As a former competitive bodybuilder, I know how important proper nutrition and supplementation is when it comes to looking your absolute best on stage for a bodybuilding competition. Bodybuilding supplements have come a long way since the first protein powders were marketed back in the days of legends such as Reg Park, Larry Scott, and of course, Arnold Schwartzenegger.

First on the chopping block for muscle building nutrition is protein. Protein powders are a convenient and affordable way to fuel your muscles with quality amino acids, to help repair muscle tissue after a intense workout. Within the category of protein, there are subcategories that you may not be aware of. Not all proteins are created equal, and I will touch on just a few in this article.

The most popular protein on the market happens to be whey protein. Whey proteins are products that digest quickly, and because of this aspect, they are usually taken after training. What you may not know is that whey is classified into three classes. There is whey concentrate, which is the lowest grade and the cheapest to manufacture. Then there is whey isolate, which has been rapidly gaining popularity because of its quality and affordability. The most effective is whey hydrolysate, which is also the most expensive to manufacture. Some quality isolate protein powders include: American Whey by American Sports Nutrition, Isolyze by Species Nutrition and Lean 1 by Nutrition 53.

Another one of the best bodybuilding supplements is branched chain amino acids, or BCAA’s, as they are more commonly referred to. An old adage often refers to muscle as a brick wall. Within this wall, every third brick would be a BCAA. When supplementing with BCAA’s, one can expect:

· Muscle mass being spared during strict dieting
· Decrease in abdominal fat
· Greater mental focus
· Improves the hardness look of your muscle
· Strength increases

If you’re interested in finding a quality BCAA Supplements you should try, Muscle Mass by Beverly International and BCAA 5000 by Optimum Nutrition are both excellent products for any bodybuilder in training.

Most bodybuilders want maximum muscularity and vascularity for when they perform on stage. For this effect, nitric oxide supplements have been touted as being extremely effective. The vein-bulging and amazing muscle pumps you may experience from nitric oxide are linked to the amino acid L-arginine. Arginine is designed to increase blood-flow along with dilating your dilate blood vessels to help attain the look you want. Gaspari Nutrition makes two excellent products for mind-blowing pumps and roadmap vascularity – Plasma Jet and SuperPump 250. With arginine supplements, you may experience:

· Promotes the intake of nutrients to your muscles
· Provides you with amazing muscle pumps
· Starts being effective immediately
· Promotes faster muscle recovery
· Vein-bulging vascularity

Not all bodybuilding supplements are geared toward muscle gain. If you want to get on stage in your absolute best shape, then decreasing your body fat is crucial to your success, and there are a variety of supplements out there to help you burn fat rapidly. Most competitors rely on some type of thermogenic, such as diet pills with ephedra to aid their metabolism in burning more calories. More often called “fat burners”, these weight loss products help your body burn more calories while at rest, providing you the energy you need when calorie depletion takes its toll on you.

With the ephedra ban lifted by the FDA, many sports nutrition companies have provided a slurry of different weight loss products to consumers. ECA Xtreme by Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals is a reintroduced version of the ever-popular ECA Stack, which combines the awesome calorie-burning cocktail of ephedra, caffeine and aspirin.

Are you looking to curb your appetite during contest preparation? Tri-Matrix not only features ephedra and caffeine, but also has the powerful appetite suppressing ingredient hoodia, which has been quickly gaining popularity around the globe.

These are just a few of the most popular muscle building supplements and fat loss products that many bodybuilders use. They can help serve as a foundation for your pre-contest program, or they can also be used during the off-season to help you better your physique so the next time you take the stage, the judges will be sure to take notice of you.

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