Every year millions of dollars are spent on supplements, almost everybody who participates in any sort of bodybuilding whether it be the IFBB pro to the weekend warrior takes some form of supplement. I have always believed to some degree a lot of the effects from taking supplements are physiological (every time you start taking a new supplement you find yourself more excited for your workouts and don’t want to skip workouts because you want to get your money’s worth from your supplement purchase) But from personal experience and years of taking multiple different forms of supplementation, I have also found that are some that have done an awful lot to enhance my gains. For me personally, my biggest goal has always been to add muscle and stay lean at the same time. This is why today I will be discussing the supplements that have best helped me accomplish this.

Being that I work long hours throughout the day, I do need supplements to get in all six meals a day I usually consume. I have been trying to cut back on protein bars and have been sticking to more RTDs (canned pre made protein shakes). I have found that I particularly like the Metrx RTD 51, the chocolate-peanut butter and café latté both have a good taste and contain 51 grams of protein only 2 grams of fat and right around 9 carbs/ 6 net.

Pre-workout I like to grab a Redline energy drink, this is one that I have found seems to give me the most energy. This is also usually when I take my multivitamin, which is Universal Animal Pak. I have always been partial to animal pak because not only does it have the daily vitamins I need but also has an impressive amino acid and essential fatty acid profile as well.

Post workout I typically will mix up a shake using 2 scoops of Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex, this has always been a staple to my training program because it not only contains whey protein that absorbs the quickest, but also egg albumen which is high in L-Arginine. It is also high in Glutamine and Glutamine precursors, which makes this a very complete post workout protein source.

Finally, before I go to bed at night I will mix 1.5-2 scoops of Optimum 100% Casein protein in water. This is an ideal snack before bed because it is low in carbs and is also time-released so it will stay in your body as you are sleeping. Typically during the night your body goes 6-8 hrs without food which can burn muscle. Consuming a slow release protein like this can help reverse the process.

Not only are all of these supplements I just mentioned effective in promoting muscle gain and maximizing your workouts they also are low in fat and carbs. Which is why if I had to select only five supplements to create an efficient program for adding lean muscle without sacrificing muscle definition these would be the five.