SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

The stack (ingredients on the right) was ingested twice daily. It has been a while since the last study on sodium bicarbonate's usefulness has found its way to the SuppVersity. And, technically speaking, the latest RCT by scientists from the  Department of Sports Training at the Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland, and colleagues from the Miller School of Medicine , at the University of Miami is a "bicar-bonate", but not a "sodium bicarbonate" study. How's that? Well, the scientists did exactly what some of you have already suggested: They combined sodium-  and potassium-bicarbonate (the authors write di-carbonate, which is obviously the same) at a dosage of 3g, each, to achieve a balance between the two macro-minerals and topped the bicarbonates up with 1000 mg (600 mg + 400 mg) calcium phosphate and calcium citrate , 1000 mg potassium citrate , and 1000 mg magnesium citrate. Mineral water will contain some K and M...

While there's some evidence that other plants from the genus "Rhodiola" may have similar effects, you want to rely on the std. exctracts from "Rhodiola Rosea" that were used in several studies if you want to try it | for dosage recommendation, see bottom line. Some of you will probably remember that " Rhodiola " aka"Golden Root" is a putative adaptogen, i.e. a "nontoxic [sic!] substance and especially a plant extract that is held to increase the body's ability to resist the damaging effects of stress and promote or restore normal physiological functioning" (Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary )... No? Well, I remembered "Rhodiola Rosea", as I should have written before to avoid confusion with other plants from the  same genus , when I saw a recent post by Jason Cholewa on Facebook. The link to a study that was attached to the post didn't just remind me of this almost forgotten herb (ten years ago it was used...

Not sure what would happen to your sprints if you have whey before HITing it... While more and more scientists and "evidence-based" trainers and fitness gurus, alike, keep repeating that "protein timing" - as heavily and feverishly as it is often debated on Facebook and elsewhere on the interwebs - is significantly less important than some gymrats still tend to believe ( Schoenfeld 2013 ). The question "When do I take my whey shake?" is still a topic worth discussing. In particular, if an interesting new study - a systematic review, to be precise - seems to suggest that protein timing does, at least in protein supplementation studies, matter... and what's most exciting, it seems to matter for the one outcome of physical exercise and dietary discipline many gymrats consider the #1 on their priority list: improvements in  body composition ... or, as many call it, "getting ripped and jacked" ;-) Learn more about building muscle and stre...

Getting ready for an all-out sprint? A bitter mouth rinse W/ quinine will provide instant power boost of 4% in ‘ur 30s cycle sprint more than a sweet mouth rinse could do . If you're a powerlifter, the idea that rinsing your mouth with a bitter substance can improve your performance is probably no news for you... even though, powerlifters smell, not taste ammonia, smelling and tasting are, after all, more or less two sides of the same coin (Rozin. 1982). Against that background and in view of the similar brain activation patterns scientists have observed in response to bitter and sweet taste perception, it appears only logical for Sharon Gam et al. to speculate in a 2014 paper, which is still worth its own SuppVersity article (!), that rinsing w/ quinine, a distinctly bitter substance, could produce the same or at least similar power increments as sweet substances. For longer sprints bicarbonate may be the more effective choice The Hazards of Acidosis Build Bigger L...

If that's you. It's well possible that you've done it all wrong. Wearing the cuffs after the set may be the way to go! You may have followed up on my recent suggested read in the SuppVersity Facebook News  and read up on the recent scientific debate on the (non-)usefulness of training with cuffs ( BFR-style ). Well, after reading the full text of a recent study by Conor W. Taylor et al. (2015), I have to say: Maybe we have only done it wrong. In their study, the researchers from the  Loughborough University in Leicestershire had their subjects, 28 healthy trained males who were cycling 120 ± 66 km per week, all cuffed up after  each set of a standardized sprint training. That's very dufferent from trying to sprint with cuffs on your legs (and usually reduced intensity) and appears to be - that's at least what the study results suggest - a potential game-changer. You can learn more about BFR and Hypoxia Training at the SuppVersity BFR, Cortis...