Healthy muscle growth and recovery is important for everyone, irrespective of whether you are associated with sports or not. But of course, it is most important for bodybuilders and athletes. You should note here that protein, which is one of the three macro-nutrients of your body (the two other being fats and carbohydrates), plays a significant role in muscle growth.
How Protein helps in Muscle Growth & Recovery?
Scientifically, protein is a series of amino acids, combined together as a chain. The links, holding these acids together, are known as peptide links. Amino acids are the primary source of nitrogen in your body. Having a proper nitrogen balance is mandatory for proper muscle repair and growth.
However, increasing the intake of protein, while being on a resistance training program, helps to make the lean muscle mass stronger. Since muscle tissues are continuously in a process of being replaced and repaired, you should take adequate amount of protein to speed up this process of muscle recovery.
Natural Sources of Protein
The usual sources of protein include cheese, egg, milk, chicken, fish, seafood, poultry, pork, beef, lamb, nuts, soy etc. Since nominal amounts of protein are found in starchy and fatty foods, these are usually not included as much, in the diets of bodybuilders (for protein), especially when they are undergoing bodybuilding training.
What are Protein Supplements?
Though there are a number of natural sources of protein, usually bodybuilders and athletes prefer to supplement their diet with protein supplements for optimum results. These bodybuilding supplements are full of protein and nutrients, and are especially designed to assist athletes and bodybuilders achieve their daily protein requirement. Different types of bodybuilding supplements exist, that help in muscle recovery as well as muscle growth and they include protein bars, protein powders, meal replacements, weight gainers etc.
These bodybuilding supplements usually contain 20 to 30 grams of protein per serving more than those typical sources of protein, and are full of minerals and vitamins as well. They are available in different flavors like fruit, peanut butter, or cookies and cream, to name just a few.
How do they work for Muscle Recovery?
Most protein supplements provide your body with the required nutrients to generate amino acids that are essential to build muscle tissue. Though you can use the right foods to get the results, protein supplements, in addition to a well balanced diet, offer effective results more efficiently and quickly.
Most bodybuilders and athletes undergo rigorous physical activities that require protein levels higher than what a normal person would have. So, they benefit from the intake of protein supplements as these products increase their protein intake, and give their muscles more time to recover, in addition to helping them grow faster as well.
Why use Protein Supplements?
- Most of the hardcore athletes make it a point to consume at least 5 to 8 meals of protein daily. Cooking or preparing the food containing this much amount of protein will take a huge amount of time.
- These bodybuilding supplements are really convenient and easy to use as they hardly require any refrigeration or maintenance, and you can carry them on the move as they are absolutely portable.
- While helping in muscle recovery to a great extent, these supplements are quite cost-effective too. In fact, when compared to popular protein sources like beef or salmon, protein powders are comparatively less costly.
- Most importantly, protein supplements help you to maintain proper protein timing, which is absolutely essential to maximize muscle recovery and muscle growth. They enable you to have a slow digesting or a fast digesting protein meal, as per your requirement.
Some popular types of Protein supplements for Muscle Recovery:
Though there are plenty of these supplements available in the market, some of the ones with clinically proven records include:
- Test Freak. This happens to be one of the popular supplements for muscle growth as it contains ingredients like Trigotest, which is an excellent Fenugreek extract, in addition to zinc, anti-aromatase compounds, Testofen etc. The testosterone boosting ingredients in this product encourage testosterone to bind to androgen receptors on muscle tissue, thus stimulating the body’s muscle-building mechanisms. The intake of this product also encourages an increased rate of protein synthesis and formation of new muscle fibers.
- Amino Freak. This is an effective supplement for muscle growth with a unique amino acid formula. This contains clinically-proven dosage of amino acid and L-Carnitine, and speeds up the process of muscle recovery. It also helps reduce muscle tissue damage after exercises by up to 10%. Moreover, it uses a special technology which prevents amino acid degradation in your stomach. Its patented element, Astragin, helps increase amino acid absorption by 62%.
- Anabolic Freak. Though it is a testosterone booster like Test Freak, it has a completely different formula. This product provides your body with clinically-proven dose of D-Aspartic Acid (DAA), which supports natural testosterone production. This supplement also provides estrogen and cortisol support ingredients. In order to achieve maximized results, it is advisable to have both Anabolic Freak and Test Freak alternatively, in a cycle of 30 days.
To get the best possible results, you need to be careful about the usage of these supplements. It’s best to consult your an expert such as a personal trainer or doctor before using such bodybuilding and protein supplements.
Bio: This post was written by James Hundson fitness expert. I research & write reviews on health, fitness, muscle recovery , healthy supplements, exercise, weight loss, massage, yoga, diet, alternative medicine, sports, and much more.
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