When every workout you perform, every calorie you ingest and every supplement you take is to add mass, having a good supplement plan can make all the difference in how much muscle you pile on your frame.

What’s your game plan after training? Hopefully you at least have a whey shake with some fast-digesting carbs. While that’s a good start, it won’t maximize your gains. The secret to optimal hypertrophy is to take two supplement duos postworkout that clinical research shows are effective: whey plus casein and creatine plus beta-alanine.

Whey Protein + Casein

After workouts you need about 40 grams of fast-digesting protein, such as whey. Research shows that whey’s rapid digestion and high branched-chain amino acid content effectively boosts muscle protein synthesis and leads to growth. The numerous studies exhibiting whey’s effectiveness after training with weights make it our No. 1 recommendation for postworkout supplementation.

But science continues moving forward, and so does our advice. Now we suggest – again, based on research data – that you boost whey’s effectiveness to push muscle growth after lifting by adding casein protein to your postworkout shake. What does the science say on casein? For starters, it’s the globular portion, or the curds, that makes this protein very slow-digesting, which is mainly why it was recommended for years that you avoid casein around workouts. Today, however, we know better.

Research has found that when casein is taken after training, it boosts protein synthesis as well as whey does. In addition, Baylor University (Waco, Texas) researchers reported that when trained lifters added casein protein to their postworkout whey shakes for 10 weeks, they gained significantly more muscle mass than study subjects who didn’t get casein after training. Need we say more?

Creatine + Beta-alanine

If you’re serious about putting on muscle, you know creatine is one of the most proven and critical supplements to help you achieve this goal. Literally hundreds of studies support its ability to help you gain size and strength.

Creatine works by several mechanisms. One, it increases the levels of fast energy inside muscle cells. This gives the muscles more of the energy needed for contraction, which means greater strength in the gym. Two, creatine pulls more water into muscle cells, resulting in fuller, larger muscles. Three, creatine encourages greater levels of insulinlike growth factor-1 in muscles, which is critical for growth.

Given all these benefits, it appears creatine is as good as it gets in the bodybuilding supplement world. Yet research from the College of New Jersey (Ewing) shows creatine can be even more effective at boosting hypertrophy when it’s taken with beta-alanine. This amino acid is converted into a substance known as carnosine inside muscle cells, and the higher the carnosine levels in muscles, the more strength and endurance they have.

Carnosine appears to increase the growth potential of muscles, as well. The researchers reported that subjects who took beta-alanine along with creatine gained more muscle mass and lost more bodyfat than subjects taking just creatine.

CHART

>> Put these four supplements together within 30 minutes after every workout for maximal mass gains.

SUPPLEMENT DOSE
Whey protein 20-30 g1
Casein protein 10-20 g
Creatine 3-5 g1
Beta-alanine 1-2 g1

1 also take this dose within 30 minutes preworkout