5 Muscle Building Stacks that work for Hardgainers and Advanced Bodybuilders to Pack on Mass

The right muscle building stack can be the last piece in your muscle building puzzle. Select the most appropriate bodybuilding stack for you and get started.

Muscle Building Stack Time!

Got your nutrition and sleep covered? Then its time to maximise you supplementation with 5 cool muscle building stacks for 2016 and grow faster than with food alone.

Remember you cannot replace real muscle building foods and proper recovery methods with supplements and stacks. 80-90% of Your results will come from food and protein supplements only. You can add the below stacks for the remaining 10-20% results. 

But if you can afford some of these, I highly recommend them, especially around workout.

Pre-made stacks suck! The best way is to make your own by deciding your unique goals and bank balance.

Inside This Article:


Why Muscle Building Stacks Work and Why they Won't

The 80/20 Rule in the Muscle Building World

Building Muscle is governed by the 80/20 rule. 

The 80/20 rule says that 20% of muscle building activities are responsible for 80% of your results.

High threshold exercises, quality muscle nutrition and sleep fall on the 80% results side. I call it the right side of the equation.

Supplements fall on the 20% side. 

If your Big 3 are covered, then supplement stacks will fill the remaining 20%. If you fail at any of the Big 3 then supplements stacks are a waste of your time.

So to make the following supplement stacks work make sure you master the Big 3 of Training, Nutrition and Rest. Only then you will see the supplement magic.

Lets begin with...


The Bare Essential Muscle Building Stack for every bodybuilder

Essential Muscle Building Stack

You might be on a tight budget but I insist you buy these bare essentials at least during your muscle building phase. By doing so you can accelerate your hypertrophy phase and save money in the long run.

Here are the Essential Muscle Building Stack Supplements:

  1. Whey Protein
  2. Branched Chain Amino Acids
  3. Krill Oil {Better than fish oils}
  4. Multi-vitamin + Multi-mineral
  5. Green Supplement

How to Use this stack

  • Whey protein and BCCAs are best for pre- and post workout protein shakes
  • Krill Oil is best used before bedtime and for breakfast.
  • Green supplement can be added to protein shakes.
  • Take you multivitamin supplement in two divided doses for best absorption

For Advanced Bodybuilders ONLY

The following stacks are for advanced bodybuilders only. They are high maintenance and expensive, worth only 5% of your results. Beginner bodybuilders {first 2 years of training} are better off using nutrition and the bare minimum stack.

There are 3 times when advanced bodybuilders can optimise your stacks - morning, around workout and bedtime.


The Morning Muscle Building Stack

Morning Muscle Building Stack

Morning is the best time to jumpstart protein synthesis and detoxify yourself for the rest of the day. This is my personal stack. 

1. Salt and Lemon Shot

2. BCCAs

3. Green Supplement {for advanced trainers}

1. Salt and Lemon Shot

I start the day with 1/4 tsp of salt and a shot of lemon. If you can afford, I urge you buy Himalayan salt.

This combination of salt and lemon is both alkalinising and adrenal stimulator. This will set the stage for the day and also increase your adrenal hormones {adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol} which is the key for optimal performance in the morning.

This should be followed by a protein and fat rich breakfast which starts the muscle building process and increase your testosterone production.

2. BCAAs and green supplement are for trainers who are advanced and have been training for at least 2-3 years.

At this time I expect you will have mastered nutrition. BCAAs are great to stimulate protein synthesis.

Green supplement combat the longterm acidosis I find in advanced trainers who eat high protein diet without neutralising their acidosis.


The Workout Muscle Building Stack

Pre-workout Stack

Pre-workout Muscle Building Stack

Your pre-workout goal is simple:

  • Provide energy for your workout
  • prevent protein breakdown and
  • enhance protein synthesis.

The stack should consist of:

  1. Creatine monohydrate: Want to increase your strength by 25% in your next workout? Then try creatine supplement. It is the only supplement proven to improve your strength drastically and proven to be safe for use.
  2. Whey protein with BCAAs {at least 10g}: This will ensure an optimal amino acid pool so that your muscle proteins are not used to provide workout energy.
  3. Fast acting carbs like maltodextrin: Carbs will be your first choice fuel for high intensity workouts. They also protect protein breakdown from muscles.

These 3 ensures you reach your workout goals and have those high threshold muscle building workouts every time.


Post Workout Stack

Post Workout Muscle Building Stack

You had an awesome workout and now its time to refuel and build some serious muscle mass. Its time to repair your broken muscles and enhance muscle growth.

Here is the best stack to do that:

  1. Whey Protein + Maltodextrin: These fast acting proteins and carbs are perfect mix to stop protein breakdown {which happens 30 mins into your workout}  and kickstart protein synthesis. Drink your post workout shake by making it the last exercise in the gym. Its that important.

  2. Multivitamin and Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps muscle healing and helps you recover faster. Take half your daily dose of vitamins with post workout shake for better nutrient utilisation.

The Bedtime Stack

Bed time Muscle Building Stack

You have a long night ahead and 8 hours of potential fast. Your bedtime stack asks for a protein + fats mix that will keep your blood filled with muscle building proteins for better part of the night.

Here's the mix:

  1. Casein Protein: This slow digesting protein ensures a slow, sustained release of amino acids and help protein synthesis to go on for longer time.

  2. Krill Oil or Fish oil: They are excellent for hormone building and also help slow the absorption process, thus maintaining a stable nutrient pool for longer time.

  3. Vitamin C: Take half your daily dose of vitamin C at night for optimal muscle recovery.

The Best Place to Buy Your Muscle Building Supplement to make your own stack

In the supplement world, you get what you pay for. Cheap tubs come with a big price in terms of results.

Muscle Building requires high quality, first class nutrients and they are a tad expensive. But they also ensure you reach your goals faster.

Below are the places I have found to provide high quality supplements at a fair price.


MI4OX Muscle Building Program

Want to grow beyond your current level? Supplement stacks are only a tip of the muscle building toolbox iceberg.

MI40X is an advanced bodybuilding program that takes you training, nutrition and supplementation to the next level.

I high recommend it.

Click here to learn more about MI40X program.

› Muscle Building Stacks




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