Best Supplement for improving Endurance.

[geronamo]

Hi Guys,

I have recently been called into my provincial 7s squad.. Wasnt expecting it to be honest. Anyway, theres 28 guys and they pick 12.. Its all gonna come down to fitness, so I need to get the edge over these guys. What is the best supplement I can take for improving my VO2 max? and all round endurance? I have had Applied Nutriceuticals - Drive suggested to me.. But really would like more options.

Thanks

[KIMURA]

Sorry bud, but there is no otc supplements that will directly improve your lung capacity and fitness. Just supplements to provide more energy to your muscles while training such as the one you mentioned. The endurance process is improved in athletes with an increased red blood cell level, meaning an increased oxygen carrying capacity.

There are 'other supplements' that can acheive this, a popular one is equipoise or EQ and another is erythropoeiten or EPO (popular amoung cyclists) although the latter is outrageously expensive and has the potential to be pretty dangerous.

I bought a breathing resistance tool off trademe and have been using it for the past 4 months together with my fitness and weights program. I've noticed a big improvment from using it especially in things such as hill sprints and sparring. It's probably the best option for you to try in my opinion, but on the other hand you don't really have much time.

Here's the link anyway mate, and good luck.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Cycling ... 660863.htm

[ThePman]

Hi Guys,

I have recently been called into my provincial 7s squad.. Wasnt expecting it to be honest. Anyway, theres 28 guys and they pick 12.. Its all gonna come down to fitness, so I need to get the edge over these guys. What is the best supplement I can take for improving my VO2 max? and all round endurance? I have had Applied Nutriceuticals - Drive suggested to me.. But really would like more options.

Thanks

Beta-alanine may be worth a try. It's almost up there with creatine in the "proven to work" category. However it's mainly a lactate-buffer that improves local muscular endurance, so don't expect it to do much for VO2.

Otherwise you're not gonna find many options. What exactly do you need to do to qualify? And how long do you have to prepare?

[geronamo]

The team is named in 5 weeks. Im not unfit, in fact I would say Im quite fit, however 7s is a whole new level of fitness. There is no "qualifying standard", just play well... But the fitter I am, the better off ill be. Im gonna have a look at that breathing tool, thanks for that.

[nate225]

Agree with above.

Pretty much limited to EPO & designer versions, which is a pretty serious game to play, or as mentioned earlier several of the AAS which boost rbc. Either way not a good choice with Sevens being a drug tested event.

Further to PMan's comments re: buffers, would H-Blocker or bicarb milkshaking be a viable option?

Another take may be beta stimulants, again not my area & I understand most are banned anyway, however a product with synephrine in may be an option for broncial dialation? As would any of the asthma meds like salbutamol (again need a TUE from a doctor or banned in comp). Anyone more in the know of the above feel free to confirm or deny my guess???

[ThePman]

Further to PMan's comments re: buffers, would H-Blocker or bicarb milkshaking be a viable option?

It might be worth it, cause it's cheap and easy (so why not?) but IIRC that stuff only works for extreme endurance kinds of events - so if you're just out running around on the pitch in the "start-and-stop" style it may not do a whole lot.

Another take may be beta stimulants, again not my area & I understand most are banned anyway, however a product with synephrine in may be an option for broncial dialation? As would any of the asthma meds like salbutamol (again need a TUE from a doctor or banned in comp). Anyone more in the know of the above feel free to confirm or deny my guess???

Stim stuff does seem to help strength/power performance (at least in some cases, some trials show no effect and I think there may be a few that show negative effects), but I don't recall anything off hand showing massive improvements in endurance.

Lemme go check the pubmeds just to be sure.

[ThePman]

Man this was timely, a review hot off the presses:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19924012

Basically they looked at a ton of studies and found that more often than not, caffeine was helpful in endurance events, including team sports. So drink some coffee first!

Caffeine works through the same mechanism as the other beta-agonist stuff (SNS activity) so it's a good likelihood that the other OTC stuff would do the same trick, as would the asthma meds and whatnot. Don't go buck-wild though, remember that you can overdose on this stuff if you're not used to it and then add a ton of activity on top of it.

Just remember that WADA testing is strict as all hell, so if you're subject to that make sure it's not on their list first.

[geronamo]

Agree with above.

Pretty much limited to EPO & designer versions, which is a pretty serious game to play, or as mentioned earlier several of the AAS which boost rbc. Either way not a good choice with Sevens being a drug tested event.

Further to PMan's comments re: buffers, would H-Blocker or bicarb milkshaking be a viable option?

Another take may be beta stimulants, again not my area & I understand most are banned anyway, however a product with synephrine in may be an option for broncial dialation? As would any of the asthma meds like salbutamol (again need a TUE from a doctor or banned in comp). Anyone more in the know of the above feel free to confirm or deny my guess???

Yup, h-blocker and the like would e an option. I have beta-alanine at the moment so I will definitley be using that.. are these the beta stimulants u mentioned? Where would I get synephrine from? And these asthma meds, do u mean using an inhaler?

I will read the report on caffeine now.. Thanks for the help so far guys. Any advantage will help!!

[nate225]

PMan, a guy down here did a research project on caffiene and cyclists, showed significant increase in power output. Unsure if it's published yet?

Asthma meds are from the Dr, and you'll need a Theraputic Use Exemption (TUE) filled out to. One of the AB's was let off with a warning a few years back for no TUE while using an inhaler, lucky not to get a ban.

[Ordy]

From personal testing with running. H-Blocker will help, more so for your body than breathing though. It pretty much stopped any slowdown from sore muscles / legs when running but my lungs / heart felt like they were going to explode at the end.

Energize bullet is the go for this, (from what i've tested so far) it has caffeine and other stuff in it. But for the circuit i have i had the best run time i'd ever had after half a vial of the stuff. Its an energy booster, kinda like V/Redbull but not crap and doesnt leave you sleepy a few hours later when its worn off.