Another muscle building supplement that has hit the market as of late is called ZMA which stands for Zinc Magnesium Aspartate. In case you were thinking it doesn’t sound like a common ingredient that you can get from food, you would at least be partially right. ZMA is a man made supplement that was created in a lab. It contains a mixture of Zinc, Magnesium, and vitamin b6.
It was patented by a company called Balco labs and was developed to help supplement the mineral deficiencies of zinc and magnesium found in bodybuilders and weight lifters after strenuous workouts. But, why should you care if they lost some zinc and magnesium during a workout?
First of all, Zinc is largely responsible for the production of testosterone in the body. As Zinc is depleted, so is the production of testosterone and we all know how incredibly important testosterone is to muscle building. Supplementing with Zinc helps to increase the anabolic activity of the body and can greatly increase the production of muscle. Now, just by increasing Zinc levels you won’t experience massive growth, but in the world of muscle, every little bit helps.
The second ingredient in ZMA, Magnesium, helps bring oxygen to muscles which is incredibly vital for them to function, repair, and grow.Now, you might have come to the conclusion that both Zinc and Magnesium are contained in fairly high amounts in your average multivitamin. If you did, you’re right, but there is still a good reason to look into supplementing using ZMA. The reason is because of a process known as COMPETING NUTRIENTS.
Competing nutrients exists when the presence of one nutrient negates or limits the effectiveness of another. In this case, calcium is the culprit. The presence of calcium in your system can severely limit the absorption of both Zinc and Magnesium and so those folks who supplement with protein powders that are high in calcium often don’t get enough out of the Zinc and Magnesium they get through their diet or even a multivitamin supplement making adding ZMA to their list of supplements a good idea.
In recent studies, supplementing with ZMA has show increases in testosterone by as much as 30% and strength gains that were two and a half times higher than with the group using a placebo. These results certainly make the case as to why using this supplement may be a good idea to help support your muscle building and strength building efforts. In addition, those using ZMA have also reported better sleep as well. Muscle grow while we sleep so this is another reason to look at giving this one a shot.
Because of the lessening effects discussed with respect to ZMA and Calcium present in your system at the same time, it is wise to try to take this supplement when there is little calcium present in your system.
Taking ZMA before bedtime, once your body has digested much of what you have ingested throughout the day is a good way to make this happen. For many, the jury is still out on just how effective ZMA really is at building strength and muscle, but considering that the supplement is relatively cheap, it may just be worth your trying out a bottle or two to see for yourself.
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