New Supplement

USP Labs has a new supplement called Anabolic PUMP, which I strongly believe may be a repartitioning agent marketed towards bodybuilding fitness enthusiasts via the unique selling advantage of accelerating the post-workout PUMP. Keep in mind that I won't endorse this product until I get a chance to review its ingredients in full. Until then, I'm going to base this initial assessment on a logical suspicion that this product may really be an amped up repartitioning formula designed specifically for dealing with caloric surpluses. If my suspicion is correct then I believe that the marketing is based on more on the instant gratification effect of post-training cell volume than on its real long-term potency regarding continuous partitioning of macro-nutrients (in the form of surplus calories) into muscle cells, thus amplifying muscle cell storage capacity. This last point is the key component of the overall assessment: This product should be used with the primary purpose of managing insulin activity to constantly excel muscle feeding through nutrient partitioning, which will extend greater gains in muscle growth. The short-term effect is good, but the power of this product apparently, according to my observation of its media reported effects lies in its long-term potential, as an insulin management agent.


Recommended Product:

Anabolic PUMP - Potent Insulin Mimicker and Size Enhancer


Recommended Product(s) from same category:

R-Alpha Lipoic Acid

Vanadyl Sulfate

Chromium Picolinate


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Basic Supplement Strategy

Using sports nutrition supplements should not be as confusing as it appears. First things first: The average user does not need to take that many different products at one time. The use of too many different supplements adversely affects both short-term and long-term manageability. One of the problems is a lack of conceptual structure. Basic vitamins and minerals for proper internal organ function are paramount, and should take precedence over any sports nutrition based products. Failure to properly prioritize in this area will result in micro-nutrient deficiencies, which in turn will contribute to suboptimal sports nutrition supplement performance. Again, even the body's biochemical chain for recovery is only as strong as its weakest link. Therefore, a basic multi-vitamin and mineral formula, such as the Men's or Women's Natural Vitamin formulas from Irwin Naturals will keep your bases covered. It doesn't end there; macro-nutrient management using anti-oxidant based repartitioning agents such as R-Alpha Lipoic Acid (R-ALA) should be implemented concurrently with meal consumption. This is to ensure that calories are consistently placed into muscle via repartitioning, which will in turn avert fat storage. Over a long period of time, the body's composition improves, thus lowering the justification for drastic changes in eating patterns for fat loss. The core reason is that the calorie consumption process is managed for fat loss, on a year around basis.

People like to look at products, but here only relativities exist. Products should be assessed in relation to bodily processes and current physiological circumstances. This need not be complicated. If one has a deficiency in a certain vitamin and/or mineral base, then take care of that set of deficiencies first before considering any other type(s) of supplements. Most of the time, when such areas are addressed it enhances the latter situation, in which users can assess more sports nutrition products to further their goals. A basic rule of thumb is that a multi vitamin and mineral should always come first, and should be used even when not training (This goes for sedentary individuals, as well.) After this area is taken care of, then consideration of sports nutrition products should be undertaken only when highly specified purposes for body recomposition and development have been defined. This is a simplified approach to supplement use that can benefit anyone who really needs to understand a basic and critical point about how to approach the situation, without having to do extensive research. It also has other perceptual advantages in terms of allowing users to assess different constituents based on where they should be properly positioned in terms of the body's basic functional mechanisms for survival (notice that I didn't say improvement above baseline levels, only survival as the body's paramount objective in nutrient intake). This last point is an important guide for users, when reviewing supplements.


Recommended Product(s):

MHP Activite - Potent Multi Vitamin and Mineral Formula

R-Alpha Lipoic Acid

Chromium Picolinate

HMB

Micronized Creatine Monohydrate


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Training for Size

I tend to view training in terms of its sequence of activities for any body part and the entire body itself through an optimization framework (in terms of a process of efficiency). In other words, I see training exercises as inputs, and projected results (i.e., growth, fat loss, etc.) as outputs. Notwithstanding other important variables such as nutrition, optional supplementation, and rest, training should be given more attention, analysis, and management by those who seek long-term results from their efforts in the gym. This leads to another point. While many will state that "I do what's best for me" (and that's fine), the main contention here is that some exercises are just flat out more effective for certain types and degrees of results than others. For example, no one in his right mind (or wrong mind for that matter) would argue for leg extensions in favor of free bar squats for sheer size and strength. But guess what? I've actually heard a few people argue this position. Compound movements and their consistent deployment over many years determine the level of extra muscle mass gained in users more so than any other factor period. Some will chime in and state that nutrition is the determining factor, but no matter how well one eats, if the proper anabolic signals are not present, then no stimulus for growth exist. And if no stimulus for growth exists, then no growth can occur, regardless of eating sophistication. Again, exercise is controlled stress adaptation for directed physiological improvements in body composition.

Isolation has its place, but when one is trying to gain sheer size and power, then one should go as far as to eliminate the vast majority of isolation movements (keep pre-exhaust isolation movements for hard to target areas), and use that temporal space for greater focus on compound movements. One of the silliest things I normally witness in gyms is when people do squats and then go all out on leg presses afterward. Just focusing on mastering the superior 3 dimensional range of squats and its vastly superior targeting of a larger cross section of muscle fibers, in addition to its greater neurologically-induced anabolic signals would produce far greater results in a shorter period of time. Again, the good is the enemy of the best. Why focus on less optimal movements when one can concentrate on more optimal movements in descending order of effectiveness and efficiency? Leg presses are not bad, but they are not squats, even though they too have their place in the effectiveness hierarchy of weight training. In sum, the fastest way to get more out of training for size is eliminate less-than-optimal isolation movements and concentrate all your energies on the contributory power of compound movements.


Recommended Product(s):

Micronized Creatine Monohydrate

HMB

R-Alpha Lipoic Acid

Vanadyl Sulfate

Post-Training Creatine Cell Volumizing Formula


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Insulin Mimickers and Fat Burners

I've recently fielded questions on the proper use of insulin mimickers or repartitioning agents with stimulatory fat burners. The level of confusion regarding the technicalities can get awry very quickly. Actually, the proper perception is quite simple. Fat burners should be positioned, during those times when energy from store fat reserves would be needed most (i.e., before training on either an empty stomach or with very limited caloric intake, preferably a deficit would suffice). Insulin mimickers should be taken with meals, so as to manage the repartitioning effects of placing digested food into muscle cell over fat cells, thus supporting and reinforcing the fat burning process. As fat cells get starved off from a combination of caloric restriction and repartitioning, the fat burners would substitute its endogenous energy source for the limited reserves of glucose, while acting directly on fat cells through metabolic increase.

Each one reinforces the other, and there's also an added benefit. Repartitioning agents have a nice anti-catabolic effect, since muscle is constantly being feed above normal levels, even when the same caloric intake is adjusted for between use and non-use of repartitioning agents. This means that the combination of both repartitioning agents and fat burners can help one to develop muscle naturally, while safely burning off fat. Again, repartitioning agents should be taken only with substantial calorie consumption, while fat burners should be used, during periods of energy use and calorie restriction. If one wishes to take a fat burner with meals, then it is strongly advised that the fat burner be taken 30 minutes prior to eating, as the metabolism should already be ramped by consumption, which should be accompanied by the use of again, a repartitioning agent or insulin mimicker.

Although the above proposition is simple, it needs to be well thought out in terms of extended consideration of commitment. Once it is properly understood in that context, then one can begin to work on incorporating this fairly easy, but somewhat unconventional concept into her eating and exercise patterns. The results come fairly quickly, and surprisingly accrue over long periods of time.


Recommended Product(s):

BSN Thermonex Fat Burner

R-Alpha Lipoic Acid - Insulin Mimicker

Chromium Picolinate - Insulin Mimicker

Lipodrene - Ephedra Fat Burner

Sports One - Ephedra Fat Burner


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Next Generation Fat Burners

Technology long-term tends to move in the direction of progressive evolution, not just in the fields of computer technology and biotech, but also in virtually all other fields, inclusive of nutriceuticals. Fat burners since their inception have always used caffeine as the base constituent of central nervous system (CNS) stimulation. Different formulas have sought to methodically build around caffeine over many decades. The most popular stack to date was the ECA stack (Ephedrine, Caffeine, and Aspirin), which caused extraordinary levels of fat loss in compressed periods of time for a wide variety of users. Even those who were genetically stubborn, in terms of fat loss benefited from this stack. But the stack had huge trade-offs concerning health risks. Advocates get defensive about the ephedrine ban stating that those who died took too much, but that does not address the point: Long-term use of ephedrine will cause intensified vaso-constriction, thus elevating blood pressure beyond acceptable levels. This is really what contributed to the string of heart attacks that led the FDA to initially ban its use. I believe that ephedrine like any other supplements should have its use responsibly managed, given a certain level of risk, in which the user incurs by commitment.

The new era of fat burners has produced products that can act directly on fat receptors without much CNS stimulation. Therefore users will get a similar quality of fat burning compared to the aforementioned ECA stack, but without its, again stimulatory effects. Substances such as octopamine, evodiamine, hordinene, alpha-yohimbine, tyramine, etc. act on the receptors (i.e., B3 fat receptors), preserve neurotransmission output and recycle metabolic by-products to reinforce the fat burning process, at the cellular level. These and other receptor specific substances are now used in a wide array of formulas, which have the built-in incentive of relying less on caffeine. But here's the caveat for supplement manufacturers and marketers: The market association of caffeine with CNS-based stimulatory fat burning is so strong that not having caffeine or some other mexylxanthine would most likely nullify the above incentive not to use it. As a matter of fact, it would create a disincentive for manufacturers that wish to compete in the market for fat burners. In the end, users have more options regarding the use of caffeine when supplementing with these next generation fat burners, while marketers have the opportunity to design formulas for segments of the fat burner market based on preference for caffeine and/or other non-stimulants.


Recommended Product(s):

BSN Thermonex Fat Burner

R-Alpha Lipoic Acid

Chromium Picolinate


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Test Boosters and Creatine

Recently, there have been a number of new products released on the market regarding the combination of creatine and natural testosterone enhancing substances in pre-workout formulas. The "rational" behind the marketing scheme of such products is that these substances can combat workout-induced testosterone decline (during training), thereby substantiating growth. Honestly, I have no doubt that these products will sell: Whether or not a specific tangible effect can be discerned through simple observation over a reasonable period of time is a different story. Skepticism is the name of the game, and the concept behind muscle breakdown inclusive of natural testosterone related declines actually has its place in the natural anabolic chain of events. Testosterone has to drop after a certain sustained intensity of output is maintained, as cortisol assist the body in ramping up glucose volume and adrenal output. Over long periods of time, the testosterone rebounding effects that accrue post-training, actually raise baseline testosterone over prior set limits. It is arguable that workout induced declines in testosterone actually stimulate over-compensatory rebound volumes, initially by adversely off-setting the body's homeostatic impulse. In other words, the decline which these formulas claim to inhibit is actually a catalyst of the growth mechanism that takes place on the back-end.

If you want to stop muscle-breakdown, then you should review the situation from a "metabolic" standpoint. HMB, Glutamine, Cissus (Symmetry X), and other anti-catabolics should be used in both the pre-training and/or post-training phases, while high-volume creatine monohydrate formulas, such as Vitargo should be used on the back-end in the post-training phase. The only creatine formulas that can be used prior to training are those with substantial time-released insulinogenic matrices (interposed combinations of substances that facilitate time-released repartitioning) and neurological enhancers. In other words, get Methyl EFX, and stack it with HMB and/or some of the other aforementioned anti-catabolics. At least these substances address muscle breakdown, at a very direct level. Test boosters have always had difficulty in translating their effects into body composition improvements: I've only seen about 3-5 products at most that can substantiate such claims, and even those products required a 4-6 month commitment of consistent usage.


Recommended Product(s)

HMB

Micronized Creatine Monohydrate

Post-Training Creatine Cell Volumizing Formula


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Repartitioning Agent Positioning

I've been asked a recent question by a number of R-Alpha Lipoic Acid (R-ALA) users concerning the use of repartitioning agents relative to training. This is a critical issue, as inaccurate use could produce certain instantaneous side effects. A number of people have reported some side effects from R-ALA supplementation in recent weeks. But this is due to the fact that they take it too close to training, at the pre-training phase. Then the caloric consumption within the 3 hour period prior to training isn't sufficient to use all the R-ALA, which will continue to repartition specific substances away from their destination cells, thus adversely affecting gym performance. R-ALA is meant to be taken after training with the post-training meal: The highest caloric consumption instance in terms of eating on training days, should be positioned here. In the post-training phase, the 2-3 hour window of macro-nutrient distribution-to-muscle opportunity is supposed to be maximized with highest number of calories available for maximum consumption (without tryglyceride or stored body fat conversion). R-ALA actually increases muscle storage capacity, even in this phase beyond normal limits.

Taking R-ALA prior to training can cause mild to severe joint pains in some individuals, as it will to an extent partition synovial fluid out of the joints, and subsequently lower glucose levels beyond what one's training regimen may require for energy utilization (higher glucose levels are needed here). This will adversely affect strength and power output. However, if R-ALA is consumed with increased caloric intake, during meals (especially post-training), then strength and power output for subsequent training sessions will increase: Insulin turnover will decline, as the body's repartitioning and recovery activity become more efficient over time, through superior macro-nutrient distribution and management. Keep in mind that R-ALA helps convert glucose to glycogen, while the pre-training and training phases need glycogen to convert to glucose, again for energy utilization. Therefore, R-ALA needs to be placed on the back-end of the training session with the post-workout meal.


Recommended Product(s):

R-Alpha Lipoic Acid

Chromium Picolinate


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