Every guy wants to have a muscular physique. Not everyone will think it’s ideal to be a hulking giant, but regardless, putting on muscle is a testament to hard work and dedication. To do so, there are often many supplement brands who adamantly try to suggest that shortcuts are indeed possible. While some bodybuilding supplements like protein are generally considered positive, there are others that are highly questionable and make promises they can’t keep. They risk nothing by marketing their product that way, but you risk everything if your health takes a turn for the worst after committing to the wrong supplement. If you are starting your muscle-building journey, these are the supplements you need to avoid when gyming.  Pre Workout  Pre Workout is so popular nowadays that calling it out would be controversial in its own right. Pre-workout serves as an energy booster that will get you going for your entire workout; supposedly giving you extra energy that translates into strength and overall efficiency. It’s no surprise that caffeine is thrown into the mix, but an overload of that can be extremely harmful to the body. Read Kettlebells: The Best Equipment for Home Workouts Artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols are included as well and a surplus of this can lead to bloating and diarrhea. Ultimately, taking a pre-workout isn’t a nutritional supply agent per se, but more of being a “luxury” that gives you energy. With the correct meals, your body should have enough energy and strength to go about doing your workouts properly.  Test Boosters Test boosters aren’t for everyone as they truly only help those who generate a lower amount of testosterone than the average count. Having a surplus of testosterone can be very harmful to the body. Test boosters are seen as a cheap alternative to growth hormones that are supposed to be natural. While that may be true for some brands, the harms of a surplus of this hormone include prostate swelling, oily skin, decrease in sperm count, and fluid retention, just to name a few. READ: Best Fruits for Fitness and Bodybuilding The consequences are difficult to identify short term, but these symptoms will show up gradually, and that’s when test boosters would have done more harm than good. There are plenty of natural ways of using a healthy amount of this hormone, and the side effects are not worth it for just a few extra points of muscle. Fat Burners We get that cardio is a chore to most people; but if it was easy, more people would be in shape. Fat burner presents itself as a “shortcut” to traditional dieting by claiming to help the body metabolize faster. It’s common knowledge that fiber is healthy and is a primary nutrient that helps with metabolism, but fat burners don’t use fiber. Instead, the supplement relies on caffeine. Read Olympic Exercises Anyone Can Do A regular cup of coffee increases metabolic rate between 3-4% every 2 hours, which amounts to about 12.5 calories burnt. Fat burners may dump a lot more caffeine into your body than a standard cup of coffee would, but your body has a capacity of the speed at which it can metabolize at its fastest. This supplement gets sold on the name itself, while the ingredients beyond caffeine do next to nothing with boosting metabolic activity. Definitely a hard pass on this; there are far cheaper alternatives that can provide caffeine to the body in safer quantities.  Protein Powder (Kind Of)  Protein powder is NOT bad in its own right but can be consumed poorly which will lead to severe consequences. Protein powder generally suggests one or two scoops of protein, mixed in with a bit of water - which is fine. READ: Arm Exercises: Why Beginners Don’t Need Them For Bulking What is not fine, however, is how many consumers perceive this supplement. The keyword in supplement means to “supply”, not replace. This means that protein powder should never act as a replacement, but only to provide additional aid if your meals generally lack protein. This could be due to work, inconveniences, or cost; which is why this supplement is by far the most popular in the weight lifting industry.  While protein powder can be safe if you go for the traditional whey and soy options and adhere to the guidelines, problems can start to surface when your workouts do not optimize the added aid. If you do not have enough of a workout to let your body metabolize the protein, you could gain unnecessary weight. Read How to heal lungs naturally and improve breathing after recovering from COVID-19? Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA)  This supplement has been getting a lot of attention in the market recently and is known to have been advertised by professional athletes for its effectiveness. Ultimately, BCAA gives the body leucine, isoleucine, and valine - amino acids that trigger muscle growth; however, these amino acids can be acquired elsewhere and the actual BCAA formula does absolutely nothing. The only added benefit of BCAA is the reduction of soreness which isn’t something worth spending on every month. Overall, BCAA doesn’t suffer from being bad for the body by any means, but its effectiveness has no scientific backing and could be a huge waste to spend on. READ: Heat Stroke: Symptoms, First Aid, and Prevention Glutamine Glutamine is the same shtick as every other gym supplements out there, to help your body increase its muscle mass. This name hasn’t been used among regular gym goers recently, but it is good as it suffers from a similar problem as BCAA. Athletes have used Glutamine to showcase the ability to gain healthy amino acids while keeping the immune system healthy and maintaining large muscles all at once. Even if there is some truth to Glutamine’s effect, it does not have enough advantages to warrant a regular commitment. Read Pandemic Yoga: How to strengthen lungs, ease breathing problems with yoga

When protein shakes are uttered in conversation, the most common thing that comes to mind is muscle building and gym-based workouts. Considered a staple protein source to grant muscle builders and, to a certain extent, other types of exercises as well. Protein powder is primarily designed to be supplements for the body, but many have turned to it as a form of meal replacement. Why exactly are protein shakes so popular and other they best used after a workout at the gym? What Is Protein Powder Whey Although it may seem like a pretty straightforward question, the answer is more layered than one might think. Whey, soy, plant and many many more are the different options available that can change up aspects like protein intake quantity, purpose and overall quality. To discover what exactly is in a scoop of protein powder, it is important to zero in on one of the most common types, whey. Whey originally comes from milk and is extracted from the curd during the filtering process ain to making cheese. It is lactose-based and contains milk and sugar. It is a sweet choice that isn’t for those who are lactose intolerant. Whey is also by far, the most popular form of protein because of its high counts of amino acids that allow for effective protein synthesis. If you want to know what is the face of standard protein powder, whey’s popularity and effectiveness are the places to start. Read Cycling Benefits: How Indoor and Outdoor Cycling Strengthens Your Immune System Casein Casein is also milk, based but doesn’t digest nearly as quickly as whey. It forms a layer of gel that slows down the blood’s absorption of amino acids. This means that protein breakdown is also slowed. This may seem like a bad thing initially, but the benefits of slow protein breakdown are incredible when looked into further. During long periods without food, such as during periods of sleep or fasts, Casein reserves a decent supply for the body to constantly absorb as your body continues breaking down other nutrients. Casein is the way to go for those who are looking to lose weight and build lean muscle through strength training.   Read Different forms of Vitamin D: Benefits, sources of Vitamin D1 vs D2 vs D3 Pea  The previous two are rather heavy in dairy and that may pose a problem to those with dairy allergies or specific diets. Because of this, peas are the logical alternative that are surprisingly just as viable as other options. Peas have an abundance of BCAAs and most amino acids in other protein shake. Studies have shown that this source of protein can provide gains comparable to other protein powder sources, and even assists to decrease high blood pressure. The reason why we don’t see this rivaling the likes of whey and casein could be because of its rarity on the shelves compared to the others. Read Bodybuilding Vs Powerlifting: Similarities, Differences, Pros, Cons Brown Rice It’s odd that a carbohydrate source can also double as a protein-based alternative. Although this ingredient doesn’t boast nearly as much protein like whey, it contains the necessary amino acids to make it a viable competitor. This protein source has yet to make waves in the industry and many may opt to go for traditional foods instead of brown rice protein due to the comparable quantity of protein per gram. Regardless, it helps with muscle building and is suitable for high-intensity exercises. Mixed Plant Proteins Like pea-based protein powder, this is an amazing choice for vegetarians and vegans. With a mix of hemp, alfalfa, chia seeds, peas, chia seeds, quinoa, and artichoke; there is little reason to not opt for this as an option due to how many healthy nutrients are crammed into this mix. The trade-off for its lower protein count per scoop is its plant-based features which boast higher quantities of fiber and is easier to digest. It may not be the most well-known type of protein concoction around, but it can still promote a decent amount of muscle growth. Read What Does Yoga Do For Weight Loss? Benefits of Protein Supplements With all the options available in the protein supplement market, it’s not hard to identify how versatile a protein shake can be. Mostly natural and brimming with fiber and amino acids (aside from protein, of course), there is little risk when consuming them in the appropriate quantity. Naturally, an overreliance on protein powder will have drawbacks such as its lack of approval from FDA and other official organizations, making its viability subject to individual companies. Also, when taken in excess, its high sugar content and effect of the digestive system are risks that will present themselves, but only when consuming over the dose of the daily recommendation. Read Yoga vs Pilates: Which One Is Better For You? Taking protein through the “normal” meals with red meat, fish, eggs and soy would be the ideal goal to ensure that muscle building is optimal, but the cost to a diet that primarily comprises the aforementioned dishes can cost more than a pretty penny. Additionally, the amount of calories needed to match a couple of scoops of protein powder is excessive at best and may not be good for the body for spiking the calorie intake to such a degree. Therefore, many have opted for protein powder as the faster, more affordable alternative that can be condensed into a small bottle. This beats carrying containers of prepared food for the entire day. The emphasis on protein also naturally comes with the increasing popularity of muscle building. Pre Workouts and creatine supplements are almost at the same level of priority for bulk-heavy routines. The popularity of fitness as a whole has improved: whether you’d want to pin the rise of popularity to social media’s rising relevance, word of mouth, or the introduction to more intuitive routines - it’s clear that the focus on many people’s minds right now is to improve aesthetically, and muscle building falls into that category for many. Read HIIT VS Crossfit: Know the Difference