Max Muscle Hers

Increase Muscle Pump, Strength and Stamina With NO

07-18-2007

By Chad Case, C.S.N

When we say NO we don’t mean “no,” we actually are talking about Nitric Oxide (NO) the hot new supplement on the sports nutrition market. Everyone wants to know if this stuff really works, if it has any research studies, and exactly how it does work. One thing is for sure, people are buying these NO products so they must be doing something. Most companies report their NO products work in three ways, increasing muscle pump, stamina and strength. Let’s see what really might make them work.
First of all, NO is not the same as NO2. NO is Nitric Oxide while NO2 is Nitrogen Dioxide, an environmental pollutant gas formed from the burning of fuels in cars, gas heaters, etc. In the human body NO is an important signaling molecule that acts in many tissues to regulate many physiological processes including vasodilatation (blood vessel expansion), brain neuron function, inflammation, apoptosis (programmed cell death), cellular protection and immune function. We are most interested in the vasodilatation effects for increasing blood flow.

As you train, blood flows into your muscles causing a pump. If you could get more blood into the muscles you would have a greater pump effect. The purpose of NO products is to increase the blood flow into your muscles causing them to look and feel larger. NO products will increase in blood flow and increases the amount of nutrients delivered to the muscle. The NO equation looks something like this: Take NO supplement, increase pump in trained muscles, increase nutrient delivery from increased blood flow to the muscles, increased recovery speed and, viola, increased muscle growth. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Science is currently trying to catch up to the bodybuilder in this area. There are ongoing research studies looking at the effects of NO products on muscle growth and strength increases.

The way that NO products increase NO is via arginine alpha-ketoglutarate (AAKG) and/or arginine ketoisocaproate (AKIC). These two compounds deliver both arginine, a non-essential amino acid that can be formed from glutamic acid, and alpha ketoglutaric acid, a Kreb’s Cycle compound, or ketoisocaproic acid, which oxidizes to HMB in the body. HMB, you may recall, is a bodybuilding supplement that has been studied for its ability to increase lean muscle mass. Alpha-ketoglutarate may provide a source of energy as a Kreb’s Cycle intermediate. Arginine is part of the NO production cycle in the body and its uptake and recycling regulates the production of NO. As you can see, AAKG and AKIC both deliver arginine and play a role in other processes in the body. Some formulas add in citrulline and NADH along with other nutrients. Citrulline, a non-essential amino acid, and NADH, an energy compound, are both part of the NO production cycle in the body so it makes sense that they would be in a good NO formula.

You might be wondering if you get arginine in your protein supplements. The answer is a resounding YES! Arginine is found in whey, casein and soy. NO products are thought to work better at stimulating NO production due to the source (AAKG and AKIC). There is no concrete science to support this assertion directly, but it is the prevailing and accepted theory.

Taking NO products is a daily process. You want to make sure you take at least 3g of AAKG or AKIC or a combination of the two. You can take your NO products while you are taking creatine and protein. They will not conflict. Research in the area of NO products is ongoing and data should be available later this year. No one can say for sure that they work, but all the repeat buyers must mean that something is working in these products. It usually takes science a little while to catch up, but in the meantime you might be able to put on a few extra pounds of muscle. Then when the science does come in if they tell you it works you can say, "well I could have told you that!".

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