We all go to the gym, workout or engage in physical activity for different reasons. Whether you are trying to increase athletic performance, change your body composition, gain muscle, lose weight, improve metabolic health, manage a diagnosis and related symptoms, enhance your quality of life or improve mental health - we all have goals when it comes to moving our body.
Beyond physical activity itself, nutrition is the driving force behind physiological change, making a well-structured nutrition plan essential for achieving results. As a next step, targeted supplementation can be a powerful tool for enhancing adaptation to achieve results.
No matter the reason for exercising, adding in targeted supplements in conjunction with your exercise and nutrition program can give you an advantage by optimizing your workouts, allowing you to fast track your fitness + health goals.
Choosing the Right Workout Supplements for Optimal Results
Sports nutrition is a vast field filled with products promising better workouts, fat loss, and faster recovery. Many rely on stimulants like caffeine to simulate improved performance, but this can actually hinder metabolic capacity, slowing progress—or even preventing it altogether
To maximize results from a workout plan, three key pillars must be addressed: performance, muscle growth, and recovery. Substances that support these areas are collectively known as ergogenic aids.
Ergogenic aids are distinct from products like pre-workouts. While pre-workouts primarily boost energy, creating the illusion of more effective sessions, ergogenic aids enhance both physical and physiological adaptations, driving deeper changes that accelerate results.
The key to effective workout supplementation is simplicity. Avoid flashy products with exaggerated claims, artificial flavors, and long ingredient lists. Instead, prioritize science-backed nutrients that deliver real results.
Today we are going to look at a supplement stack that has ample research supporting its ability to up-regulate the benefits of exercise at a rapid rate- helping you to reach your health, fitness and body composition goals faster.
The Best Workout Supplement Stack for Performance and Recovery
Strategically using supplements can enhance your workouts and accelerate physical adaptations, helping you reach your fitness goals faster. Three clinically proven ergogenic aids—creatine, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and L-carnitine —have been shown to significantly improve recovery, muscle growth, and overall performance. Together, these supplements work to:
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Increase time to fatigue – Train harder and longer by lifting heavier weights, performing more reps to failure, or improve endurance with faster, longer workouts. This accelerates progress and shortens the time needed to achieve your goals.
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Support muscle growth – Muscle is key to fat loss, weight management, better body composition and overall health. It improves metabolism and blood sugar regulation both of which are important adaptations to exercise. Muscle releases anti-inflammatory compounds that support recovery
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Enhance recovery – Faster recovery means fewer rest days, allowing for a more consistent workout routine—essential for long-term progress and visible results.
By incorporating these evidence-based supplements, you can optimize performance, speed up recovery, and maximize the benefits of your training.
Creatine: The Ultimate Performance Booster
Creatine is one of the most effective supplements for enhancing exercise performance and building muscle. It increases strength, power, and high-intensity exercise capacity, allowing you to push harder and complete more total work in a single training session—a key driver of long-term muscle growth.
By buffering hydrogen ions, creatine helps delay muscle fatigue, improving endurance and resistance to exhaustion during workouts. It also supports muscle repair and growth by increasing muscle fiber size (up to three times more than training alone), reducing protein breakdown, and boosting muscle-building hormones like IGF-1.
Additionally, creatine lowers myostatin levels—a protein that can slow muscle growth—making it a powerhouse for improving performance, recovery, and body composition.
The gold-standard and most researched form of creatine is creatine monohydrate. Shop our favourite creatine here
Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) for Muscle Growth and Recovery
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and essential for muscle protein synthesis—the key process behind muscle growth. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are a group of three essential amino acids uniquely processed in the muscles, making them especially valuable for enhancing exercise adaptations.
Research shows that BCAAs can reduce muscle soreness, promote muscle growth, and accelerate recovery—hallmarks of an effective ergogenic aid. Adding them to your workout routine can help optimize performance and support long-term progress.
Additionally, leucine- the main BBCA has been well-researched as the rate limiting amino acid for muscle growth. This means the more leucine you have, the better you are at building lean muscle mass!
We love AORs BCAA's! Check them out.
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR): Boost Performance and Fat Burning
Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) is a powerhouse supplement for enhancing both performance and fat metabolism. It plays a key role in transporting fat to the mitochondria, where it’s converted into energy—preventing fat storage and increasing your body’s fat-burning potential.
ALCAR also helps preserve glycogen stores, clear lactate to reduce muscle fatigue, and boost strength and power output during workouts. Additionally, it improves oxygen and nutrient delivery to muscles, supporting faster recovery and reducing post-exercise inflammation.
With its ability to enhance endurance, optimize recovery, and promote a leaner body composition, ALCAR is a smart addition to any fitness regimen.
In our opinion, the best ALCAR on the market is Lypo-Spheric®Acetyl L-Carnitine. We swear by it!
Exercise is a cornerstone of health and vitality, and you can fast-track your progress by incorporating the right supplements. Creatine, BCAAs, and acetyl-L-carnitine are research-backed ergogenic aids that enhance the key pillars of performance, muscle growth, and recovery. By integrating these powerful nutrients into your fitness routine, you can train harder, recover faster, and achieve your goals more efficiently.
Author: Lisa Kowalyk, CNP B.Kin