One thing I'd like to state is I'm absolutely blown to shit that anyone still reads this blog. It started as a soapbox/ranting outlet, but I *STILL* get emails/texts etc asking me to update it. Some shit in this world just plain amazes me. Ok, enough!
AmateurVille Supplement Reviews
HAD to title it like that. Had to. Why? Well, because one guy testing anything is a joke. Paleo nerds have taken the n=1 and run around like a teenager with a hard on, thinking they are special, when in fact they look like idiots, and n=1 just means you are fucking around.
But apparently some folks think I'm test worthy, and I got some free shit in the mail. Yay me. In my next life, I swear to god I'm going to be something other than the "nutrition" guy, so I can get shit like free cars and blondes and drugs in the mail, instead of supplements and pictures of food. Enough bitchin' though, onto the reason you are actually reading this blog!
Trial #1: Myothon
This was the first cold-call for me to test a supplement; I was initially caught off guard, thought it was bullshit spam, then re-read the email, and responded. Myothon is made by a company called Vitality Sciences. I hadn't heard of them before, looks like they are targeting both the endurance crowd and CF. So what is Myothon all about?
- It's basically a BCAA with 5 added EAAs. If you need to look up those abbreviations, go look at pics of hot CF chicks on instagram, or something.
- A single dose is 5 tabs, at roughly 2.5g BCAA, 2.5g of their EAA mix.
- I altered NOTHING in my preWO or PWO routine. I normally take 15g BCAAs in addition to some other goodies.
- I took 5 tabs Myothon in addition to my regular supplementation.
- During this time I was training consistently at 11AM, sleep was good, diet is dialed (damn well better be), training Rx'd by Mike FitzGerald, geared for CF performance.
- Training sessions seemed more intense
- Hit a lot of PR's strength wise in that cycle.
- Recovery was good, not "I'm mainlining Winstrol" good, but good.
- I was honestly surprised. I expected fuck all. Seriously, shit felt good all around during this testing phase.
- This was RIGHT before my 2nd daughter was born. Sleep had not gone out the window, and stress was at a 2 year low.
- This formula is basically a rip off of the VERY overpriced MAP Master Amino Pattern.
- I'm not 100% sure Mython, or anything like it, is worth it. At 45 bucks for a bottle of 100 tabs, you'd rip through it trying to get 10g of BCAAs preWO (which is a legit ergogenic dose).
- That said, is it worth it to stack this with BCAAs? Maybe. BIG fucking maybe...
- Company makes a lot of claims with zero research.
Trial #2: AMRAP Red Beet Powder preWO
- It's based around the nitrates in beets. Whats the scoop with that? Oddly enough, I wrote a blog post for OPT at the exact time Taryn contacted me (seriously, I couldn't make this shit up. I was in AZ at the time, too). Read it HERE.
- I received just TWO of the above packages. Zero info on the dose or the nitrate concentration.
- As above. I took 1/2 the powder in water, to test the taste/palatability. The other 1/2 I dumped into my BCAA drink.
- I found the taste just fine. Tasted like liquid beets. If you don't like beets, you won't like it. Someone else I know who is a certified baddass in the S & C world CC'd me on a email crying about the taste. Seriously, it's beets. C'mon.
- 2 doses in a one man testing scenario amounts to, well...not much tested.
- Expect to see a fuck ton of similar supplements in the near future.
- Is there merit to this? YES. I absolutely think so, the science is legit and tight.
- I also think what will be IN a supplement and what WILL be needed for an ergogenic effect may be worlds apart, but that remains to be seen. Nitrate amounts NEED to be listed on the label. Most consumers are fucking retarded and buy supplements because its endorsed by some hot athlete. But not all consumers are like that. LIST THAT SHIT.
- If you do nothing else, buy AMRAP bars. They are clean and yummy. And no, they didn't send me any.
Trial #3: HMB by Blonyx
Taryn from Blonyx was the 2nd of the 3 Taryns (the 3rd would be certified badass Taryn Romanowich). Blonyx is a supplement company marketing two things to the CF community: HMB and creatine. I have to admit up front I was hesitant to trial HMB, as the track record of efficacy in PERFORMANCE is just not there. So, I admittedly went into this biased, but did my best to gauge the results as they were.
Without going into the whole history of HMB (Coles Notes: Came into light in the 80's, research found it was pretty much useless except in untrained men playing video games in their parent's basement, then thrown into the gym and forced to consume HMB and do back squats, so it fell out of favor), recent research DOES show some promise (but there's a caveat, trust me), hence the re-emergence.
What I Did:
- Same shit, different supplement. As per the bottle, 2 capsules, 3x/day, for a total of 3g HMB.
- Training, diet, awesome lifestyle unchanged.
- I hate to say this, and I SWEAR I'm not making it up, but I was MORE sore. I seriously do NOT know how this could be, and I'm NOT blaming the supplement, by any means. Looking back at my training cycle, it did not differ vastly from month before, perhaps more Oly work, perhaps more frequent squating, but nothing new.
- The above is also boggling in that most of the positive research behind HMB involved a reduction in muscle damage and markers of such like LDH.
- No noticeable increase in performance, no PRs.
- This is a supplement I've seen many athletes take. I've basically told them "if you aren't paying for it, double the dose, and it may help". If you have to pay for it, save your pennies.
- This has been echoed by associates of mine in the BB community...anecdotal evidence of decreased DOMS at HIGH dose (10-12g). Keep in mind they do crazy shit that make CF athletes look like pussies.
Bottom Line #2: Do you think ANY of the subjects in ANY study EVER done on HMB was consuming the above diet?
Would I Buy It: No. There's many things I would spend money on, but this is definitely not one of them. Grass fed beef, high end whey isolate, a solid BCAA give you all the damn leucine a guy could want.
Future Stuff
- Part 3 of The Athlete Fix
- Another MLM company targets the CF community, and my take on it.
- More Supplement reviews. Here's a sneak peak I'll leave you with:
Posts
