Categories

All-in-one supplements are becoming more and more popular as a high convenience option for getting all your favourite supplement ingredients in one convenient product. Maximuscle Cyclone was the first product of this kind to hit the market in the mid 90s. In recent years, similar products have been released such as Reflex One Stop, PHD Synergy Iso 7 and Sci Mx Omni MX. AST's new Muscle XGF has gone one step further by adding not only protein, creatine and bcaas but also healthy fats and increased variety of protein sources whilst removing the carbohydrates.

Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and so essential for protein synthesis (muscle building). Especially important are the Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) - leucine, isoleucine and valine - the three aminos that make up 1/3rd of muscle tissue in the body. Supplementation with BCAAS pre and/or post-workout helps to speed up recovery, reduce exercise-induced catabolism (muscle wasting) and improve hypertrophic response to training.

There's a number of reasons why you may decide to take carbohydrate supplements. Maltodextrin, such as that found in CNP Pro Fuel, is very popular for adding to protein powders or mass gain shakes to provide additional calories to speed up the muscle mass gaining process - particularly for 'hard gainers'. Dextrose or Glucose, as in AST DGC for instance, is a popular supplement for increasing energy, replenishing glycogen stores (e.g. for carb-loading) or for improving the uptake/efficacy of creatine supplements.

Carnosine boosters, like AST Beta-X, are the newest breakthrough in the sports nutrition industry. Carnosine buffers Hydrogen Ions in the muscles. Hydrogen Ions are the acid that builds up in your muscles during heavy training. When your muscles burn and you cant complete another rep, this is the work of hydrogen ions (H+). If you boost carnosine, you delay the build up of H+, meaning you should be able to perform more reps before reaching muscular failure. Another popular carnosine booster is H+ Blocker by Isatori.

Creatine is a Natural Component of Skeletal Muscle
In fact, creatine is such an integral part of skeletal muscle that it originally derived its name from the Greek word for flesh, or kreas, from where it was isolated nearly two centuries ago (1835) by the French scientist and philosopher, Michel-Eugène Chevreul. Shortly afterwards (1847) the German scientist, Justus von Liebig, helped promote a commercially available extract of meat that he claimed would help the body perform extra work. And yes, the secret ingredient in Liebig's "Fleisch Extrakt" was creatine.
Creatine Prolongs Cellular Energy Supply

Nearly all (~95%) of our total body creatine reserve is stored within our muscles. Here, creatine fuels the molecular machinery that generates force (also see Creatine Supplementation Enhances Muscle Anabolics at Several Levels below). And, as a significant portion of our daily creatine requirement is obtained by dietary means (by eating meats and fish, sources of skeletal muscle) dietary supplementation with synthetic creatine salts increases our physical performance.
Expectedly, vegetarians typically possess lower than average muscular creatine levels and consequently, respond quite robustly to creatine supplementation.

Estrogen blockers like rebound xt are designed to reduce the aromatization of testosterone to estrogen. This both minimises the unwanted side effects of elevated estrogen levels in men and maximises the levels of the anabolic hormone testosterone. Possibly the most popular product of this kind is 6 oxo by Ergopharm.

Healthy fats are a vital part of a diet for optimal health. Omega 3 fatty acids DHA and EPA in particular provide a wide variety of health benefits such as improved cardiovascular and immune function and optimised testosterone production. Popular healthy fat supplements include Udo's Oil Blend, fish oils, flax oil and omega 3 6 9 preparations.

Glutamine Supplements consist of pure l-glutamine powder or capsules. Glutamine is an amino acid found in abundant amounts in muscle tissue. Heavy exercise depletes muscle stores of glutamine, which leads to catabolism (muscle wasting). Using Glutamine Supplements, like AST GL3 Glutamine therefore is thought to decrease catabolism - particularly important when dieting to get lean. Other popular L-glutamine supplements include USN and Reflex L-Glutamine.

HMB is a metabolite of the amino acid leucine. Its main use as a sports supplement is to reduce muscle catabolism (breakdown), particularly during dieting. Initially studies were inconclusive on HMB, but more recent research has proved positive leading to further studies being done with administering HMB to patients with muscle wasting diseases.

Joint Protection Supplements are very important for anyone who exercises in order to maintain healthy joints and ligaments and protect them from the stresses of lifting weights and doing cardiovascular workouts. Most joint protection supplements, such as CNP Pro Joint, are formulations of glucosamine and chondroitin. New Animal Flex from Universal Nutrition is another very popular choice in this supplement category.

Meal replacements have become hugely popular in the past few years. Meal replacement shakes are a fast, convenient way to get a nutritionally perfect meal. For bodybuilders. Essentially a nutritionally perfect meal in a packet, typical meal replacements give an impressive macronutrient profile of around 40g protein, 25g carbohydrates and minimal fat, plus a perfect ratio of vitamins and minerals for optimum health and physical performance. Leading MRPs are Myoplex from EAS, Nytro Pro 40 from AST and the original MRP - Met-Rx.

Nitric oxide boosters are a relatively new phenomenen to the sports nutrition market. Nitric Oxide Supplements generally center on the key ingredient arginine-alpha ket-glutarate, and they increase blood flow the muscle tissue - resulting in increased muscle pumps and greater nutrient supply to the tissues. BSN are widely credited with making this supplement category popular with their massive-selling NO-Xplode and BSN Nitrix products. Most Nitric Oxide (NO) supplements, like Gaspari Superpump, are fortified with energy increasing stimualants to further enhance the muscle pumps and workout performance.

Protein bars and snacks have become very popular as convenience items for getting protein on the go with no preparation required. First came protein bars such as AST Vyo Pro Bars and Cyclone Bars. Next came innovative new supplements like protein puddings and desserts, liquid whey protein shots, and delicious protein cookies. Also available now are protein breakfast cereals like muscle milk and oats.

Protein Supplements are the foundation of any nutritional program aiming to build muscle or maintain muscle whilst losing fat. Protein is the raw ingredient of muscle growth, and inadequate protein supply means inadequate muscle gains. We stock a wide range of proteins from super-high-quality, rapid absorbing whey isolate like AST VP2 perfect for supplying amino acids to hungry muscles fast after intense workouts, to more economical 5lb whey concentrate/isolate blends like Reflex Instant Whey as well as slower-releasing multi-source protein blends like Pro Peptide by CNP.

Testosterone boosters are supplements that naturally stimulate your body to increase its testosterone output. Testosterone is the primary anabolic (muscle building) hormone in the body. Most testosterone boosters use herbs like tribulus terristris and eurycoma longifolia (long jack). Current top selling testosterone boosters include Norateen Heavyweight II and also USN's 17-Testo-Methox.

Multi-vitamin supplements are high dosage vitamin and minerals, designed to meet or even exceed the daily nutritional requirements of the athlete, bodybuilder or any highly active individual. These are essential sports nutrition to anyone looking to cover all their nutritional bases. Extremely popular multi-vitamins are AST Multi Pro 32x, Reflex Nexgen, Now Foods Adam and Animal Pak.

Weight gain supplements have come a long way from the original gut bloating, sugary gainers of the 80s. Most modern mass gainers like Reflex Instant Mass and Maximuscle Progain offer the highest quality proteins, sensible amounts of slow digesting carbohydrates and the right amount of calories and nutrients to aid in lean muscle gain whilst minimising the chances of adding bodyfat. These weight gain supplements are what we call 'nutrient dense', meaning that every calorie you are ingesting is worthwhile and not simply 'empty calories'.

Weight Loss Supplements are a far more mainstream area of the sports nutrition market - since many people from all walks of life are looking to burn fat and get lean. When referring to weight loss supplements, what we are usually referring to are 'thermogenic supplements' like Xenadrine or Isatori Lean System 7. Thermogenics work by raising the core body temperature and thereby increasing the metabolic rate, in turn burning more calories. Other fat burners tend to be either fat metabolisers like LA Muscle Fat Stripper or carbohydrate and fat blockers like BSN Cheaters Relief.

Whey protein is a by-product of the cheese making process. Clear liquid whey is drained off the cheese, dried into powder and then processed to varying degrees to remove carbs, fat and lactose. Whey protein supplements, like Dymatize Elite Whey, are the most popular sports nutrition products on the market at present. Most whey proteins are composed of either whey concentrate or a mix of whey concentrate and whey isolate and are sold in 2lb or 5lb tubs. Top sellers include Optimum 100% whey and Maximuscle Promax.

Whey protein isolate is whey protein that has been further refined and processed to remove fat, carbs and lactose - making it faster acting and more easily digested than regular whey protein as well as having a higher protein content (typically 85% plus). AST VP2 is probably the most well known and best selling whey protein isolate and uses only hydrolyzed whey isolate which is a further step up from regular whey protein isolate and widely considered the premier protein source particularly for post workout use.

Workout Nutrition is a rapidly growing portion of the sports nutrition industry. Extremely effective Pre-Workout Supplements like BSN NO-Xplode and Gaspari Superpump have made energy/nitric oxide boosting pre-training drinks incredibly popular as they can significantly improve training focus and performance. Post workout supplements like CNP Pro Recover and Reflex Growth Matrix are widely used to improve recovery from training and are generally a mix of fast acting whey proteins and simple carbohydrates, sometimes with creatine.