Protein, BCAAs, glutamine, or vitamins? Do you know what is most important?

For a complete beginner, navigating the world of supplements can be a very complex affair. Some of them are really useful and can make even a complete novice significantly help with fitness goals, while others are relatively useless. In our article today, we present an overview of 5 of the mostof the most important supplements that you should at least consider.

Why take supplements at all?

To begin with, we need to ask ourselves why it's a good idea to take supplements at all. The truth is that if you have a sufficiently balanced diet, you probably won't need them at all in the beginning and there is no need to spend money on them. But as your requirements increase, their inclusion is more than appropriate.

Supplements help muscle recovery and growth, while also protecting it or giving you enough energy and appetite for your workouts. In the right combination, they become an excellent helper on your way to your dream figure.

Protein drink

The main supplement that will surely immediately come to mind for every exerciser is a protein drink. Their main ingredient is most often whey, which is used to make, for example, the proteins used in our comparison of the best wheyproteins, but they are also available as hydrolysed beef protein or vegetable powder made from rice, peas or soya. According to studies, protein drinks help with muscle growth, but also with muscle maintenance.

They are often enriched with various digestive enzymes and vitamins, making them an absolute staple for anyone serious about exercise. You can reach for protein even as a beginner, because it will help you to get a jump start on your protein intake, which would otherwise be very difficult to "eat".

Magnesium and zinc

For athletes and people in general, these two minerals are quite crucial. Zinc contributes to more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body, includingsuch as protein metabolism, the formation of immune cells or the scavenging of oxidants. It also has a major impact on our immunity, which means we don't get sick as often and can exercise without problems. At the same time, it is excreted from the body in large quantities by sweat, so athletes often suffer from a lack of it. We have written more about it in a separate article called Zinc under the microscope.

Magnesium then helps to cope with training performance, delays muscle cramps and helps prevent various psychological problems. At the same time, like zinc, it also acts on the immune system and helps delay fatigue. Its deficiency is one of the most common causes of chronic fatigue.

Complex multivitamins

Magnesium and zinc can't do everything, however, and it's a good idea to get other vitamins and minerals into your body to complement their effects. This is especially important during the winter season, when the sun doesn't supply us with enough vitamin D and various diseases are rampant. Complex multivitamins will supplement not only the "de", but also vitamins C, B, A and other essential trace elements.

Multivitamins are not only suitable for athletes, but can be taken by anyone who wants to prevent disease and improve their overall health and fitness. Although it is ideal to cover most of their daily intake from food, this is not possible for everyone and not all of us have such options. A comparison of the best multivitamins can help you choose them .

Creatine

Here we are already getting a little beyond the needs of a complete beginner. Creatine is indeed a great dietary supplement, but a beginner who hasn't doesn't fully master the principles of diet and training probably won't benefit as much from it. Again, our ranking of the best creatines can help you choose .

Creatine helps for greater muscle gains, improves performance during training and increases explosiveness and strength. At the same time, studies also show that it has neuroprotective effects, so it helps delay various neurological diseases such as dementia.

Joint nutrition

If you're a young and healthy exerciser, you probably aren't experiencing any joint problems yet, but trust us, a few will appear with time. Exercise puts a lot of strain on the joints, especially in the case ofif you plan to lift heavier weights, the inclusion of joint nutrition is more than advisable. You can reach for one of our comparison of the best joint nutrition.

Joint nutrition usually contains a variety of substances that help joints to repair damaged tissue and promote their overall health and strength. It is generally recommended to start taking joint nutrition regularly around the age of 30 at the latest. This is more of a preventative recommendation and will be appreciated in old age.

What about BCAAs, Glutamine and fat burners?

You may be surprised to learn that our review doesn't include, for example, the popularThe popular BCAAs that we compared in our ranking of the best instant BCAAs. Don't get us wrong. BCAAs can be beneficial in training and can indeed protect muscle mass, but if you have enough minerals in your dietand protein in your diet, there's no risk of muscle loss in normal trainees. Thus, BCAAs will mainly benefit those who are involved in endurance sports, for example, or are currently in a calorie deficit due to dieting.

Glutamine, about which we wrote a separate article in our under the radar series, is also very popularm supplement, but it turns out that it has virtually no justification in training for ordinary athletes . In fact, its value does not drop so low for them that it is necessary to supplement it.

Fat burners are then a chapter in themselves and although they can contribute to weight reduction in some cases, we would definitely not include them among the necessary supplements. The same applies to anabolics or gainers, which can be effective in different individual cases.