Workout of the Day:
Body/Ring Rows – max reps for three sets
(Practice perfection – start each rep at full arm extension, keep your torso rigid in a straight line from the top of your head to your heels, and pull yourself in until your thumbs touch your chest. Elevate your feet to ring level or above if you’re capable of doing so with perfect form.)
and then,
For max reps:
Three minutes of Double-Unders
Three minutes of Clean and Jerk (use approximately 60-65% of your 1-RM)
Two minutes of Double-Unders
Two minutes of Clean and Jerk
One minute of Double-Unders
One minute of Clean and Jerk
A side effect of Nitric Oxide?
Supplements: Nitric Oxide Synthesizers
Written by Mark Riebel
A popular group of supplements that continues to gain attention these days are those that claim to create nitric oxide in the body. I say create because nitric oxide (not to be confused with nitrous oxide, or laughing gas) is a free-form gas that is made and broken down very quickly in the body, thus making it pretty tough to bottle up and sell to people. However, the body makes NO by breaking down the conditionally-essential amino acid (remember what that means?) arginine, so if one supplements with arginine, one should see an increase in NO synthesis. So really, this is more of an article on arginine than NO, since that’s what the majority of NO stimulating products contain.
Nitric oxide has several effects in the body such as neurotransmission and some influence on growth hormone secretion, but the primary reason NO is so sought after by communities such as body building is that it is a potent vasodilator—in short, it increases blood flow to tissues. In theory, if more blood is getting to the tissues, more nutrients are also coming along with it, and you get a great “pump” with increased muscle synthesis and recovery.
I could find little clinical evidence of arginine having ergogenic (performance-enhancing) effects, though a fairly comprehensive review I looked at referenced a study where severely decreased blood flow did not reduce muscle synthesis. This means that you could have all the blood flow in the world, yet if it doesn’t contain the right raw materials, you won’t see any benefit from that blood. This only reemphasizes that before you look to any supplements you should clean the heck out of your diet and tweak it first.
Now, from a CrossFit perspective, I think that some increased blood flow could be of benefit. If you can increase the oxygen delivery to your tissues, physiologically you should be able to sustain some efforts for longer, predominantly in the longer end of met-cons around 15-20 minutes plus. I haven’t personally tried any of these supplements while CrossFitting. Back in the day when I thought it was important to be big instead of being strong, I did try some NO2 made by the company MRI, and it made me feel pretty good. But it also made me feel tight (at the time that seemed good because I felt pumped), and I don’t think that would be a benefit when doing a WOD.
I’d like to hear some feedback if there are some who have been doing CF while taking this, but from what I see, your WOD performance won’t be significantly affected one way or the other. As a side note, Viagra works along the same pathways as NO, so you could get some benefit there. Then again, that probably wouldn’t help your WODs either.
Is there any supplement that will cause our bodies to create nitrus oxide? That sounds like something I’d enjoy. On a more serious note, the best supplements, IMHO, are hard work and consistancy. People often look for the quick fix (for a number of different reasons I suppose) but isn’t it much more gratifying to achieve a goal or accomplish a feat because you actually worked for it and earned it instead of because you swallowed a magical pill?
What about Cialis? Isn’t that good if your WOD lasts for 3 or more days?
PS, that was one of the funniest pictures/times in the gym! It was like watching a ripped sumo wrestler deadlift.
This does not do much to reinforce my masculinity.
When I first started at CF (~4/mo ago) I was taking NO-Shotgun (link below) which was supposed to do exactly what the article describes. Since I was a total newbie (still am kinda) I can’t really provide a good comparison but I can say that it basically made me feel like I was on crack. After a thorough tongue lashing from Cal I decided to stop taking it.
I do remember feeling really dizzy during all the WODs back then but I’m not sure if it was just because I was new to CF and that was normal or if the supplement had something to do with it :-/
http://www.vpxsports.com/sports-nutrition-supplements/pre-workout/no-shotgun.aspx
i took NO-Explode, Super Pump 250, and the NO pill from muscletech, not all at the same time, but over the last year while i was deployed and since returned. NO Explode and Super Pump made me feel like I was on crack the whole workout. I was not crossfitting at this time, but just regular lifting (its hard to do push jerks in heavy seas). taking super pump while deployed was a mistake because as a deck watch officer, i missed out on some valuable sleep because that stuff lasted for about 4 hours after i finished working out and I could not get through a bridge watch without drinking coffee and eating like crap to stay wired and awake. the muscle tech pill was pure garbage. and the powders tasted like crap too. enough said. i supplement with protein now, and eat a lot of foods that are high in protein and some that are high in carbs. seen better results and feel a lot better.
When no2 first was put into the market I tried them out but during that time I didn’t
crossfit. It was hard to tell if the stuff was working because I was taking a bunch of other supplements and my gym routine was just lifting. Now I just take a multivitiam,fishoil, and glucossaimine. What seems to work the best is when I eat well.
Dwight Schrute, it turns out, was right about the power of the beet…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8186947.stm
Mark, that picture is better than nitrous oxide. I can’t stop laughing at it!
Mark,
Your shorts are shorter than anything I own.
Sandra
Ben, from looking at the ingredients to what you were taking, I’d say the shakes were a combo of all the caffeine in the supplement along with the intensity of CF. Likely the same thing for you, Richard.
A few years back, a scantily clad booth girl talked me into trying a sample of NO Shotgun. It was easily the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. It tasted like apple pie-flavored vomit, or maybe vomit-flavored apple pie. I can’t remember.
As for increasing oxygen delivery to tissues, I would suggest you look into EPO (Erythropoietin) or building an altitude chamber. Having more red blood cells makes more sense than getting blood vessels to dilate.
Calvin, now we’re talkin!
Wink…. was it the EPO that perked up your ears?