Years ago, in the depths of bodybuilding's Iron Age, legendary bodybuilders earned their place in history in ways that would make today's bodybuilder squeamish.
Although our bodybuilding forefathers were as dedicated to the sport as today's elite, gyms were nothing short of iron dungeons and training was without the comfort of modern-day high-tech equipment and the bright lights of a global gym chain. And you can bet that the superior supplementation that today's bodybuilder has access to was almost non-existent. Need an example?
Turn the clock back about 30 years, when a typical protein shake was made of milk, cream, lecithin granules, liver tablets, eggs, and fruit for flavoring. Suffice to say, supplements have come a long way. But as advanced as the supplement industry has become, a way to increase utilization of one of the body's most anabolic muscle-building hormones, testosterone, had yet to be discovered.
Perhaps the single-most important element in any bodybuilder's quest for mega-sized mass is his ability to increase utilization of his testosterone levels. However, no supplement has been designed to effectively drive muscle-building testosterone directly into muscle cells ... until now!
L-Carnitine
While testosterone is one of the body's most powerful muscle-building hormones, 98 percent of all testosterone found in the human body, called bound testosterone, is absolutely useless for muscle gains. Free testosterone is the only usable form of testosterone available for muscle growth.
However, only about 2 percent of testosterone in the normal male is free testosterone, so finding a way to enhance free testosterone utilization without affecting natural testosterone production is nothing short of a breakthrough. Researchers know that the only way to do this is by increasing androgen receptors found in muscle cells. This led them to L-Carnitine.
In a groundbreaking, human clinical study that was later published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers and scientists at the University of Connecticut's Human Performance Laboratory tested the effects of L-Carnitine on its ability to enhance free-testosterone utilization. In the 21-day human clinical study, L-Carnitine increased the number of pre-workout androgen receptors compared to results produced by a placebo group.
Study Abstract: Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research
Androgen receptors mediate the influence of free testosterone on protein synthesis, so an increase in the number of the body's androgen receptors allows for enhanced utilization of training-induced free testosterone at the muscle fiber level. This is precisely why the revolutionary research from the University of Connecticut is so important to bodybuilders.
L-Carnitine's biological effects on androgen receptors is key in its ability to enhance the body's physiological ability to draw more free testosterone into your muscle cells. By driving anabolically active testosterone directly into your muscles, you can subject your body to periods of massive muscle growth previously thought impossible.
But the indisputable research on L-Carnitine doesn't stop there. In a 21-day human, clinical, placebo-controlled study that was later published in a leading American physiological journal, L-Carnitine supplementation supported muscle tissue regeneration. Among other measuring techniques, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to test the effects of a 2 gram per day dose of L-Carnitine, enough to maximize plasma carnitine concentration, on a group of healthy, recreationally weight-trained men.
The results were astounding! L-Carnitine reduced exercise-induced catabolism (muscle breakdown), reduced free-radical generation, and minimized muscle tissue disruption compared to the placebo. In other words, L-Carnitine optimized a favorable anabolic recovery environment primed for dramatic muscle gains.
Conclusion
By now, you shouldn't need any further convincing that L-Carnitine is among the most important elements in any serious bodybuilder's supplement program. You've read the hard, clinical data proving that L-Carnitine is a potent, anabolic compound with powerful muscle-building properties. Add L-Carnitine to your hardcore regimen, flood your muscles with anabolically active free testosterone and get bigger than ever, now!
References:
- Kraemer, W. Et al (2006). Androgenic Responses to Resistance Exercise: Effects of Feeding and L-Carnitine. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, pp 1288-1296.
- Volek, Jeff S. Et al (2002). L-Carnitine L-Tartrate Supplementation Favorable Affects Markers of Recovery from Exercise Stress. American Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism 282: E474-E482.