, you can avoid the potential nasty side effects of creatine overuse by switching to tuna and other meats. If you make sure you have 400g of tuna, beef, pork or herring in any combination, you'll maintain creatine levels, have extra protein and the essential vitamins needed for protein synthesis, and be certain of more powerful lifts.

Glutamine – Beef, Pork, Dairy

Working out properly is tough, and your body knows it. The faster you can repair, the better, and glutamine is essential for this. What you might not know about glutamine is that its a type of protein, and its the most abundant amino acid in your body. It helps to keep your body anabolic after exercise, ensuring that your body builds fibres, rather than breaking them down. As a protein, glutamine is readily available in many other protein sources. Beef, for example, contains 8329mg of glutamine in a standard steak. You're already using it for the creatine, so now your getting two supple

ments from one natural product. You get similarly large amounts in other meats.

Caffeine – Dark Chocolate

Green tea extract is becoming a very popular supplement. It contains a range of anti-

oxidants (natural sources of which can be found here) but its function in pre-workout supplements is the content of caffeine. We often think about caffeine as a method of staying awake, but to the lifter, caffeine is a valuable chemical for stimulation and fat burning. As a natural stimulant it gives you a quick mental boost, but as a fat burner it can help you achieve excellent definition. It is important to note that you should only use caffeine on training days and that overconsumption can cause problems, so be careful. You only need about 80mg of caffeine for the maximum benefit. 100 grams of dark chocolate (70% solids and above) will give you the 80mg needed and a welcome sugar boost for exercise, spiking insulin levels, turning your body anabolic.

CLA - Avocado

If you want the fat burning effects without the calories, you can utilise CLA or Conjugated Linoleic Acid. This fatty acid is a great for fat burning, and supplements recommend 3-4000mg per day. It will strip away the fat alongside a healthy diet and exercise, but there is so much more available with a healthy avocado. Firstly, the avocado will give you all the linoleic acid you need, but will add in a good level of saturated fat, which is needed for testosterone production. You'll also get excellent levels of glutamine, leucine and zinc, all needed for maximum muscle gains.

Sometimes when you're working for the biggest gains, supplements might seem like a good way to get the most out of your workout, but this is not always the case. Stripped back supplements might give you individual nutrients, but compound foods like meat, chocolate and avocado can add balance to your food, as well as much needed other nutrients and the often overlooked benefit of eating good quality, wholesome foods.

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Happy Eating!