3 of the Best Supplements To Build Muscle

Supplements are famous for overpromising and underdelivering — especially about muscle gain.

The pitch is simple: Putting on muscle is hard and slow, so take these pills and powders to make it easy and fast! The trouble is: Most are almost pure hype and misinformation.

For instance, many supplements do nothing to build muscle despite clever marketing. Others might have ingredients that can build muscle, but they cut costs and don’t put enough of the useful ingredients in to be helpful. And it’s common in the supplement industry to create “proprietary blends” that don’t even list the amounts of each ingredient, leaving you with overpriced and under-dosed snake oil.

So: What supplements can we rely on to build muscle?

The list isn’t long, but science clearly shows that the following supplements are safe and effective for building muscle mass. We’ll talk about them in the order of importance.

Protein Powders

There are many types of protein powders, but the most well-studied are derivatives of cow’s milk: whey and casein. These are considered some of the highest quality proteins because they’re quick and easy to digest with a high content of the essential amino acids you need to build muscle.

Both whey and casein have been shown to significantly increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS) after lifting weights. The main difference is how quickly they spike MPS after a workout: Whey protein (the more popular choice) boosts MPS immediately (1–2 hours after the workout) while casein takes a little longer (3–6 hours after) [1].

Both are effective, so it doesn’t matter which you choose. Whey proteins are more popular because of marketing and because they often taste better, but some people will digest casein more easily. Again, it’s a matter of preference!

(Wondering how much protein you really need? We’ve covered that here!)

These powders can get expensive, though, which might lead you to ask, “Why not just drink milk?”

You certainly could: Drinking milk gives you a dose of both whey and casein proteins. But the average scoop of protein powder gives you 20–25 grams of protein and only 0–2 grams of carbs. To get the same protein, you’d have to drink about 3 cups of non-fat milk, which would come with 36 grams of carbs. If you’re watching your macros, that certainly isn’t optimal.

(Which brings us to a useful side-note: Besides boosting your muscle gains, protein powders can help you hit your macros! A protein shake or two can put you well on your way to hitting your protein targets each day — something many people struggle to do!)

What about BCAAs? Branch-chain amino acids are an extremely popular supplement for gain-seekers. But the reason they’re not on this list is simple: they’re deep in the “overhyped” category. We’ll keep this one short: BCAAs are just leucine, isoleucine, and valine — three of the essential amino acids contained in all complete protein sources (whether you’re getting that from powder, milk, meat, etc.). That means that, if you’re already taking a protein powder, BCAAs are expensive and redundant. Plus: They don’t have much protein (around 6 grams on average) so they’re not even fueling the muscle growth they claim to stimulate. If you want great-tasting, pricey water, go ahead and buy BCAAs. But if you want something that works, stick to protein powder.

Last point: If you have healthy kidneys, taking lots of protein is not bad for you [2]. That is all.

Creatine

Creatine is another safe and effective way to increase muscle mass. It’s an amino acid that your body produces naturally in the liver, kidney, and pancreas [3], but doesn’t store in large amounts. You can also get it from eating fish and meat, but again, not in sufficient amounts to boost muscle growth. There’s been lots of research on creatine, and we know that supplementing with creatine monohydrate can promote gains in muscle mass and strength [4,5].

To see the best benefits, take 3–5 grams per day of creatine monohydrate, which is the most well-studied and effective form of creatine.

As you begin taking creatine, you’re “saturating” your muscle tissue with it. In the early stages, many people see a quick rise in scale weight (around 2–4 lbs). While it would be great if this were all muscle, the initial spike in weight is likely due to an increase in fluid in your muscle cells. This is important to understand because it scares some people away who don’t want to look “bloated” after taking creatine. But the fact that the extra water is in your muscles (and not between them) is important because it will still bolster the look and size of muscle-tissue, not make you look “bloated.”

“Research indicates that supplementing with 3–5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily can promote gains in muscle mass”

But it’s the long-term effects of creatine we’re really after. After many weeks, studies have shown that taking creatine significantly enhances gains in muscle fiber size across the board [4,5].

To be honest, we could end this list here. Protein and creatine are probably as good as it gets for well-studied, effective supplements. After that, I would usually tell you to save your money. But it’s possible you already take plenty of protein powder and creatine, that you’re dialed-in and want to know what else you can do to optimize muscle gain. Okay, we’ll talk about HMB.

HMB

HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate) is a metabolite of leucine, an amino acid often associated with muscle growth. Because leucine functions as a trigger for MPS, many researchers and supplement companies have touted HMB as “the next creatine” of muscle-building supplements.

HMB doesn’t really seem to cause muscle growth, but it might reduce muscle damage, leading to a net increase in muscle for untrained subjects [6]. People who are new to lifting weights tend to lose out on some of the initial gains in muscle mass (from the first few weeks of training) while they accumulate lots of muscle damage. It’s not until your body catches up with all the damage that it can start creating a net increase in muscle [9]. So, if you’re new to lifting weights, HMB might be worth a try.

A general recommended dose is anywhere from 3–6 grams of HMB per day.

But, if you’ve already been lifting for a while, whether HMB helps build muscle isn’t as clear. Some studies still show significant improvements [8], while others show no benefits at all [7]. At the moment, sports nutritionists think that, in order for HMB to make a difference for experienced lifters, the workouts have to really high in volume and intensity. You might do that once in a while, but it’s not going to apply to most of your time in the gym (we hope).

A Dose of Perspective

Let’s take a moment to look at the big picture.

Supplements can be useful. The ones we talked about in this article are all safe and (probably) effective at building muscle. Protein powders and creatine have dozens of studies between them that back up their usefulness, while HMB is a bit less certain. But this is important: none of these will overcome a poor diet or a lack of effort in the gym.

Your body won’t build muscle without (1) fuel and (2) a good stimulus. That means that, unless you’ve never touched a dumbbell in your life, you need to be in a caloric surplus to build muscle. And you have to hit the gym consistently and train hard to stimulate muscle growth. After that, these supplements have their place: enhancing your progress along the way.

If you’ve got the basics (surplus and training) locked down, then you know how to take your game to the next level. And you’ll never waste your money on snake-oil gimmicks again!

REFERENCES
1. Reitelseder S, Agergaard J, Doessing S, et al. Whey and casein labeled with L-[1–13C]leucine and muscle protein synthesis: effect of resistance exercise and protein ingestion. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Jan;300(1): E231–42.
2. Jager R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI. International Society of Sports Nutrition: protein and exercise. JISSN. 2017; 14(20).
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4. Volek J, Duncan ND, Mazzetti SA, et al. Performance and muscle fiber adaptations to creatine supplementation and heavy resistance training. Med Sci Sports. 1999;31(8): 1147–56.
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7. Kreider, RB, Ferreira M., Wilson M, et al. Effects of calcium â-Hydroxy-â-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation during resistance-training on markers of catabolism, body composition and strength. Int J Sports Med 1999; 20(8): 503–509.
8. Nissen S, Sharp R, Ray M, et al. Effect of leucine metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate on muscle metabolism during resistance-exercise training. J Appl Physiol (1985). 1996 Nov;81(5): 2095–2104.
9. Damas F, Phillips SM, Libardi CA, et al. Resistance training-induced changes in integrated myofibrillar protein synthesis are related to hypertrophy only after attenuation of muscle damage. J Physiol. 2016 Sep; 594(18): 5209–5222.