An effective protein supplement used before or after working out should contain the nine essential amino acids that cannot be synthesized in the body. The optimum combination of amino acids renders them "complete proteins." These are protein supplements derived from animal or dairy sources.
Active people involved in resistance training regularly take protein supplements to promote muscle strength, enhance muscle recovery and gain muscle size, as acknowledged in an article by Robert R Wolfe in the August 2000 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Writing in Bodybuilding.com, bodybuilder Hugo Rivera categorizes five types of protein used in supplements according to their bio-availability value--ability of the body to assimilate and use protein.
The five are: whey protein, egg protein, milk protein also known as calcium cassienate or micellar protein, beef protein in the form of liver tablets, and soy protein.
Weight gainers are a blend of protein, carbohydrates and fats, with a high calorie content designed to help you gain weight. They are particularly useful if you are a hard-gainer with low body-fat and a high metabolic rate. Meal replacement powders are a blend of protein and carbs, but lower in calories than weight gainers. Protein powders typically contain no more than 5 percent carbohydrates. Protein bars contain proteins and sugars. Ready to drink protein shakes, contain low carbs and essential fatty acids. Beef liver tablets, a protein supplement that dates back to the 1960s.
Muscle breakdown occurs during resistance exercise and depletes the muscles stock of the branch chain amino acids, leucine, iso-leucine and valine. Take a quick digesting protein supplement like whey protein before your work out. An article by Jay R Hoffman PHD. in the December 2007 edition of the "National Strength and Conditioning Journal," suggests taking a protein supplement immediately before your workout enhances muscle growth.
Take a weight-gainer protein supplement or meal replacement supplement within an hour of finishing your work out. These contain simple carbohydrates to replenish muscle stores of glycogen used as energy during your work out, and a blend of quickly assimilated whey protein and sustained release milk protein to accelerate muscle recovery and enhance growth. Hoffman believes the insulin response generated by simple carbs helps the body's uptake of amino acids.
With all the different supplements that are available for use, many people have a tendency to get confused on which they should take. In some cases there will be one or two supplements in particular that will stand out to you and draw your attention.
One supplement to take, that often tops the list of many people, is creatine. Let's have a quick look at the top five reasons why you should consider taking creatine.
Why Should You Consider Taking Creatine?
. Increased Workout Intensity Translates To More Muscle Mass
One of the first reasons why you need to start taking creatine is because it will help to increase your overall workout intensity, which means you will achieve a higher level of muscle mass.
The creatine will allow you to keep pushing hard in the gym at a time when you would have previously had to decrease the load or stop entirely, so this helps in terms of building muscle faster.
Better Muscular Contraction Means Enhanced Sports Performance:
The second reason to take creatine is for athletic performance. If you're involved in sports that require stop and go type of activity, creatine is going to come in very helpful for you.
To put this into perspective, a player in a game of hockey taking creatine would not only be able to go harder with each shift he's on the ice, but he'll be able to last through more shifts total throughout the game.
Quicker Atp Re-Synthesis Equates To Frequent Training Sessions:
Third, creatine is going to allow you to train at a higher frequency, which also means quicker and more significant muscular gains.
The more frequent you are able to stimulate a muscle, the faster it will grow bigger, provided that it has had the opportunity to fully grow back after the first stress load that was placed upon it.
Since creatine helps increase the recovery rate of the muscle cells, this means you may not require as much total rest time in between each workout you perform.
So if you're someone who commonly takes a few days off between each full body workout, using creatine may allow you to cut this down to just a single day between workouts. Over time this will translate to more workouts and will make a difference on your results from month to month.
Fourth on our list of reasons why you need to use creatine is because of the muscle pumps you'll get. While muscle pumps don't necessarily help you out physiologically in terms of building muscle mass, they will help with motivational levels.
There's nothing like seeing a muscle grow at the end of a workout to motivate you to get back into the gym and do it again a day or two later, and since creatine causes a higher level of water retention in the body, the muscle pumps you'll experience will go up.
Faster Sprint Performance Increases Metabolic Rates And Fat Loss:
Finally, the last reason why you should consider investing in creatine as one of the muscle-building supplements you use is because it'll help you increase your metabolic rate.
If you're currently looking for fat loss, how many calories you burn on a daily basis will have a significant impact on how quickly you see progress.
Since sprint cardio training is one of the best ways to boost your metabolic rate and sprinting relies strictly on ATP as a fuel source, supplementing with creatine allows you to have a better sprint performance during your weight loss phase.
If you do make the decision to utilize creatine with your training program also remember to perform the loading phase first as this will be critical to getting the muscle cells fully saturated right from the start and allowing you to see the biggest benefits from taking the supplement.
Best taken 1/2 hour or so BEFORE a workout and again RIGHT after a workout.
What I do is take a creatine/juice/protein drink about a half hour before a workout and than another shake right after.
This "bracketing" technique helps set up an anabolic (muscle-building) state for your muscles and helps prevent muscle breakdown from a workout (catabolism).
Other than these 2 opportune times, you can add another creatine serving or two any time throughout the day.
I usually recommend 25 to 30 grams of creatine on a loading phase and 10-20 grams a day on a maintenance phase.
This is where the overwhelming research shows the value of glutamine raising growth hormone levels significantly by taking 5 grams before bed.
Also, another great time is upon waking, when your muscles have been without significant nutrition for up to 6-8 hours.
Another good time for glutamine is about a half hour or hour after working out.
This helps in the recovery/recuperation process from demanding workouts.
So, creatine definitely before and after your workout and glutamine right before bed and right upon waking.
The best times to take ANY protein drink or protein supplements are as follows.
I've listed them in order of importance, so based upon what you can afford, start at the top of the list and work down.
When Should You Take It?
The most important time is right after a workout.
Your muscles are like a sponge and need instant nutrition for muscle recovery and growth.
Right before bed.
You're about to sleep for 6 to 8 hours. That's a long time without protein.
Could you imagine going throughout your day (when awake) not eating 6 to 8 hours?
Right before bed is important.
Right upon waking.
Same thing, you've just gone 6 to 8 hours without proper nutrition. Your body needs protein quick.
Half hour before a workout.
This sets up the "anabolic window" before your workout and provides your muscles with adequate nutrition so that the effects of weight training (weight training breaks down muscle-called catabolic) are not as severe.
Young weightlifters who want to emulate athletic heroes try to improve their own weightlifting skills and athletic motivation. Yet in the realm of protein supplementation, youngsters would do well to learn as much as possible about sensible nutrition
Young weightlifters should avoid relying on protein supplementation for muscle and strength gains, as excessive dietary protein might carry unwanted side effects, and protein supplementation can be unnecessary and expensive.
Teenage weightlifters immerse themselves in a demanding sport that emphasizes power and body weight. Already dealing with growth spurts and body changes, these teens may obsess about muscle gain. However, it is exercise, not high protein foods, that builds muscle -- although dietary protein provides the amino acids from which new muscle can be built.
Adolescents should obtain 13 percent to 14 percent of their entire calorie intake from protein. If an adolescent weightlifter's diet contains 3,000 calories, 14 percent of the total calories would be 428 cal.
diet containing protein-rich foods such as eggs, lean meats, beans, nuts and low fat cheese and milk easily fulfills the young weightlifter's requirements.
The National Kidney Association cites studies showing accelerated kidney damage in diabetics on high protein diets.
However, Body Building For You suggests that athletes regularly exceed protein requirements with no adverse effects, and that no study ever scientifically proved that high protein diets are dangerous to healthy individuals.
n 1998, "Journal of Nutrition" reported excessive protein metabolism encouraging calcium loss through excretion, yet in 2003 the same journal suggested that calcium is not always lost, possibly because phosphorous helps to enable calcium re-uptake by the kidneys -- at least in people with no prior health problems.
hus, protein supplements may not harm the young weightlifter, even if those supplements contribute to protein intake beyond recommended levels.
Still, two concerns remain: one is financial loss at the expense of weight gain. Expensive protein supplements are unnecessary if the young weightlifter includes protein-rich foods in every meal.
Another danger is hidden ingredients. Some of the most respected Olympian weightlifters have tested positive for banned drugs or steroids hidden in nutritional supplements that they believed to be protein or energy supplements.
Some cause physical and sexual characteristics to alter, and some hasten cancer. In short, young weightlifters aspiring to world-class competition must exercise the utmost responsibility regarding nutrition. It is never too early to start such discipline.
A: I would like to dispel this myth by giving you the definition of what an anabolic steroid is. These are synthetic versions of the male hormone testosterone. Creatine, as you will see below is not. Basically anyone who says this should immediately be labeled a gymbecile.
Q: What is Creatine?
A: First, let me emphasize that our bodies already produce creatine naturally. Did you ever watch the transformers when you were a kid? Well if not, there were groups of robots called " combiners. " They would join together and form an even larger and more massive robot, crushing everything in their paths! Our liver does the same thing with the three amino acids, Arginine, Glycine and Methionine. It combines them to form creatine, much like the constructicons combined to form devastator! Ok so that was a lame example, but it explains the process quite nicely.
Q: What exactly does creatine do?
1. Creatine works mainly to increase our Creatine Phosphate System
2. Increases The Pump!
3. Increases The Reparation Process of Bodybuilding.
Q: How exactly does Creatine Apply to An Athlete?
A: Simple, it does so by enhancing your creatine phosphate energy system. This does a number of things:
1. Increases explosion - Most athletes notice more explosiveness after utilizing this supplement 2. Allows yourself to push yourself harder and longer.
Q: What are the side effects of Creatine, and in General how safe is it?
A: As stated above, creatine is not, and I repeat not a hormone. Therefore it does not have the side effects associated with any Prohormone or illegal steroid.
There have been hundreds of studies done on creatine that all show that it is a safe supplement.
To further prove its safety two an a half million kilograms of creatine were consumed in the United States alone in 1999! That statistic alone speaks volumes about the safety and efficiency of this supplement! Not only that, but creatine has been the number one supplement on the market for almost a decade and no one has reported any adverse side effects from it. ( aside from the ones I listed above. )
: I don't workout, but do you think that creatine will build muscles and help me to lose fat?
No! If you don't workout I cannot imagine what supplement would help you. Creatine provides your muscles with more short term energy - but that is wasted if you do not exercise them. If you take creatine you should push yourself even harder in the gym. The idea is with more energy you should be able to workout harder. A harder workout leads to increased muscle mass.
Q: Since Creatine makes you gain weight should I not take it on a cut?
Yes, creatine causes your body to hold water, but that is a good thing! The fact that your muscles are super hydrated even on a cut is fantastic. I see absolutely no correlation between taking creatine and our body storing fat. If anything, creatine will assist us in maintaining more lean mass while dieting. In my mind there is no point to discontinuing the use of creatine while trying to burn fat.
Can I take Creatine and Protein at the same time?
Firstly, protein is a food product. If you couldn't take creatine and protein at the same time, then you would have to be a strict vegetarian and still you would end out consuming around 40 grams a day just from normal foods. To top this off, creatine is not much use without a significant protein intake. What is the point of pushing your muscles further than they are used to, if you are not going to provide the amino acids necessary for their repair?
Which supplement is Better Creatine or Protein?
: ( I probably get asked this question at least once a day through email.) Amino acids are the building blocks of our muscles. If you do not get enough than there is no point to working out. Creatine is an outstanding supplement, but if you have to choose from getting at least 1 gram a day of protein or getting your creatine then opt for the protein. However I do want to stress that creatine is an excellent supplement. In fact for assistance in muscular gains I would rate it second only to whey.
Do you feel that creatine is cheating? I want to earn my muscles the hard way and don't want to cheat to get them.
( I can't stand these types of questions!!! ) Yes, you would be cheating. You would be cheating yourself out of great gains by not supplementing with it!
s there anything I can take to make creatine a more effective supplement?
The first thing I would like to emphasize is that creatine will not work if you are not properly hydrated! It relies heavily on this, so you must drink tons of water, if you want optimal results from it. Super hydrating your body will also improve your weight room pumps tremendously!
What is the best method, dose wise, of taking creatine?
For creatine to produce optimal results, muscle stores must be topped off or saturated with it. To accomplish this you need to load the creatine for 5 days at 20-25 grams, spread out throughout the day into 4-5 servings. This is the quickest and in my opinion the " best " way to saturate your muscles with creatine. Following this phase, all you need is to take 5-10 grams a day to maintain your saturation levels. After this, any creatine you take will be excreted as creatinine.
Do I need to Cycle Creatine?
My recommendation is to load for 5 days, followed by a 5-10 gram maintenance dosage for 4-6 weeks. Following this, there are two particular strategies:
1. You can take one to two weeks off and then start the cycle over. Many athletes attest to receiving a better results this way.
2. However, several athletes will never come off of it. They will load it for 5 days, maintain for a few weeks and then reload again. This is increasingly becoming the more popular method of usage.
I should be taking supplements 30 mins before a workout and right after- 30 mins after I finish my workout. These supplements help restore muscle tissus and build muscle. You dont have to take it but it helps you,if your a hard gainer. Even if you arent, getting those carbs and protein is vital in your growth.
Best taken 1/2 hour or so BEFORE a workout and again RIGHT after a workout. 
Definitely take glutamine right before bed.