Burning fat and gaining muscle are two goals that often contradict each other. We've heard from trainers and coaches that you cannot achieve these goals simultaneously.

Well, as a matter of fact, you can. While it may not be the wisest, most optimal approach, it’s still possible.

We would only recommend trying to achieve both goals simultaneously if you are already in pretty good shape. However, if you have a lot of muscle to pack on, or a lot of fat to burn, it would be a better idea to focus on one thing at a time.

So, if you do choose to try to smash both goals at the same time, part of your strategy should include a solid supplement regime (obviously coupled with a healthy diet and a consistent training program).

Listed below are the top 8 supplements to consider adding to your stack to help you shed fat, build muscle, and get lean!

Top 6 Supplements for Losing Weight and Building Muscle

1) Protein powder

Protein powder is one of the most popular sports supplements in the industry.

When it comes to getting lean and building muscle, protein intake is absolutely key. If you’re not consuming enough protein, you’re going to be more likely to lose muscle mass, particularly if you’re eating in a calorie deficit to lose weight.

Additionally, when you lose muscle mass, your metabolism slows down slightly, meaning that fewer calories are burned. This makes fat burning more difficult than it already is.

So, you should be focusing on building lean muscle through consuming an adequate amount of high-quality protein each day.

Though, this isn’t always an easy feat, particularly if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, or have a higher requirement for protein. This is where a protein supplement can come in handy!

The most popular choice is whey protein, though there are also plant-based options if you prefer, which are often just as effective at boosting your overall daily protein intake.

2) Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant found in most pre-workout supplements, though, it can also come in the form of pills, or your regular cup of coffee.

Caffeine is one of the most researched stimulants, especially when it comes to enhancing sports performance and fat burning.

To put it simply, caffeine gives you more energy and motivation, and also acts as a mild appetite suppressant. What this means is that taking caffeine can help you burn more calories, push you harder during your training sessions, and help you resist cravings.

3) L-Carnitine

L-carnitine is a naturally occurring amino acid that is produced from the two amino acids lysine and methionine.

L-carnitine is commonly found in fat-burning supplements because it is thought to support the breakdown of fatty acids for energy. Thus, supplementing with L-carnitine may help boost your metabolic rate so you can burn more energy during your workouts.

It may also help improve training performance by increasing your energy and stamina, thus helping you push harder for longer throughout your workouts.

4) Creatine

Creatine is one of the most researched ergogenic aids on the planet, with much of the research pointing towards its benefits in improving sports performance and helping to increase muscle mass.

In short, creatine helps to boost your phosphocreatine stores, thus helping to create more ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a high-energy molecule that allows you to push harder and perform better during workouts.

Creatine has been shown time and time again to be one of the most effective sports supplements, therefore making it a staple in any gym-goers supplement stack.

5) Melatonin

We all know how important sleep is for our gains. You could have the best diet and training plan, but without adequate sleep, it will be significantly more difficult to follow it and achieve your goals.

While there are many ways we can implement sleep hygiene principles into our daily lives, it goes without saying that we now live in a world where blue screens and irregular sleep schedules are the norm.

This is knocking our body clock out of whack!

And this is where melatonin proves extremely useful. Melatonin is the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle. Supplementing with melatonin can help us ease back into a more natural, regular sleeping pattern, encouraging a healthy, restful sleep.

6) Fat Burner

There is a lot of scepticism around fat burning supplements. But once again we stress the fact that none of these supplements would work effectively without a nutritious diet and a consistent exercise routine.

Fat burners can be a very useful supplement when the fundamentals are nailed down. The basic concept of a fat burner is a combination of ingredients that help to increase your metabolism, boost your energy, and help break down fat.

A high-quality, effective fat burner can give you the edge you need over your competitors, and is a great supplement to add to your stack if you are trying to simultaneously burn fat and gain, or retain, muscle.

The Take-Home Message

While these supplements should all form part of an effective supplement stack for those who want to burn fat and gain muscle, they would all be ineffective without a dialled in nutrition and training plan.

Our top pick is Burn Lab Pro, a combination of ingredients such as chromium, natural fat burners, and HMB that deliver a fat-burning formula like no other.

Burn Lab Pro boosts your training intensity, helps to maintain and build lean muscle, accelerates muscle recovery, controls appetite, and elevates calorie burn.

Ready to build lean muscle while shedding fat? Consider the above supplements to help achieve your goals and earn great results!