Beginner's Guide To Using Bodybuilding Supplements (Part II)

Protein, Creatine, L-Glutamine, and Weight Gainers
- Just The Basics

If you're just starting out, or even have been working out and supplementing for some time, all you really need is just the basics: proteins, creatine, glutamine, and maybe some weight gainers. It's really not that complicated... no need to spends all ur cash on all the fancy shmancy stuff out there until you get your basics down right... and besides, I can tell you alot of this "fancy" supplements out there really don't work... (case in point, ATP creatine serum...)

So, let's just quickly go thru protein, creatine, glutamine, and weight gainers. Now, I have alot of detailed info on all this on the site somewhere, so I won't get into too much detail about each.

Protein and Protein Supplements

If I had to pick only one supplement to use, protein supplements would be it. Why? Simple. Because protein is the building blocks of muscle. Anything else would come secondary.

There are several types of proteins like egg protein, whey protein, soy protein, and casein protein. The only 2 types we're really gonna worry about is whey and casein - because they are the best proteins for muscle building. You've probably heard alot about whey, as its often called the best protein for bodybuilding, which is true, in most senses, but casein protein is not to be overlooked. They work somewhat differently, and you can achieve best results by combining the two.

The biggest difference between whey protein and casein protein is their speed of absorption. Whey is the fastest absorbing, and casein is much slower. Casein protein regulates the release of amino acids into the blood stream at a steady pace. The benefit of whey on the other hand is because of its quick absorption, it leads to a 68% increase in protein synthesis, compared to 31% from casein. (Read more about whey protein here.)

Because whey is quickly absorbed, its always best used within 45 minutes after your workouts, while casein protein is best used at other times throughout the day, especially before bed time.

One of the best whey protein supplements I've used is Optimum Nutrition's 100 Whey. It's by far one of the best tasting, easy to mix whey protein supplements out there. The best part is its price just beats anything out there. ($91 for a 10lb bag or $46 for a 5lb tub.)

For casein protein, you can use something from Met-rx, which is a bigger proponent in pushing the benefits of casein proteins. Most of their supplements are a protein blend - a mixture of different proteins - mainly whey and casein.

Creatine Monohydrate - Use and Cycling

Ok, these's alot of info on creatine monohydrate and some very popular creatine products on the site here, like Muscletech Cell Tech, and EAS Betagen. So I won't go into too much detail on this subject. Read these articles:

Creatine Monohydrate basics
Creatine use and cycling

Now, one thing I am gonna cover is creatine myth. Something I overlooked in other articles. In short, creatine will NOT:

Stunt your growth
Cause acne
Shut off your testosterone
and whatever ridiculous stuff you might hear.
also creatine is tasteless unless the manufacturer added flavoring to it

But there are some minor side effects of creatine your should be aware of: Creatine side effects

L-Glutamine - Not To Be Overlooked

I've read some recent articles arguing against L Glutamine supplementation saying it doesn't work as it should etc... but take my word for it - Glutamine works.

Unlike creatine, glutamine's always taken a back seat when it comes to supplementation. It's not nearly as popular or well known as creatine, yet its benefits is nothing short of awesome. For more info on glutamine, read this article. Glutamine is something that doesn't need to be cycled, unlike creatine. Over the many years I've worked out, I've continually used glutamine as one of my basic supplements, and when not using it, it just doesn't feel the same.

Weight Gainers - A Hard gainers Best Friend

Now, everyone and anyone can use a weight gainer like Prolab N Large 2, or Champion Nutrition Heavy Gainer 900. But for hard gainers like myself, weight gainers are a godsend. Packed with calories, carbs and protein, even the toughest hard gainers like myself can put on some good weight.

It's pretty tough getting 3 to 5000 calories in a day just from the foods you eat, and you do know what the quickest way to gain weight is to eat more calories than you expend, right? Well, now you do. With weight gainers, this makes your life that much easier. A serving of N Large 2 has 600 calories, and its a moderate sized shake too.

With that said, we'll continue to part 3 and look at the specific supplements in some detail.

>> Click here to order Prolab Creatine online and save
>> Click here for Optimum Nutrition 100% whey protein
>> Click here to order Optimum L-Glutamine and save
>> Click here to order Prolab N Large 3 and save