Muscle Building Supplements - The Basics
by Max Riley

Whey protein. Creatine. Nitric Oxide. BCAAs.

If you’re like me, and obsessed with building muscle, you’ve probably taken each of these supplements. They are cost effective, and help you to train stronger, longer and to look better. But I want to ask you a question:

How often do you consider your overall health?

Sure, you eat right and train hard. You are healthy. No doubt about that. But are you as healthy as you could be? I know, I know. I am starting to sound confusing. Let me explain what I mean.

A Muscle Building Supplement Story

I have been training for over two decades. During this time I was obsessed with muscle building supplements. I wanted the best whey protein, and the latest research on creatine. I wanted to know what supplements would boost my testesterone and growth hormone levels.

But I never thought about the basics…supplements for overall health. Supplements that I should be taking, but wasn’t. Supplements like a quality multivitamin, a supplement for joint health and essential healthy fats (fish oil and flax seed oil). I was trying to build muscle, but wasn’t giving my body 100% of the necessary building blocks to function properly on all levels.

You see, nutrition and muscle building is easy. You need to start from the ground up. First, you begin with supplements for overall health. Supplements that provide ALL the necessary vitamins and minerals you need to pack on mass. Supplements like fish oil that assist with proper heart and brain functioning.

Then, once you have prepared a healthy foundation, it’s time to add the muscle building supplements. But I had this all wrong. More than that – I was ignoring the basics. I was trying to run a muscle car using the worst possible fuel.

Muscle building is an exciting and life changing process, but it is also hard on the body. Major changes are taking place. You are lifting heavy weights, tearing down muscles over and over again, rebuilding them stronger each time. If you don’t provide you body with the basics, as you age, you are opening the door for your body to break down.

This is exactly what I had been doing. Years passed by, and slowly – despite my training and diet – my age started to catch up with me. I wasn’t feeling like my old self. I had less energy, and more aches and pains. And I didn’t feel mentally alert and aware.

Supplements for General Health

Don’t be like me. Don’t ignore the small stuff. Make sure you focus on supplementing with the basics. Here are some supplement “basics” I strongly recommend you consider:

A Multivitamin. Not just any multivitamin. A quality multivitamin. And along with this, I would also recommend supplementing with some addition Vitamin C. The vitamin requirements of anyone who partakes in intense training is higher than a sedentary person. Training depletes vitamin stores in the body. These stores need to be replaced to allow for optimum energy levels and recovery times.

A good multivitamin product will fill in all the "holes" in your diet. The multivitamins listed here are designed for athletes, bodybuilders and anyone who trains hard. A good multivitamin is often one of the supplements that's overlooked, but is one of the most important. What's the point of having a good diet and training program without backing it up with a solid multivitamin?

Fish Oil. Fish oil, or healthy essential fatty acids, should be a staple for anyone that trains hard. Healthy oils and essential fatty acids are well known for improving overall health, vitality and brain function. But healthy oils also play an important role in muscle building and fat loss. A Danish study  proved that supplementing with the correct ratio of essential fats can increase stamina, improve muscle development, speed recovery and improve cardiovascular function.

Joint Health Supplement. Muscles aren’t the only thing in the body that takes a beating from hard, intense cardio and weight training. Every time you train with weights, go for a run, or play sport you're putting your joints under pressure. Weight training is especially hard on the joints! To get the most out of your training schedule and protect yourself from joint injuries you need to take care of your joints. Joint health supplements can help protect your joints from damage, and help you recover from a joint injury.

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