Supplement stacking is popular among experienced athletes and seasoned members of the bodybuilding community as a means to achieving fitness goals.
However, while many budding bodybuilders concern themselves with debates like BCAA vs creatine, not many of them bother learning about supplement stacking – which can help accelerate your progress with fitness and bodybuilding.
That’s why, In this article, we’ll take a comprehensive look at all you need to know about supplement stacking;
What Does It Mean To Stack Supplements?
Supplement stacking refers to combining supplements (nutrients and other aids) to maximize their individual effects in order to achieve your fitness goals. The right combination of supplements is essential to meeting your fitness goals, either muscle gains or weight loss.
It’s important to pay close attention while stacking supplements as supplement stacks are most effective when the nutrients complement each other further increasing their effectiveness.
In other words…if you combine the wrong set of supplements in your supplement stack, they might negate each other, defeating the purpose of supplement stacking, but if you combine the right ones, they can flood your body with a slew of health benefits.
A lot of people tend to pair the wrong supplements which leads them to believe that supplement stacking doesn’t work – but that’s far from the case. Some supplements can make up the basis of your stacking regardless of if your fitness goal is bodybuilding, losing weight or trying to bulk up.
You can take these supplements all-around – for example, Omega3, multivitamins and protein. The other supplements in your stack are then determined based on your fitness aims.
How To Stack Right
The growth of the pharmaceutical industry means that there are now loads of supplements to choose from – which in turn complicates supplement stacking. The supplements that appear on your supplement stack would determine your fitness goals whatever they might be.
It’s worth noting that certain supplements form the basis of your supplement stack without necessarily contributing towards peculiar fitness goals – that’s because they promote overall health and wellness. Some of these include; Omega3, protein powder, BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acids), creatine, multivitamins or green powder, among others.
Each of these supplements have their own peculiar benefits that make them an essential part of your supplement stack. For instance, supplements like multivitamins or green powder help to improve your body’s metabolism recovery.
As stated earlier your supplement stack depends on your fitness goals but this requires you to do a lot of research to ensure that you choose the right supplements that help you progress. A great way to fill yourself with knowledge about a supplement is by reading the fine print on the body of the bottle.
This description on a supplement states what it contains, how much to take and its effects. You can compare and contrast this information to find the best combination for your fitness goal.
If you are focused on bodybuilding. Your supplements would include:
- BCAA’s
- Stimulants like caffeine
- Creating
- Beta-alanine
- Testerone
If your fitness goal, on the other hand, is weight loss, you can take supplements like;
- Conjugated lInoleic Acid
- Thermogenic fat burners
- BCAAs
- Arachidonic Acids.
While working out, you might also want to break your supplements into batches, taking some pre-workout and post-workout. Supplements taken before working out are designed to provide you with energy for working out.
For example, taking caffeine before hitting the gym would provide you with the energy needed to meet your workout goals.
You can also consult a fitness expert to know what supplements work best for you and your doctor to make sure you don’t have any allergies to a particular supplement.