What supplements actually make your muscles grow?
Nutritional Supplements for Muscle Hypertrophy: Mechanisms and Morphology—Focused Evidence
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Creatine’s muscle growth effect is indirect—via increased training volume, not direct anabolic signaling.
Everyone assumes creatine directly stimulates muscle protein synthesis, but this study shows it’s just letting you train harder over weeks.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re eating less than 1.6g protein per kg of body weight daily, add a protein shake to hit 2g/kg—beyond that, stop wasting money.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Creatine’s muscle growth effect is indirect—via increased training volume, not direct anabolic signaling.
Everyone assumes creatine directly stimulates muscle protein synthesis, but this study shows it’s just letting you train harder over weeks.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re eating less than 1.6g protein per kg of body weight daily, add a protein shake to hit 2g/kg—beyond that, stop wasting money.
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2025
Authors
Andreea Maria Mănescu, Simona Ștefania Hangu, D. Mănescu
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Claims (10)
Taking citrulline supplements may help improve blood flow and allow more repetitions during high-repetition, short-rest workouts, but it does not cause measurable increases in muscle size over time.
Taking fish oil supplements containing EPA and DHA may lead to very small or negligible gains in muscle size and strength for most people, and these changes are not large enough to be meaningful in a clinical or practical sense.
Taking collagen supplements does not help muscles grow larger if you are already consuming enough total protein and vitamin C, because collagen does not contain the right amino acids or biological mechanism to directly stimulate muscle growth.
Taking creatine supplements leads to higher levels of creatine in muscles, improves the ability to regenerate energy during intense workouts, and over 8 to 12 weeks, allows for more total training and measurable muscle growth.
Ultrasound and MRI can better detect actual muscle growth by distinguishing it from temporary changes like water retention or glycogen storage, whereas methods like DXA or BIA measure total lean mass and cannot separate these factors.