Citrulline Malate extended anaerobic capacity log

[Yep.]

I recently posted that I noticed a change in my mile sprint capacity, and I think it might be due to the recent introduction of CM into my supplementation program. (see http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=469368).

If anyone's interested, I'm starting a log that will focus on further developing a link between CM and its impact on extended anaerobic capacity, rather than its effects on pure lifting.

Some background: I've been lifting steadily for 7 years, but I'm new to BB.com. I've been performing 1-mile sprints after lifting twice a week for nearly 2 years. I think I should serve as a good benchmark for this test since my sprint speed plateaued several months ago. To keep the test consistent, I'll be running on a treadmill with a max limit of 12 mph. I'll run at a constant 11 mph each day. My observations will be based not on speed, but rather perceived lactic acid buildup and fatigue.

Before each workout (1.5 hrs before the sprint) I will consume a standard 3g of bulk BN CM. Following that, 30 minutes before each sprint I will take another dose of CM, with dosages increasing on each sprint day as follows:

Tues, May 3rd: 3g CM
Fri, May 6th: 6g CM
Tues, May 10th: 9g CM
Fri, May 13th: 12g CM

My standard stack will remain the same with 3g HP CEE and 40g whey before and after workout, along with my standard 4x daily: low-dose multi, 1000mg flax, 1000mg CLA. As well, 300 mg daily ALA, 120mg daily COQ-10. I will attempt to change nothing but CM consumption.

Please check back if you're interested...

[Yep.]

I forgot: sprints will be performed on my chest/tris/shoulders split day.

[Yep.]

Today I raced a 5k, and although it's not listed as part of my CM trial, my observations are still worth noting; I experienced a marked difference in my performance as compared to other 5ks I've raced w/o CM. I supplemented w/ 4g CM 1 hr before race time (along w/ CEE and supps mentioned earlier in thread).

The first mile of this felt no different to my lungs or legs than any other race. Namely, my legs and lungs burned somewhat. But at a point early in the second mile, I felt the strain in my lungs diminish to a greater extent than I've ever experienced. I'm positive this was no placebo effect because I was too concentrated on running to be thinking about anything else. I experience second winds nearly every time I run 5ks, but absolutely nothing like this. It felt like someone turned a dial over a 20 second period and drained most of the burning discomfort from my body. This might be due to the CM, which I've been on for about 2 weeks.

Near the end of mile 2, I slowed my pace to latch onto another runner who had initially passed me, but who I caught back up to. Pacing with him, I was running just over a 6:00. But it was in the last 300 yards of the race when all hell broke loose. My pace runner began to take off early for the final sprint, and I figured there was no reason not to keep with him. As I turned up the juice, I felt more juice behind it. It was like a positive feedback loop. This is some freakish power I talking about. The result was that I absolutely blew this little guy away-- when I crossed the line I turned around and he was still 100 yards out. I swear to god I've not experienced something like this during a 6:00/mile 5k sprint before.

If you guys have any opinions on whether you think the CEE might have been partially responsible for this, please post. Is it possible that the CM helped me during this race?

After the race I took another 3g CM and 40g whey and hit the gym for a lower body split. 5k had no negative effects on strength. Actually improved leg exns.

[Jox]

Nice work on the 5k.

I'm really interested in CM and I'll be following your journal with interest.

[Yep.]

I've been thinking over the title of this thread, and it's a bit off. I say "anaerobic capacity", but a mile sprint is certainly not anaerobic. That's just silly. The title should have instead read something like, "The possible effects of CM on high-intensity aerobic capacity". The final yards of any race should be anaerobic (the sprint), but the phase lasts only briefly.

Here's another interesting note. After yesterday's 5k (which I run regularly), certain leg muscles are sore, esp my abducters and to some extent the vastus medialis. I rarely experience soreness in my legs. I've been speculating as to why this might be. One explanation could be that the CM aided rapid lactic recovery during the race (as mentioned earlier in the thread), thereby allowing the muscle to work harder than normal, which translated into the soreness I'm experiencing.

[Yep.]

Today was my the first trial day with CM. I dosed 3g 2 hrs before running, then another 3g 20 minutes prior to running. I can say that I felt somewhat drained after chest/tris/shoulders today. Within 3 minutes of taking the CM I felt much more energized. As far as I know, this could not have been due to sugar, because there isn't any in the BN CM. But I'm taking that energy rush with a big grain of salt. It could have been due to the fact that I put something into my stomach other than water, and I don't think CM is supposed to work that quickly.

I ran the mile in 5:40 today, which was at 10.5mph, rather than the 11mph I'd originally planned for. I'll be running the remainder of the trials at 10.5 so that I have some type of benchmark on which to base my findings.

Results:

I didn't notice much of anything during this run. I felt good. My lungs burned somewhat, but not terribly (usually the burning is more pronounced toward the end, but I also normally run .5mph faster). I felt no real difference in my legs.

The Friday trial will consist of a 6g CM dose 20min prior to the run. Since I felt energized immediately after taking the CM today, I'll be paying closer attention to that as well.

[Yep.]

Today wasn't part of the sprint trial, so I experimented with taking no CM before lifting. I did feel somewhat less energized doing today's leg routine, but I still don't know if I can attribute that to the CM. Although I had plenty of sleep and my normal breakfast and supplements, it still could have been a placebo effect. If CM has had any effects, they have been understated at best. I just reviewed the post regarding the 5k I ran last wknd. I had asked for some opinions as to whether the end of race sprint boost had more to do with the CEE I'm taking, or the CM. I'm leaning toward the CEE.

I'll take a normal CM dose tomorrow (6g total split in two) to see whether I feel different than today.

[sculli]

Good luck. I took CM before and didn't notice much but I think it was because the dose wasn't enough for me. I took 3g pre-workout and 3g later in the day. I probably should have bumped up the dose. Seems like it's working for you though.

[Yep.]

Sorry for cluttering up my own post, but I was just reading through colin's White Blood log, and he says that he noticed himself sweating more while on the supplement. This absolutely holds true for CM as well. I realized that I didn't sweat much while lifting today. I must sound stupid saying taht I just realized that, but I did have to think about it. I kept my rest intervals at their normal length, and the workout took no longer than usual. I also made the minor improvements I expect to always make, but I didn't find myself sweating as much. Actually, I sweat very little. Also, I am definitely noticing that I'm not sweating at all under my arms today. Three days into CM supplementation, I began to sweat under my arms much more than usual (AT REST) to the point where I had to change shirts. Air temp was only around 60. With no CM today, I'm not sweating at all under the arms.

[sculli]

Sorry for cluttering up my own post, but I was just reading through colin's White Blood log, and he says that he noticed himself sweating more while on the supplement. This absolutely holds true for CM as well. I realized that I didn't sweat much while lifting today. I must sound stupid saying taht I just realized that, but I did have to think about it. I kept my rest intervals at their normal length, and the workout took no longer than usual. I also made the minor improvements I expect to always make, but I didn't find myself sweating as much. Actually, I sweat very little. Also, I am definitely noticing that I'm not sweating at all under my arms today. Three days into CM supplementation, I began to sweat under my arms much more than usual (AT REST) to the point where I had to change shirts. Air temp was only around 60. With no CM today, I'm not sweating at all under the arms.

hmmm very interesting yet disgusting. lol

[Sixpack]

Yep I have also noticed this while taking CM 3grams before and 3 after etc, its been unreal I am dripping after workouts etc way more then normal

[Yep.]

I'm glad someone else has noticed this. I couldn't figure out why I was dripping like that.

[Yep.]

After today's workout, I've decided to extend this CM trial through the end of this month, and not relegate it to only the mile 'sprint'. I took notes in my workout log during this session to help me focus my attention on how I was feeling at several points thoroughout the workout. It was a bit of a chore, but I think it's important to document real world cases of supplement use. This is, after all, the proving ground.

• I took a 4g CM dose 40 minutes prior to lifting; this is 1g more than usual. On my moderate warmup jog to the gym, I took note that I felt WIDE awake with a higher degree of mental focus than usual so early in the morning. Yesterday, with no CM, I explained that I felt a certain lack of energy.

• On my first set of the day doing bent over barbell rows, I became aware that my muscles took very little time to warm up, and I do attribute it to the CM. Without CM, it takes me at least a full set to two sets to warm up. It felt more like my muscles were primed beforehand.

• I began to sweat visibly into the second set of my second exercise, which was a single arm t-bar row. It was so pronounced that I noted it in my journal.

• I was able to take less time recovering between sets, and work harder during the actual sets in a highly pronounced manner.

• The most noticeable aspect of today's workout was that I was able to reach intense muscle failure after only 2 sets of 7 out of the 10 exercises I performed today. This is a big deal to me, because I terminate each exercise after I attain what I deem significant and sufficient failure. This is due to the fact that I was able to exaggerate both the concentric and eccentric phases of all exersises to a greater extent than normal. Because I was able to work harder, my pumps were greater than w/o CM. Enhanced clearing of lactic acid might have something to do with this.

• I felt very drained heading into my 1/2 hr HIIT jumprope routine as the result of my intense lifting cycle. What's interesting is that the HIIT routine felt like any other day, in terms of heart and respiration rate; I didn't notice anything unusual that could have been CM related.

Since near the first days of my CM supplementation I've been having very intense lifting routines, but I've been attributing that to enhanced mental clarity and focus. But that may actually have more to do with the CM than me.

I'll be keeping a close eye on results for the next several weeks, both on and off CM.

[Yep.]

I think I can say with some certainty that CM enhances mental acuity and focus. I feel awake usually within 20-30 mins of taking 3g of it.

Chest/tris/shoul day went well, and I maintained focus throughout the workout without having to tell myself to do so. Toward the end of my triceps routine and 20 mins before the mile sprint I took 6g CM in 5oz H2O. As a side note, I normally take 3g in 5 oz, and with the 6g in 5oz I felt a bit like I was drinking HCl. I followed it with another 6 oz plain water.

I had a hard time with the sprint. Still ran the mile at 5:40, but I think my V02 max is curtailing any further progression. CM can't improve that. As far as the leg muscles were concerned, I didn't notice anything different than normal. There was slight fatigue--nothing less than usual. There is a good chance that the slow twitch fibers in my legs are too conditioned for this test, as there's not ever really a tremendous strain on them. Again, VO2 max is more of the limiting factor here, and CM will not improve that. My lungs burned as usual.

At this point, I'm leaning more toward higher-than-normal adrenaline release and a placebo effect to explain my performance in last week's 5k. CM might be helpful with exercise conducted at lower intensity for a longer period of time, or conversely, with exercise conducted at high intensity for a short period (ie. lifting).

So 3g +6g CM had no noticeable effects on my mile.

More to come next week.

[Jezabell]

Ha, I followed your link over to here. I've read some about CM in different places, but I'm waiting until you finish with this log until I make any decisions. Thanks for the great details.

[Yep.]

Sunday is my off day, when I make sure not to perform any activity more strenuous than walking. This morning, slightly more than an hour after a light whey, oat, and prune breakfast I noticed that I was feeling lethargic; this is most likely due to my abstention from physical activity, and is usually the way I feel on Sundays if I don't at least walk. I chose to take a 3g dose of CM and note any changes in my physical state. Within 20 minutes, I noted a definite change in mental clarity, just as I've noted in past posts when I've felt more clearly minded at the gym. My skepticism over the efficacy of CM is beginning to wane, at least in this respect. I'm feeling more certain that it helps improve mental focus.

[Yep.]

Looks like bb.com finally got a handle on the correct rep algorithm. Anyway, I dosed with 3g CM as usual and had a good workout. There's not much more to say for today.

On Saturday night I, for the first time, noted the beginnings of vascularity in my chest and abdomen. I don't know if I can attribute this to the CM or not. It might be due to the fact that I've put on 10lbs lean in 7 weeks and the veins are just starting to show in those areas.

[Yep.]

I won't be going through with my 12g dose on Friday. I don't think it will matter. Today I took 9g 20 mins before the run and felt no difference in the muscles or respiration. It's really becoming too sour to drink as well. The problem is that I have to use more and more H20 because with 9g, 4oz water quickly becomes oversaturated and some of the CM won't dissolve. I'm having to drink too much water with the CM, and it's becoming uncomfortable. So far, it seems that CM has had a greater effect on mucle readiness during a heavy loading routine than during a long period of high intensity aerobic exercise. Based on what I've experienced, I'd suggest that you can save money (if you choose to purchase bulk CM) by taking only 3-4g before your workout, and perhaps 2-3g more after. I'll continue to post my less-than-scientific findings. I hope I've been able to help a couple of you at least.

[Sixpack]

Great Log I am also enjoying the CM dosed 3grams before and after. I love it pre-cardio and prelifting

[Yep.]

I had one of the most intense full-body pumps I've ever experienced today. Two hours later I'm actually having trouble typing as a result of a pair of mashed forearms. I think this had little to do with CM. I know I might be confusing some people with the swayings over my perception of CM's efficacy, but this is a real world test, and most of you, I'm sure, would have the same feelings and want a truthful review. I want to be as unbiased as possible.

Normally, I go to the gym at 9am, but due to some schedule changes I went at noon today. I had been out of bed for over 4 hours by that time, and had eaten two meals that included 70g of protein. The nutrients had more time to work, and my body had more time to wake up. I did not take CM before the gym.

The other factor that I KNOW helped me to the extreme pump was the song, or two songs I loaded into my mp3 player last night. I'd been looking for them for so long and was finally able to record them, then pull them off my TIVO. They got me very riled up at the gym to the point where I felt almost no pain during my sets. I played them over and over, and kept killing the bar. I killed everything I did today, including a jumprope HIIT routine.

I ran home with doubts over the value of supplements (besides whey and creatine) in my mind. I slightly altered some aspects of my workout (time begun and song choice), took 8oz Gatorade after lifting and before cardio, and had one of the best workouts of my life (without exaggeration).
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By the way, I just stepped away from my computer to get the mail, and I found out I got into grad school! Whew.
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Anyway, I wondered if supplements beyond those basics are worth the cost (monetary, and possibly hidden physical), when I was able to develop a massive pump with the help of a couple of small changes in my routine. It's some serious food for thought, which reminds me, it's time to eat!

[Dosquito]

Awesome log!

[40-Yard Dash_2]

so he used citrulline malate alone, correct? also, i'm a little confused, his mile time was 5:40, but his 5K time was 18:00?