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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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21.07.2013 |
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Build 9 kg more lean body mass with HMB-ATP combo
Add nine kilograms lean body mass to your frame in just twelve weeks? Sounds improbable but American sports scientists say it's possible – if you train like crazy in the gym and take 3 g HMB Free Acid and 400 mg ATP every day.
For the record, Lowery's study was financed by Metabolic Technologies, the company that discovered the muscle enhancing effect of HMB and patented the substance too. MT and those involved are however modest in their publication.
The researchers had the subjects do intensive weight training for 12 weeks. For two weeks the subjects overtrained: in weeks 9 and 10 the researchers put in an overreaching cycle with a high training volume. During the last two weeks of the experiment the subjects took it relatively easy.
The researchers divided their subjects into four groups. The subjects in the placebo group were given fake supplements. The subjects in the HMB group took a daily 3 g HMB Free Acid – a product manufactured by Metabolic Technologies. The subjects in the ATP group were given 400 mg daily of TSI's Peak ATP, a patented capsule containing ATP.
The maximal strength of the people in the placebo group decreased. It increased in the supplement taking groups. The strength of the participants who took both HMB Free Acid and ATP increased most.
The researchers used DXA technology to measure the amount of lean body mass that the subjects built up during the 12 weeks. The placebo group members built up 2.1 kg lean body mass. In the HMB Free Acid group the accumulation was 7.4 kg; in the ATP group 4.0 kg and in the HMB Free Acid+ATP group 8.5 kg. Wow. Nearly 9 kg lean body mass. How is that possible?
Well... maybe it's because the combined supplementation led to a drastic reduction in muscle damage caused by the heavy strength-training scheme. The concentration of creatine kinase, an indicator of muscle damage, decreased noticeably more in the HMB-ATP group than in the placebo group.
It should be said that measuring body composition using DXA is an art. If it's done by a student rather than an experienced technology, the results are likely to be dubious. But even so, an 8.5 kg increase in lean body mass is almost unbelievable.
The researchers believe that the HMB-ATP combo enables strength athletes to train in such a way that their muscles get a strong growth stimulus, without breaking down more muscle tissue than the body is able to build up. "The combination of ATP and HMB showed synergistic effects and seems to be a supplement extremely useful to those pushing their limits", says co-author Ralf Jaeger of Increnovo [increnovo.com] in an interview with NutraIngredients.com. [nutraingredients-usa.com 14-Jun-2013]
If you're thinking of experimenting with ATP and HMB then Jaeger has another tip for you. There are indications that creatine and HMB reinforce each other's effect on muscle mass, and this study shows that ATP and HMB reinforce each other's effect, says Jaeger. Maybe strength athletes can boost their progression even further by stacking creatine, HMB and ATP...
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