Bob Myhal's Supplement Buyer's Guide

For my money, L-glutamine (sometimes just referred to as glutamine) is without a doubt one of the best of the lesser known, non-hyped supplements on the market.

There's nothing overly sexy or fancy about glutamine. It's not a 'miracle' supplement and using it won't bring results overnight. If you're like me though, when you start using glutamine you'll almost immediately find that you sleep a bit better at night and feel more energized during the day. The real benefit from glutamine supplementation comes over time. Consistent supplementing with glutamine can support a retention of lean muscle mass, period.

What is Glutamine?

Let's start at the beginning. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in muscle tissue. Studies have shown glutamine supplementation can prevent up to 70% of the muscle lost as the result of cortisol in the body (American Journal of Physiology 33:E 912-E917, 1996).

Cortisol, as some of you may know, is a catabolic hormone that is often responsible for muscle tissue breakdown. Catabolic is in many ways the opposite of anabolic . Something that is anabolic helps build muscle tissue; something that's catabolic break down muscle tissue. Cortisol is catabolic . So it's important for people interested in developing and maintaining muscle mass to keep their cortisol levels in check. That's where L-glutamine comes in.

The same study I mentioned above also found that glutamine interfered with cortisol's effects on the glutamine synthetase enzyme. Basically this means that glutamine helped prevent over-training and lessened the catabolic effects of cortisol.

Glutamine has also been shown to increase GH levels, enhance glycogen replenishment after training, and increase nitrogen retention—all of these positive outcomes aid in the promotion of lean muscle mass.

And another added benefit I find with glutamine supplementation is an enhanced immune system. Less time sick means more time feeling great and training hard!

Personally, I get much better results with glutamine than with creatine. But I get absolutely great results by combining the two on training days for an ultimate muscle-loading stack.

Here's the details on the glutamine/creatine stack I use on my training days:

Morning:

• 10 grams of glutamine (2 heaping teaspoons) dissolved in 16 oz of water. You can add a bit of sodium to enhance cell uptake.

Lunch:

• 5 grams of creatine (1 teaspoon). NOTE: I'm actually using 1 serving of Vitargo CGL (one of my favorite creatine supplements) with 16 oz of water—it already contains the simple carbs and sodium to promote uptake. You can use your own favorite creatine formula.

Pre-Workout:

• 10 grams of glutamine, 16 oz of water and sodium.

Post-Workout

• 10 grams of glutamine in post-workout carb drink (usually Ultrafuel or Gatorade).

30 Minutes Later

• 5 grams of creatine or 1 serving Creatine.

Bed Time

• 10 grams of glutamine in 16 oz of water.

As you can tell, I like glutamine in higher than average doses for optimum results. Again, this stack is used on training days only. On non-training days, when recovery is the key, I try to get in 5-10 grams of creatine and the same amount of glutamine.

In my opinion, this is one of the best "cell-volumizing" stacks you can use.

Glutamine Recommendation

Glutamine comes in a simple powdered form and is basically tasteless. You can add a serving to water, juice, Gatorade, protein powder . . . pretty much anything you like.

When selecting a glutamine powder, it's important to stick with a reputable brand name. A lot of the discount and generic powders out there are simply not pure glutamine. They're loaded with cheap fillers that can cause you to feel bloated. And you just won't get the results you want with these knock-offs.

IST makes an excellent glutamine product . It's a good quality pure glutamine.

Copyright ApolloFulfillment.com and Bob Myhal. Reprinted with Permission.