One of the most important, but frequently overlooked, parts of building lean muscle mass is supplementation. Supplementation should not be taken lightly and you should be careful when choosing which supplements to take. Supplements should be apart of your regular diet program, and it should complement your muscle building process. It must be stressed that supplementation is an integral part of your diet and not a replacement for real, natural food. Supplements will not make up for short comings in an improper diet, but they can help to enhance a good nutrition plan.

Diet, exercise, and appropriate rest are the foundation of any good muscle building program. Once you have the foundation in place it is time to think about proper supplementation. The basic supplements that anyone needs to take are: A good multivitamin, calcium, magnesium, DHA omega-3, and vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a supplement that is important for your overall health. Vitamin D is helpful in preventing cancer and heart problems. You can get vitamin D naturally from just 10 minutes of exposure to the sun per day. However, if you are not able to get outside regularly then you need to take a supplement that has 1,000 units of vitamin D.

DHA omega-3 is one of the good fats that your body needs, and is commonly found in fish. You should take at least 600 milligrams of DHA omega-3.

You need to take 1,200 milligrams of calcium and 400 milligrams of magnesium. Be sure to take the calcium with the magnesium to avoid constipation.

A multivitamin should be taken daily. If your multivitamin is a one tablet per day dosage consider cutting it in half and taking half in the morning and half in the evening. The reason for this is that the body can only absorb so much of the vital minerals and nutrients. So to take full advantage of the benefits of the multivitamin and absorb as much as possible split it up. You can also find multivitamins designed for multiple usage daily.

A protein supplement is a great way to add additional protein to your diet to help build muscle. I use a protein supplement with rice milk on a daily basis as a breakfast drink after my morning workout. It gives me the protein that I need and it’s a fast and easy meal. However, for the rest of the day I eat real food. The mistake that some people make is that they use protein drinks too often during the day. Protein drinks and protein bars are no substitute for the nutrition that you will receive from real lean protein, fruits, and vegetables. A balanced diet is going to give you a variety of minerals and nutrients that your body needs.

Supplementation is important to help prevent the body from becoming nutritionally deficient. Even the smallest deficiency can ruin the building of lean muscle. Foods that are processed such as protein bars, protein shakes, and other supplements often have additives that can be harmful to your health. Processed foods are designed to last for long periods of time on store shelves. In order to achieve this vital nutrients are stripped from the food. Other harmful chemicals are added such as partially-hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup. These chemicals are not natural and hard for the body to break down. When the body is unable to break food down it is hard to eliminate and often gets stored as fat. Food stored as fat is the kiss of death for building muscle.

The best thing to do is to consult with your trainer and physician before undertaking any type of supplement to be sure that it is right for you. Also, do your own reading and investigation on various supplements. Supplements are not regulated or approved by the FDA, so it is important that you do your due diligence. Remember to read all labels and check the ingredients. Not all supplements are created equal.

I would also find a good store that has trained staff that can answer questions about the supplements that you may want to try. Usually health food stores and nutritional stores like GNC are often staffed with individuals who are interested in body building and healthy living. They are often well equipped to answer many of your questions on supplementation.

Further reading on supplementation, fat loss, and how to build lean muscle can be found in 3 free reports available at YouCanLoseWeightThisWeek.com