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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

09.01.2013

This is what happens if you combine NO-Shotgun with NO-Synthesize

Bodybuilders make slightly faster progress if they take a spoonful of NO-Shotgun before a workout and a spoonful of NO-Synthesize afterwards, than if they take no sports supplements at all during a workout. Sports scientists from Florida State University write about this in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Whether the combination of these two products works better than ordinary whey is impossible to tell from the study itself.

Multi-ingredient performance supplements are popular among athletes. They are usually powders that need mixing in a liquid, and usually contain a mixture of whey and performance-enhancing compounds like creatine, beta-alanine, caffeine, BCAAs or NO-donors. Every self-respecting supplements company carries at least one if not more types of these.

This goes for the sponsor of the study we describe here: Vital Pharmaceuticals, the producer of NO-Shotgun and NO-Synthesize.

The composition of NO-Shotgun is reproduced below [first] – at least what the manufacturer is prepared to give away. It's difficult to say what the most important ingredients are, as the information is not specific enough.

The same is true for NO-Synthesize, the composition of which is shown below as well [second]. The two products resemble each other. One difference is that NO-Synthesize contains more whey and more BCAAs. No-Synthesize is more of a post-workout supplement, NO-Shotgun more of a pre-workout product.

The researchers gave a dozen students, all of whom had been doing weight training for an average of five years, a 21 g spoonful of NO-Shotgun before a workout and a 21 g spoonful of NO-Synthesize afterwards. A similar sized control group of students were given a placebo that contained a similar amount of kcals, but consisting of the carbohydrate maltodextrin. All students followed the same training routines.

The researchers discovered that the supplementation did not have a great effect on the concentration of anabolic hormones. Maximal strength rose in both the supplementation group [MIPS] and the control group [PLA]. The 1RM for the leg-press and the bench-press increased by a similar amount in both groups.

Both groups also lost the same amount of fat mass and gained the same amount of lean body mass. The figure above shows that the supplementation group did a little better than the placebo group.

"Continued investigation of these or similar products is warranted as questions about the influence of performance supplements on volitional training volume should be answered", the researchers write in their conclusion. "Additionally, future research should investigate multi-ingredient performance supplements use in populations that include both women and older populations and incorporate exercise modalities that extend beyond traditional resistance training."

These subjects are of course interesting, but we have a more burning question: to what extent do all these pricey multi-ingredient performance supplements work any better than an ordinary protein shake? Or for that matter a protein shake that you add your own creatine or BCAAs to?

Source:
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Nov 15;9(1):49. [Epub ahead of print].

More:
NO Shotgun works, says study 02.03.2010