How Glutamine Works As An Effective Bodybuilding Supplement
What glutamine can do for you and your bodybuilding goals.
When it comes to supplementation and trying to find those supplements to better our growth, looking to something like glutamine may just help those bodybuilding goals. We often look to supplements as a way to kickstart and promote better gains, whether that be to training and performance, or our overall health and wellness. While we know of those popular ones often touted for their amazing effects on gains, some others tend to take a back seat. But they shouldn’t. What something like glutamine can do as a supplement shouldn’t be ignored, especially for those of us bodybuilders looking for the best gains.
With so many supplements out there, and the potential for so many supplements out there, it can be daunting to choose which ones are beneficial and which ones are just nonsense. But something like glutamine isn’t just an experiment by a supplements company trying to make quick cash. Glutamine is in food we eat and something our bodies can make on its own, so by supplementing with it, you can better work to target those desired gains.
Let’s take a look at glutamine and see what this can do for your bodybuilding goals. With the right approach, we can better work to see those gains we want most and ultimately hit our goals no problem. Knowing what it is, the benefits of it, and how this can affect your bodybuilding goals is important as we see those desired results we want most.
What Is Glutamine?
Glutamine is an amino acid that is found in the body. It is made in our muscles and serves as a building block for protein. Known for its benefits, glutamine can help with a number of things like immunity, healthy gut function, and muscle growth, among other things. While we can get it from food, as well as being produced in the body, supplementing with it can increase gains in a number of areas to only improve our training, performance, health, and wellness (1).
Benefits Of Glutamine
The benefits of glutamine should not be ignored and can greatly affect all areas of what we are trying to accomplish. Like all supplements, the benefits vary from athlete to athlete, but knowing the potentials of glutamine and how it can affect your bodybuilding goals is important as you look for a worthwhile supplement to add to your shelf.
Benefits of glutamine supplementation include:
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Better Muscle Growth
Glutamine may work to reduce fatigue thus allowing you to push your muscles harder. When combined with resistance training, this allows for better muscle growth and that increased strength that you desire most.
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Less Muscle Wasting
Muscle wasting is unfortunate, but glutamine may work to help you recover faster so you don’t suffer those unfortunate losses and can keep on lean muscle. Instead of pulling from muscle reserves, glutamine keeps this intact and finds your body other sources of fuel to pull from (2).
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Promote Immunity
Glutamine may work to help boost immunity by serving as an effective nutrient to kill bacteria. The healthier you are, the better off you are and the longer you stay in the gym and off the couch (3).
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Increased Recovery & Performance
Working to increase recovery for faster bounce back also ties back into muscle growth. With its ability to cleanse the body, this keeps you healthier and allows for better training, and eventually your overall performance may improve as well (4).
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Improved Cognitive Function & Less Stress
Glutamine may improve brain health and cognitive function and can also reduce stress. Stress is a killer of those valuable gains and by working to provide for less stress, you improve not only mental health but also physical health (5).
Is This Effective For Bodybuilding?
Given the above benefits, it would seem that glutamine is an effective supplement to take to improve all areas of your overall health and wellness. By working to help your muscles, either through growth or better retention, you keep on that hard work and see those desired changes to body composition that you want most. Recovery and performance are obviously key in giving you a better quality of life and by putting an emphasis on this, you allow yourself to really see the results you want most.
As for your immunity and cognitive function, it would appear that glutamine does have the ability to assist with this and provide for a better mindset as you grind in the gym. When mixed with solid training and a healthy diet, this can serve you and your bodybuilding goals well.
Is This A Safe Supplement?
Glutamine is safe to take, but definitely consult with a doctor or an expert if you have questions. On your supplement, the recommended dosage and other information is also important to take note of so you know exactly what you are getting and how much you are supposed to take.
Who Is This Best For?
This supplement is great for athletes and those just looking for more of the above benefits. As athletes, we are always seeking to give ourselves the best when it comes to seeing better gains and glutamine seems to offer that. In tandem with a healthy lifestyle and other supplements, it would seem as though this great for those desired gains. As everyday fitness folks or just those looking to better their physical and mental health, glutamine isn’t a bad option.
Wrap Up
Glutamine is an interesting supplement and one worth looking into further. The benefits of what glutamine can do for your bodybuilding goals seem to line up with better gains and overall results, but of course, supplements and their effects vary from person to person. Looking into glutamine isn’t a bad idea at all. As long as you know your goals and how glutamine may affect you, this has potential to be a nice addition to your supplement shelf.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
- Gleeson, M. (2008). “Dosing and efficacy of glutamine supplementation in human exercise and sport training”. (source)
- Vasconcelos, D.; et al. (2019). “Oral L-glutamine pretreatment attenuates skeletal muscle atrophy induced by 24-h fasting in mice”. (source)
- Cruzat, V.; et al. (2018). “Glutamine: Metabolism and Immune Function, Supplementation and Clinical Translation”. (source)
- Legault, Z.; et al. (2015). “The Influence of Oral L-Glutamine Supplementation on Muscle Strength Recovery and Soreness Following Unilateral Knee Extension Eccentric Exercise”. (source)
- Jongkees, B.; et al. (2017). “Influences of glutamine administration on response selection and sequence learning: a randomized-controlled trial”. (source)
