
Essential Gym Powders: What to Use and When
, by Sandesh Prasannakumar, 7 min reading time
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, by Sandesh Prasannakumar, 7 min reading time
People go to the gym with different goals. Some go to lose weight, and others to gain weight and muscle mass. Gym powders are supplements that can assist you in your gym goals. These are dietary formulations made in various compositions to cater to your different gymming needs. They contain micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, and other additives that help you through the various stages of building your body. In this blog, we will look at the three stages of building muscles, the right kind of gym powder for each phase and what they should contain.
Gym powders are made of two kinds of carbohydrates - simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates give you an energy boost right after your workout or training session because they break down quickly to form glucose, which is then absorbed by your body to release energy. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, take a lot of time to break down, providing a more sustained and slow release of energy. They replenish glycogen reserves in our muscles, which is a form of carbohydrate that is stored in our body.
There are different protein sources used in these supplements, which have various purposes. Proteins are the building blocks of muscle formation, restoration and repair work. Some gym powders have whey protein, which is known for its instant muscle-restoring properties. It is easily absorbed in your body, which helps your muscles in recovering from any post-workout muscle fatigue. Others might have soy, casein, pea, or hemp protein. Casein helps your muscles by slowly releasing amino acids that help in building new muscles.
Essential fats in gym powders basically increase your stamina. Though carbohydrates are your main source of energy, they are the micronutrients that break down first. With the kind of long training hours they go through while building your body, carbs can often fall short. Fats are energy-potent; without them, you might run out of stamina to endure long training sessions.
Some important minerals that gym powders might have are magnesium, iron, and calcium, which all help deliver essential nutrients and oxygen to the muscles and increase their mobility and flexibility.
Before you can dive into the world of gym powders and decide what type you should take, you need to understand the different phases your body will undergo before you achieve your muscle goals. Each phase has different dietary requirements, and the gym powder you use during each phase should be composed accordingly.
This is the phase in which you need to rapidly gain weight. Usually, this phase of gym training involves weight lifting with moderate repetition. You will require massive amounts of calories, adequate protein to start building muscles, and high levels of carbohydrates to support the energy requirements during this phase. The ideal aim should be to gain 0.25-0.5% of your body weight every week. This phase usually is the longest and lasts for 3-4 months. As far as dietary requirements are concerned, here are a few rules:
To build a stable body, you need to give it time to get used to its new set point. There should always be a maintenance phase between the bulking phase and the cutting phase to give your muscles time to recover and restore their strength. This phase also prepares your body to get ready for the next period of heavy lifting and workout. This phase helps in retaining the muscle build-up from the first phase, and it should only involve lower volumes of strength training.
In this phase, your body needs to lose the extra weight you have gained. In this phase, you would be required to do a lot of cardio with smaller rest periods and continue with weight lifting with increased frequency. This phase usually lasts 3-4 months, where the aim is to start losing extra weight while building your muscles. The ideal rule of thumb is to start losing 0.5-1% of your current weight per week. Dietary requirements change during this phase and are as follows:
Depending on the composition of a gym powder, you can choose when to use what. In every phase of your workout and gymming, your caloric and dietary requirements change since your body needs to work in tandem with your gym goals. It would not be helpful if you are taking a more protein-efficient gym powder during your bulking phase because it will not provide you with the required caloric output. The same is the case with the other phases. This blog will help you systematically choose the right kind of gym powder.
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