Recovery: A Strategized Supplement Synergy

When it comes down to it, making muscular gains is about going beyond simply recovery: Building muscle size, day by day, inch by inch, requires a net positive effect on muscle protein balance. Reducing muscle breakdown [probably by increasing insulin levels^5,6] is one way that including carbs in your peri-workout^7-10 recovery drink gets this done. Intra-workout carbs also reduce post-exercise cortisol¹¹, an important predictor of muscle growth over the long haul^12,13. Admittedly though, the science is actually a bit fuzzy as to the acute^14,15 and long haul benefits¹⁶ of peri-workout carbs for packing on size per se, but including carbs in a recovery drink primes your muscles for restoring glycogen^17,18 (see Cyclic Dextrin® below) and there’s certainly no disadvantage to intra-workout carbohydrate¹⁹.

Before we get into the details of Recovery, be sure you don’t lose sight of the big picture when crafting your intra- and post-workout strategy. Intra-workout nutrition is just one piece of the puzzle: Substantial gains may very well mean consuming more carbohydrate and/or protein (and calories!) than subjects following most research protocols. For example, supersizing your post-workout carbohydrate (e.g., with 90-100g of carbs) may⁸ or may not²⁰ inhibit protein breakdown. However, a glycogen-filled muscle cell is generally a more anabolic one⁷ and a brutal weight training workout dramatically elevates metabolic rate^21,22, and can even temporarily prohibit glycogen replenishment despite eating a high carbohydrate diet²³. This may be why one study found that hard training plus massive (>350g) carbohydrate supplementation (even without additional protein!) produces substantial gains in muscle mass without increased body fat²⁴.

Obviously, protein has its role, too. While consuming more than ~40g of post-workout protein may not further increase protein synthesis^25-27, doubling this amount^28,29!] creates the positive protein balance we want by blunting protein breakdown. While adding more and more protein to the diet beyond a certain point^30,31 isn’t a magic bullet for building more muscle, there is also little risk of adverse health effects or gaining body fat from simply from eating large amounts of protein^32-34.

Given the above, we’ve created Recovery as a way to jumpstart a recovery strategy based on a sound diet replete with carbs, protein, and calories.

Performance Carbohydrate and N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine

• Recovery contains highly branched cyclic dextrin (as 15 grams of Cyclic Dextrin®) to enhance gastric emptying³⁵ and minimize gastrointestinal discomfort during exercise [including burping and gas, which your training partner benefit will appreciate³⁶]. By more rapidly ushering glucose from the stomach^37,38 to the small intestine and blood stream39, Cyclic Dextrin® can improve performance^40-42, and maintain higher glycogen levels⁴³, giving you a head start on recovering for your next workout⁴⁴.
• To ensure sustained blood glucose during your workout, we’ve also included 5 grams of Isomaltulose (as Palatinose®), a disaccharide that produces steady blood glucose, much lower than even table sugar⁴⁵.
• N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine is Recovery’s soluble source of L-tyrosine^46-48, a precursor for catecholamine synthesis (e.g., noradrenaline and dopamine)^49-51, thus supporting brain neurotransmitter levels⁵² and cognitive performance^53,54. When under duress (e.g., during a killer workout), tyrosine supplementation may actually promote the aggressive mentality⁵⁵needed to drive through previous performance barriers.

Essential Amino Acid Blend

• We included the Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) because it’s the dietarily essential [not the non-essential⁵⁶] amino acids that trigger muscle protein synthesis^57-59. Leucine (3g) sits atop this EAA stack because of its primacy in triggering protein anabolism^60-62. We were sure to focus on the other branched-chain aminos (BCAAs; Isoleucine and Valine at 1.5g each) as well because the BCAAs are known to reduce muscle breakdown and post-exercise soreness and damage^63,64.
• The other EAAs blended in the Recovery are based on the anabolic EAA mixture used extensively in research^57,65-68, adjusted slightly to take advantage of the anabolic signaling⁶¹ and insulin-releasing⁶⁹ effects of lysine and phenylalanine.

Sensoril® Ashwagandha Extract

A successful training and diet cycle takes weeks of committed and continuous effort. Nobody wants to be a flash in the pan, so to speak, so we’ve included ashwagandha (Withania somnifera extract; 125mg of Sensoril® standardized for withanolide glycoside conjugates, oligosaccharides and withaferin A) to ensure Recovery has keep you adapting long after your workout. Also known as Indian ginseng, ashwagandha is an “adaptogenic” herb that’s been used for centuries in Ayurveda and traditional Indian medicine to relieve stress, promote vitality⁷⁰, enhance adaptation and normalize physiological function^71-73.

The age-old hype about ashwagandha’s effects may just be real, going by the small but growing body of Western scientific literature. In rodent research, this herb appears to be both anabolic to skeletal muscle⁷⁴ and anti-arthritic⁷⁵. In men supplementing for approximately 2 months, ashwagandha can elevate testosterone, luteinizing hormone and antioxidant status, all the while improving sperm count, motility and metabolism^76-78. Ashwagandha has also relieved fatigue and improved quality of life of women undergoing breast cancer chemotherapy⁷⁹. Extract from this adaptogenic plant has also been shown to reduce cortisol, resting blood pressure and anxiety⁷⁰, and even have cognition-enhancing, nootropic actions^80,81 – exactly what you need when “diet brain” catches up to you.

The science is starting to unveil Ashwagandha’s incredible promise as an ergogenic aid, as well. Supplementing with 1000mg of extract/day (8 weeks) enhanced performance and aerobic power in hard-training endurance cyclists⁸², and half that daily dose improved both aerobic, anaerobic and muscular power in college students who were not even engaged in a training program. Most impressively and important for physique athletes, a recent study found that men consuming only 300mg ashwagandha extract twice per day grew more muscle, gained more strength and lost more body fat than those taking a placebo, probably because the herb enhanced muscular recovery (reduced muscle damage) and increased testosterone⁸³. (What more could you ask for?…)

Disclaimer: L-Tyrosine may interact with certain drugs (such as MAOIs, Levodopa and thyroid medications).