The Best Types of Bodybuilding Supplements
by
site editor Stephen J. Lincoln, last update: 5/16/2012 9:42:53 AM.
hgh, bodybuilding
The different types of bodybuilding supplements, and the amount of supplements within each group is staggering. It seems nearly every serious and semiserious weight lifter is offering their own program complete with their own bodybuilding supplements. Let’s look at some of the most common.
The simplest bodybuilding supplement is just basic proteins, like Whey powder. As even the most novice bodybuilder is aware, protein is required to build and maintain muscle. These types of supplements are a better source of protein than whole foods not only because they are pure protein with none of the fats, but because the protein in these bodybuilding supplements has a much higher BV (biological value). This is a measurement of how much of the protein ingested is actually absorbed and used by the body. Related to this group of bodybuilding supplements are amino acid supplements. Amino acids are proteins which have already been digested and assimilated into a more complex form which the body can use for specific purposes.
Certainly one of the most commonly used and well known bodybuilding supplements is creatine. Creatine is a naturally produced biochemical found in human skeletal muscle which supplies energy to muscle cells, as well as the nervous system. The benefits of creatine have been well known for a long time, with the first creatine extract being available as long as one hundred fifty years ago! There have been some reported side effects, the most common being hair loss and dehydration.
The newest type of bodybuilding supplements to become widely used is nitric oxide. The clinical evidence suggests that increasing levels of nitric oxide leads to increased blood flow and transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the various parts of the body. If this is true, nitric oxide bodybuilding supplements could be useful for boosting energy and offer some limited help in building muscle.
Though there is much more to discuss, the last category of bodybuilding supplements I’ll go over are those which alter hormones. There are supplements to boost levels of testosterone as well as decrease levels of estrogen. These also have a wide range of negative side effects. The best type of hormone related bodybuilding supplement is an HGH releaser. HGH, or human growth hormone, is the hormone which stimulates new cell formation, and this includes muscle cells. With more HGH in your body, muscle is built stronger than it would be otherwise, and faster too. This means there is less recovery time in between workouts when taking an HGH bodybuilding supplement. The hormone is also responsible for maintaining homeostasis, which means a balancing of body levels. This usually results in a boosting of metabolism, which translates to a boosting of energy and less fat from your diet being stored. HGH stimulates the release of IGF-1 from the liver, which is another catalyst of new cell formation. In addition there is evidence that HGH releasers also help release testosterone in larger amounts. HGH releasers will work best with protein based bodybuilding supplements, though the releasers usually contain a fair amount of amino acids which are needed in the chemical makeup of human growth hormone.