If you are thinking of competing in the sport, or you just want to look like you do, it's about time to brush up on bodybuilding supplements. Take them or not, knowledge is power!
Bodybuilding Supplements 101. The Basic Foundation
Multivitamins
Most athletes, hobby lifters and even the average sedentary person have probably tried nutritional supplements, such as a multivitamin/multi mineral at one point in their life or another. Taking dietary supplements ensures the athlete's nutritional requirements are met. This is particularly important in bodybuilding. If you don't have a solid baseline, forget about huge mass gain.
Protein
This is another supplement staple that most people have tried. Protein is "the building block of muscle." It repairs muscle after a workout, builds and aids the growth of healthy skin, hair and nails. If your goal is to put on serious muscle, you will need to eat up to 2g of protein per lb of body weight either through the food you eat, or with protein supplements.
Essential and Non Essential Amino Acids
Amino acids make up protein. There are nine essential and thirteen nonessential amino acids. Essential meaning, the body receives these nutrients from food, and they are not produced in the body. Non essential meaning while they are produced in the body, exercise depletes amounts in the muscle and supplementing increases energy and strength. Different amino acids function differently within the body. The two most popular amino acids are:
1. Creatine
Found naturally in muscle tissue, this high performance bodybuilding supplement essentially, fills the muscle with water. This gives the lifter temporary strength increases to lift heavier for longer periods of time. This will assist the lifter in achieving mass gains. After decreasing the dose of creatine the muscle will lose water retention but the energy and strength it provided will result in increased muscle mass, as a final product. Learn more about creatine by reading my article Creatine and Fitness
2. Glutamine
This amino acid is well known for quick muscle recuperation, and prostate health. Many protein powders include glutamine but the supplement can also be purchased separately to mix into shakes and food. Glutamine is also naturally occurring in meat, beans, dairy, fish and poultry. Strength training decreases the amount of glutamine in the body and supplementing with this amino acid restores levels back to optimal capacity. Read more about glutamine in my article Glutamine the Repairing Supplement.
There are other amino acids such as Leucine, isolucine, valine, and L Argine that can be supplemented for maximal performance in athletic training, particularly in bodybuilding.
Understanding the foundations of supplemented training goes a long way when you walk into the health store, or browse products online. There are many different products, brands and choice so brush up and be informed before you buy.
Stay Strong!
Part 2 High Performance Supplements will be posted Saturday. Stay tuned!
Even if you work long days at a desk, taking a few minutes every half hour to an hour to stretch and engage in bursts of physical activity can give you just as effective of a workout, without the gym or long cardio sessions on the treadmill.
If you are thinking of competing in the sport, or you just want to look like you do, it's about time to brush up on bodybuilding supplements. Take them or not, knowledge is power! 
Whether you eat on the go, at home or work these five lunches will have you feeling full until dinnertime:
I may be getting ahead of myself here but March gets me really excited for spring. It's so close! Not to mention this mild winter we have been having in Toronto, the weather makes it feel like we're nearly there. 
I wrote a series of three posts nearly a few years ago on the importance of reading nutrition facts. Newer readers of Kalisthenix Fitness Blog would benefit from checking out these articles and learning how to read nutrition labels.
