For women who are focused on health, wellness, and bodybuilding, there are some supplements that definitely should not be skipped. Because women have different nutritional needs than men, they require different vitamin and nutrient levels. It’s important to recognize these differences and consider them when choosing what supplements to add to your workout regiment. For example, women have drastically lower iron levels than men. This why most women’s multivitamins contain extra iron. Sometimes you just need that extra boost!
We’ve created a guide that specifically outlines the best supplements for women as well as the proper dosage and timing. Knowing when to take your supplements is the most important part of the equation. So read closely, listen to your body, and get your Amazon cart ready!
Calcium:
What Is it?
Calcium is an essential mineral that women don’t want to miss out on. It is directly linked to bone health and strength which is important for everyone, not just bodybuilders. However, calcium is also required for muscle contraction. We need the proper amount of calcium for our muscles to properly contract, which is extremely important. Another bodybuilding benefit is the fact that calcium help increase fat loss. The essential mineral suppresses calcitriol, a hormone that reduces fat burning, and decreases the amount of dietary fat that the intestines absorb.
Timing & Dosage:
Calcium should be taken twice a day. Try taking it in the morning with breakfast and then again with dinner. The recommended daily dosage is 500-600 mg.
Benefits:
- Helps build and maintain strong bones
- Provides proper function for heart, muscles, and nerves
- Helps muscles properly contract
- Increases fat loss
- Cancer and diabetes prevention
- Reduces high blood pressure
CLA:
What Is It?
CLA is a healthy fat that women bodybuilders should all swear by. It is an omega-6 fatty acid, which are known for not being very healthy, but CLA sets itself apart from the rest. CLA, or Conjugated Linoleic Acid, is a potent antioxidant that is great for bodybuilders because a CLA deficiencies can lead to many unwanted fat pounds. CLA is used to effectively support fat loss, promote muscle strength and growth, boost metabolism levels, and spare muscle tissue due to it’s ability to burn fat during slumber.
Timing & Dosage:
CLA supplements should be taken three times a day – with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The recommended daily dosage for the supplement is 6 grams. Split this up into three doses of 2 grams.
Benefits:
- Boosts metabolism rates
- Enhances muscle growth and strength
- Promotes muscle recovery post workout
- Lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- Reduces insulin resistance
- Decreases chance of food-induced allergic reactions
- Boosts immune system
Vitamin D:
What Is It?
Women have lower vitamin D levels than men which makes this supplement one of the more important ones. Women have a higher body fat content which reduces sunlight absorption, thus decreasing vitamin D levels. Vitamin D is a fat soluble hormone that our bodies synthesize naturally. There are two different types of vitamin D – vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 is synthesized by plants while vitamin D3 is synthesized by humans when our skin is exposed to UV rays from sunlight. Both forms of vitamin D have a long list of health benefits that women should take advantage of.
Timing & Dosage:
Vitamin D should be taken twice a day. Try taking it in the morning with breakfast in order to avoid any deficiencies throughout the day and then again with lunch or dinner. The recommended daily dosage is 4,000 international units. Split this up into 2,000 international units per dosing.
Benefits:
- Increases energy levels and overall well being
- Maintains health of bones and teeth
- Increase muscle growth and strength
- Supports immune system health
- Supports brain and nervous system health
- Supports fat loss
- Regulates insulin levels
- Supports lung and cardiovascular health
Iron:
What Is It?
Women and iron need to go hand-in-hand. Iron is a crucial mineral that helps bring fresh oxygen into your system through your bloodstream. It can be found in foods such as red meat, dried beans, egg yolks, dark meat chicken, and more. However, for most women, especially those who exercise regularly, it’s difficult to get the necessary 18 milligrams of iron daily without the help of supplements.
Timing & Dosage:
Iron best absorbed when taken on an empty stomach. However, if you have a sensitive stomach, it is recommended to take your supplement with a small amount of food in order to avoid cramps, nausea, and diarrhea. Try taking it in the morning either before breakfast or with a small breakfast to avoid any deficiencies throughout the day. The recommended daily dosage of iron for adults is 19 milligrams.
Benefits:
- Metabolizes proteins
- Aids in production of hemoglobin and red blood cells
- Increase in energy
- Carries oxygen throughout the body
- Aids in proper muscle function
- Promotes positive brain function
- Helps avoid iron deficiency anemia
Women’s Multivitamin:
What Is It?
We all know how important and simple multivitamins are. They include the most common vitamins and minerals that we all need. However, since women have different needs than men, a multivitamin formulated specifically for women is the way to go. It will typically contain extra B vitamins, iron, calcium, and other vitamins that women can’t seem to get enough of. It is easy to have dietary gaps when bodybuilding. Typically your day includes more than just bodybuilding, which can lead to crazy days and a gap in the dietary needs that your body is craving. That’s where multivitamins come into play! A daily women’s multivitamin is the best solution to filling any dietary gaps.
Timing & Dosage:
Multivitamins should be taken each morning with breakfast. The recommended daily dosage differs but usually one pill or capsule a day does the trick!
Benefits:
- Avoiding vitamin and mineral deficiencies
- Increasing energy levels
B Complex 100:
What Is It?
B vitamins are a set of essential vitamins that are crucial for helping our bodies derive energy from our diets. They help turn our calories into energy! How cool is that? They also help get oxygen to our muscle tissue, help in the formation of our red blood cells, and aid in the functioning of our nervous system. If you’re feeling run down and tired you’re most likely deficient in your B vitamins. This is very common for bodybuilders. Aside from bodybuilding benefits, women will also love B Complex 100 supplements because of their tie to our nail, skin, and hair health!
Timing & Dosage:
A B Complex 100 will provide the body with 100 milligrams of most of the B vitamins. This includes thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and pyridoxine. The vitamin will most likely also have at least 100 micrograms of cobalamin, biotin, and folic acid. It is recommended to take your B Complex 100 in the morning with breakfast in order to avoid any deficiencies throughout the day.
Benefits:
- Increases energy levels
- Carries oxygen to muscle tissue
- Improves mood
- Reduces stress
- Promotes healthy hair, nails, and skin
Vitamin C:
What Is It?
Vitamin C is an essential vitamin that’s most commonly taken to avoid or treat colds and other sicknesses. If you start to feel a tickle or a runny nose, it’s time to start taking that vitamin C! However, most people are unaware of the long list of health benefits that vitamin C possesses, aside from promoting immune system health. For example, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants are great for things such as energy levels and metabolism function. Vitamin C is involved in the synthesis of hormones, amino acids, and collagen.
Vitamin C also destroys free radicals! This part is great for bodybuilders. Free radicals are created from exercise and other activities that add stress to our bodies. Free radicals break down nitric oxide (NO) but we need nitric oxide to maintain proper levels it due to its ability to promote muscle endurance, reduce the fatigue that follows exercise, and support strong and lean muscles. Vitamin C is one of the good ones, that’s for sure!
Timing & Dosage:
Vitamin C should be taken twice a day with food. Try taking 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C with lunch and dinner.
Benefits:
- Repairs and regenerates tissues
- Protects against heart disease
- Aids in absorption of iron
- Prevents scurvy
- Maintains proper cholesterol levels
- Protects against cancers
- Combats free radicals
- Neutralizes effects of nitrites (dangerous preservatives found in some foods)
- Eases time and severity of colds
- Promotes a healthy immune system
- Delays and helps prevent cataracts
Whey Protein:
What Is It?
Whey protein is a rapid acting milk protein. It can help increase rates of protein synthesis by delivering amino acids to your muscles. This gets the anabolic process into motion. Most bodybuilders choose whey protein out of the long list of protein powders because it is to digest! Once it enters the body it breaks down more quickly than any other protein supplement. This helps send amino acids to the muscle tissue as fast as possible.
Bodybuilders need whey protein in their diets to increase muscle gain because it is proven to improve performance as well as gain muscle mass. Whey protein provides our bodies with a high amount of protein that can help kick start the muscle growing process which is obviously one of the main goals of bodybuilding.
Timing & Dosage:
Whey protein is most effective when taken at or before breakfast due to our catabolic state when sleeping. While we are sleeping, our bodies enter a catabolic state because we go 8-9 hours without food. During this state, our bodies want to turn our muscles into fuel to keep us going. Consuming 20 to 30 grams first thing in the morning will keep your muscles strong and present.
Benefits:
- Easy way to consume high quality protein
- Promotes muscle growth
- Lowers blood pressure
- Treats type 2 Diabetes
- Reduces inflammation
- Can aid in symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBS)
- Enhances bodies antioxidant defenses
- Lowers cholesterol and other blood fats
- Great for fat loss and dieting because of ability to suppress hunger
N.O. Boosters:
What Is It?
N.O. stands for nitric oxide, a compound commonly used in supplement form by bodybuilders who just need that extra push. You could be doing everything right – busting your butt at the gym, giving yourself time to recover, eating the perfect diet, taking the right supplements – but you could still use that little push to reach your A game. That’s where nitric oxide boosters save the day!
In supplement form, nitric oxide boosters refer to any amount of compounds whose main purpose is to increase the levels of nitric oxide in the bloodstream. Nitric oxide works by relaxing the muscles that control blood vessels. This makes them increase in size, thus allowing more blood to flow through them and the muscles. The more of these that reach your muscles, the more support you will feel for increased energy production. More energy means you can train longer and harder to reach your goals!
Timing & Dosage:
Nitric oxide boosters can be found in supplements that include ingredients such as arginine, citrulline, glycine propionyl-L-cartinine, and pycogenol. Take your supplement 30 to 60 minutes prior to working out. The recommended daily dosage changes depending on which supplement you choose to take.
Benefits:
- Improves recovery rates
- Reduces feelings of fatigue
- Improvement in endurance levels
- Far more energy
- Increases glucose use
- Creates muscle pump post workout
Fish Oil:
What Is It?
What can’t fish oil do? It is the holy grail of supplements, especially for women! Fish oil can be consumed in two ways. One is to eat fish; the other is to take pills. Fish that are especially rich in beneficial oils, otherwise known as omega-3 fatty acids, are mackerel, herring, tuna, salmon, cod liver, whale blubber, and seal blubber. Fish oil was created in pill form to fill the gaps in people’s diet who either don’t eat fish or don’t eat enough of it. It’s simple, gets the job done in one pill, and has some serious perks.
When taking fish oil, you are aiming to intake as much omega-3 fatty acids as possible. Two of the most important fatty acids in fish oil are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Fish oil is FDA approved to lower triglyceride levels and is used for a long list of health conditions.
While just about everyone can benefit from fish oil supplements, there are a few health benefits that women in particular really need. For example, fish oil is a great addition to your daily beauty care. It promotes strong hair and nails. It is also wonderful for mothers and pregnant women. Omega-3s are great for the baby’s development while a woman is pregnant. As for motherhood, fish oil pills are known to boost immune system levels, promote long lasting energy, increase brain function, and more! Why would any lady want to miss out on these benefits?
Timing & Dosage:
It’s important to note that more is not always better when you’re learning when to take fish oil. You want to stay in a balanced ratio with omega-6 fatty acids. The recommended and scientifically studied dose for fish oil is a 1,000 mg dose each day. It’s best to take fish oil in the morning. Treat fish oil as you would a multivitamin and take it after your first meal, before you get your day started.
Benefits:
- Improves ADHD
- Treats Anxiety
- Treats Arthritis
- Reduces Alzheimer’s Disease risk
- Helps in cancer prevention
- Helps fight depression
- Aids with Diabetes
- Improves eye disorders
- Helps prevent and treat Cardiovascular Disease
- Drastically boosts immune system
- Reduces inflammation
- Thickens and strengthens hair and nails
- Improves joint pain
- Promotes glowing skin
- Aids in pregnancy and fertility
- Promotes weight loss
Caffeine:
What Is It?
Caffeine the world’s most popular stimulant drug for a long list of reasons. It increases your energy and focus, and is also a life saver in the bodybuilding world.
Caffeine is actually a staple ingredient in most dietary pills and supplements because it can aid in fat loss. And less fat means more muscle! Caffeine can aid in gaining muscle by helping you lose fat as well as increasing your energy levels for longer and more intense workouts. Caffeine helps you lose fat by boosting your metabolism. Taking caffeine jumpstarts your lipolysis process. This process helps your body release fatty acids into your bloodstream. During this process your body breaks down the fat stored and converts it to energy. In simpler terms, caffeine helps you burn fat by boosting your metabolism.
Timing & Dosage:
The recommended dosage for caffeine supplements is 200-400 milligrams taken 2 to 3 times per day. One of these doses should be taken 30 to 60 minutes prior to working out. Don’t forget!
Benefits:
- Increases energy
- Improves focus
- Increases memory
- Detoxes and cleans the liver
- Aids in healthy and natural fat loss
- Boosts metabolism
- Stimulates hair growth
- Relieves muscle pain post workout
- Helps prevents Alzheimer’s Disease
- Helps protect against cataracts
- Prevents unwanted weight gain
- Reduces chronic inflammation
Probiotics:
What Is It?
Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are actually good for our health! Probiotics are commonly referred to as “good” bacteria. It’s an interesting concept and it works! Probiotics are a bacteria that we actually encourage in our bodies! Our bodies are actually full of bacteria, some are good, some are bad. Probiotics are definitely encouraged, as they help keep our gut healthy.
Probiotics are great for bodybuilders because they keep our digestive health in check. All sicknesses and diseases start in the gut, so it’s very important to take care of your gut. This is something that is often overlooked and when it comes to bodybuilding and busy lifestyles. It is easy to start to feel overly tired and run down. You can avoid this!
Probiotics work in a few different ways. One way they keep us healthy is by replacing good bacteria when our bodies are in need. For example, after taking antibiotics, our bodies lose “good” bacteria. They also work by keeping a proper balance between our “good” and “bad” bacteria. This helps keep our insides in tip-top shape, regardless of a crazy workout schedule.
Timing & Dosage:
Probiotics should be taken daily. If you are receiving your daily recommended intake from live cultured foods, timing does not matter and you should consume your foods normally throughout the day. If you are taking a probiotic supplement, take it in the morning with a little bit of food and water. Probiotics are live bacteria that need a comfortable place to live, which we can create in our stomachs with food and water. Probiotics can differ greatly from one another; however it is recommended to take a probiotic that contains one to two millions colony forming units or CFUs each day.
Benefits:
- Aiding in digestion
- Boosting immune system levels
- Consuming bad bacteria
- Creating key nutrients
- Restricting growth of yeast and unhealthy bacteria
- Limiting bouts of lactose intolerance, poor digestion, and diarrhea
Beta-Alanine:
What Is It?
Typically when we think about how to get our daily vitamins into our diet, we think of hearty protein and nutrient enriched foods. For example, chicken, whey, meat, and fish. However, beta alanine is not found in these foods and is not typically consumed through our diets. This means that beta alanine is a non-essential amino acid. We have to work a little harder to bless our bodies with the powerful beta alanine.
Beta alanine works by being converted into carnosine once it enters your body. Beta alanine’s presence in our bloodstreams is actually directly tied to our muscle carnosine levels. This is why beta-alanine is so wonderful for hardworking, bodybuilding women. The supplement allows you to work harder during your workouts which will result in rapid muscle gains.
This supplement will help increase your stamina, your strength, and improve your muscle development. For women attempting metabolic type workout regiments, meaning they rest frequently between sets, beta alanine can allow the body to recover rapidly during the rest periods. This allows for an increased calorie burn and higher intensity throughout the workouts.
Timing & Dosage:
It’s best to consume the beta alanine supplement throughout the day when first starting out. This is called a “loading phase.” The recommended dosage is 6 grams spread out over 2 or 3 doses throughout the day. This only lasts for the first 6 days and then you move on to the “maintenance phase.” This phase requires 3 grams divided into 3 doses throughout the day.
It’s important to note that beta alanine has shown to be the most effective when taken with carbohydrates. This is because of the insulin spike that occurs. This will increase the rate of uptake into the cells of the muscles.
Benefits:
- Builds muscle and increases mass
- Boosts muscle anaerobic endurance
- Increases endurance levels
- Boosts muscular strength
Creatine Monohydrate:
What Is It?
Creatine Monohydrate is frequently used by people who are looking to build lean muscle mass as well as maximize their physical performance and increase body strength. It is very similar to protein in the sense that it’s a nitrogen containing compound. It occurs naturally in the the vertebrates and it helps to supply energy to the cells in the body, mainly in the muscles.
Creatine monohydrate can be produced in the liver and kidneys from amino acids and there are also small amounts in animal foods. However, even though creatine monohydrate occurs naturally in the body, sometimes we need a little more. While it can be found in food, most of it is destroyed during the cooking process. The creatine monohydrate supplement is known as the most cost effective way to build muscle mass and gain strength.
Timing & Dosage:
Our muscles are most receptive to absorbing creatine monohydrate from the blood post workout. Creatine powder is the most popular form of the supplement. It is mixed with fluids and is quickly detected by the bloodstream. Nutritionists recommend approximately 2-5 grams (can change depending on the form you take) per day after a workout session.
Benefits:
- High intensity workout
- Speeds up recovery process
- Improves anaerobic capacity
- Increases muscle volumization
- Enhances methylation
- Enhances brain function
- Improves bone healing
- Improve glucose tolerance
- Reduces age related muscle loss
- Improves performance & muscle mass in vegetarians
