Endurance supplements can be boiled down to four main categories which consist of hydration, fuel, recovery and performance. 

Hydration is pretty simple.  It consists of proper water intake and electrolyte balance. For electrolyte intake during endurance events we usually recommend Hammer Endurolytes.

Fuel is the energy to keep the body moving which is provided primarily by carbohydrates.  Think of energy gels like Hammer Gel or drinks like Accelerade, Hammer Perpetuem, or Hammer Heed.  These products are designed to be mixed in water and consumed during endurance activities.  They consist of primarily carbohydrates with some electrolytes and some may have amino acids.

Recovery products are designed to be used at the completion of a workout.  Recovery comes in several parts.  The main components to worry about are structural recovery which is concerned with repair of damaged tissue, metabolic recovery which involves replacing cellular energy stores and hormone optimization which requires providing the proper nutrients and rest to normalize testosterone and cortisol.  By far the best product in this category is AfterGlow by BioRhythm, with Hammer Recoverite being our next choice for endurance athletes.

Performance supplements should be considered after you have taken care of the basic needs mentioned in the three paragraphs above.  It doesn’t make sense to try and improve performance if you are not taking a good recovery drink.  Performance supplements are as the name says designed to help improve performance.  For endurance athlete’s beta- alanine, creatine and natural testosterone boosters should all be considered.  Beta-Alanine is a favorite with endurance athletes as it buffers lactic acid so it allows an athlete to work harder and longer.

In future articles we will go into more detail on supplementation for endurance athletes but this should hopefully provide an easy to understand framework from which to create an appropriate supplementation program.

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In strength-coaching circles, this method is often called the “ten sets method”, “German volume training” or “10×10”. Olympic athletes and bodybuilders have used it in one form or another since the forties. European countries used the 10×10 method in the off-season to help weightlifters gain lean body mass. It worked so well that lifters routinely moved up a full weight class within 12 weeks. Gains of 7-10lbs are average for a six-week training cycle. No one is sure who actually invented it or what the true name is but everyone agrees that it produces big gains.

        The objective of the program is to do ten sets of ten reps with the same weight for each exercise (sounds easier than it is). While the first two sets might seem easy, most will start falling short of ten reps after about five sets, just think of the ten reps as a goal to shoot for over the six week training cycle. You determine your starting weight by choosing an amount of resistance that you could perform 20 reps with (roughly 60% of your one rep maximum).

        It works by exposing one group of motor units to a high volume of repeated efforts. The body adapts to the incredible amount of stress by growing the targeted fibers at an extremely quick pace. This program mainly uses multi joint lifts and will require an exhaustive amount of work and recovery from large muscle groups so make sure you have proper pre and post workout sups as well as a creatine product like ANS Diesel Fuel to help you get the most out of your hard work. 

Day 1- Chest and Back

                                        Sets          reps         rest interval

A-1 Incline Barbell            10            10            90 sec

        Press

A-2   Chin-Ups                  10            10            90 sec

        (Weighted if needed)

Day 2 - Legs and Abs

                                        Sets          reps         rest interval

A-1 Front Squats              10            10            90 sec

A-2 Prone Leg Curl           10            10            90 sec

        Machine

Day 3 - off

Day 4 - arms and shoulders

                                        Sets          reps         rest interval

A-1 Dips (weighted if needed) 10            10            90 sec

A-2 Seated Dumbbell        10            10            90 sec

        Curls               

B-1 Military Press             10            10            120sec

Day 5 - off

Repeat

                                                                                    Note: “A1” and “A2” indicate that the labeled exercises are to be performed together as a superset with the rest interval between them.

Pre and post workout nutrition are crucial especially when taking on a workout with this much volume.  Pre-workout try mixing MSI Lean Revolution with Intek BCAA’s and for Post Workout Recovery mix 2 scoops of Bio Rhythm After Glow with 1 scoop of ANS Diesel Fuel.

USP Labs Pink Magic is marketed as a natural testosterone booster.  It consists of a proprietary blend of the three herbs listed below.  The basic idea of this product is that the herbs listed below are supposed to boost testosterone levels within the body.  According to USP Labs marketing they are claiming that the product will build significant amounts of muscle while reducing body fat (almost sounds like magic).  USP labs also claims that this product would do all of this without the side effects associated with steroid compounds.

USP Labs Pink Magic

In the following paragraphs we will try and break down each component of the product to show you what it actually is and to give you an idea of what you can expect if you do decide to purchase this product.

Massularia Acuminata – Compound number 1 in Pink Magic

Back in 2008, a study was conducted on Massularia Acuminata (Massularia Accuminate = alternate spelling) and its effects on testosterone. The abstract was published online, and was reposted on several websites. In late 2009 and early 2010.

If you read the full study you can see this herb has ZERO potential to be used in a testosterone boosting nutritional supplement.  It simply doesn’t raise testosterone very high, and even then, it can’t do it without taking impossibly high mega doses.

But, since most supplement buyers don’t purchase and read studies full studies (*when the abstract is available for free), the door was (and is) left open for it to be used in a nutritional supplement. I’ll tell you why it’s not going to work in a second, but first; I want you to check out the abstract:

Keep in mind that Massularia Acuminate is the most promising ingredient of the three in this product and it shows no real promise of producing results.

Study on Massularia Acuminate and Testosterone

J Ethnopharmacol. 2008 Aug 13;118(3):508-13. Epub 2008 May 28. Androgenic potentials of aqueous extract of Massularia acuminata (G. Don) Bullock ex Hoyl. stem in male Wistar rats. Yakubu MT, Akanji MA, Oladiji AT, Adesokan AA. Medicinal Plants Research Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Ilorin, PMB 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria. tomuyak@yahoo.com Abstract The use of medicinal plants in the management of several ailments is gaining popularity nowadays. Massularia acuminata, one of such plants is commonly used as chewing sticks due to its antimicrobial activity and the aqueous extract of its stem as an aphrodisiac. Aphrodisiac activity in some plants may be due to androgen increasing property of its phytochemicals. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study therefore sought to assess the androgenic potentials of aqueous extract of Massularia acuminata stem in male rats for 21 days. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male rats weighing between 220 and 260 g were completely randomized into four groups: A, B, C and D. Group A, the control received orally 1 ml of distilled water (the vehicle) while groups B, C and D were orally administered with 1 ml each corresponding to 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg body weight of the plant extract, respectively for 21 days. Rats were sacrificed 24h after 1, 7 and 21 days. RESULTS: Compared with the control, extract administration at all the doses produced significant increase (P<0.05) in testes-body weight ratio, testicular protein, glycogen, sialic acid, cholesterol, testosterone, luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormone concentrations throughout the period of administration. Testicular gamma glutamyl transferase activities were decreased significantly (P<0.05) after the first dose and was sustained throughout the experimental period. CONCLUSION: The available evidence in this study suggests that aqueous extract of Massularia acuminata stem has androgenic potential which may stimulate male sexual maturation and enhance normal testicular function. PMID: 18602232 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

So, at first blush, it looks vaguely promising, right? But check out the dose required…the lowest dose examined in the study was 250mgs/kg! On a kg/kg (simple comparative bodyweight) basis you’ll need about 25 grams of the stuff per day for a 100kg (220lb) bodybuilder, going off the absolute lowest dose. The highest dose would require 100g/day based on a 220lb (100kg)human bodyweight. However, this is based on human weight versus rodent weight. Now, if we convert the rodent dose to the human dose equivalent using the accepted body surface area formula, we find that we need just over 4 grams per day. And that’s at the lowest dose examined – we’d double that dose for the 500mgs/kg (over 8 grams per day) and double it again for the 1,000mgs/kg dose (over 16 grams per day). Currently, only two companies (that I know of) are using this herb in a product, and the dose per serving is (at best) on par with (but likely lower than) even the lowest dose examined in the study (250mgs/kg), translated to anything resembling a human equivalent. The daily suggested dose (all of the daily servings added up) contained in the proprietary blends currently being sold on the market still isn’t likely to be equivalent to the lowest dose in the study.

In fact, even if the 250mg/kg equivalent dose were being used (and it isn’t), the testosterone boost provided would be 12%. But since nowhere near this dose is being used…have I made my point yet? The full study is much more interesting, because when we crunch the numbers, we find out that the rodents were being given an ungodly amount of this stuff, and barely getting any kind of decent test boost!  

So how much of a boost in serum testosterone did the herb provide? Well, we don’t know, because the study doesn’t tell us. Wait…what? Yeah, you read that correctly, the study doesn’t actually look at serum testosterone levels. So what about free testosterone levels? Well, the study doesn’t look at that either. The study examines intratesticular testosterone, LH, and a bunch of other stuff (testicular glycogen, testicular sailic acid concentration, etc…) but provides no hard data on how much of a real test boost the herb provided.

As the saying goes, there’s a sucker born every minute, and no shortage of supplement manufacturers looking to scam them.

Nelumbo Nucifera – Compound Number 2 in Pink Magic

The second ingredient in Pink Magic is Nelumbo Nucifera.  Unfortunately for USP Labs there is not evidence to support this ingredient as a muscle builder or testosterone booster.  There are a couple studies available for review if you search hard enough but they are in know way strong enough to back up the claims USP Labs is making for Pink Magic and they where not conducted on humans.

Study number one on Nelumbo Nucifera:

http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?rm08002

If you follow the link above you will find a study on Nelumbo Nucifera which concludes that Nelumbo Nucifera will act as an anti estrogen for Female Wistar rats.  There really isn’t any data to determine what effect this stuff may have in humans.  Assuming it could reduce estrogen in humans this still would not produce the results that USP Labs claims for this product.  There is also the major issue of dosing.  Pink Magic uses a proprietary blend for this product so it is doubtful the dosing in the product would be appropriate to produce any significant effect in humans.

Study number two on Nelumbo Nucifera:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20481471

The link above brings you to an abstract on Nelumbo Nucifera which relates to its potential anti-obesity effect for individuals eating a high fat diet.  This study doesn’t deal with individuals who are working out and trying to improve body composition.  I don’t see anything in it which would lead me to believe that It can have the kind of effect that USP Labs is talking about in its promotional material.

Rhamnus Nakaharai (Stem) – Compound Number 3 in Pink Magic

Study number one for Rhamnus Nakaharai

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17329876

This study deals with the antioxidant potential of Rhamnus Nakaharai.  This may be good for general health but isn’t really related to what the product is supposed to do.

Study number two for Rhamnus Nakaharai

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8948496

Nothing relevant to the USP Labs claims in this study.  Check it out at the link above.

Study number three for Rhamnus Nakaharai

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/np50126a023

This study discusses the anti platelet potential of Rhamnus Nakaharai but does nothing to support the claims USP Labs is making for Pink Magic.

These guys are great marketers but just don’t have the science to back their products.

The studies cited in this blog are from Pubmed and much of the content relating to the herb was borrowed from Anthony Roberts June 16, 2010 article posted online on Muscle Evolution.

Overweight women with insulin resistance lose more weight after three months on a lower-carbohydrate diet than on a traditional low-fat diet, according to a new study presented at The Endocrine Society’s 92nd Annual Meeting on June 19.

“The typical diet that physicians recommend for weight loss is a low-fat diet,” said the study’s lead author, Raymond Plodkowski, MD, chief of endocrinology, nutrition and metabolism at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno. “However, as this study shows, not all people have the same response to diets.”

As reported by Nutrition Horizon, 45 obese women between the ages of 18 and 65 years—all insulin resistant—participated in the study. Researchers randomly assigned the women to a low-fat or lower-carb diet. The groups did not differ significantly in average body weight. On average, women in the low-fat diet group weighed 213 pounds, while women in the other group weighed 223 pounds.

The composition of the low-fat diet was 60 percent of calories from carbs, 20 percent from fat and 20 percent from protein. Although the lower-carb diet also had 20 percent of calories from protein, it had 45 percent from carbs and 35 percent from primarily unsaturated fats, such as nuts. Menus included a minimum of two fruits and three vegetable servings a day.

Use of prepared meals helped make the structured diets easier and more palatable for the dieters. “We wanted to make this study real-world—anyone could follow this plan by making moderate changes as part of a healthy menu,” Plodkowski said.

Both groups lost weight at each monthly weigh-in, but by 12 weeks, the insulin resistant group receiving the lower-carb diet lost significantly more weight, 19.6 pounds versus 16.2 pounds in the low-fat diet group—approximately 21 percent more on average.

Fish Oil Supplements Can Fight Depression

Adults with major depression without anxiety may find serious benefit from omega-3 fish oil supplements, according to a new study (J Clin Psychiatry. ePub 15 June 2010. DOI: 10.4088/JCP.10m05966blu). Researchers from McGill University recruited adult outpatients (n=432) with major depressive episode (MDE, per Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview) lasting at least four weeks for the double blind, randomized, controlled, eight-week, parallel-group trial; 40.3 percent of subjects were taking antidepressants at baseline. Subjects received fish oil supplements containing 1,050 mg/d of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 150 mg/d of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or a matched sunflower oil placebo. Primary outcome was the self-report Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-SR30); secondary outcome was the clinician-rated Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).

The studies major finds show that fish oils may be able to help combat depression as well or better than prescription medications.