how to get the benefits without the risk

Whey powder, gainers, BCAAs, creatine, l-carnitine and so on – all this is no longer something forbidden and known only in the world of professional sports and bodybuilding. Today, not only every guy knows all these names, but girls are increasingly becoming interested in sports nutrition to improve their figure: someone to lose weight, but someone, on the contrary, to gain muscle mass.

BCAA supplements are commonly used by athletes and fitness enthusiasts to support muscle recovery and promote protein synthesis after intense workouts.

The sports nutrition market is so wide and varied that for many girls it is a real “wild” in which it is sometimes simply unrealistic to find a suitable and necessary product. It’s good if there is someone experienced nearby, a trainer, boyfriend/husband or friend who understands sports nutrition and can tell her what she needs to drink according to her goals.

But if there is no such person nearby, then you will have to figure everything out on your own. This is more difficult, but, in my opinion, more reliable.

Why do women need sports nutrition in the first place?

It all depends on the goals that a woman pursues, there can be several main ones:

  • accelerate the process of losing weight and fat burning;
  • gain muscle mass;
  • become more resilient in training;
  • extend the training process without harming your muscles.

These are the main reasons why women want to buy some sports nutrition products.

Of course, if you delve into the world of professional sports, then there will be much more reasons and motives, but we will not do this but will focus on two main ones: losing weight and gaining muscle mass.

Slimming and fat burning

If your goal is to lose weight, then, first of all, such types of sports nutrition for women as various fat burners, as well as protein shakes with a minimum amount of carbohydrates and fats, will come to your aid here.

Sports nutrition for women: how to get the benefits without the risk Fig-2

Fat Burners

Fat burners are supplements that help remove excess fluid from the body, increase body temperature, increased pulse, and heart rate and thus act to speed up metabolism and breakdown of adipose tissue.

All this sounds promising and beautiful, but in fact, taking fat burners for the female body is not always a SAFE idea.

The composition of fat-burning complexes often includes components that, along with the above consequences, can also cause hormonal disorders in women. It is for this reason that I would not recommend using fat burners to “lose 5 kg by summer”.

But if you still need to lose weight, and preferably faster, then instead of serious fat burners, you can use a safe supplement that has the same fat-burning properties, but without negative consequences for the body. This supplement is called L-carnitine.

Protein Shakes

The next-in-line sports supplements for those who want to lose weight are protein shakes.

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Only two types of protein shakes are suitable for weight loss – whey protein and casein.

Speaking in general about protein shakes for girls, it is important to understand that there is a huge difference between those that are used by athletes to build muscle and those that can be used for weight loss.

Whey protein and casein for weight loss should contain:

  • the minimum amount of carbohydrates (for protein – less than 2 g per serving, for case in – less than 4 g per serving);
  • the minimum amount of fat (for protein – less than 1.5 g per serving.

These indicators should first of all pay attention to women who want to reduce their fat component.

  1. Workout – Without training, drinking protein shakes DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE!
  2. Time of receipt – Drink protein isolate/hydrolyzate immediately after your strength training, and then after 40-60 minutes already take a full meal.
  3. Reception method – It is necessary to dilute the powder exclusively ON WATER! The option on milk does not fit categorically!

As for casein, it is also not so simple. To lose weight, it is best to drink casein either instead of an evening meal 2-3 hours before bedtime, or when it is not possible to eat normally during the day, and a full meal will not be soon. In both cases, casein will help you saturate your body with the necessary protein, preventing you from overeating, or, conversely, starving yourself.

Woman’s nutrition in sports: building muscle

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Now let’s look at another option. There are girls who, on the contrary, want not to lose weight, but to gain some weight or build muscle mass.

For these purposes, protein shakes with a high content of carbohydrates are best suited – gainers and protein concentrates, which can already be diluted not only in water but also in milk.

Unlike the isolates and hydrolysates, I talked about above, these protein shakes contain more calories due to the increased amount of carbohydrates and fats. But there are some “pitfalls” in taking these cocktails.

Gainers

If a girl who wants to get better does not want to get fat but just wants to have beautiful, appetizing forms due to muscle mass, then I do not advise getting carried away with gainers, since this supplement can still affect the fact that fat reserves will be actively stored together with an increase in muscle mass.

This process is natural, but you need to be able to control it by choosing the right physical activity and nutrition. If you just buy a gainer and drink it whenever you like, then you can very quickly acquire excess fat and look different than you would like. Therefore, my advice is: if you want to build muscle mass, then it is best to drink regular protein (concentrate or isolate), and not a gainer, plus adjust your diet and build your training process correctly. Without the last two components, NO sports nutrition will help!

Amino acids

If your goal is to build muscle mass, then you can take amino acids. This supplement allows you to more effectively form lean muscle mass, influence the reduction of the fat component and protect muscles from destruction during heavy strength training.

Amino acids are divided into two types:

  1. Composed of all twenty essential and non-essential amino acids.
  2. Consisting of three essential amino acids: isoleucine, leucine and valine (BCAA).

BCAAs are considered the most effective compared to complex amino acids, since it is these three amino acids that are most actively involved in building muscle tissue, so their replenishment should go first after strength training.