Pre Workout Supplements: Beta Alanine and Citrulline Malate $22.98 FSSS

Do you even lift bro?

This is not a full study. Valid science can not come from 1 experiment, over 2 periods, with only 40 participants. It does give hope to it, things look positive, but such a small sampling from one study is not very meaningful.

I am not knocking anyone here, if taking this gets people off the couch and into the gym then that alone is enough to make it worth while. I would simply not purchase it based off of one study and some circumstantial evidence and expect to gain much from it.

Filed under: cycling, endurance, ergogenics, exercise — Leave a comment October 12, 2011
Abstract
Exhaustive exercise induces disturbances in metabolic homeostasis which can result in amino acid catabolism and limited L-arginine availability. Oral L-citrulline supplementation raises plasma L-arginine concentration and augments NO-dependent signalling. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of diet supplementation with L-citrulline-malate prior to intense exercise on the metabolic handle of plasma amino acids and on the products of metabolism of arginine as creatinine, urea and nitrite and the possible effects on the hormonal levels. Seventeen voluntary male pre-professional cyclists were randomly assigned to one of two groups: control or supplemented (6 g L-citrulline-malate 2 h prior exercise) and participated in a 137-km cycling stage. Blood samples were taken in basal conditions, 15 min after the race and 3 h post race (recovery). Most essential amino acids significantly decreased their plasma concentration as a result of exercise; however, most non-essential amino acids tended to significantly increase their concentration. Citrulline-malate ingestion significantly increased the plasma concentration of citrulline, arginine, ornithine, urea, creatinine and nitrite (p < 0.05) and significantly decreased the isoleucine concentration from basal measures to after exercise (p < 0.05). Insulin levels significantly increased after exercise in both groups (p < 0.05) returning to basal values at recovery. Growth hormone increased after exercise in both groups, although the increase was higher in the citrulline-malate supplemented group (p < 0.05). L-citrulline-malate supplementation can enhance the use of amino acids, especially the branched chain amino acids during exercise and also enhance the production of arginine-derived metabolites such as nitrite, creatinine, ornithine and urea.

Br J Sports Med. 2002 Aug;36(4):282-9.
Citrulline/malate promotes aerobic energy production in human exercising muscle.
Bendahan D, Mattei JP, Ghattas B, Confort-Gouny S, Le Guern ME, Cozzone PJ.
Source
Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, UMR CNRS 6612, Faculté de Médecine de la Timone, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Previous studies have shown an antiasthenic effect of citrulline/malate (CM) but the mechanism of action at the muscular level remains unknown.
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the effects of CM supplementation on muscle energetics.
METHODS:
Eighteen men complaining of fatigue but with no documented disease were included in the study. A rest-exercise (finger flexions)-recovery protocol was performed twice before (D-7 and D0), three times during (D3, D8, D15), and once after (D22) 15 days of oral supplementation with 6 g/day CM. Metabolism of the flexor digitorum superficialis was analysed by (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 4.7 T.
RESULTS:
Metabolic variables measured twice before CM ingestion showed no differences, indicating good reproducibility of measurements and no learning effect from repeating the exercise protocol. CM ingestion resulted in a significant reduction in the sensation of fatigue, a 34% increase in the rate of oxidative ATP production during exercise, and a 20% increase in the rate of phosphocreatine recovery after exercise, indicating a larger contribution of oxidative ATP synthesis to energy production. Considering subjects individually and variables characterising aerobic function, extrema were measured after either eight or 15 days of treatment, indicating chronological heterogeneity of treatment induced changes. One way analysis of variance confirmed improved aerobic function, which may be the result of an enhanced malate supply activating ATP production from the tricarboxylic acid cycle through anaplerotic reactions.
CONCLUSION:
The changes in muscle metabolism produced by CM treatment indicate that CM may promote aerobic energy production.

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J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2011;57(3):246-50.
Effects of citrulline supplementation on fatigue and exercise performance in mice.
Takeda K, Machida M, Kohara A, Omi N, Takemasa T.
Source
Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
Abstract
During high-intensity exercise, the concentration of ammonia is augmented in skeletal muscle. Ammonia activates phosphofructokinase and prevents oxidation of pyruvate to acetyl CoA, thus leading to exhaustion. Citrulline is an amino acid component of the urea cycle in the liver, along with ornithine and arginine. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of citrulline supplementation on fatigue and performance during high-intensity exercise. We constructed a swimming exercise protocol, in which mice were subjected to exhaustive swimming with a load of 5% body weight, and measured the time until exhaustion, the blood levels of lactate and ammonia, and the glycogen content of the gastrocnemius and biceps femoris muscles. Citrulline supplementation significantly increased the swimming time until exhaustion. Exercise-induced blood ammonia elevation was repressed by citrulline supplementation, and exercise-induced blood lactate increment in the citrulline-supplemented group was significantly lower than that in the non-supplemented group. Citrulline supplementation may facilitate the detoxification of ammonia via the urea cycle and inhibit additional glycolysis. Our findings suggest that citrulline supplementation may be useful for improving the exercise performance of athletes.

beta alanine is pretty legit

it makes your body tingle/itchy

that's called paresthesia and I give it to people all the time who have a problem getting off the couch. Try sitting still when your pins and needles everywhere.

BA has no effect on me but i had my gf try some MP assault and she felt like she wanted to rip her skin off lol

BA has no effect on me but i had my gf try some MP assault and she felt like she wanted to rip her skin off lol

fairly new to the "gym rat" club, currently at about 1.5-2 hrs of gym time 5x a week mostly cardio and weights, heres my question, i currently dont take any pre or post workout supplements and have never tried anything other than some protein shakes, which i wasnt very fond of..will this increase my energy amd let me workout longer and harder or does this increase the muscle build for the current time im in the gym? sorry if this is a dumb question lol...im down 40+ lbs and really just wanting something that will help me flatten my stomach..so if this increases muscle strength or endurance during workout, perhaps i can do the ab twist weight machine thing longer? sorry i know i sound like such a girl right now (which i am lol) DROPKICK13 help a sista out!!

Do you post this in every thread bro?

fairly new to the "gym rat" club, currently at about 1.5-2 hrs of gym time 5x a week mostly cardio and weights, heres my question, i currently dont take any pre or post workout supplements and have never tried anything other than some protein shakes, which i wasnt very fond of..will this increase my energy amd let me workout longer and harder or does this increase the muscle build for the current time im in the gym? sorry if this is a dumb question lol...im down 40+ lbs and really just wanting something that will help me flatten my stomach..so if this increases muscle strength or endurance during workout, perhaps i can do the ab twist weight machine thing longer? sorry i know i sound like such a girl right now (which i am lol) DROPKICK13 help a sista out!!

fairly new to the "gym rat" club, currently at about 1.5-2 hrs of gym time 5x a week mostly cardio and weights, heres my question, i currently dont take any pre or post workout supplements and have never tried anything other than some protein shakes, which i wasnt very fond of..will this increase my energy amd let me workout longer and harder or does this increase the muscle build for the current time im in the gym? sorry if this is a dumb question lol...im down 40+ lbs and really just wanting something that will help me flatten my stomach..so if this increases muscle strength or endurance during workout, perhaps i can do the ab twist weight machine thing longer? sorry i know i sound like such a girl right now (which i am lol) DROPKICK13 help a sista out!!

try jacked or c4 for pre workout. i heard theyre great
also have some kickass music when u workout. it should help out a lot
as for abs...theres so many exercises. just youtube them lol
go heavier on the weights too if you can

Costco just started selling C4 (by Cellucor). It's 2 containers with 30 servings each for $38.99. I bought it yesterday. Jacked is really popular, too. I haven't tried it yet as today was my cardio day but apparently you want to take C4 30 min. before you lift. There have been issues with the old C4 formula when doing cardio (crazy heartbeat) so didn't want to risk it.

I would definitely recommend Optimum Nutrition's Performance Whey Isolate. It's also at Costco $57.99 for 55 servings (vanilla milkshake flavor which is actually really good and I don't like vanilla whey). I've been using it for the past month and can actually see a difference. I drink this after my workout.

If you want to get the flat stomach it's all in your diet. You can work your abs all day but it won't make a difference unless you get the fat off. I really like bodybuilding.com for tips on workouts, supplements, etc. Oxygen is good for women, too.

Oh, and I'm also a girl and pretty much live at the gym. You should only need about an hour a day in the gym. Weights first, cardio second.

you dont need ON performance whey isolate per se.
gold standard will do just fine and more bang for the buck. dymatize is popular too and cheaper. (has casein in it as well as opposed to 100% whey)

huge part of getting abs is good dieting..i agree
you gotta have a low body fat %
you can either hit the weights first and cardio after or just do cardio on your resting days

try jacked or c4 for pre workout. i heard theyre great
also have some kickass music when u workout. it should help out a lot
as for abs...theres so many exercises. just youtube them lol
go heavier on the weights too if you can