You can eat a proper diet all you want, but the fact is there are a lot of nutrients that we’re lacking through the food we eat. That’s where a solid multivitamin comes in handy to fill in the gaps. Multivitamins are pretty self-explanatory in their name, providing you with vitamins and minerals that we are deficient in through our diet. If you’re weight training and looking to gain mass, here are our top recommendations for multivitamins for bodybuilders.
Top Bodybuilding Multivitamins
Keep in mind, as if it’s not evident in the title above, that this is specifically for bodybuilders. If you fall into a different category of fitness, these ones will still do you good, but I’m selecting these particularly with this group in mind.
Benefits of Multivitamins
I should probably preface all this with why you should be taking a multivitamin in the first place. In a nutshell, they can improve poor health conditions when you’re sick. But even when you’re in otherwise good health, they are of great importance. Multivitamins can fortify your body and help ward off illness.
They can also help to reduce stress. Stress is not just an anxious, tired feeling mentally, but it also has many negative effects all throughout the body. It’s OK to have a healthy amount of stress, but reducing unwanted stress can do wonders for you mentally, physically, and emotionally.
While it isn’t their primary purpose, they are also beneficial to building muscle, as described in the video below.
What to Look For
There are tons of options on the market, so how do you go about finding the right one? It can be difficult to choose the one that is best suited for bodybuilding, so here are some tips on things you should be seeking in a multivitamin.
Like with all supplements I review, the primary thing I take a look at is the ingredients list. A supplement is only as good as its formula. In different categories of nutritional supplements, there are different ingredients you should expect to see. When it comes to multivitamins, here is my list of the essential “must-haves”, regardless of the form it comes in (pill, tablet, capsule, powder):
- Thiamin or B1
- Riboflavin or B2
- Niacin or B3
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Folic Acid
So let’s get into the list of my top 5 multivitamins for bodybuilders! And no, you won’t see those crappy Flintstones vitamins listed here. This is the real stuff! Mind you, you might be spending a premium price on these as opposed to those you can just pick up at your local CVS or pharmacy aisle in your grocery, but you get what you pay for!
Without further adieu, here we go, in no particular order.
Animal Pak
Available for sale on BodyBuilding.com where it has a 9.3 out of 10 overall rating.
This pack of multivitamins is loaded with a list of nutrients that are more impressive than any other on the market. Take a look at what all it contains:
- 30mg Zinc (testosterone production)
- Glutamine (muscle recovery)
- Milk Thistle (liver and heart health)
- Selenium, Copper, Manganese, and Chromium (aid the absorption of Zinc and in cell repair)
- Vitamin B6 and B12
- ALA
- Bromelain, Inulin, and Lipase (protein digestion)
- Dozens of other vitamins – too many to list!
Looking at this list of ingredients, it’s not hard to see why I’m rating this number one. It hits the sweet spots of ingredients I list above. If you were to craft a perfect multivitamin supplement for bodybuilding, this is exactly what you would put in it.
It has ingredients that help alleviate the side effects of high testosterone levels (if you are using a test booster like those here, perhaps) as well as regulate your blood pressure. It can also assist your liver to process nutrients faster, and has benefits for skin health as well.
All in all, you can’t go wrong with Animal Pak.
To be honest, this multivitamin is so far and away the best for this purpose, that it is a bit of a disservice to give lip service to other brands. If you want other recommendations, however, I’ll point you to a couple others.
Orange Triad
Available here at BodyBuilding.com with an overall rating of 9.2 out of 10.
This one goes after your body from a different angle than Animal Pak. While the prior recommendation has a lot to do with muscle repair and recovery, Orange Triad is more aimed at improving digestion, giving your immune system a boost, and strengthening your joints. All important aspects of a multivitamin, particularly for bodybuilders who are putting their body under extreme stress. Because of the benefits to the joints, this would be my choice for anyone over the age of 40 or 50 as your body begins to wear down more, particularly in the joints.
Here is a sampling of the ingredients you’ll find in this formula:
- Hyaluronic acid (joint lubrication)
- MSM (reduces inflammation)
- Glucosamine Sulfate (strengthens ligaments and tendons)
- Echinacea, Ginger, and Bilberry Extracts (immune system)
Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi for Men
This multivitamin is at the leading-edge when it comes to customizing their products for the nutritional demands of men. They have a patented kind of vitamin and mineral they call BioGenesis that provides the magic behind this multi.
BioGenesis nutrients are grown in a hydroponic setting that produces nature-identical nutrients that are not only wildly beneficial for your body, but they are also easier on the stomach with their higher bioavailability and easier absorption. These are the most advanced vitamins that you can get your hands on.
Here are the benefits you can receive from taking the Whole-Food Multi from Performance Lab:
- Healthier biological function all across the body
- Improved performance at the cellular level for overall health
- Provides energy throughout the day
It accomplishes these goals through their innovative production process. The formula is made entirely BioGenesis nutrients – no other additives included. These nutrients have better absorption and more pronounced benefits than all others on the market. It’s a highly potent combination of nutrients, and they’re all customized specifically with masculine health in mind.
Other features:
- 100% natural plantcaps
- Vegan-friendly
- Free of banned substances
- Non-GMO
- GMP certified
- Free of synthetic additives
- Gluten-free
- Soy-free
- Allergen-free
With their lab-grown BioGenesis nutrients, you’re unlocking the full health and performance-enhancing power of vitamins and minerals that easier processed in the body, all in a simple capsule. Get 100% of your daily value of 17 vitamins and minerals with the Performance Lab Whole Food Multi!
Opti-Men
Last but not least is Opti-Men from Optimum Nutrition.
You can find it here on BodyBuilding.com where it has a 9.3 out of 10 rating.
This one is designed particularly for bodybuilders but has a lot of other health benefits that would be great for anyone. It has the ingredients you would expect like L-Arginine and ALA which help blood flow to the muscles and boost your fat burning. It also, however, contains enzymes that aid in digestion, a key when trying to put on muscle.
On top of that, and what really sets this multivitamin apart from the other also-rans is that it contains a great list of phytonutrients. These are nutrients that are plant-based and have become quite popular in supplements as research has shown a linkage between these and healthier organs, better mental acuity, and living a longer life. These are crucial to your overall wellbeing and it’s great to see them in high supply in this product.
A sample of the phytonutrients in Opti-Men:
- Cantelope Extract
- Rhubarb Chinese Root
- Garlic Extract
- Green Tea Extract
- Bilberry Extract
- Carrot Powder
- Too many to list!
Vita JYM by JYM
When you work out, you are losing a ton of essential and vitamins and minerals due to all the stresses of that training. You’re tearing your muscles apart, exhausting all your cardiovascular functions, and putting a strain on your heart and lungs to keep everything working. You get depleted of Vitamins, B, C, chromium, iron, copper, and selenium, just to name a few. These are all lost from metabolism as well as sweat and urine, and when your workout is over you need to replenish these critical nutrients as fast as possible.
By taking a multivitamin like Vita JYM, you can get back to your recommended dietary allowance, and then some, in a short time with their easy to take tablets that are packed with nutrients.
When you take Vita JYM, you’ll get the following:
- 25 of the most essential micronutrients that all athletes need, particularly bodybuilders who put immense stress on their bodies
- No minerals that block the uptake of amino acids, help to absorb other critical vitamins and minerals, and help your body better utilize the nutrients you consume
- B-complex 100: you’re not only taking a multi, but it’s also like you’re consuming a powerful B complex as well!
- 400 IU Vitamin E
- 10,000 IU vitamin A as 100% beta-carotene
- 120 mcg Vitamin K2 (as MK-7 and MK-4)
- 200 mcg chromium picolinate
- 5 mg BioPerine helps enhance the absorption of nutrients
Conclusion
Really, you can’t go wrong with any of the choices above. Animal Pak is probably my top choice, but I have really enjoyed taking Performance Lab Whole Food Multi for Men as well. If you’re past the age of 40, then you definitely want to give Orange Triad a serious look. Then again, you’ll get solid results from Vita JYM and Opti-Men as well. That’s why these five are all included out of the hundreds (if not thousands) of different multivitamins that have flooded the market.
When you think of multivitamins, I hope you no longer think back to those Flintstones vitamins you had as a kid. These multis are hugely effective at warding off illness, fortifying your body, replenishing a deficiency of vitamins and minerals, helping you build muscles, and so many more health benefits. While this page was written with a slant towards bodybuilders, it can really apply to anyone who aspires to better health.
You can eat as healthy as you want, but the fact remains that there are still some vitamins and minerals that you are deficient in through your daily diet. That’s where multivitamins come in to pick up the slack. When your food isn’t giving you enough of the good stuff you need, reach for one of the supplements listed above to fill in the gaps and get your daily recommended dosage of these essential nutrients.
For all our supplements reviews, visit our homepage here: https://www.dietpillreviews.com