NitroVol Questions and Answers

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Q1. What is NitroVol?

NitroVol is a combination of supplements including creatine, glutamine, carbohydrates and a blend of quality protein sources.

Q2. What is the science behind the NitroVol formula?

Each ingredient in NitroVol has been carefully selected to have specific physiological effects:

1. Creatine: Increases cellular hydration via its ability increase intracellular volume (Bemben et al., 2002). This is believed to be an anabolic signal, which may promote protein synthesis (Haussinger et al., 1993). Due to its effect on muscle metabolism, creatine may also allow a higher training intensity to be maintained which may ultimately lead to a greater stimulus for muscle growth (Volek et al., 1999).

2. Glutamine: Is a fuel source for numerous cells of the immune system and may be able to reduce infections rates in athletes during strenuous competition and training (Castell et al., 1996). Furthermore, the provision of supplementary glutamine may spare muscle protein in the case of inadequate dietary intake (Antonio et al., 1999). Glutamine may also increase the cellular hydration status (Antonio et al., 1999), which may be an anabolic signal (Haussinger et al., 1993).

3. Carbohydrates: Research has indicated that that resistance exercise can elicit a considerable glycogenolytic effect, which can lead to fatigue and strength loss (Conley, 1996). Carbohydrates may therefore be of benefit to replenish and assist in the maintenance of muscle glycogen stores (Haff et al., 2003).

4. Protein Blend: Proteins can be broadly classified as either fast or slow depending on how quickly they are absorbed (Boirie, 1997). Prior to and immediately following exercise it may be beneficial to ingest protein sources that are rapidly absorbed and provide the muscle with amino acids to stimulate protein synthesis. However, a slow protein source may be beneficial to ensure the maintenance of blood amino acids in the hours after exercise and promote an anticatabolic environment. NitroVol contains a protein blend designed to achieve both these objectives. The whey protein in NitroVol can be considered a fast protein source that is rapidly absorbed (Ha et al., 2003), while casein derived from the whole milk proteins (Kreider et al., 2002) can be considered a slow protein (Boirie et al., 1997).

Q3. Is NitroVol only for Bodybuilders?

Given that NitroVol may have a marked anabolic effect it is likely to be of benefit to those wanting to increase their lean muscle mass. Obviously bodybuilders could benefit from the cell volumising and metabolic advantages that NitroVol may provide. However, the physiological benefits of NitroVol are not exclusively limited to the bodybuilder. In fact gains in lean muscle mass could benefit athletes in a number of sports such as those requiring strength and power. Therefore although the physiological effects of NitroVol are of obvious benefit to the bodybuilder they may also offer benefit to athletes in a number of other sports. Furthermore, NitroVol should not be considered a supplement exclusively for athletes. Fitness enthusiasts or even individuals beginning a training program may greatly accelerate their strength, muscle gains and athletic performance by consuming NitroVol.

Q4. Is NitroVol superior to using creatine, protein or glutamine individually?

The combination of ingredients in NitroVol makes it a ready made and convenient stack to use. The ingredients have been selected so as to promote a range of beneficial physiological effects at the cellular level that are not able to be obtained via the ingestion of its ingredients individually. This means that NitroVol may offer many physiological benefits that cannot be obtained by simply consuming creatine, protein or glutamine individually.

Q5. When is the best time to consume NitroVol?

NitroVol is best consumed immediately after training for several reasons. Research has shown that the ingestion of carbohydrate and essential amino acids immediately after training can further stimulate protein synthesis above that of resistance training alone (Tipton et al., 2001). The retention of creatine may also be greater if ingested immediate after muscular exercise (Harris et al., 1992). Furthermore, intense exercise can deplete plasma glutamine levels and it has been suggested that glutamine supplementation post exercise may restore physiological levels (Castell et al., 1996). Finally exercise can deplete muscle glycogen stores so it is advised that carbohydrate be ingested post exercise to replenish used glycogen (Haff et al., 2003).

Q6. What does cell volumising mean and will NitroVol have this physiological effect?

The term cell volumising has become popular terminology to describe the hydration status of a cell. The reason this has become a talking point in sports nutrition circles is that it now appears that increasing cell volume may increase protein synthesis and reduce protein breakdown (Haussinger, 1993). Consequently using supplements that increase skeletal muscle cellular hydration or prevent declines in cellular volume may optimise protein synthesis. NitroVol contains both creatine and glutamine, which have both suggested to have cell volumising effects (Bemben et al., 2002, Antonio et al., 1999).

Q7. Could NitroVol be used during the recovery from injury?

Injuries are an unfortunate fact of life. However, with advances in modern medicine treating and rehabilitating injuries has come along way. With many injuries, loss of muscle mass and strength occurs as a consequence of the fact that the injured limb muscle or joint often has to be immobilised for a period of time. This lost muscle mass and strength must be regained during the rehabilitation process.

In a recent scientific study a plaster cast was used to immobilise the right leg of 22 healthy volunteers (Hepel et al., 2001). As expected the two-week immobilisation period resulted in a loss of muscle size and strength. After the plaster casts were removed, all volunteers began a 10-week rehabilitation program to regain their lost muscle size and strength. However, during the rehabilitation training only half the volunteers were ingesting creatine and the remaining subjects were administered an inactive placebo (sugar). What the researchers found was that during the rehabilitation program the creatine group recovered their lost strength and muscle mass at a much faster rate than the placebo group. This study clearly illustrates that creatine may have broad therapeutic potential within the field of injury rehabilitation.

As NitroVol contains creatine it may be of benefit to athletes wanting to regain muscle mass and strength following injury. However, the creatine content in NitroVol may not be the only way in which NitroVol may be of benefit during injury rehabilitation. As stated previously, increases in cell volume may be an anabolic signal within the muscle cell. Consequently, any supplement that could result in an increase in cell volume could in theory be of benefit to the athlete recovering from injury. NitroVol contains several ingredients that may increase skeletal muscle cell volume and consequently could maximise protein synthesis during rehabilitation from injury.

Q8. Would NitroVol stack well with any other supplements?

Although NitroVol can be considered a stack in itself, it would stack well with Myocytin for those wishing to maximise their lean mass. To trial this stack simply follow the directions in table one. After loading Myocytin for a period of 6 days you simply ingest one serving of NitroVol per day. As NitroVol contains three grams of creatine per serve it can be used to maintain the elevated intramuscular creatine stores attained via the Myocytin loading protocol (Hultman et al., 1996). You could simply follow this program for eight weeks prior to having one week off. Then begin the cycle over again.

Table 1: Load Myocytin for 6 days as directed in the table below.

Q9. Is NitroVol safe?

NitroVol is used by many elite teams and elite athletes and has not been reported to have any side effects. Furthermore, the key ingredients in NitroVol have previously been reported to be well tolerated in humans (Schilling et al, 2001; Antonio et al., 1999;Ha et al., 2003). However like any supplement individuals should not consume NitroVol at higher than recommended daily intakes and should consult a physician prior to beginning a new exercise or nutritional program.

Q10. Will NitroVol result in a positive drug test?

No, NitroVol is not a banned substance. In fact none of the ingredients in body science NitroVol are listed on the current World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list (WADA, 2004). Therefore, NitroVol can be considered a safe and legal method of supplementing the diet, even in elite athletes subjected to regular drug testing.

References:

1. Antonio, J. and Street, C. Glutamine: a potentially useful supplement for athletes. Canadian journal of applied physiology. 24:1-14, 1999.
2. Bemben, M.G., Bemben, D.A., Loftiss, D.D. and Knehans, A.W. Creatine supplementation during resistance training in college football athletes. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 33:1667-1673, 2001.
3. Boirie, Y., Dangin, M., Gachon, P., Vasson, M.P., Maubois, J.L. and Beaufrere, B. Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 94:14930-14935, 1997.
4. Castell, L.M., Poortmans, J.R. and Newsholme, E.A. Does glutamine have a role in reducing infections in athletes? European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology 73: 488-490, 1996.
5. Conley, M.S., Stone, M.H. Carbohydrate ingestion/supplementation for resistance exercise and training. Sports medicine 21:7-17, 1996.
6. Ha, E. Zemel, M.B. Functional properties of whey, whey components, and essential amino acids: mechanisms underlying health benefits for active people. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 14:251-258, 2003
7. Haff, G.G., Lehmkuhl, M.J., McCoy, L.B. and Stone, M.H. Carbohydrate supplementation and resistance training. [Article] Journal of strength and conditioning research 17(1), 187-196, 2003.
8. Harris, R.C., Soderlund, K. and Hultman, E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clinical science 83:367-374, 1992.
9. Haussinger, D., Roth, E., Lang, F. and Gerok W. Cellular hydration state: an important determinant of protein catabolism in health and disease. Lancet. 341:1330-2, 1993
10. Hespel, P., Op't Eijnde, B., Van Leemputte, M., Urso, B., Greenhaff, P.L., Labarque, V., Dymarkowski, S., Van Hecke, P. and Richter, E.A. Oral creatine supplementation facilitates the rehabilitation of disuse atrophy and alters the expression of muscle myogenic factors in humans. Journal of Physiology. 536:625-33, 2001
11. Hultman, E. Soderlund, K. Timmons, J.A. Cederblad, G. and Greenhaff, P.L. Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of Applied Physiology. 81:232-7, 1996
12. Kreider, R.B. Which protein is best for sports performance? Availible online at: http://www.ffnmag.com/ASP/home.asp
13. Rogerson, S, Weatherby, R.P. and Nicholson, V. A comparison of two commercially available creatine supplements on Performance, Anthropometric and Morphological Measures. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 6(4);S39, 2003.
14.Schilling, B.K., Stone, M.H., Utter, A., Kearney, J.T., Johnson, M., Coglianese, R., Smith, L., O'Bryant, H.S., Fry, A.C., Starks, M., Keith, R. and Stone, M.E. Creatine supplementation and health variables: a retrospective study. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 33:183-188, 2001
15.Tipton, K.D., Rasmussen, B.B., Miller, S.L., Wolf, S.E., Owens-Stoval,l S.K., Petrini, B.E. and Wolfe, R.R. Timing of amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic response of muscle to resistance exercise. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology & Metabolism. 281:E197-E206, 2001
16.Volek, J.S., Duncan, N.D., Mazzetti, S.A., Staron, R.S., Putukian, M., Gomez, A.L., Pearson, D.R., Fink, W.J. and Kraemer, W.J. Performance and muscle fiber adaptations to creatine supplementation and heavy resistance training. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 31:1147-1156, 1999.
17.World Anti Doping Agency prohibited list (2004). Available online: http://www.wada-ama.org/en/t1.asp