Nutritional Strategies to Promote Muscle Hypertrophy

The use of nutritional supplements in sport is widespread, and few serious athletes do not, at some stage in their career succumb to the temptation to experiment with one or more nutritional supplements. Supplementation is particularly prevalent among strength and power athletes, where an increase in muscle mass can benefit performance. Protein supplements have not been shown to be effective except in those rare cases where the dietary protein intake is inadequate. Individual amino acids, especially ornithine, arginine and glutamine are also commonly used, but this is not supported by documented evidence. A variety of mineral supplements, including chromium, boron and vanadium, as well as more exotic compounds such as hydroxymethylbutyrate (HMB) are also used by strength athletes, but again there are no well controlled studies to provide evidence of a beneficial effect. Creatine is perhaps the most widely used supplement in sport at the moment. Supplementation can increase muscle creatine phosphate levels, and, although not all published studies show positive results, there is much evidence that strength can be improved and muscle mass increased by supplementation.