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You already know how to proceed with supplements based on creatine, as the main active ingredient of the supplement. Additionally, you know how to synergize the effect of keratin preparations by using creatine power and transport enhancers (additional supplements). Supplements of this type are usually taken in the morning on an empty stomach and after training - however, you can replace the morning dose with a pre-training dose. What interests us in this article? Typically pre-training supplementation - these will mainly be products based on the production of nitric oxide (NO) and specially composed supplements of single amino acids affecting the production of NO.
Nitrogen boosters and additives.
Everything happens thanks to biochemical processes and the mechanisms that cooperate with them, creating a chain of cause and effect. There must be a certain stimulus that will start a series of biochemical reactions inside the body. Of course, we are most interested in the processes that we use and intensify by using pre-workout supplements to achieve a specific training effect.
When it comes to pre-workouts based on the action of nitric oxide (NO), they use processes related to the NO synthase enzyme called NOS - we divide it into eNOS, iNOS, nNOS due to the place of production of this active substance. Nitric oxide is created in reactions in the presence of the amino acid arginine - for this reason, this substance is added to booster preparations (you can also additionally invest in an arginine supplement or stock up on an amino acid complex or AAKG).
Thanks to Activlab Nitro Caps or NO Muscle Pump we are able to achieve the state of the so-called muscle pump - it consists in the expansion of blood vessels, thanks to which it is possible to deliver a much larger amount of oxygenated blood and nutrients to the muscles. Thanks to the increased blood flow with oxygen and nutrients, muscles can gain a much better shape and size - in addition, training possibilities such as strength, efficiency and muscle endurance are significantly increased. Additionally, we are able to achieve muscle hypertrophy based on the increase in the volume of blood vessels, because thanks to this we provide muscle fibers with a new stimulus - they can develop better, strengthen and activate new fibers, but it should be remembered that they fall into a state of getting used to the doses and a given substance, which is why the NO booster may no longer work. Therefore, it is a cyclical supplementation - NO boosters are used in combination with creatine supplements, which we take after training, as opposed to a pre-training booster. What else? The energy and training resources of our muscles increase significantly, which makes it easier to progress on every level.
How to use this type of product? Well, the doses should be tested, because the supplement works differently for everyone - you can possibly define a base dose as a reference point (information on the packaging).
A activlab NO Muscle Pump [training day]:
- 50g portion in 200ml of water 20-30 minutes before training
Activlab Nitro Caps [training day]:
- 4 caps. 20-30 minutes before training
AAKG and L-Arginine - additives to NO boosters
If we have set ourselves the goal of increasing the production and level of nitric oxide in the body before training, in order to achieve better results, it would be useful to reach for an arginine supplement, because it is from this amino acid that NO is created in biochemical reactions. However, it is not that simple - it is best to stock up on an AAKG supplement (arginine alpha-ketoglutarate). Why is it like this? Well, the regular form of L-arginine is too unstable in the body and has a short period of biological activity, which means that it will not be of much use to us - NO boosters may contain arginine, which is necessary for the production of nitric oxide, but it is always good to have some protection, and additionally arginine supports the processes that increase the production of GH (growth hormone). The ketoacid form, i.e. AKG, is much more stable than the basic, regular form, which means that it is also more effective.
A very good alternative to AKG is the use of an arginine complex, or the so-called matrix - it is a mixture of different forms of arginine with different activity, decay time, stability and "strength". Such a supplement is, for example, the Activlab Arginine 3 preparation, which contains three of its forms (as the name suggests): L-arginine, arginine alpha-ketoglutarate and arginine pyroglutamate - this will provide us with sufficient certainty. This amino acid can be naturally produced in the body from another amino acid - citrulline. NO production takes place on the basis of the reaction: Arginine -> Citrulline + NO
The dosage here is slightly different than in the case of NO boosters - we also use the arginine supplement after training to maintain the NO level for longer and at the same time the muscle pump effect. So how does it look?
Activlab Arginine 3 [training day]:
- 2 capsules before training + 2 capsules after training
Activlab Arginine 3 [non-training day]:
- 1 capsule before breakfast + 1 capsule before bedtime
Why is that? Well, as I mentioned, this preparation supports not only the production of nitric oxide, but also GH - so we call it a NO booster. It will also support the body's night regeneration, and as we know, it cannot do without optimal regeneration at the cellular level (including muscle).
Boosters and arginine + creatine
The above-mentioned agents are most often combined with creatine. Why? Recall what increased levels of nitric oxide give us. Do you already know? Exactly - dilation of blood vessels, and as a result, better transport of creatine. Arginine also increases the resources of natural creatine in the body. Additionally, thanks to the increase in cell volume, the glycogen storage also increases (we store sugar there in the form of glycogen). In this case, creatine is used in the morning, on an empty stomach (5g) and after training (5g).
A specific agent is creatine stacks, which contain a mixture of different keratin fractions (different forms in one supplement). These preparations most often contain AAKG and citrulline malate (I mentioned citrulline above - it is a kind of precursor of the amino acid arginine). An additional positive element of this combination is providing creatine substances with an optimal environment for action (optimal pH - creatine works best in a strictly defined pH range) - thanks to this phenomenon, the process of converting creatine to unnecessary creatinine (excreted from the body with urine) is significantly slowed down.
Creatine stack as a pre-workout?
Very often, in states of building muscle strength and endurance (sometimes also mass), training people use creatine matrix before training and another dose after training. This is a different dosing option for the already accepted "morning + after training" form. In the morning, you can use protein supplement or branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) to obtain an anti-catabolic effect after "night fasting".
When using pre- and post-workout dosing for a specific purpose, you can change the form of creatine - often people who exercise cycle on creatine monohydrate and malate/citrate. I recommend the option of just malate/citrate or keratin stacks for building strength and/or mass.
Recommended supplements:
-Activlab Nitro Caps
- Activlab NO Muscle Pump
-Activlab Arginine 3
-Activlab TCM Pro
-Activlab Creatine 3
