eptember 20th, 2009 Volume I Issue 3
This BS newsletter is going to be a little different than the previous one. Instead of picking on an ingredient, I’m going to shift my focus to a product. And it’s probably the most successful product an “underground” supplement company has released to date.
It is…… USPLabs Jack3d!
I hate to start with this product because in all honesty, this is one of the better combination products on the market. I love three of the ingredients in it: creatine monohydrate, beta alanine, and 1,3-dimethylamylamine. However, even with 3 great ingredients, it’s still damn near ineffective. Why?
Side note: 1,3-dimethylamylamine gained popularity during the Patrick Arnold/Ergopharm/Amp debacle around 2 or 3 years ago. Some argue (I’m not for sure if Patrick Arnold ever admitted it), that 1,3-dimethylamylamine was the ingredient that made Amp so effective. Either way, in my opinion, it’s one of the most underrated supplements in the game today. Even though there’s hardly any research supporting it, it’s the only stimulant I use anymore. The best way I could describe it is a calm, focused energy. 50mg not only keeps me focused and energized for 5 or 6 hours, but it also does a number on my appetite.
It’s not the ingredients…. It’s the dosage.
A good analogy for Jack3d is a Ferrari without an engine. Let’s ignore the fact that it contains AAKG (leucine or carbs would have been a much better choice). Take a look at the ATP-Carnosine-Vaso Complex, which consists of AAKG, creatine monohydrate, and beta alanine. 3500mg of that complex is in each scoop. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say each ingredient is represented evenly in that 3500mg total. Thus, each scoop would roughly contain 1.2 grams of creatine, 1.2 grams of beta alanine, and 1.2 grams of AAKG. Even at the highest dosage (3 scoops), you’re only consuming 3.6 grams of creatine monohydrate and 3.6 grams of beta alanine. And that’s just on workout days, not every day.
I’ve spent the last week perusing pubmed.org for research articles on beta alanine and performance. I’ve probably read through 10-15 studies detailing beta alanine’s effects on exercise performance. In only one of the studies that I came across was the beta alanine dosage ever lower than 4 grams daily. And in that study, the dosage was anywhere from 2-4 grams daily. Even the study that found beta alanine to be ineffective, the dosage was still great than 3.6 grams. And the large majority of the studies had the participants taking beta alanine daily for several weeks (4-8 weeks).
Van Thienen, et al. Beta-alanine improves sprint performance in endurance cycling. 2-4 grams daily for 8 weeks
Kendrick, et al.The effect of 4 weeks beta-alanine supplementation and isokinetic training on carnosineconcentrations in type I and II human skeletal muscle fibres.:6.4 grams daily for 4 weeks
Smith, et al. Effects of beta-alanine supplementation and high-intensity intervaltraining on endurance performance and body composition in men; a double-blind trial.:1.5 grams 4 times daily for 21 days, followed by 1.5 grams twice daily for 21 days.
Hoffman, et al. Short-duration beta-alanine supplementation increases training volume and reduces subjective feelings of fatigue in college football players.: 4.5 grams daily for 30 days.
Stout, et al. Effects of twenty-eight days of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on the physical working capacity at neuromuscular fatigue threshold.: 1.6g four times daily for 6 days then 1.5 grams twice daily for 22 days
Derave, et al. beta-Alanine supplementation augments muscle carnosine content and attenuates fatigue during repeated isokinetic contraction bouts in trained sprinters.: 4.8g daily for 4 weeks
Hoffman, et al. Beta-alanine and the hormonal response to exercise.: 4.8g daily for 30 days
Kendrick, et al. The effects of 10 weeks of resistance training combined with beta-alanine supplementation on whole body strength, force production, muscular endurance and body composition.: 6.4g daily for 10 weeks
*Creatine supplementation is similar. The large majority of studies supporting creatine’s beneficial effects had participants taking creatine daily. And the majority of evidence supports the fact that around 5 grams daily is a good maintenance dose. If you understand how creatine works, it’s apparent that “as needed” dosing is ineffective. Daily dosing allows you to build up your creatine reservoirs, and allows for the replacement of muscle creatine that you lose throughout the day. An “as needed” regimen cannot adequately build up your reservoirs. At best, it may have some positive benefits after several months of use. But that’s extremely inefficient and expensive.
I see this almost weekly in the pharmacy. A patient will complain that his blood pressure is still not controlled even though he’s on several blood pressure medications. I’ll glance at his medication profile, and see that he’s entirely noncompliant with his meds. He’ll go 5 or 6 days at a time without taking his meds. Blood pressure medications were not designed to be effective on an “as needed” basis. They’re daily medications. The same goes with creatine and beta alanine. They both build up stores of critical ingredients for muscular growth/performance. Taking them “as needed” is pretty much useless.
For those that have had success with Jack3d, I propose to you the following: Buy 1000 grams of creatine monohydrate (~$20), 500 grams of beta alanine (~$26), and a bottle of of 1,3-dimethylamylamine capsules (~$25). Not only will that stack give you better results, but you’ll save around $50-100 over a 3 month period. That’s no BS!
This BS newsletter is going to be a little different than the previous one. Instead of picking on an ingredient, I’m going to shift my focus to a product. And it’s probably the most successful product an “underground” supplement company has released to date.
It is…… USPLabs Jack3d!
I hate to start with this product because in all honesty, this is one of the better combination products on the market. I love three of the ingredients in it: creatine monohydrate, beta alanine, and 1,3-dimethylamylamine. However, even with 3 great ingredients, it’s still damn near ineffective. Why?
Side note: 1,3-dimethylamylamine gained popularity during the Patrick Arnold/Ergopharm/Amp debacle around 2 or 3 years ago. Some argue (I’m not for sure if Patrick Arnold ever admitted it), that 1,3-dimethylamylamine was the ingredient that made Amp so effective. Either way, in my opinion, it’s one of the most underrated supplements in the game today. Even though there’s hardly any research supporting it, it’s the only stimulant I use anymore. The best way I could describe it is a calm, focused energy. 50mg not only keeps me focused and energized for 5 or 6 hours, but it also does a number on my appetite.
It’s not the ingredients…. It’s the dosage.
A good analogy for Jack3d is a Ferrari without an engine. Let’s ignore the fact that it contains AAKG (leucine or carbs would have been a much better choice). Take a look at the ATP-Carnosine-Vaso Complex, which consists of AAKG, creatine monohydrate, and beta alanine. 3500mg of that complex is in each scoop. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say each ingredient is represented evenly in that 3500mg total. Thus, each scoop would roughly contain 1.2 grams of creatine, 1.2 grams of beta alanine, and 1.2 grams of AAKG. Even at the highest dosage (3 scoops), you’re only consuming 3.6 grams of creatine monohydrate and 3.6 grams of beta alanine. And that’s just on workout days, not every day.
I’ve spent the last week perusing pubmed.org for research articles on beta alanine and performance. I’ve probably read through 10-15 studies detailing beta alanine’s effects on exercise performance. In only one of the studies that I came across was the beta alanine dosage ever lower than 4 grams daily. And in that study, the dosage was anywhere from 2-4 grams daily. Even the study that found beta alanine to be ineffective, the dosage was still great than 3.6 grams. And the large majority of the studies had the participants taking beta alanine daily for several weeks (4-8 weeks).
Van Thienen, et al. Beta-alanine improves sprint performance in endurance cycling. 2-4 grams daily for 8 weeks
Kendrick, et al.The effect of 4 weeks beta-alanine supplementation and isokinetic training on carnosineconcentrations in type I and II human skeletal muscle fibres.:6.4 grams daily for 4 weeks
Smith, et al. Effects of beta-alanine supplementation and high-intensity intervaltraining on endurance performance and body composition in men; a double-blind trial.:1.5 grams 4 times daily for 21 days, followed by 1.5 grams twice daily for 21 days.
Hoffman, et al. Short-duration beta-alanine supplementation increases training volume and reduces subjective feelings of fatigue in college football players.: 4.5 grams daily for 30 days.
Stout, et al. Effects of twenty-eight days of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on the physical working capacity at neuromuscular fatigue threshold.: 1.6g four times daily for 6 days then 1.5 grams twice daily for 22 days
Derave, et al. beta-Alanine supplementation augments muscle carnosine content and attenuates fatigue during repeated isokinetic contraction bouts in trained sprinters.: 4.8g daily for 4 weeks
Hoffman, et al. Beta-alanine and the hormonal response to exercise.: 4.8g daily for 30 days
Kendrick, et al. The effects of 10 weeks of resistance training combined with beta-alanine supplementation on whole body strength, force production, muscular endurance and body composition.: 6.4g daily for 10 weeks
*Creatine supplementation is similar. The large majority of studies supporting creatine’s beneficial effects had participants taking creatine daily. And the majority of evidence supports the fact that around 5 grams daily is a good maintenance dose. If you understand how creatine works, it’s apparent that “as needed” dosing is ineffective. Daily dosing allows you to build up your creatine reservoirs, and allows for the replacement of muscle creatine that you lose throughout the day. An “as needed” regimen cannot adequately build up your reservoirs. At best, it may have some positive benefits after several months of use. But that’s extremely inefficient and expensive.
I see this almost weekly in the pharmacy. A patient will complain that his blood pressure is still not controlled even though he’s on several blood pressure medications. I’ll glance at his medication profile, and see that he’s entirely noncompliant with his meds. He’ll go 5 or 6 days at a time without taking his meds. Blood pressure medications were not designed to be effective on an “as needed” basis. They’re daily medications. The same goes with creatine and beta alanine. They both build up stores of critical ingredients for muscular growth/performance. Taking them “as needed” is pretty much useless.
For those that have had success with Jack3d, I propose to you the following: Buy 1000 grams of creatine monohydrate (~$20), 500 grams of beta alanine (~$26), and a bottle of of 1,3-dimethylamylamine capsules (~$25). Not only will that stack give you better results, but you’ll save around $50-100 over a 3 month period. That’s no BS!
