Breakthrough Endurance

I was at Rite Aid yesterday picking up a few items and I happened to walk down the "Sports Nutrition" aisle. One product in particular caught my eye, in part, due to its outrageous price tag. Alphatest from Muscletech is supposedly a "Super-Concentrated Performance and Testosterone Stimulant." The bottle makes the claims, "Anabolic, Anti-Catabolic, Performance." Well first off, if something is anabolic, by nature, it has to be "anti-catabolic." These supplements always make me wonder... Who comes up with this stuff? It's like they have a list of 10 key words that they have to choose from to put on the bottle. For demonstration purposes only, I took photos of the product (shown below). I certainly do not endorse MuscleTech, and I cannot acknowledge any conflicts of interest. Looking past the ridiculous name, claims, and price tag; what do we actually have in Alphatest? Here again, we have to look beyond the bombastic rhetoric...

Around 2009, I discovered the supplement beta-alanine and at that time I was intrigued by something that could potentially improve H+ buffering capacity and exercise performance. In the summer of 2011, I went to a symposium at the ACSM's annual meeting that discussed (as well as promoted PowerBar's) beta-alanine supplementation for performance enhancement. Below is a presentation I gave later that summer as an intern at Carmichael Training Systems. Since 2011, we've had more literature published and I'll try to discuss a few of those below the posted presentation as well as provide some food for thought and suggestions for future research. In short - beta-alanine supplementation has consistently shown that it increases carnosine in skeletal muscle and carnosine is understood to be an effective intracellular buffer. What's not clear is if that leads to increases in performance - but there is potential. Since the time of this presentation, we've had ...

When considering supplementation, two major considerations should be making sure it's safe and legal. There are a number of supplements that you could pick up at your local nutrition or drug store that could lead to adverse health reactions or failed drug tests. Luckily, the USADA has set up a very informative "Supplement 411" section online. Take a moment to review the list of "high risk" supplements HERE .

You've probably seen the ridiculous claims on supplements packaging before. Stuff like, "Improves Endurance 45%" or "Accelerates Recovery!" I've been training and racing for the better part of 12 years. I've seen a lot of garbage, even used it myself when I was younger. But now, I take a multivitamin and an iron supplement -- that's it. Of course, I might consume carbohydrate before, during, and after exercise. And I occasionally use whey protein with a carbohydrate source for a quick and easy recovery shake. I also enjoy a good cup of coffee. But while supplement companies keep trying to pump you full of their dishonesty and products, I urge you to take the time to evaluate their claims and the research as a whole. The first source I use when I consider a supplement is the Australian Institute of Sport's website. Here  you can find their fact sheets on popular supplements as well as their classifications. You'll notice all the Group A su...