subject: Bodybuilding supplements…there's more to it than you think! [print this page] Bodybuilding supplementsthere's more to it than you think!
Bodybuilding is all about adding, growing, extending, tweaking, strengthening and many other adjectives ending in "ing". For this reason bodybuilders have always relied on supplements in order to achieve their gains. A quick look at the definition of the word "supplement" helps to explain this reliance on superfluous dietary intakes.
Supplement: "Something added to complete a thing, make up for a deficiency, or extend to strengthen the whole" (Definition from answers.com). The language contained in this definition makes clear why bodybuilding supplements have gained such a massive appeal, became so heavily relied on and are now considered staple requirements in a bodybuilder's diet. The effect of supplements is to leave a body or muscle looking like it has been "added" to. Supplements can also "make up for a deficiency" in a person's diet by adding extra nutrients. Finally, they can act to "extend" and "strengthen" muscle by increasing their volume. Semantic lesson over.
A good example of a bodybuilding supplement with all of the above described effects is whey protein powder. The benefits of whey protein are by now so well-documented that any description here is probably a waste of time. At the risk of patronising my reader, here is a quick breakdown of the facts: weight lifting exercise is taken to build muscle. Exercise increases the bodies demand for cell repair. Muscle needs protein to grow and repair. Ergo: higher levels of protein intake are demanded by the body after exercise in order to build muscle. Simple. Whey protein supplements are one of the quickest and easiest ways to meet the added protein demands of the body after exercise.
One of the best-selling and most commonly used protein powders on the market today are Met Rx meal replacements. Met Rx's product contains 35g of their own specially engineered metamyosyn protein, 3g of l-glutamine, the product is low in fat and is sweetened with aspartame instead of fructose in order to keep the calorie content low. Ideally consumed post-workout, but equally convenient to replace meals or supplement protein intake throughout the day, met-rx meal replacements are handy body building supplements.
