Bodybuilding Pose

The important role of nutrition in building muscle and losing fat means bodybuilders may consume a wide variety of dietary supplements. Various products are used in an attempt to augment muscle size, increase the rate of fat loss, improve joint health, increase natural testosterone production, enhance training performance and prevent potential nutrient deficiencies. Scientific consensus supports the effectiveness of only a some of commercially available supplements when used by healthy, physically active adults. Creatine is probably the most widely used performance enhancing legal supplement. Creatine works by turning into creatine phosphate, which provides an extra phosphorus molecule in the regeneration of ATP. This will provide the body with more energy that lasts longer during short, intense bits of work like weight training. Second to creatine is protein supplements, particularly whey protein (made out of whey protein concentrates and isolates) , which is a high-protein ingredient with high digestibility and biological value.
Performance enhancing substances
Some bodybuilders use drugs such as anabolic steroids and precursor substances such as prohormones to increase muscle hypertrophy. Most of the substances require medical prescriptions to be accessed legally. Anabolic steroids cause muscle hypertrophy of both types (I and II) of muscle fibers caused likely by an increased synthesis of muscle proteins and are accompanied with undesired side effects including hepatotoxicity, gynecomastia, acne, male pattern baldness and a decline in the body's own testosterone production, which can cause testicular atrophy. Other controlled substances used by competitive bodybuilders include human growth hormone (HGH), which can cause acromegaly.