Citrulline Malate

Citrulline is converted to arginine in the body. Taking citrulline increases nitric oxide levels better than taking arginine. Citrulline also removes ammonia from the body increasing endurance and delaying muscle fatigue.

According to Flex Magazine:
"Citrulline malate elevates muscle ATP by 35% during exercise and increases the rate of creatine phosphate resynthesis by 20%."

Take 3-6g of L-citrulline or citrulline malate 30-60 minutes before workouts

GREEN-TEA EXTRACT

Green tea is full of catechins, powerfull compounds that include epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is the ingredient responsible for the tea's fatburning.

EGCG's has the ability to inhibit an enzyme that breaks down norepinephrine, the neurotransmitter involved in regulating metabolic rate and fat burning.

Green tea also is a antioxidant that supports general wellness within the body.

Look for a standardized extract containing EGCG and take 500mg 1 to 3 times daily before meals.

Chocamine

This extract from cocoa provides all the benefits of chocolate without the sugar or fat. The active compounds in chocamine help suppress appetite and enhance metabolism. The components include caffeine, tyramine, theobromine, and phenylethylamine.

Try chocamine to boost energy, improve mood, concentration, and alertness.

Take 1-2g up to three times per day.

Calcium

Essential for growth of the musculoskeletal system, calcium also regulates and is critical for the contraction and relaxation of muscle tissue. In addition, it can help burn body fat by promoting thermogenesis and reducing dietary fat absorption.

DOSAGE: 500-600mg two or three times per day

Caffeine for strength and power: 200-400mg one hour before workouts

A stimulant and effective fat burner due to its ability to increase the release of fat from fat cells, caffeine has been shown to boost strength and power output when taken one hour before workouts. 

For fat loss and weight management: 100-200mg between meals; mental acuity and focus: 50-200mg every couple of hours; strength and power: 200-400mg one hour before workouts

Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA)

You may be thinking, "why not just take leucine?" Well as with lots of supplements it seems that is a the team is greater than the individuals effect. The three work better together.

The cool thing about BCAAs is that they are either used directly to build muscle or to provide energy. The liver doesn't decide to send them to other functions in the body.

BCAAs have also been shown to blunt the catabolic hormone Cortisol. Lower cortisol means higher testosterone.

BCAAs also enhance recovery decreasing delayed-onset muscle soreness.

The typical recommendation is to take 5-10g with a whey shake in the morning, pre-workout, and post-workout. Although some like to drink them all day. Others drink a BCAA drink intra-workout to keep their energy levels high while training.

Beta-Phenylethylamine (PEA)

Beta-Phenylethylamine (PEA)

This is a naturally occurring metabolite of the amino acid phenylalanine. Known as a stimulatory transmitter in the body that enhances neurotransmission, it also promotes fat burning by increasing the release of norepinephrine.

Norepinephrine raises dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain reducing the sensation of pain and boosting feelings of euphoria. This can help trainees tolerate the rigors of training and dieting. It's also available as beta-methoxyphenylethylamine, a form that significantly enhances its half-life in the body and allows a single dose to be more effective.

The recommended dosage is 100-500mg one or two times daily.

Beta-alanine

Beta-alanine combines with the amino acid, histidine, to form carnosine.

Carnosine (a component of vitamin B3) helps muscle generate greater forceful contractions for a longer period. The result is increases in strength and endurance. The end result is mass gains.

Beta-alanine with creatine seems to result in more muscle and less fat than subjects taking creatine alone.

The unfortunate side effect of beta-alanine is flushing and tingling (paresthesia) . Some take beta-alanine in small doses throughout the day to avoid the tingling.

Dosage is 2-3g with your pre- and post-workout shakes. The optimal dose seems to be 3.2 grams per day.

Research:
1 Derave W, Everaert I, Beeckman S, et al. Muscle carnitine metabsm and beta-alanine supplementation in relation to exercise and training. Sports Med. 2010;40(3):247-263.
2 Harris RC, Wise JA, Price KA, et al. Determinants of muscle carnitine content. Amino Acids. 2012 Feb 11. [Epub ahead of print]
3 Harris RC, Tallon MJ, Dunnett M, et al. The absorption of orally supplied beta-alanine and its effect on muscle carnosine synthesis in human vastus lateralis. Amino Acids. 2006;30(3):279-289.
4 Hill CA, Harris RC, Kim HJ, et al. Influence of beta-alanine supplementation on skeletal muscle carnosine concentrations and high intensity cycling capacity. Amino Acids. 2007;32(2):225-233.
5 Greenhaff PL, Bodin K, Soderlund K, Hultman E. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle phosphocreatine resynthesis. Am J Physiol. 1994;266(5 Pt 1):E725-730.
6 Baguet A, Reyngoudt H, Pottier A, et al. Carnosine loading and washout in human skeletal muscles. J Appl Physiol. 2009;106(3):837-842.
7 Tallon MJ, Harris RC, Boobis LH, et al. The carnosine content of vastus lateralis is elevated in resistance-trained bodybuilders. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2005;19(4): 725–729.
8 Stellingwerff T, Decombaz J, Harris RC, Boesch C. Optimizing human in vivo dosing and delivery of β-alanine supplements for muscle carnosine synthesis. Amino Acids. 2012 Feb 23. [Epub ahead of print]
9 Baguet A, Everaert I, Hespel P, et al. A new method for non-invasive estimation of human muscle fiber type composition. PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21956.

Astaxanthin: Antioxidant

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid antioxidant that improves immune function, aids cardiovascular health, and protects the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.

Research also shows that it can increase endurance by up to 150%, thanks to its fat burning abilities.

The recommended dosage is 4-6mg with meals once or twice per day, with one dose taken pre-workout.

It has been combined with saw palmetto berry lipid extract (SPLE) to formulate a testosterone booster. There was a study were 42 healthy males ages 37-70 took either 800 mg or 2,000 mg per day of a patented combination of astaxanthin and SPLE for 14 days. Both groups showed increases in testosterone, but only the 2,000 mg group also showed a decrease in estrogen levels.

Sources:
HORMONE HELPERS. Antonio, Jose. Joe Weider's Muscle & Fitness, Aug2009, Vol. 70 Issue 8, p200-204

The activity of the enzyme aromatase is inhibited by administering an aromatase inhibiting amount of a composition comprising at least one of astaxanthin, black cohosh, echinacea, and phytosterols to a subject.

Deconstructing Alphastat

Below is from 2008 Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. reference by Ageless Male"The study did not use Ageless Male. Rather researchers were testing another supplement called Mytosterone (also called Alphastat) made by Triarco (triarco.com) which is located in Wayne NJ. Triarco funded this study but the investigation notes that none of the authors had any financial connection to the outcomes of the research.
In this 2 week long investigation, 42 healthy men between the ages of 37 and 70 were divided 2 groups. "

• Group 1 (21 men) were given 800 mg of the Mytosterone supplement

• Group 2 (21 men) were given 200 milligrams of the Mytosterone supplement

At the end of the study, researchers noted that men who got both 800 mg and 2000 mg showed:

• Significant elevations in testosterone and

• Significant reductions in DHT

Agmatine ((4-aminobutyl) guanidine, NH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-NH-C(-NH2)(=NH ))

Agmatine ((4-aminobutyl) guanidine, NH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-NH-C(-NH2)(=NH )) has been turning up in numerous pre-workouts.

Agmatine is the by-product of the breakdown of the amino acid arginine. As with arginine, agmatine boosts nitric oxide (NO) levels. It also boosts the release of insulin an anabolic hormone that increases muscle growth and dilates blood vessels to further boost blood flow.

Other benefits of agmatine are:

• Increased pain tolerance leading to increased training intensity.
• Support for testosterone and growth hormone (GH) production.
• Antioxidant benefits for recovery.

The suggested dosage is 500 - l,000mg 30-60 minutes before workouts.

Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Supplements A-F Author: Jim Stoppani Source: Flex. 29.10 (Dec. 2011): p196.

Agmatine, Part 1: What Is It, What Can It Do, And Who Needs It? on bodybuilding.com


References:

1. Abe K, Abe Y, and Saito H. Agmatine suppresses nitric oxide production in microglia. Brain Res. 872: 141-148, 2000.
2. Aricioglu-Kartal F, and Regunathan S. Effect of chronic morphine treatment on the biosynthesis of agmatine in rat brain and other tissues. Life Sci. 71: 1695-1701, 2002.
3. Gao, Y., et al. Agmatine: a novel vasodilator substance. Life Sciences. 57(8):PL83-86, 1995.
4. Halaris A, Piletz JE. Imidazoline receptors: possible involvement in the pathophysiology and treatment of depression. Hum Psychopharmacol. 16(1):65-69, 2001.
5. Kalra, S.P., et al. Agmatine, a novel hypothalamic amine, stimulates pituitary luteinizing hormone release in vivo and hypothalamic luteinizing hormone-releasing in vivo. Neuroscience Letters. 194 (3): July 21, 1995; 165-168.
6. Kawabata T, Ohshima H, Ino M. Occurrence of methylguanidine and agmatine in foods. IARC Sci Publ. (19):415-23, 1978.
7. Lortie, M.J., et al. Agmatine, a bioactive metabolite of arginine. Production, degradation, and functional effects in the kidney of the rat. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 97(2):413-420, 1996.
8. Morgan, N.G., et al. Characterization of the imidazoline binding site in regulation of insulin secretion. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 763:361-373, 1995.
9. Nishimura K, Shiina R, Kashiwagi K, and Igarashi K. Decrease in Polyamines with Aging and Their Ingestion from Food and Drink. J of Biochem. 139(1):81-90, 2006.
10. Raasch, W. et al. Agmatine, the bacterial amine is widely distributed in mammalian tissues. Life Sciences. 56(26):2319-2330, 1995.
11. Raghavan SA, Dikshit M. Vascular regulation by the L-arginine metabolites, nitric oxide and agmatine. Pharmacol Res. 49(5):397-414. Review, 2004.
12. Regunathan S, Feinstein DL, and Reis DJ. Anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory actions of imidazoline agents. Are imidazoline receptors involved? Ann NY Acad Sci. 881: 410-419, 1999.
13. Regunathan S, and Reis DJ. Characteristics of arginine decarboxylase in rat brain and liver: distinction from ornithine decarboxylase. J Neurochem. 74: 2201-2208, 2000.
14. Reis DJ, and Regunathan S. Agmatine a novel neurotransmitter? Advances in Pharmacology. 42:645-649, 1998.
15. Schwartz D, Peterson OW, Mendonca M, Satriano J, Lortie M, and Blantz RC. Agmatine effects glomerular filtration rate via a nitric oxide synthase-dependent mechanism. Am J Renal Physiol. 272: F597-F601, 1997.
16. Sener A, et al. Stimulus-secretion coupling of arginine-induced insulin release. Insulinotropic action of agmatine. Biochemical Pharmacology. January 15, 1989. 38(2):327-330, 1989.
17. Tabor CW, and Tabor H. Polyamines. Ann Rev Biochem. 53: 749-790, 1984.
18. Vargiu C, Cabella C, Belliardo S, Cravanzola C, Grillo MA and Colombatto S. Agmatine modulates polyamine content in hepatocytes by inducing spermidine/spermine acetyltransferase. Eur. J Biochem. 259: 933-938, 1999.
19. Weitzel G., et al. Insulin-like partial effects of agmatine derivatives in adipocytes. Hoppe-Seylers Zeitschrift fur Physiologische Chemie. 361(1):51-60, 1980.
20. Yananli H, Goren MZ, Berkman K, Aricioglu F. Effect of agmatine on brain l-citrulline production during morphine withdrawal in rats: A microdialysis study in nucleus accumbens. Brain Res. 2007 Feb 9;1132(1):51-58, 2006.
21. Zarandi M, Serfozo P, Zsigo J, Deutch AH, Janaky T, Olsen DB, Bajusz S, Schally AV. Potent agonists of growth hormone-releasing hormone. II. Pept Res. 5(4):190-3, 1992.