Ergoenic Aids Print E-mail



Here's a list of several popular supplements proposed to offer a performance enhancing benefit and how they stack up.

Caffeine

Numerous published studies support caffeine's effects as a central nervous system stimulant that increases wakefulness. Large doses (3 to 8 mg/kg body weight) also reliably increase fatty acid release from body storage, which has been suggested as a mechanism for caffeine's ability to increase time-to-exhaustion in endurance activity and spare muscle glycogen. The fat mobilization effects may potentially affect fat reduction in exercisers over time as well. Caffeine also increases metabolic rate about 5 to 10 percent, depending on dose. Weight trainers often use caffeine just before training to increase their wakefulness and strength. While single acute doses before training may help performance, chronic use may negatively impact glucose tolerance. So one dose before training is okay. One dose every hour is not.

Carbohydrate/Sports Drinks

Carbohydrates are taken up by exercising muscles and used for fuel. Post exercise, they hasten glycogen replenishment. Fluids can also help keep a body hydrated and keep body temperature in the comfort zone. This means the prevention of performance-killing dehydration. Numerous published studies have demonstrated the benefits of carbohydrate beverages on physical performanceparticularly with events over an hour in duration. They are also well documented to enhance recovery from muscle-depleting exerciseboth aerobic and anaerobic. While these types of drinks can also provide energy during strength exercise, the addition of protein and certain amino acids makes these drinks more effective for weight trainers.

Creatine

Creatine monohydrate ingestion increases skeletal muscle free creatine and phosphocreatine concentrations, the naturally occurring energy pools that replenish ATP (cell energy) directly. This uptake also draws water into the cell, causing the muscle to swell. This means better anaerobic power and muscle strength. This cell swelling causes a rapid increase in muscle mass (mostly increases in water content). However, in the long run, this may also increase skeletal muscle protein synthesis and muscle glycogen storage. Since creatine monohydrate in powdered form is the only research-supported form of creatine, that's what we recommend. Also, despite anecdotal reports, no side effects other than mild gastric distress (which subsides) have been validated in the scientific literature. While about 80 percent of creatine users see the aforementioned benefits, 20 percent have been considered "nonre-sponders." Some believe that these "nonresponders" don't respond because they already may have high dietary intakes of creatine from whole foods. Finally, we don't believe that a "loading phase" is necessary. Rather, taking a few grams each day is probably the best way to use creatine monohydrate.

Ribose

The sugar ribose is a precursor to adenosine (the A in ATP). As the theory goes, by increasing the amount of ribose available in the cells, cellular energy might be improved, leading to improvements in performance. Unfortunately, research hasn't supported this idea, and ribose supplementation might not offer the benefits scientists originally thought it would. Since ribose may function similarly to creatine, it's probably better to just take the creatine.

Tyrosine

The body converts large multigram doses of tyrosine into the catecholamines (fight or flight hormones) epinephrine and norepinephrine. Published research indicates that tyrosine can improve reaction time and attention, reduce the perception of stress and the stress hormone response, and can actually improve weight-lifting performance. This category of ergogenic aids (neurotransmitter formulas) is becoming popular as scientists learn more about the effects of various neurotransmitters on central nervous system function as it relates to exercise. In athletes, the increased attention, reduction in performance drop-off during sustained efforts, the reduced reaction time, and the blunted stress response are all of benefit. The recreational exerciser, however, may not see great benefit from tyrosine, because training might not be frequent or intense enough. Tyrosine should probably be used on an empty stomach before training or later in the day between meals.


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