The time has come to get serious about strength…..
Now that the Open is but a distance memory, a faint silhouette as I drive away from it while flipping the bird, I enter the first strength training phase of 2014. The good people of Blonyx have asked me to write a review of their HMB+ Creatine product as it pertains to my performance during the three month phase. I will be following the Wendler 5/3/1 program through the duration of the three months as I feel it is the most appropriate program for me and I have yet to reach a plateau that require a larger amount of volume and specialization that you may find with other programs (ie. Russian Squat Program, Smolov). I will be supplementing with this product during the phase, taking the recommended daily dose during training days and one serving on off days.
So what is Creatine? As defined on Examine.com (I seriously recommend this site):
Creatine monohydrate is a molecule, produced in the body, but also found in foods, mostly meat, eggs and fish.
Creatine confers a variety of health benefits, including neuroprotective and cardioprotective properties. It also improves power output and is often used by athletes to increase high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass.
Creatine’s main action in the body is storing high-energy phosphate groups in the form of phosphocreatine. During periods of stress, phosphocreatine releases energy to aid cellular function. This is what causes strength increases after creatine supplementation, but this action can also aid the brain, bones, muscles and liver. Most of the benefits of creatine are provided through this mechanism.
Now lets get some info on HMB:
HMB (short for β-Hydroxy β-Methylbutyrate) is a metabolite of the amino acid Leucine that, along with KIC (α keto-isocaproate) and isovaleryl-CoA, mediate the effects of leucine. Approximately 5% of dietary leucine is oxidized into HMB, and HMB appears to be the main metabolite of leucine that more effectively prevents the breakdown of muscle protein.
When compared to leucine, HMB appears to be significantly more potent on a gram per gram basis at attenuating the rate of muscle protein breakdown but is less effective than leucine at inducing muscle protein synthesis. Due to this, HMB is marketed as an anti-catabolic agent (purposed to reduce the rate of muscle breakdown) rather than an anabolic agent (purposed to increase muscle mass).
Human trials don’t normally tend to be structured to properly assess the effects of HMB, as most of the studies are a standard diet paired with an exercise regimen investigating the role of HMB in promoting muscle protein synthesis (of which it is similar to leucine in the sense that there are positive results, but quite unreliably so); the limited evidence that assesses HMB during periods of muscle loss are either underpowered or not in athletes.
HMB, currently, appears to be a pretty interesting supplement for the purpose of reducing muscle wasting during periods where muscle atrophy is accelerated (cachexia, AIDS, bedrest) and should theoretically work in athletes on a calorie restricted diet but is not fully established for this role yet (which is a notable issue, since Glutamine has a large dichotomy between clinical and healthy populations).
This is not a scientific journal, this is a blog so I will limit the amount of info that I include. It you want to know more, go to http://examine.com/supplements/HMB/ and read on. I will also include a International Society of Sports Nutrition Journal review which is a great (yes….also sciency and boring) read on HMB. ISSN position stand on HMB supplementation
Here is the label on the product for more information, any further info about the product itself can be found by clicking the banner pictures.
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So how are we going to know if this product actually works? Good question if I do say so myself!
I set my baseline 1 rep max for three different exercises. By following the Wendler 5/3/1 formula, taking Blonyx, giving feed back on a weekly basis and then comparing monthly results, we may be able to see a direct correlation between supplementation and strength training. I will also not be abandoning my metabolic conditioning programming as set by my coaches at the Crossfit affiliate I workout at. Nor will I avoid training the same body part twice in one day (unless the rep scheme/load are too similar). If this product is going to help with muscle repair, limit or reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and assist in muscle growth, lets test it in the athletic parameters that challenge my body and the product.
So here are the numbers I am working with….
Squat: 265lbs
Press: 135lbs
Deadlift: 405lbs
Standing at a svelte 6’1″, 180lbs I clearly need to work on strength. Did you notice the number beside the word “squat”? That is sadly not a typo. A year ago, coinciding with starting Crossfit, I was introduced to this crazy ass thing called a “full depth squat.” What is this new fangled squat I speak of? Well apparently your hip crease needs to go below the knee on the eccentric (lowering) portion of the squat prior to standing back up to full extension. I used to destroy the seated leg press in the community centre, and do not even get me started on my prowess of the half depth squat (ie. real way to squat!). Now that olympic lifting has glorified squatting to full depth and Crossfit ridiculously makes people squat to hip-crease-below-the-knee to properly gauge a good rep vs. NO REP!! I have had to adapt. One year ago I found it difficult to full depth squat 135lbs for reps. This was not a flexibility issue, it was a strength issue. I have come a long way but now I have only reached a realistic base from which to work. This is the reason why strength training is going to be essential in my development as a healthier, stronger and more well rounded athlete, firefighter, human being.
FitForFire 