Ok, so everyone knows that protein helps to build muscle. Just about every person who has ever wanted to pack on additional muscle has a tub of protein powder somewhere in their house. In addition, the benefits of creatine are well known and it has shown to be an incredibly effective supplement in helping muscles to continually produce ATP to allow longer and stronger workouts.
These work great but is there anything else that can help to pack on serious muscle besides these two staples? The next super supplement taking the fitness world by storm is glutamine.
If you just said “What is glutamine?” don’t worry, you’re not alone. This one is still relatively new to the world of muscle building products, at least as far as a highly marketed supplement that is.
You see, glutamine is a non-essential amino acid, which means the body can produce it on its own. You can also ingest it through foods such as beef and milk and in glutamine supplements that have recently hit the market in pill and powder form. (I recommend the powder form.) So, what the heck does glutamine actually DO?
Glutamine is primarily responsible for immune system functioning, which is something that all weight trainers should pay attention to. Working out heavily can lower the immune system and leads many heavy iron lifters to suffer from frequent sickness and infections.Glutamine can help stave these off and allow harder and longer training. This immune system boost is great, but hardly enough of a reason for a bodybuilder to become interested until they hear about one of its other effects… building and maintaining muscle.
First of all, let’s look at how supplement with glutamine helps stop muscle LOSS. Glutamine is found in high concentration in muscle cells. During periods of high stress, the body pulls glutamine stores from muscles to bolster the immune system.
Because glutamine is an amino acid, which are essential for maintaining muscle mass, reducing your stores of glutamine can actually cause your muscles to…*GASP* get smaller. This alone is reason enough to do some testing of your own but the benefits don’t stop there…
Recent research has shown that by supplementing with glutamine, you can actually increase your levels of growth hormone in your body. This could be HUGE for the bodybuilding world! As we age, our bodies produce less and less growth hormone, which makes gaining muscle more difficult as we get older.
Supplementing with glutamine may be a veritable FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH for anyone trying to build muscle mass. Also, glutamine helps support cell volume as well so by having proper amounts, your muscles will simply LOOK bigger as well. Ok, so if you are someone who wants bigger muscles and want to keep them longer, I think the case has been made.
As far as purchasing glutamine as a supplement, you can buy it as part of other products including creating and protein powder, but be sure to investigate how much is actually included. Often, it is better to buy glutamine as a stand alone as it is often included in other products in trace amounts, which will really provide little if any benefit. The word is out… glutamine works, so this is one supplement I can recommend to you with confidence.
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