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16.04.2010

Combination of arginine, ornithine and vitamin B12 has anabolic effect on power lifters

Bodybuilders or power lifters who start to use a mixture of arginine, ornithine and vitamine B12 are likely to progress faster. According to a Polish study that has been published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, this combination increases the production of IGF-1 and growth hormone.

Study
The Poles gave a mixture of arginine, ornithine and vitamin B12 to 9 power lifters aged between 18 and 33 for 3 weeks. To be precise: the test subjects took 3 g L-arginine, 2.2 g L-ornithine and a humongous 12 mg vitamin B12, twice a day. Ornithine is a precursor of arginine. A control group of 8 athletes took a placebo.

The Poles got the power lifters to do only a few sets in the 3 weeks that the study lasted. The lifters just did bench press, squats and dead lifts. For each exercise they did 5-8 sets of 1-3 reps. The load was 90-120 percent of the weight at which they could just manage 1 rep.

Results
During the 3 weeks that the study lasted the concentration of growth hormone increased in the arginine users. That's not so surprising. Arginine is a limiting factor for the production of growth hormone. If you give people arginine, they make more growth hormone.

In the arginine users the concentration of IGF-1 also rose, but by less.

The supplement had little effect on the binding protein IGFBP-3, and no effect on the cortisol and testosterone levels. The supplement also had only a very small effect on muscle damage markers such as lactic acid [LA] and lactic acid dehydrogenase [LDH]. This may be because the subjects' training volume was so small and they didn't train at failure. So they didn’t train hard enough. If they had trained harder, the supplement may have had an effect.

Conclusion
The positive effects on growth hormone and IGF-1 should be big enough to enhance muscle growth. In theory. But whether L-arginine supplementation really results in more strength or muscle mass is difficult to tell from the study.

Source:
J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Apr;24(4):1082-90.

More:
More arginine – more muscles, less fat 24.02.2009