Which supplement is best for power and strength?

Strength and power are two points on one curve: the force-velocity relationship, where each sits, how each end is trained, and why a supplement is judged by the part of the curve it reaches

Which supplement is best for power and strength is a question that names two qualities, and the physiology has them as two points on a single curve, which changes how the shelf is read. A muscle produces its highest force when it is moving slowly or not at all, and its highest velocity when it is moving against almost nothing, and between those two extremes force and velocity trade off along a curve. Strength is the high-force end: a maximal squat, deadlift or press, where the bar moves slowly because the load is close to the most the muscle can produce. Power is force multiplied by velocity, and it peaks in the middle of the curve, where the load is moderate and the speed is high, which is where a jump, a throw, a clean or a sprint start lives. The two points are trained differently and specifically: heavy, slow training shifts the high-force end of the curve outward, light, fast training shifts the high-velocity end, and the research on training specificity finds the two adaptations distinct enough that a programme for power includes both rather than either, heavy work for the force and fast work for the velocity, with the middle of the curve rising as both ends move.

A supplement, read against the curve, is judged by which part of it the product reaches, and the answer sorts the shelf quickly. Every point on the curve, from the slow heavy lift to the fast light throw, depends in its first seconds on the same energy system, the phosphocreatine store that regenerates the muscle's immediate fuel, and a product that acts on that system reaches the whole curve. A product that acts on the nervous system's perception of effort reaches the whole curve for as long as it is active. A product that acts on the acid buffering of efforts lasting minutes reaches a point beyond the curve's right edge, in a region where neither strength nor power lives. And a product that acts on nothing reaches nowhere, however it is named. The next section places each candidate on the curve, and the ageing lifter's specific note, that the velocity end is the one that falls first and the one no tub preserves, is placed with them.

The one thing the curve says that the shelf never does is that the velocity end is reached only by training. There is no supplement that makes a muscle contract faster against a light load in a trained adult; the fast fibres and the rate of force development that set the velocity end are built by moving light loads fast, jumps, throws, speed work and the Olympic lifts, and they are lost first with age, which is why the power of a lifter in their fifties falls faster than their strength and why the programme, rather than the cupboard, is where that loss is slowed. A buyer who wants power and reaches for a tub has reached for the part of the shelf that touches the force end at best, and the velocity end is still waiting on the platform.

One curve with two points, trained differently and reached by a supplement in parts, and the candidates placed on it, the ageing note, the worked example and the verdict, which is the next section.

The candidates placed on the curve: creatine across the whole of it over a block, caffeine across it for an hour, beta-alanine beyond the right edge, the boosters nowhere; the ageing lifter's note; the worked example; and the verdict

Creatine monohydrate reaches the whole curve, and it is the best supplement for power and strength by the evidence table's measure. The phosphocreatine store it saturates is the fuel for the first seconds of every effort at every point on the curve, a maximal lift, a jump, a sprint start, a set of five, and a fuller store lets the muscle regenerate that fuel faster and do slightly more in those seconds, which over a block becomes a few percent on strength measures and measurable gains in power output in the meta-analyses, alongside one to two kilograms of lean mass. It is taken at 3 to 5g every day including rest days after the store is saturated by a count of doses, it has an authorised claim for physical performance in repeated short bursts of high-intensity exercise, which describes both ends of the curve, the best-studied safety record of any supplement and a price in pence, and it is realised only in a programme that trains both ends, since creatine adds capacity to the session and the session decides which part of the curve it is spent on.

Caffeine reaches the whole curve for an hour. At 3 to 6mg per kilogram about an hour before, it lowers perceived effort and improves power output, strength endurance and, by a small margin on the day, maximal strength, by letting the lifter express more of what they have rather than adding to it, and the effect is gone with the caffeine; it is a tablet for the session that matters, skipped when the night's sleep matters more, and it is the one ingredient in a pre-workout that works. Beta-alanine sits beyond the curve's right edge: it buffers the acid that accumulates in efforts lasting one to four minutes, a region where neither a maximal lift nor a jump lives, and the meta-analyses find no effect in efforts under a minute, so a rower or a middle-distance runner has a reason and a lifter or a thrower does not. The boosters sit nowhere: testosterone boosters do nothing to the hormone in the audits, nitric oxide products produce a pump that is a sensation rather than a force, HMB has little in trained lifters, and the power stacks sold as systems have never been trialled as systems. Protein belongs on this page as the material rather than a product, at around 1.6g per kilogram a day, because the muscle that moves the curve is built from it.

The ageing lifter's note is the one the curve makes unavoidable. The research on muscle power and age finds that power falls faster than strength from middle age onward, because the fast fibres and the speed of movement are lost before the force is, and that power predicts function in older adults better than strength does; it also finds that the loss is slowed by training that includes faster, lighter movements alongside the heavy slow work. For a lifter over forty, the best supplement for power is a set of jumps, throws or fast light lifts added to the programme, with creatine and protein supporting the muscle underneath, and nothing in a tub replaces the fast work.

The worked example is placed on the mineral's own claim: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, two capsules with the evening meal, with authorised claims for normal muscle function, normal protein synthesis and electrolyte balance, which describe the mineral's role in a working muscle and are not a claim for power or strength, batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium, UK made, 180 capsules for £19.99 at 22p a day, taken by a lifter whose plate is short of the mineral for the plate. The full label breakdown is here.

The verdict: the best supplement for power and strength is creatine monohydrate, because it reaches the whole force-velocity curve over a block through the energy system every point on it depends on, with caffeine reaching the whole curve for the hour of a session. Strength and power are two points on that curve, trained by heavy slow work and light fast work respectively, and the velocity end, which falls first with age, is reached by no tub at all. Beta-alanine lives beyond the curve, the boosters live nowhere, and the mineral is taken for the plate.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

What is the best supplement for explosive power?

Creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5g a day, because explosive power lives in the middle of the force-velocity curve and every point on that curve depends in its first seconds on the phosphocreatine store creatine saturates, with measurable gains in power output and a few percent on strength in the meta-analyses over a training block; caffeine at 3 to 6mg per kilogram before a session lifts the whole curve for an hour by lowering perceived effort; and the velocity end that makes a movement explosive is trained by jumps, throws and fast light lifts, which no supplement replaces.

Is power the same as strength?

No; they are two points on one curve: a muscle produces its highest force moving slowly, which is strength, a maximal lift against a load close to the most it can produce, and its highest power in the middle of the curve where force multiplied by velocity peaks, a jump, a throw or a sprint start against a moderate load at high speed; the two are trained specifically, heavy slow work for the force end and light fast work for the velocity end, and a programme for power includes both rather than either.

Does creatine improve power or just strength?

Both, because it reaches the whole curve: the phosphocreatine store it saturates is the fuel for the first seconds of every effort at every point, a maximal lift and a jump alike, and a fuller store lets the muscle regenerate that fuel faster and do slightly more in those seconds, which the meta-analyses record as a few percent on strength and measurable gains in power output over a block, with the authorised claim for physical performance in repeated short bursts of high-intensity exercise describing both ends; the session decides which part of the curve the extra capacity is spent on.

Why does power decline faster than strength with age?

Because the fast fibres and the speed of movement that set the velocity end of the curve are lost before the force is, so from middle age onward muscle power falls faster than strength and predicts function in older adults better than strength does; the research finds the loss is slowed by training that includes faster, lighter movements alongside heavy slow work, which makes jumps, throws and fast light lifts the best supplement for power for a lifter over forty, with creatine and protein supporting the muscle underneath and nothing in a tub replacing the fast work.

Does magnesium help with power and strength?

Magnesium has authorised claims for normal muscle function, normal protein synthesis and electrolyte balance, which describe the mineral's role in a working muscle and are not claims for power or strength, and the trials in people who are not deficient are small and inconsistent; the worked example is 300mg elemental at 80% NRV in two capsules with the evening meal for 22p a day, batch tested for four metals and UK made, taken by a lifter whose plate is short of the mineral for the plate and not for any point on the curve.

Sources

1. The force-velocity relationship and training specificity: muscle produces its highest force at low velocity and its highest power in the middle of the curve, heavy slow training shifts the high-force end and light fast training shifts the high-velocity end, and the two adaptations are specific enough that a programme for power includes both rather than either. PubMed record
2. Rawson ES, Volek JS. Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2003;17(4):822-831: creatine with resistance training produced around 8 per cent greater gains in maximal strength and around 14 per cent greater gains in repetitions at a given load than training alone. PubMed record
3. The caffeine and strength literature: meta-analyses report small but consistent improvements in maximal strength and power after caffeine doses in the range studied, typically 3 to 6mg per kilogram, with individual response varying. PubMed record
4. The ageing and muscle power literature: muscle power declines faster than strength with age because fast-twitch fibres and movement velocity are lost first, power predicts function in older adults better than strength, and training that includes faster, lighter movements alongside heavy slow resistance preserves it. PubMed record

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