Magnesium: Vital for Bodybuilders (and Gym Rats)

Magnesium: Absolutely a Key Nutrient for Bodybuilders. How many here actually keep track of your magnesium status? Do you pay attention to it at all? After reading this you should be checking your levels if you want to get the most out of your physique work. Magnesium strongly influences how your body looks and performs. Beyond improving sleep and creating a calmer state, magnesium is central to fat loss, muscle growth and controlling cortisol and insulin. If that hasn't caught your attention yet, consider this: being low in magnesium will undercut your workout results. A shortfall of this mineral causes widespread inflammation and disrupts cortisol and insulin balance. That means you'll tend to hang on to stubborn fat and your muscle gains will slow or stall. How Magnesium Influences Muscle Growth There are several ways magnesium impacts our muscle-building ability. Muscles require magnesium to contract — plain and simple. If you're deficient, you won't be able to fully contract muscles during training, which suppresses gains. Full contraction equals maximal progress, and without it you won't push muscles to true failure; they'll just peter out. One study from the American College of Nutrition reported that lifters who supplemented with 8 mg of magnesium per kilogram of bodyweight saw greater improvements in their bench and s...