With the beach body look stuck in the back of your mind there is one thing every great bodybuilder knows – beach season requires the best supplements for cutting. Not just any supplements will help you get shredded – cutting requires high quality, high nutrient-yielding supplementation.
For those gym-goers who want to lose weight, burn fat and build more lean muscle faster we spent weeks studying, testing and training to provide you with our top list of the best supplements for cutting. Let’s get into it.
Losing lean muscle mass is a common downside of fat loss – but it doesn’t have to be. VINTAGE BURN have created the first muscle-preserving fat burner with potent ingredients built to help you lose fat fast.
VINTAGE BURN offers a very unique 100% money-back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with your product Old School Burn will resolve the issue and provide you with a full refund.
Not a bad deal considering this product offers 9 Active, fat-busting ingredients making this one of the most complete cutting supplements on the market.
Suppress appetite with garcinia, boost metabolism with caffeine, increase the resting rate with green tea leaf and burn more fat with raspberry ketones – all in two veggie capsules daily.
PROS
- Green tea leaf extract and green coffee bean extract help to boost metabolic rate during activity and at rest.
- 120 veggie capsules provide 60 servings (about 2 months) worth of supplements making this one of the best bangs for your buck!
CONS
- High dosage of caffeine, green tea and coffee bean can dehydrate the body. Make sure you drink plenty of water while taking this supplement.
- The lower dosage of Garcinia cambogia (100mg) may not provide the most effective appetite suppressing effects as higher-dosage supplements.
BPI Sports have created a perfect go-anywhere supplement that will help you sweat off the pounds at the gym and increase your energy from dusk till dawn. The combination of CLA and Carnitine helps to put your body in the perfect fat-burning state – get ready for the beach!
While Carnitine Tartrate helps your body to source more fat as fuel for your workouts CLA comes in to increase the amount of specific enzymes and proteins involved in fat breakdown. This means you can go about your day while your body becomes more efficient at using the stored body fat as fuel – literally burning body fat.
This product is also caffeine-free, non-stimulant and can help to boost your metabolism. To top it off, BPI Sports adds a unique blend of ingredients which include Vitamin D3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids which help to stabilize hormones and allow for proper effective weight loss.
PROS
- The active ingredient, L-Carnitine Tartrate, has optimal absorption rates boosting weight loss and cutting potential.
- Combining CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and L-Carnitine boosts metabolism and weight loss from noon to midnight.
CONS
- CLA dosage could be higher to assist in greater fat loss.
- 100 Dose containers could come with more flavour options ( only in fruit punch and snow cone).
Burn body fat by using the active amino acid L-Carnitine to naturally source the fat in your body as fuel for exercise.
How does this work? Nutricost Acetyl L-Carnitine can help to increase energy in the body by transporting more fatty acids into your cells – great for fat loss and losing weight while exercising.
But that’s not all…
L-Carnitine can also help to clear out the lactic acid in the muscle. Since Lactic acid is responsible for the tight and sore, “burning” feelng you get during a workout, supplementing with L-Carnitine may help you to pump out a few extra reps.
Author Research Tip: A 2016 study found that those supplementing with L-Carnitine effectively lost weight and fat mass in a short period of time.
PROS
- Acetyl L-Carnitine is supplied in high dosage to help your body source fat as fuel and burn more calories.
CONS
- This unflavoured supplement makes supplementing a bit bland.
- L-Carnitine is effective but not as rapidly absorbing as L-Carnitine L-Tartrate (popularly found in pre-workout supplements like BLACKMARKET CUTS)
Whey protein isn’t your run-of-the-mill fat burner – in fact, it doesn’t help to boost your metabolism at all, but it is crucial for those that want to cut. Consider that most people who are trying to cut will be resistance training (working out) and eating less total calories, your body could enter a catabolic state – which is not good for muscle mass.
A complete protein supplement like GHOST Protein helps you to lose fat without losing muscle mass by providing protein to starve off catabolism.
Catabolism: breaking down large molecules into smaller ones. In bodybuilding terms, this is breaking down large muscle tissue into smaller muscle tissue – aka, losing muscle mass.
Nothing beats the real thing, and this protein shake actually has real CHIPS AHOY pieces in each scoop. Save yourself the excess calories and high sugar from CHIPS AHOY cookies and consume Ghost protein to utilize the best supplements for cutting.
Ghost Whey Protein powder is what dreams taste of with the added benefits of high quality, low carbohydrate whey protein powders.
PROS
- By far the best tasting protein shake on the market – with no sacrifice in quality or purity. The manufacturing department at Ghost Lifestyle are not ghosts, they’re magicians!
- 90% protein by weight, this protein shake combines protein isolate, protein concentrate and hydrolyzed protein for a perfect blend of high-absorbing proteins.
CONS
- 90% protein by weight is about 5-7% lower than most other protein isolates, which means you thinly miss out on protein quality – a worthy sacrifice considering the taste.
- 160 calories per scoop are about 30-40 calories higher than most other Whey Protein shakes meaning you need to watch how many servings you take each day.
Kaged Muscle has created a complete intra-workout supplement which boasts perfect BCAA dosage and pairs caffeine sourced from green coffee beans to aid in weight loss and metabolic function.
Branched Chain amino acids or BCAAs are essential for bodybuilding and athletic performance. Quality BCAA supplements feature a 2:1:1 ratio of Leucine, Iso-Leucine and Valine – the three most abundant amino acids – exactly what you find in this product.
BCAA, like protein, are not exactly fat burners. Although they do not boost metabolism or help suppress appetite, supplementing with a BCAA can help to starve catabolism, allowing you to train hard while cutting calories and cutting weight.
An added bonus comes with amino acids sourced from a fermentation process which gives them the highest absorption ability – perfect for weight loss and fat loss.
PROS
- Perfect 2:1:1 ratio of branched-chain amino acids will help you to train harder during each workout – essential for sustainable weight loss.
- Kaged muscle includes L-Citrulline, a powerful amino acid for reducing muscle fatigue. Combining L-Citrulline and Beta-Alanine means you can train at a higher frequency (4-6x/week) without worrying about deep muscle soreness or fatigue.
CONS
- 2 scoops are needed in order for L-Citrulline and Beta-Alanine dosage to be fully effective (6g and 3g with two scoops).
- Smaller servings per container mean you may be ordering this multiple times each month.
Kaged Muscle L-Citrulline may not have direct impacts on weight loss or metabolism, but this is one of the best cutting supplements because it will help exercisers workout harder without feeling the same effects of fatigue and muscle soreness.
L-Citrulline is a unique amino acid that has been scientifically proven to help limit muscle soreness and improve strength during a workout. Supplement with ease knowing the KAGED line of products is banned substance free and safe to use.
Factor in the pure and highly absorbable ingredients, this L-Citrulline provides supplement users with a highly potent product that can increase strength and lead to faster fat loss with correct workout planning.
Use L-Citrulline to cut weight by limiting muscle soreness, recovering faster and training harder in each workout.
PROS
- Incredibly vascular pumps during a workout show just how effective this supplement is at increasing blood flow and reducing metabolic waste in the muscle.
CONS
- Three scoops (6g) is needed to see an effective result in muscle vascularity.
- Unflavoured nature of this supplement does provide flexibility in supplementing but can make drinking on its own a little unsavoury.
High potency unflavoured Kaged Muscle L-Glutamine can be added to any post-workout supplement to help rapidly restore energy and glutamine levels in the body. Essential for those training at a higher frequency (4-6 times a week).
L-Glutamine does not directly boost metabolism but like L-Citrulline it is essential for those trying to shred body fat.
Supplementing with L-Glutamine helps to starve off muscle wasting – a reality of training at a caloric deficit, but it can also help to increase growth hormone levels.
Ensuring that you do not lose muscle mass and increase your growth hormone levels are essential when you are trying to cut weight. Mix L-Glutamine into your drink 2-3x daily to replenish glutamine levels in the body, increase muscle growth hormone levels and recover faster from your last workout.
PROS
- Fermented L-Glutamine helps to rapidly restore muscle glutamine levels in the body to push each of your workouts one rep further.
CONS
- Unlike other cutting supplements like CLA and Carnitine, Glutamine does not have metabolic boosting capabilities meaning it will not directly impact weight loss.
- Higher cost than other L-Glutamine supplements but the quality of fermented KAGED products speak for themselves.
Cutting Guide
How do you know what supplement will work for cutting and why? Shred fat and burn more calories by understanding how to cut weight through the lens of an expert. Let’s break down your cutting goals into two parts.
Part 1: Find The Perfect Product
In order to be right for you, complete fat burners should always contain three important properties:
1. Fat Burners Boost Metabolism
Increasing your metabolic rate means you can burn more calories throughout the day without actually changing your current lifestyle.
2. Help to Curb Appetite
Snacking is dangerous when you are trying to lose weight. Using a supplement that helps you to maintain your composure during a diet can be the difference between beach body and bust.
3. Sustain Fat-Free Muscle Mass
Sustaining lean muscle mass is essential when you are trying to lose weight and burn fat for your goals.
Consider this: if you are eating less your body can become catabolic – in other words, it could eat itself to gain energy for the day.
In order to avoid a catabolic state, and starve off muscle wasting you need to intake a certain amount of low-calorie protein and amino acids. The
Optimal Protein: Whey Isolates as they contain the lowest carbohydrates and the lowest total calories.
Top Rated BCAAs: L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine in a 2:1:1 ratio. L-Carnitine and L-Citrulline may help to improve muscle function during training.
Editor Notes: Do Cutting Supplements Really Work?
100% they do. Most of the best supplements for cutting help to increase your metabolism – an essential component of weight loss.
In fact, research has shown that Green tea extract has positive impacts on resting and active metabolism rates which can lead to greater fat oxidation (burning body fat as energy).
This means those that supplement green tea extract (the same extract found in VINTAGE BURN) burn more body fat – especially when paired with exercise.
Part 2: Use Your Cutting Supplement Correctly
Should you take the supplement in the morning, with each meal, in the evenings – or does it even matter? Not all supplements are the same and their timing will vary from one to another.
Supplements with higher caffeine intake should be taken earlier in the day to help boost metabolism during your waking hours.
Supplements with low caffeine and high amounts of digestive components should be taken towards the evening when you will be eating your largest meals.
Do your best to follow the nutritional guidelines on each product label.
Conclusions: How Do Supplements Help You Get Cut?
The weight loss market can be very confusing. Remember, supplements for cutting have three main properties:
- Increase in metabolism through caffeine, green tea extracts and coffee bean extract
- Help to curb appetite with garcinia cambogia or fiber supplements
- Sustain Fat free mass by using whey protein isolates and 2:1:1 ratio amino acid supplements.
Each product listed in this guide has been studied extensively and will work in different ways to help you rid stubborn body fat.
Looking to take one step further than supplements?
Shred Body Fat Today – Get Your FREE Cutting Guide
Eddie Johnson is an ex-bodybuilder, fitness addict, writer, editor and founder of Anabolic Bodies. Also a proud father of two boys and passionate about bodybuilding, nutrition, and the science behind modern-day supplementation.
