Muscle Builder

A muscle builder is a supplement touted to build muscle mass, commonly referred to in the literature as lean mass. Testosterone Booster and Protein Supplements are common muscle builders, but some other compounds may influence protein synthesis.

This page features 7 unique references to scientific papers.


Research analysis by and verified by the Examine.com Research Team. Last updated on Apr 29, 2017.

Goals

Muscle building supplements (excluding Testosterone Booster and Protein supplements) are compounds that act to enhance muscle protein synthesis or otherwise enhance muscle mass, possibly via decreasing nitrogen excretion or working synergistically with other compounds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions and answers regarding Muscle Builder

Q: Can arachidonic acid work as a bodybuilding supplement?

A: Can eating arachidonic acid (found in fatty red meat) help grow your muscles?

Read full answer to "Can arachidonic acid work as a bodybuilding supplement?"


Q: Why you shouldn't be always taking antioxidants, especially if you want to build muscle

A: A recent study suggests that antioxidant supplements could hamper your muscle building efforts, because increased oxidation is needed to repair damage to muscle cells (aka build muscle).

Read full answer to "Why you shouldn't be always taking antioxidants, especially if you want to build muscle"


Scientific Support & Reference Citations

Scientific support for Muscle Builders can be found on the compounds respective pages.

Via HEM and FAQ:

  1. Brieger K, et al. Reactive oxygen species: from health to disease. Swiss Med Wkly. (2012)
  2. Bjelakovic G, et al. Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. (2012)
  3. Ristow M, et al. Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. (2009)
  4. Gomez-Cabrera MC, et al. Oral administration of vitamin C decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and hampers training-induced adaptations in endurance performance. Am J Clin Nutr. (2008)
  5. Close GL, et al. Ascorbic acid supplementation does not attenuate post-exercise muscle soreness following muscle-damaging exercise but may delay the recovery process. Br J Nutr. (2006)
  6. Webb R, et al. The Ability of Exercise-Associated Oxidative Stress to Trigger Redox-Sensitive Signalling Responses. Antioxidants (Basel). (2017)
  7. Horn A, et al. Mitochondrial redox signaling enables repair of injured skeletal muscle cells. Sci Signal. (2017)

(Common misspellings for Muscle Builder include muscl, build, msucle, muscle, buildr)