Easy muscle for hardgainers: nutrition science these three supplements will put you on the fast track to a better body

Brian Rowley

Let's say you lift a ton of weights and eat mountains of food, but find your body still makes muscle the way a dot-com company makes money: hardly at all. The way to achieve a powerful look has a lot to do with diet and exercise, but reaching your potential also requires taking the right supplements. Numerous scientific studies suggest that the following three workhorses are your best mass-building supplement options.

CREATINE

Introduced to the market just eight years ago, creatine seems to have been around for decades. It quickly became a fixture in gyms around the world because it works, and works fast.

"Consuming additional creatine benefits the athlete in two ways," says Greg Marsh, Ph.D., assistant professor in the school of kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.

First, the supplement boosts creatine-phosphate stores significantly, providing the muscle with additional fuel for repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise. Creatine also seems to increase the volume of water within the muscle cells, and that often means a gain of a few pounds of lean mass in a very short period of time. Some scientists have suggested that the extra water inside muscle cells promotes muscle-protein synthesis even in the absence of training.

How to take it: The effectiveness of creatine depends on how you use it, so keep the following strategies in mind to get the full benefit.

First off, you can save money with this supplement, as evidence suggests two or three grams per day is enough to reach full muscle saturation. The two best times to take your creatine--in two-gram hits--are after a meal and after a workout. After the latter, the muscles you exercised will be unusually good at sucking up creatine from the bloodstream. Taking creatine shortly after a meal also makes a big difference, as combinations of protein and carbs boost muscle-creatine storage by way of the hormone insulin. As a result, a good strategy is to take creatine within half an hour of eating a meal rich in lean protein and high-glycemic-index carbs, such as a turkey sandwich, chicken breast with baked potato, or fish with carrots and rice.

How NOT to take it: Since creatine is unstable in liquid, avoid buying it in the form of premade bottled drinks. Instead, add the powder to a beverage shortly before consuming it. Lastly, don't take creatine with a lot of caffeine. A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that 400 milligrams of caffeine (about four cups of coffee, two Vivarins or two-thirds the daily dose of most thermogenic herbal blends) negated the performance-enhancing effect of creatine loading. More moderate consumption of tea is probably fine, as tea was used--with positive results--with creatine in the first (British) studies ever done on the supplement in the early '90s.

Safety: Creatine has proven to be remarkably safe in all long-term studies. You may remember that earlier this year the media jumped on reports of a French study which showed a connection between creatine and cancer. However, it came to light that the Jerry Lewis-loving scientists looked at naturally occurring creatine found in charred meat, not supplemental creatine, which has since been exonerated, though not with the same fanfare with which it was vilified.

Possible side effects: Some people complain of gastric distress, such as gas or bloating, while supplementing creatine. However, this typically happens when you take 10 grams or more at one time. Unless you are an especially sensitive sort (cough-wimp-cough), two grams twice a day shouldn't cause any displeasure.

MEAL-REPLACEMENT PRODUCTS

Just got back from a workout, don't have time to eat and have a date at 8 o'clock? At this point you could wait for dinner, in which case you'll be so starved you'll scarf the whole breadbasket, finish your date's meal, and then fight over the romantic shared dessert. A better idea is to grab a meal-replacement product instead. This will replenish your glycogen stores as well as flood your muscles with valuable amino acids. In fact, you could even quaff two MRPs, since most contain only about 300 calories. It's either that or let your stomach grumble and your muscles starve while your date tells you about the latest escapades of her cat, Whiskers.

Why you need it: The muscle-building one-two punch of protein and carbs is beyond dispute, and an MRP has both in the exact amounts you need. "If you want to put on muscle, take in 200 to 300 calories more than you burn," says Mel Williams, Ph.D., professor emeritus in the department of exercise science, physical education and recreation at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. "Combined with work in the gym, this should help you put on a pound or two of muscle per month. Add the calories as carbs and protein, since carbs increase the anabolic hormone insulin, and protein provides muscle-building blocks. It's a good idea to consume these calories immediately after your workout."

What's in it: On average, an MRP contains about 300 calories, 40 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbohydrate and up to five grams of fat--that's more than enough protein to support muscle gains. Whether the protein in your MRP comes from soy, casein, whey or egg may not matter. "As long as it is a complete protein with all essential amino acids, the source or quality of protein is less important than the amount," says Williams.

HMB

The best candidates for beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate are guys just starting a serious exercise plan. In fact, HMB has been repeatedly found to improve strength and muscle mass in rank novices. In a study done at Ball State University and published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, untrained beginners performed 10 different exercises three days a week for eight weeks and gained 2.1 pounds of new muscle a month.

Researchers are conflicted over whether HMB will help regular gymgoers. One study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine looked at the impact on 40 elite football players and found that HMB had no significant effect, while a more recent study performed at East Tennessee State University and published in the journal Nutrition found that it improved strength regardless of training experience.

When to take it: Gym veterans who are changing their workouts in some way or starting an intense new training scheme stand a good chance of benefiting from HMB. Unfortunately, you may have to take out a second mortgage to afford it, as the supplement costs about three bucks a day, or a cool grand for year-round use. The best idea is to stick with it for the first eight weeks of a new weightlifting program. HMB is also valuable during the first eight to 12 weeks of cutting calories, as it reduces muscle breakdown, which can be a problem when you're restricting calories.

How to take it: Taking HMB can be a chore, due to the powder's nasty taste. Nonetheless, palatable drink mixes such as Betagen and Juven have successfully incorporated HMB. To get your daily three grams, stick to 250-mg or 500-mg dosages when buying HMB capsules, as the 1,000-mg pill can be too large for some to swallow comfortably.

FITTING SUPPLEMENTS INTO YOUR DAY

To get the most
muscle for your money,
you need to time
your supplementation
intake. The following is
how your combined meal
plan and supplement schedule should
break down when
you're trying to gain
muscle.

BREAKFAST
1 cup cooked oats
1/4 cup raisins
1 egg scrambled with
  3 egg whites
30 minutes after meal:
2-3 grams creatine
  monohydrate powder
1 1/2 grams HMB

SNACK
8 oz. nonfat vanilla
  yogurt
2/3 cup low-fat granola
  with raisins

LUNCH
mix:
6 oz. water-packed tuna
1/2 cup cooked pasta
1 oz. low-fat cheddar
  cheese
and
1 apple

SNACK
1 MRP mixed with water
2 nonfat Fig Newtons

RESISTANCE-
TRAINING WORKOUT
Immediately after
workout:
1MRP mixed with water
2-3 grams of creatine
  monohydrate powder
1 1/2 grams HMB

DINNER
Large salad with low-fat
  dressing
1 chicken breast
1 cup cooked rice
1 small roll

Total: 2,700 calories
342g carbs, 205 g protein,
47g fat

COPYRIGHT 2001 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning