The supplement industry makes billions selling muscle-building dreams. Reality check: only a few supplements meaningfully affect muscle growth. Creatine is in a league of its own. Protein is useful. Everything else fights for distant third place.
Tier 1: Actually Works
Creatine increases phosphocreatine stores, allowing more ATP production during high-intensity exercise. Translates to more reps, more weight, more gains. Also draws water into muscles and may have direct anabolic effects. Hundreds of studies. It works.
Protein provides amino acids for muscle protein synthesis. Whey is fast-absorbing and high in leucine. But total daily protein matters more than timing or source. Supplements are just convenient, not magic.
Tier 2: Performance Support
Caffeine improves strength, endurance, and training intensity. If you train harder, you grow more. Simple. Tolerance builds, so cycling helps.
Increases muscle carnosine, buffering lactic acid. Helps with higher rep sets (8-15+) and endurance. Less relevant for pure strength. The tingles are harmless.
Increases nitric oxide and blood flow. May improve endurance and reduce fatigue. The "pump" is real but not necessarily connected to muscle growth. Modest benefits.
Tier 3: Marginal or Situational
May reduce muscle breakdown. Most benefit seen in beginners, elderly, or during calorie restriction. Trained individuals in caloric surplus see minimal benefit.
Branched-chain amino acids are in every complete protein. Supplementing separately is mostly pointless if you eat adequate protein. The research was done on fasted training, which few people actually do.
Basic Muscle Building Stack
The evidence-based essentials. Nothing more needed.
| Ingredient | Dose | When |
|---|---|---|
| Creatine Monohydrate | 5g | Any time, daily |
| Whey Protein | 25-40g | Post-workout or whenever convenient |
| Caffeine | 200-400mg | 30 min pre-workout |
Beyond Supplements
- •Training program matters 10x more than supplements
- •Sleep is when you actually grow. 7-9 hours.
- •Caloric surplus is required to build significant muscle
- •Progressive overload drives adaptation, not supplements
Note: Supplements provide marginal benefits on top of good training, nutrition, and recovery. They don't compensate for poor fundamentals.