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Taking effective supplements will boost your energy levels, your strength, and provide the nutrients that your muscles need to recover and grow faster. Even though, supplements should just be treated as the cherry on top of an already effective diet and training plan that cherry on top actually does matter and can have a big impact. For example, take a look at just one supplement creatine monohydrate which studies have shown can provide a 15% boost in performance markers like maximal power, strength, and muscle contractions. (8) 15 percent may not sound like a whole lot, but it is a lot because just this one supplement can help you push yourself to lift a heavier weight or squeeze out an extra rep or two and that’s what you need to build more muscle.
So the first tip, if you want to bulk up faster, is to really consider taking creatine. The fact that creatine can help significantly improve lifting performance, is backed by over 20 studies that found an average increase of 14% in overall weight lifting performance and up to a whopping 45 percent boost on an exercise like the bench press. (3) Not only does creatine help you build more muscle by getting stronger, but it also increases cellular hydration. Or in other words, it increases water retention within your muscles. This obviously makes your muscles appear fuller and bigger, but it also is actually another way that creatine helps to stimulate muscle growth because water retention increases the pressure placed against the cell membranes and cytoskeletons within your muscle cells, and your muscle cells perceive that as a threat to their integrity, which can increase anabolic signaling, leading to a more favorable protein turnover rate, ultimately stimulating more muscle growth. That’s probably one of the reasons why we see studies like this one where after just 6 weeks of strength training men that supplemented with creatine gained, on average, 4.5 extra pounds of muscle than the men that received a placebo instead. (11)
Now even though you do naturally take in creatine from sources like chicken, seafood, and red meat to get the maximum benefits for muscle growth, supplementation is generally required. So simply taking five grams of creatine monohydrate per day will have your muscles fully saturated with creatine within 3 to 4 weeks according to the evidence. One last thing is to make sure you have this after your workout. A lot of people take creatine before their workout, but most likely you’re better off taking it after your workout because research shows us that this is likely more effective. (4)
Next let’s talk about mass gainers because even though they’re VERY popular for bulking, I recommend you just make your own protein shake after your workout. A Mass gainer is very appealing because it sounds like some special formula that’s specifically designed to boost muscle growth. But in reality, most mass gainers use cheaper protein sources and are essentially just mixed with a lot of sugar. You’re better off spending your money on a higher-quality protein powder and if you really need the additional calories you can add things like whole milk, peanut butter, a banana, AND even blend in additional carbs like oats.
Now another thing you should know is that even though the anabolic window has been debunked meaning even though you don’t need to rush to take a protein shake immediately after your workout research does still show us that there is a benefit to consuming protein sometimes soon after your workout, specifically within the first hour. (15) For example a 2018 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found evidence that consuming protein shortly after a workout can help improve strength and muscle growth even if you’re already consuming enough protein throughout the rest of the day.(15) This is because taking protein powder post-workout spikes your insulin and quickly delivers amino acids to your muscles. Those amino acids provide the building blocks to regain and maintain a positive protein turnover rate within your muscles. The protein turnover rate refers to the balance between muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown, we want a greater amount of synthesis than breakdown to build muscle or in other words, we want a positive protein turnover rate and after a workout, our muscles have gone through the exact opposite they’ve gone through muscle protein breakdown. So if you can’t eat a high-protein meal soon after your…