Workout of the Day:
Power Cleans
3-2-1-1-1
and then,
Teams of two must complete, as quickly as possible:
15 x Thrusters (135/95 lbs.)
15 x Burpee/Pull-Ups
Run 400 Meters
(One partner storms through the entire round. Once your partner returns from their 400 meter run, begin your next round. Repeat until both partners have completed three rounds. If you don’t have a partner, rest 3-5 minutes between rounds.)

Thank you to Dutch Lowy, who put on an amazing seminar on Saturday. And thanks also to the great crew of participants.

Supplements: Glutamine
Written by Mark Riebel 

Glutamine is a common supplement usually in powder form that is said to have effects in the body such as improved immune function, reduced fatigue and muscle catabolism (breakdown), and improved recovery from exercise. It is usually recommended by the manufacturers to take a dose of a few grams following exercise or prior to bed. 

Glutamine (or L-glutamine) is the most common amino acid in the body, and is termed a “conditionally essential amino acid,” which means that the body can and does manufacture it on its own, but that the body’s use can easily outpace its creation. It is well-established that plasma levels of glutamine are depressed after intense exercise or illness, and can be used as a sign of overtraining. Glutamine plays an important role in the immune system, as it is used by rapidly dividing cells such as leukocytes. It would seem, then, that supplementing with this would improve time to exhaustion and recovery, as well as immune response. Considering that any side effects are predominantly anecdotal, it may be a win-win situation. But is it really worth your dollars, or are you better off sticking with natural sources such as beef, chicken, milk and spinach?

Research at this point seems a bit inconclusive. I was able to dig up some smaller studies showing statistically significant improvement in recovery and endurance with glutamine supplementation, but the majority of reviews found no significant benefit existed. It was also noted that while glutamine supplementation caused plasma glutamine levels to remain more constant after strenuous exercise, the associated immunodepression still occurred.

Calvin is quick to remind us that there doesn’t need to be a study for something to really work, but I get the general sense that there’s no pronounced effect from glutamine supplementation. I haven’t used glutamine before, so I can’t add my two cents. If your health care professional is cool with you taking it, and you notice a significant benefit, then by all means go for it. Or if you’ve already taken it and seen good results, let us know. 

I looked into this supplement on a request from our very own SupaStar Susan. If there’s any other supplement or snake oil that you’d like me to look into, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Tags: Supplements

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 10:16 pm and is filed under Workout Of The Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.