There is often a fear with women that taking gym or body building related supplements is going to turn them into the hulk, or are generally just reserved for men. But what does a supplement do? It just provides fuel or a raw substrate for a purpose.
People take whey protein shakes after a workout because it provides instant fuel to replenish muscles, the quicker you get nutrition to muscles after a workout the quicker your recovery is going to be. Why can’t women also take advantage of this theory?
Women often use supplements to aid in weight loss, and often have many of the same goals as men do in the gym, they just do not realise it. Increases in muscle mass help to burn fat, so yes women should want to build a bit of muscle to help aid improvements in body composition. After all many women want to lose fat and improve their look right? And often the shapely look they desire is only achievable through building some muscle.
After all a physique is defined through the muscle that surrounds the bones, if you have a lack of muscle then you will simply look skinny. Men chase muscle to define their frame, women should do the same.
So what supplements are ideal for women to use to reach their goals? My first port of call if trying to lose weight would be the use of BCAA’s, or branched chain amino acids like this product:
http://sportandsupplements.com/products/AST-BCAA-x-500-caps.html
Women are often fans of fasted (empty stomach) training, take 5-10g of BCAA’s and you are going to prevent any muscle loss when performing anything of a high intensity or volume. Fasted training for weight loss has become very popular, and the use of BCAA’s when doing so is perfect. BCAA’s can also be used throughout the day when following a low calorie diet, again helping to prevent losses in muscle mass. 5g taken 3 times a day can help prevent this, again increasing the metabolic activity of your muscle tissue rather than your fat tissue.
After an amino acid supplement I would be quick to recommend a recovery drink. The quicker the body is able to recover the more likely you are to be able to train again and generally feel energised and healthy for the rest of the day. A woman doesn’t have to take on a lot of calories like a man would at this phase if they didn’t want to, but a good dose of the right nutrition at this time can provide the muscle with exactly what they need. In this situation I would recommend something like this:
http://sportandsupplements.com/products/Optimum-Nutrition-2%3A1%3A1-Recovery-3.73lbs-1678g.html
It has a good blend and ratio of fast absorbing whey protein and simple sugars. Post workout is the only time you really want any simple sugars in your diet, especially if you are trying to lose weight. The above product, Optimum Nutrition’s “Recovery 2:1:1” also has some choice recovery ingredients, perfect for the post workout shake, for women or men.
After the above two products women might want to think about some choice products that could help aid weight loss, like CLA or green tea extract. We often want a helping hand to lose weight and women often negate high quality protein sources from their diet when losing weight, CLA can be great as it is often a fat we do not get enough of, a fat that will help you lose weight.
