Supplements for beginners: Fitness expert Tejveer Bagai explains what actually works and what you should never trust

Learn the facts about fitness supplements from expert Tejveer Bagai: what really helps build muscle and what you should avoid in your workout routine.

Back in the day, with limited resources, people focused on iron, food, and good sleep. The availability of a variety of supplements sold as promising muscle-building tools, along with the growing use of social media, has shifted the paradigm and partly influenced youngsters' minds. Nothing beats foundation-level factors, which remain pillars of smart muscle-building training, smart nutrition, and smart recovery.

A fitness test found that the group taking vitamin D could cycle 6.5km in 20 minutes, compared to just 5km at the start of the experiment. (Shutterstock)

By Tavishi Dogra

Tavishi Dogra is a Deputy Chief Content Producer, Health & Wellness, at Hindustan Times. She has over 9 years of experience writing about fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, translating medical research and expert insights into practical advice readers can trust.

Career journey and experience
Tavishi began her health journalism journey in 2017, and has since reported for RSTV, Financial Express, Jagran, HT Media Labs and Zee. She joined Hindustan Times to simplify wellness subjects by cutting through jargon.

From decoding health trends and interviewing doctors to testing fitness routines herself, Tavishi always approaches content with one filter: “Will this help someone make a better decision today?”

Subject expertise
With 9+ years tracking India’s health conversations, Tavishi knows the gap between clinical advice and daily life. She knows fads from fundamentals and curates science-backed, expert-recommended solutions.

In fitness, she breaks down bodyweight training, recovery, and posture fixes for desk-bound readers. In nutrition, she translates guidelines into affordable, desi meal tweaks. In mental well-being, she focuses on stigma-free, actionable tools — all backed by research, expert input, and lived context.

Education and professional background
Tavishi holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and began her career reporting on public affairs for broadcast. Those early years in policy and TV shaped how she writes today: fast, factual, and human-first.

Editorial Philosophy
I write with one single goal: To simplify health in a world full of noise by finding what’s actually doable, safe, and evidence-based for my readers. I test claims against research and user experiences. When all else fails, I speak to the expert who sees 50 patients a day, not the one with the most followers.

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“The emphasis on the word smart is to teach the public the importance of finding a sweet spot; for example, in training, we should activate, not annihilate. Less is more— quality training any day over quantity training. The same applies to nutrition and recovery: do what is needed, neither less nor more professional” powerlifter and fitness expert Tejveer Bagai, co-founder of Zenre, tells Health Shots.

Supplements which help

Consuming supplements isn’t wrong. The main emphasis should always be on the 3 pillars mentioned above:

1. Creatine monohydrate

Works through 2 pathways:

• Cell volumization: Increases the intramuscular water (water retention)
• Cellular energy enhancement: Tops up the ATP reserves. ATP is the energy currency of the cell

2. Caffeine

Caffeine can definitely aid fat loss by increasing internal body temperature, causing the body to burn more fat throughout the day.

3. Yohimbine

Yohimbine is a well-researched fat burner. It’s a selective alpha -2 adrenergic receptor blocker. It mobilizes fat into the bloodstream, making it a usable energy source during workouts. Our stomach and love handles have the highest concentration of yohimbine receptors, making them particularly responsive to yohimbine for cutting stubborn belly fat. Yohimbine also accelerates fat loss by suppressing appetite.

4. BCAA

Leucine, valine, and isoleucine are the three branched-chain amino acids:

• The branched-chain amino acids provide integral blocks for building new muscle protein
• They stimulate the muscle to synthesize and retain protein

Supplements which aren’t worth the hype

Some supplements do help improve performance; they are well researched and beneficial, while others aren’t worth the hype,

1. Glutamine

Glutamine has long been marketed as a supplement that helps with muscle building and recovery; however, that’s not true. When taken orally, glutamine doesn't reach muscle cells; it's taken up by the liver and intestines and released to tissues only as needed. So if it helps with anything, it’s only digestion and gut health. Glutamine will only help with muscle building when administered directly into the cell; however, that’s not the case when it’s ingested.

2. Pre-workout

Pre-workout supplements are sold to lure young kids with an extra push, an adrenaline rush, and to prevent early fatigue. However, the downside is:

• Excessive consumption of pre-workout leads to excessive caffeine intake, which can cause a sudden spike in heart rate, which isn’t good.
• To go and do a workout for just 45 minutes or an hour, a person doesn’t need a stimulus. The mind is the greatest source of motivation, and one doesn’t need to depend on a pre-workout for that push. This dependency eventually leads to addiction
• Some pre-workout supplements contain ephedra, which is a named substance. It was used as a nasal decongestant, but because of its cardiovascular risks, the FDA banned it.

3. Arginine

L-arginine is sold as a supplement to raise NO (nitric oxide) levels. This holds in a lab setting, not after being ingested. In the body, arginine gets broken down and fails to raise nitric oxide levels.

(Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up to date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including, but not limited to, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, arising from the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority, and the expert mentioned has not directly suggested any brands.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.)