CarnosineBreakthrough

CarnosineFrontCover_Spine

2/17/06

11:27 AM

Page 1

THE CARNOSINE BREAKTHROUGH STEPHEN ADELE

Author: Stephen Adelé Design: Marcus Knodle Editor: Sue Mosebar H+BLOCKER —The Carnosine Breakthrough Published by Real SOLUTIONS Media 15000 W. 6th Ave., Ste. 202 Golden, CO 80401 USA www.RealSOLUTIONSMag.com Copyright 2006 by iSatori Technologies, LLC 2nd printing, 2006. ISBN#: 0-9714154-5-5 Printed in the USA. Notice: Before you begin following the instructions contained in H+BLOCKER —The Carnosine Breakthrough, you should consult with your primary doctor to ensure you are in good health. For best results, follow the enclosed instructions as closely as possible, and do not exceed the recommended dosages of the supplements suggested in this guide. If you are diabetic, you should not use these supplements without prior consent from your primary physician. This manual is intended for information purposes only and is not meant to substitute for nor provide any type of medical advice. No liability is assumed by iSatori Technologies, LLC, or the author of this manual for any information contained herein. For questions, comments, or additional copies, please contact us at 1-866-688-7679 or by emailing us at [email protected]. You can join the author, Stephen Adelé, online at RealSOLUTIONSmag.com. As individuals differ, so will results. There are no typical results, even if you follow the same plan.

Contents

PREFACE: EUREKA ..............................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION: THE CARNOSINE BREAKTHROUGH .....................................13 CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS CARNOSINE? .................................................................19 CHAPTER 2: CARNOSINE & MUSCLE-BUILDING PERFORMANCE .................27 CHAPTER 3: THE BENEFITS OF CARNOSINE LOADING ..................................43 CHAPTER 4: CARNOSINE LOADING 101 ...........................................................59 CHAPTER 5: THE H+BLOCKER DIET AND TRAINING PLAN ............................73 CHAPTER 6: SUPPLEMENTATION AND WHAT TO EXPECT .............................87 CHAPTER 7: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ............................................101 APPENDIX: TARGET HEART RATE TRAINING ZONE ......................................111 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................113 ABOUT THE AUTHOR .......................................................................................115

Contents

3

Preface:

Eureka! VER 13 YEARS AGO, CREATINE WAS INTRODUCED TO THE WORLD OF SPORTS SUPPLEMENTATION. This substance forever changed supplementation for athletes, bodybuilders, and pretty much anyone who worked out with weights and wanted to develop a better looking body. But, as crazy as it sounds, this is nothing compared to what I am about to share with you…

O

Every sports supplement company CEO dreams of discovering the next big breakthrough supplement. I’m no exception. As CEO of iSatori, I wake up every morning with the hope of shouting “Eureka!” sometime later that day. Don’t get me wrong. I love the work I do day in and day out, even when there are no magical breakthroughs. And I am extremely proud of all of our great products— from Lean System 7®, our scientifically proven fat-targeting supplement, to ISA-TEST™, our advanced testosterone/anti-estrogen supplement, to 3-XL™, our advanced creatine ethyl ester formula. With our emphasis on research and development and independent clinical studies performed on all of our supplements, as well as our high quality control standards, iSatori develops and produces supplements for fat burning, muscle building, and performance enhancement that are a cut above, and I have to tell you… we take immense satisfaction in delivering such excellence. But still, there’s nothing quite like being the very first company to create and market a totally new type of supplement that promises to forever transform the future of sports supplementation. The pursuit of which is what keeps me awake most nights. Last April I finally had that “Eureka!” moment I had long dreamed of.

Preface

5

I was attending a presentation by Mark Tallon, Ph.D., an applied nutritional chemist from England, at an annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in San Diego. Tallon was sharing the results of a new study he had done on the distribution of carnosine in different muscle fiber types with 1 dietary supplementation . I already knew carnosine is a naturally occurring compound in muscles that helps them resist fatigue when working at very high intensities. I also knew professional bodybuilders and elite athletes in strength, speed, and power sports have much higher levels of carnosine—especially in their “fast-twitch” Type IIx fibers—than the average person. Now I excitedly learned that with the right supplementation, everyday men and women could greatly increase the carnosine concentration in all of their skeletal muscle fibers. I nearly leapt out of my seat. You see, this was the final piece of a puzzle I had been putting together in my mind for months. Over the course of the preceding year, Mark Tallon had been trying to convince me that carnosine-boosting supplementation had tremendous potential to enhance muscular development and improve anaerobic muscle performance in athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts. He had even persuaded me to partially sponsor his new study. Yet until this moment, I just didn’t get it completely. The whole notion of carnosine-boosting supplementation was so radically new and different from anything I had ever encountered before that I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it, although I was certainly intrigued. That changed in a flash when Tallon stood in front of me and the 20 or so others, mostly scientists, who had come to hear him, breaking down his latest research findings about carnosine supplementation, in simple terms and with infectious passion. It’s a moment I will never forget. Tallon’s opening remarks…

6

H+BLOCKER | The Carnosine Breakthrough

Preface

“

I now believe that due to the recent onslaught of current research underway, this new performance aid, carnosine, will eventually surpass the popularity of creatine.

”

Suddenly I knew for certain that carnosine-boosting truly was the next great breakthrough in sports supplementation and that my company had to develop the standardsetting product in this new category. The last 10 or so minutes of the presentation are a blur in my memory. In all honesty, I stopped listening to Tallon and began scribbling furiously in my notebook. I had heard all I needed to hear! I knew we were on to something big here. Really big! Six months later, our standard-setting, patent-pending supplement went to market as the world’s first carnosine synthesizer. Formulated by Tallon, who by the way, is the first person in the world to earn a doctoral degree in carnosine metabolism, H+Blocker™ is the most effective muscle-building supplement ever created—and make no mistake about it, my friend, that’s not just hype. The recent university science, continuing clinical studies, our internal pilot studies, product beta-testers, and the anecdotal evidence on the street backs up this claim 100%. Research studies have shown that with carnosine-boosting supplementation, you will experience seven key benefits: G G G G

Immediate, explosive strength and power gains Increased training intensity and workload capacity Faster recovery between reps, sets, and workouts Increased hypertrophy, through the influence of Type IIx muscle fibers

7

G Improved peak muscular contractions and enhanced muscle fullness G Reversed muscle decline and “shrinkage,” due to oxidation, which occurs

between workouts G Greater performance and fat-burning capacity in high-intensity cardio intervals By now you’re probably curious to know more about carnosine and how it achieves such exciting benefits. Frankly, the answers are not simple. It took me a year to understand how it all works, and truth be told, you too will likely need a step-bystep education before the light bulb goes on in your head. That’s the sole reason I’ve written this book. After feverishly pouring over 23 studies on carnosine, some unpublished. Talking late into the night on many occasions over the phone with Tallon, repeatedly trying to grasp how it all worked inside the muscle. Writing and rewriting the details of what I’d learned out—like an adolescent schoolboy who had been punished by his teacher and had to write out what he’d done wrong—over and over again, until I fully grasped every detail and could make complete sense of carnosine’s role in muscle metabolism. One thing I understood immediately when I had my own “Eureka!” moment with carnosine was that I couldn’t just put a great carnosine-boosting supplement on the market and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising it and expect it to succeed. H+Blocker is too special, and the way it works is too unfamiliar for that conventional approach to work. And besides, that’s what other companies do. They blow tons of money on pages and pages of advertising, trying to trick you into buying their hyped-up product. Only to leave you disappointed, short 50 bucks, and pretty much ticked off. But I knew athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts like you, who are serious about muscular development, are smarter than that and deserve better than just a

8

H+BLOCKER | The Carnosine Breakthrough

Preface

bunch of fancy advertisements. Instead, you must first understand carnosine, what H+Blocker is, and how it really works… before I could ever expect you to spend your hard-earned money on it. Hey, I don’t blame you. And to understand what H+Blocker is and how it works, you must first get a “crash course” on carnosine and carnosine-boosting supplementation. Once you understand the science, I have a hunch you’ll be more than ready to give H+Blocker a try, and after you’ve given it a try, I am absolutely, positively certain you’ll want to continue using it. How do I know? Because virtually everyone who tries H+Blocker gets astounding results they don’t want to let go of. Just look at these four quotes from members of our initial H+Blocker pilot study, which they sent to me after just one week’s use: ______________________ Subject #0023A “This supplement works! With my first dose, I have faster recovery times between sets and a fuller, longer pump. I maintain a pump for at least two hours after my workout. The next day the muscles I’ve worked feel harder and firmer.” ______________________ Subject #0014A “After my first serving, this morning was my most intense workout ever. I measured my increase in strength by the extra reps I was able to perform. I was able to increase the reps for almost every set. I had a great pump, and I’m confident the muscularity was sustained over a longer period of time than previous workouts.”

9

______________________ Subject #0004A “I do have to say my strength increases were pretty noticeable within the first week. With the combination of the great pumps and the intense muscular contractions, sometimes I felt like my arms were going to explode! This is really cool stuff, and my training partner is dieing to try it.” ______________________ Subject #0037A “My initial week’s workouts were insane. I hit a new personal best on the bench press and did more reps on the squat, with 315 lbs, than I ever have. I must say, this supplement delivers on its promises. It blows creatine away.” On top of that, since H+Blocker’s introduction to the general public, just take a look at what these people have written on supplement retailer websites and the most popular online message boards: “I had a similar result (and continue to) with H+Blocker too. This stuff is awesome. I can honestly say I’ve never had a supplement that’s worked as effectively, as fast, and gives you such a kick-ass workout. Even if I’m totally de-motivated to train, I take this stuff, and I’m revved up to go. It’s not even just a case of being stimulated. It seems to get better the longer you take it too. Via bodybuilding.com forum 11-21-2005, 11:16 AM milton Registered User, Join Date: Apr 2002 , Posts: 99, Age: 33 “THIS STUFF ROCKS!! I got a sample in the mail from the company who makes H+Blocker, iSatori, and it was quite impressive, from just one dose. Taste wasn’t flattering, but I’ve tasted much worse. So I ordered a full tub, and man is this stuff freaky. I train harder than I ever have. Intensity is through the roof, and my pumps are

10 H+BLOCKER | The Carnosine Breakthrough

Preface 11

incredible. I even recover faster too. I am on week two, and I’ll gladly report after the full tub is empty at the four-week mark (another positive, the tub contains a month’s supply). I’VE NEVER FELT ANYTHING WORK LIKE THIS BEFORE. Via 1fast400.com forum H+Blocker Review by bigdirks Date: Tuesday 01 November, 2005 Product: H+Blocker And I feel I’d be doing an injustice if I didn’t share my personal experiences with the power of carnosine-boosting from H+Blocker: “Quite possibly, the best part about H+Blocker is that when you take it, you will feel the muscle-stimulating effects from the very first dose. For me, I absolutely love using it before I weight train. I simply mix the Fruit Punch-flavored powdered drink mix with about eight ounces of water and gulp it down 20 or so minutes before I plan to work out. Within about five minutes, I begin to feel like there’s electricity flowing through my veins, and by the time I get to the gym and am ready to hit the weights, I find it really cranks up my workout intensity. (This is helpful, when you train like I do, at 6:00 in the morning!) And by the time I start working out, my muscles feel fuller, the contractions from lifting the weights are much more intense than normal, and best of all… I really enjoy turning heads in the gym because of the immediate, explosive strength gains I experience… which help me reach a new personal best on almost every new workout. This is no joke. In fact, if you were sitting right here in front of me, at this very moment, I would look you straight in the eyes and guarantee you, with absolute certainty, that once you train with H+Blocker, you will never, ever want to train again without it! It’s that powerful.” Perhaps the next best thing to discovering a breakthrough supplement, like carnosine and H+Blocker, is being among the first athletes, bodybuilders, or fitness enthusi-

asts to begin using it and experiencing its incredible, ground-breaking benefits. That’s the opportunity this book will give you. With that said, I encourage you to read through this book carefully and thoughtfully, because this is a gateway to the next level in your quest for a better, stronger, more muscular body. And one other thing: Try not to knock anyone over when you shout “Eureka!” and leap out of your seat!


Introduction:

The Carnosine Breakthrough ou know the feeling... you’re doing a set of barbell squats in the gym. While doing the seventh repetition, you begin to feel a burning sensation in your quadriceps. The next repetition burns even more, like someone’s lit a fire underneath your quad muscles. By the time you complete your ninth, tenth, and what’s now become your final repetition, your legs begin to feel as though they are being devoured.

Y

Believe it or not, in a sense your muscles are being devoured. By acid. See, whenever you are training at high intensity and you draw closer and closer to exhaustion—the fluid in and around your muscle cells literally becomes more and more acidic. Exercise physiologists refer to this phenomenon as muscular acidosis, and it’s the reason your quads start burning when you’re doing a set of heavy squats or something similar, such as a maximum-intensity interval cardio training, say, on a stationary bike. More important, it’s also one of the main reasons you can’t push out an eleventh repetition on squats after maxing out on the tenth or continue pedaling at maximum intensity forever. In other words, it’s one of the primary causes of weakness, muscle fatigue, and ultimate failure during high-intensity exercise. Muscular acidosis is definitely uncomfortable and oftentimes frustrating, but it happens for a reason. While it limits muscle performance, muscular acidosis also prevents us from training to the point of hurting ourselves. By shutting down muscle function and weakening the intensity of the contractions before the muscles become too acidic, muscular acidosis in effect is our bodies’ genetically coded way to spare our muscles from incurring irreparable damage.

Introduction | The Carnosine Breakthrough 13

Let me explain how this works… (This is where it gets really exciting!) To stay alive and healthy, your body has to remain in what’s called a state of homeostasis, or balance, between various extremes. For example, your body tissues must remain within a certain very narrow temperature range (around 98.6 +/- 1° F, though it varies from person to person). If they get too hot or too cold, these tissues become damaged, resulting in sickness or even death. Another very important sort of balance in body tissues is acid-base (or pH) balance. Again, your organs and cells function properly only when they stay safely within a very narrow pH range. If they become either too acidic or too alkaline, they lose homeostasis, and problems occur. (You’ll learn the exact scientific meaning of these terms in Chapter 2 of this book.) High-intensity exercise happens to produce metabolic byproducts—in particular, positively charged hydrogen ions that lower the pH of the muscles, making them more acidic. I’ll explain exactly how later. The point I want to make here is that the loss of optimal pH balance in your muscles that results from high-intensity exercise begins to interfere with your muscle contractions, causing muscle performance to plummet and literally reach a point of “muscle failure.” The body has natural mechanisms that act to prevent muscular acidosis, and one of the major differences between individuals of “average” strength, muscularity, or speed and those of “extraordinary” strength, muscularity, or speed is the effectiveness of these mechanisms. This is where carnosine enters the story. Carnosine is a naturally occurring compound stored in skeletal muscle tissue that actually helps maintain proper pH balance by neutralizing the hydrogen ions that cause muscular acidosis. Think of carnosine like a sponge, roaming around in the muscles, soaking up these byproducts—hydrogen ions—so your muscles can continue contracting.



Interestingly, there is a direct relationship between the amount of carnosine in muscle fibers and their ability to resist acidosis. But what’s really great is that new science has unveiled that the more carnosine a muscle fiber has stored in it, the harder and longer it can continue to work before losing pH balance and eventually shutting down and thus slowing your progress too. Even more interesting, carnosine was found to be more abundant in Type II muscle fibers (the strength, muscularity, and speed specialists) than in Type I muscle fibers (the endurance, slow-and-go, repetitious specialists), and it’s especially concentrated in Type IIx muscle fibers (the kings of strength, muscularity, and speed). See, you might already be aware that different people have different combinations of muscle fiber types throughout their bodies. And basically, naturally “gifted” strength and speed athletes, as well as the majority of professional bodybuilders, have a preponderance of carnosine-rich Type IIx muscle fibers. As a result, they are able to work harder and respond to high-intensity training better than those of us who don’t have as many Type IIx fibers. Now, you probably guessed you can’t change the muscle fibers you were born with, but you can increase the carnosine content of the fibers you do have with appropriate training. But until recently, scientists believed that training was the only way to increase muscle carnosine levels. But within the past few years, thanks to the new research conducted by Drs. Roger Harris, Jeffrey Stout, and Mark Tallon, we have learned that with proper supplementation, anyone can vastly increase his or her carnosine stores. And here’s the best part. (This is what I’ve been so excited to share with you!) The results of increased carnosine stores within the muscles have been shown to cause: G Immediate, explosive strength gains G Increased training capacity

G G G G G

Faster muscle recovery Slowing/reversal of cellular aging Increased muscle hypertrophy (growth) Increased muscle fullness and Better fat-burning performance in high-intensity cardio intervals.

No wonder people are calling this the “Carnosine Breakthrough”! The man leading this carnosine breakthrough is Dr. Mark Tallon, the applied nutrition chemist you met in the Preface to this book. Through his latest research, Tallon has determined the optimal protocol for carnosine-boosting supplementation. Tallon has also found that carnosine boosting is most efficient when the supplement is not pure carnosine but is instead a nutrient matrix combining beta-alanine and L-histidine (the two amino acids that, once in the body, synthesize into carnosine). Then it’s specially bonded with another ingredient called aspartic acid. This forms beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine. H+Blocker, the carnosine-boosting supplement my company developed with the guidance of Tallon, is the only supplement with this specific form of beta-alanine and L-histidine, combined with aspartic acid. It’s so special, in fact, it is now awaiting patent approval from the U.S. government. This way, none of those rinky dink “me too” supplement companies can copy it. H+Blocker also delivers the optimal dosage needed for maximum carnosine loading, which is 3.2 grams per day. What’s most exciting about boosting carnosine is it enhances muscle performance, strength, and muscularity in a way no other supplement does. It’s not anything like creatine. It’s far from nitric oxide. And it’s nothing like a steroid or pro-hormone. Carnosine is a whole new science in muscular performance. There is, literally, nothing else like it.



See, the key to making continued progress with muscular development is to continually find new ways to stimulate additional gains. H+Blocker is one way to stimulate progress, and I feel strongly every athlete, bodybuilder, and fitness enthusiast can—and should—take advantage of the carnosine breakthrough. And that’s the purpose of this book: to give you all of the information you need to take full advantage. In the coming chapters, you will learn exactly what carnosine is and how it enhances muscular performance by preventing muscular acidosis and by acting in a couple of other important ways to enhance exercise capacity. Most importantly, you will learn all about the seven key benefits you will get from using H+Blocker, the ultimate carnosine-boosting supplement, and see undeniable scientific proof that these benefits are real. Next, I will show you how to use H+Blocker most effectively, what you can expect from it, and how to maximize its effectiveness through proper diet and training. Finally, I will wrap it up with answers to the most frequently asked questions about carnosine, H+Blocker, training, and muscle growth. So, if you’re ready… really ready… to unlock your body’s full potential and experience a new evolution in performance supplementation, then turn the page, and let’s get started! With respect and admiration,

Stephen Adelé

Chapter 1:

What Is Carnosine?

A

year or two from now, I have a hunch that most athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts interested in muscular development will know all about carnosine.

The word will be out that boosting carnosine stores in the muscles is one of the, if not the, most potent ways to enhance performance and build muscle. It will be common knowledge that taking a carnosine-boosting supplement such as H+Blocker will increase muscle carnosine stores far beyond the levels achievable without supplementation; consequently, carnosine will be even more popular than creatine is now. Today, however, only a small fraction of athletes, bodybuilders, and those of us who train with weights has ever heard of carnosine. And even among those well-informed men and women who have heard of carnosine, very few understand the revolutionary importance of recent discoveries related to carnosine and muscle performance—discoveries that will absolutely, positively reshape the future of muscular development and the sports nutrition industry. Mark my words. So count yourself fortunate: reading this book will afford you the opportunity to be among the first to enjoy the remarkable benefits of the recent carnosine breakthrough. But, I want you to do me a favor… that is, promise me you’ll remember you heard it here first! The first step, as with any new supplement you’re considering, is education, which in this instance begins with answering the following question: what is carnosine?

Chapter 1 | What Is Carnosine? 19

The Carnosine Story Carnosine was discovered in Russia way back in 1900. Researchers identified it as a naturally occurring dipeptide (a combination of two amino acids) that is found in the muscles, brain, and other tissues of many animals, including humans. The two amino acids that make up carnosine are beta-alanine and L-histidine. Carnosine can be obtained in the diet mainly from eating meats, including chicken and beef. Most of us take in anywhere from 50 to 250 mg daily in our normal diets. When a carnosine-containing food is eaten, carnosine is broken down into beta-alanine and L-histidine and then reconstituted within the cells that use it. (See Figure 1: The Breakdown of Carnosine.) Since the discovery of carnosine, the research focus has been on identifying its physiological functions—that is, how it works in the body. More than a century later, this research is still ongoing, in part because most of the early research took place in the Soviet Union, which hoarded its science, and in part because carnosine is extremely diverse in its functions.

Fig. 1 G

Until now, carnosine has been most widely appreciated as a “super” antioxidant. It is able to neutralize a broad range of free radicals—those unstable molecules that damage cells and contribute to various diseases and conditions, including some cancers, and are believed to be a major cause of biological aging. This is likely why you might have already seen carnosine supplements on some store shelves.



Typically, the existing carnosine products are marketed as anti-aging supplements due to solid research showing that carnosine neutralizes free radicals, prevents glycation (a processes where excess sugar in the bloodstream damages body proteins, contributing to Alzheimer’s disease and other problems), and extends the lifespan of 2 individual cells . Only within the past several years have some researchers begun to explore the functions of carnosine in relation to muscle and exercise performance. It goes without saying that this is what I am most excited to share with you. But, I thought it was important to first explore some of the other great benefits of carnosine, so you can gain a true appreciation for this breakthrough in supplementation. As potent an anti-aging compound as carnosine appears to be, its potential as a muscle-performance booster, based on the latest findings, now seems even greater. Scientists might still be unaware of this incredible potential if not for some earlier research that changed our understanding of muscle fatigue in the 1980’s. Prior to this time, exercise scientists understood muscle fatigue almost entirely in terms of “energy supply.” Their understanding basically stated that when the muscles have an adequate supply of the right sources of energy, they can continue performing; when the supply of energy sources runs too low, fatigue occurs—or so the theory goes. Now, fast forward 80 years. The research that led to the creatine revolution was grounded in this perspective. That is, creatine phosphate is an important source of anaerobic energy. Energy for high-intensity muscle contractions. Taking a creatine phosphate precursor, usually in the form of supplemental creatine monohydrate, increases the supply of this important energy source and thereby enables the muscles to work harder and longer before reaching exhaustion. We all know how wildly popular creatine has become. It’s pretty much become a “staple” in the diets of people ranging from professional athletes and weekend warriors to everyday bodybuilders and all walks in between.

However, in the 1980’s, exercise scientists began to appreciate the fact that there are 3 other causes of muscle fatigue that are not directly related to energy supply . Another important cause of fatigue at high exercise intensities is muscular acidosis or loss of pH balance in the muscles. Basically, muscular acidosis is what happens when positively charged hydrogen ions, a byproduct of anaerobic energy release, begin to accumulate in the muscles during weight training or intense bursts of cardiovascular exercise. The more these ions accumulate, the more acidic the muscles become, and as the muscles become more acidic, muscle performance plummets. And, no matter how much you want to, you can’t perform another repetition on an exercise. It’s an inevitable part of intense training... when weakness, fatigue, and ultimately muscle failure strikes. At this point, the body attempts to use certain “acid buffers” to neutralize hydrogen ions and allow the muscles to continue working hard. Exercise scientists found that one of the key differences between elite strength, speed, and power athletes and the “average” person is that the acid buffering system is vastly more effective in top athletes. (Seems unfair, doesn’t it?) Yet, it so happens that one of the most effective acid buffers in the muscles is—you guessed it—carnosine! Oops. I’m starting to get ahead of myself…. So please allow me to get back into the actual evolution of carnosine… When scientists realized that acid buffers, through their ability to bind hydrogen ions and stabilize pH levels in blood, could have as great an impact on muscle performance as energy sources such as creatine phosphate, they began to take a much more serious look at carnosine. One of the first researchers to work in this area was Roger Harris of Great Britain— the same Roger Harris responsible for some of the pioneering research on creatine and muscle performance in the early 1990’s. In one study, Harris and colleagues took muscle



biopsies from thoroughbred racehorses and measured the concentration of carnosine in 4 each of three muscle fiber types . They discovered that the carnosine concentration was more than three times higher in Type IIb muscle fibers—which are built for anaerobic performance—than in Type I fibers, which are the aerobic specialists. [Note that in humans, the same muscle fiber type that is referred to as Type IIb in animals is called Type IIx.] Type IIb muscle fibers are also the biggest producers of hydrogen ions in horses. From there, Harris concluded that carnosine accounted for approximately 50% of the total acid buffering capacity in the horses’ Type IIb muscle fibers. Thanks to Harris and his team, it was now established that carnosine was the main acid buffer in high-performance muscle fibers. Due to its ability to bind hydrogen and stabilize pH levels in the muscle. The path of future research was clear. The next step was to determine whether different levels of carnosine in the muscles are associated with different levels of muscle performance. Next, scientists needed to find out whether it is possible to boost carnosine stores in the muscles and thereby enhance muscle performance. With that quest in mind, subsequent human studies by Harris’s star pupil, Dr. Mark Tallon, confirmed that there is a direct correlation between muscle carnosine levels and muscle performance. One study found that muscle carnosine levels were 50% higher in 5 professional bodybuilders than in sedentary individuals . Follow-up studies discovered that it is possible to boost muscle carnosine levels with appropriate training and—even more exciting—using appropriate supplementation. Interestingly, Tallon studied carnosine biosynthesis and found that supplements containing the individual amino acids beta-alanine and L-histidine are more efficient muscle carnosine boosters than supplements containing carnosine itself. Tallon also discovered that other nutrients—namely, caffeine and carbohydrates—facilitate the uptake and enhance the actions of carnosine in the muscles. This groundbreaking discovery eventually led to the development of the ultimate carnosine-boosting supplement, H+Blocker™.

Research into the effects of beta-alanine, L-histidine, and carnosine supplementation and its effects on muscle performance is just beginning to appear in the major scientific, peer-reviewed journals. A joint study by British and South Korean researchers found that four weeks of supplementation with beta-alanine increased the muscle concentra6 tion of carnosine by 64% and increased anaerobic exercise performance by 14% . These results are even more impressive than the results of the early creatine studies that caused such a stir in the early 1990’s! Since then, many supplements have looked promising, on the surface—and have consequently been hyped as “the next creatine”— only to disappoint us when used or after further studies. But carnosine boosting is different. Really different. In fact, some of the most well-respected names in sports nutrition have stepped forward to vouch for the solid research supporting carnosine-boosting supplementation. “We have tested beta-alanine [carnosine synthesizer] in the lab,” says Jeffrey Stout, Ph.D., professor of Exercise Science at Florida Atlantic University. “It truly is the next creatine.” Stout is not alone. “Of all the performance-based supplements currently being researched, I believe beta-alanine and its role in carnosine/muscle metabolism is by far the most promising and legitimate,” says Tim Ziegenfuss, Ph.D., head of the Ohio Research Group of Exercise Science & Sports Nutrition. “It’s based on real, solid scientific findings from the likes of Roger Harris, Jeff Stout, and others you can trust.” While carnosine-boosting supplementation remains the best-kept secret in exercise nutrition, some top athletes and competitive bodybuilders—who are typically the first



to get in and “experiment” with new trends in supplementation—have already begun using it. Elite speed skaters, track and field athletes, bodybuilders, and other athletes in Europe and Japan have reported stunning individual improvements from carnosineboosting supplementation and now swear by it. The final word on the carnosine story has yet to be written. Tallon, Stout, and other top sports nutrition researchers continue to investigate how carnosine works, how effective it can be, and other ways to enhance its synthesis and activity. Now, using the latest scientific studies, we’re going to explore exactly how boosting carnosine levels can influence muscular growth and performance.

Chapter 2:

Carnosine & MuscleBuilding Performance

K

nowledge is power. Make no mistake, this is undeniably true when it comes to muscle performance.

Basically, the more you learn about how your muscles work and respond to training, nutrition, and supplementation, the more you can apply this knowledge to enhance the power and size of your muscles. In this chapter, I will explain what exercise physiologists currently know about the role of carnosine in muscle performance. This knowledge will help you take advantage of carnosine-boosting supplementation and enjoy the many scientifically proven benefits that result from it. I have to admit, I really like this chapter and enjoyed writing it. Then again, I get excited by scientific journals and new research relating to the physiological functions of our bodies. But I have to warn you, the science is fairly complex and can get a little cumbersome. However, I’m going to do my best to translate it, so you can fully understand it and gain a thorough appreciation for the science of carnosine and its affects on muscle-building performance. But, still, it’s complex material. Keep in mind, it took me well over a year to entirely decipher the biochemical role of carnosine, so don’t expect to fully grasp every little detail the first time you read it. Instead, I would invite you to allow the scientific explanations to resonate—and then possibly go back and re-read them to help fill in any gaps in your understanding. In the

Chapter 2 | Carnosine & Muscle-Building Performance 27

interest of education and appreciation for the sciences, I believe it would be well worth your time to read this chapter in its entirety. However, if you wish to skip over this section, and start exploring the really exciting facts of carnosine and its groundbreaking benefits, I suggest you turn to page 43 and dig right into the next chapter entitled: “The Benefits of Carnosine Loading.” If you would rather keep reading (and enhancing your physiological knowledge), then great. Let’s get to it. With that in mind, I’d like to begin with a very basic description of how the muscles work during exercise.

Muscle Performance 101 If you could get a good cross-sectional view of a muscle, you would see it’s made up of numerous bundles separated by connective tissue. These bundles, called fascicules, are made up of individual muscle fibers (or muscle cells). Muscle fibers are further subdivided into myofibrils and the myofibrils into sarcomeres. The sarcomeres are the smallest functional units of a muscle fiber and consist of the major contractile proteins myosin and actin. (Keep these two words—myosin and actin—in mind because I’ll be referring to them a lot.) These proteins are long filaments arranged in a parallel formation. During contraction, the actin filament is pulled toward the center of the sarcomere by the myosin filament, causing the sarcomere to shorten. Shortening of the sarcomeres in a myofibril causes the shortening of the muscle fiber. Within a muscle, the number of muscle fibers contracting at any given time is determined by the amount of force required to overcome the resistance to movement and shorten the muscle. For example, curling a 20-lb dumbbell requires fewer muscle fibers to be recruited than curling a 40-lb dumbbell. If we traveled a little deeper, we’d see that voluntary muscle contractions are initiated when the brain sends an electrical signal through motor neurons to the neuromus-



cular junction—which is where the motor neurons and the muscles meet. When an electrical impulse enters a muscle cell, positively charged calcium ions are released from a special storage area called the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Calcium ions play a key role in completing a muscle contraction—and as you’ll soon discover, carnosine plays a key role in allowing calcium ions to do their job more effectively. Again, there are two main contractile proteins in muscle tissue: actin (also known as the thin filament) and myosin (also known as the thick filament). Myosin has “heads” that are able to latch onto actin and yank it like hands pulling a rope. At rest, a tubeshaped protein called tropomyosin stands between the myosin heads and the actin filament to prevent contractions from occurring. Tropomyosin has to be moved out of the way for a contraction to occur. (See Figures 1a, 1b, 1c.)

E Fig. 1a

E Fig. 1b

E Fig. 1c

Another, more complex protein called troponin is also attached to the thin actin filament. When calcium ions are released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, they attach to troponin, which lifts the tropomyosin off the active sites so the myosin heads can bind and shorten the muscle fibers. Now the muscle contraction is completed. Still with me? Good. Let’s move on then… For a visual cue to help make sense of all of this, take a look at the diagrams to the left, which show the muscle when it’s “loose” (i.e., not contracted) versus when it’s “tightened” and fully contracted. The physiological process, or muscular contraction, is what’s repeatedly happening in every repetition you perform, on every exercise, while you work out with weights.

Muscle Fiber Types Now, here’s where it gets really exciting, interesting, and where I believe carnosine holds the greatest promise for athletes, bodybuilders, and serious fitness enthusiasts. See, the scientific truth is, not all muscle fibers are the same. Skeletal muscles contain two basic fiber types, known as Type I and Type II fibers. Type I fibers, also known as “slow-twitch,” specialize in prolonged activity at low to moderate intensity. Think of activities like hiking up a mountain or running a marathon. Type II fibers, or “fasttwitch,” on the other hand, specialize in short-lasting speed and power movements, such as heavy weightlifting or short-distance sprinting. The different performance capacities of the two basic muscle fiber types are rooted in their different structural and metabolic characteristics. Type II fibers are structured in a way that enables them to shorten much faster than Type I fibers. Whereas, Type I fibers have a much greater ability to use oxygen to release energy aerobically, which is efficient, draws upon abundant fuel sources, and produces no negative byproducts, so it can continue almost indefinitely before fatigue sets in. As an example, migratory birds such as geese have wings that are made up almost entirely of Type I muscle fibers, which enable them to cover vast distances with minimal rest. Type II fibers, on the other hand, rely more on anaerobic (without oxygen) energy production, which is fast but inefficient, and produces fatigue-causing hydrogen ions. (I’ll say more about the aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways as we move on.) But as an example of Type II fibers, think of the cheetah. The cheetah is an animal that exemplifies the type of performance that can be achieved when Type II fibers are predominate. These big cats can achieve maximum running speeds of 70 miles per hour, within seconds, using every muscle in their elongated bodies. But they can only sustain such speeds for 12 or so seconds before exhaustion sets in, and their muscles can no longer contract. As a result, they have to stop running. (Unless, of course, they caught their prey before physical exhaustion set in!)



Type I fibers are loaded with mitochondria, which are organelles within the cells where oxygen is used to break down fuels for energy (aerobic metabolism). Type I fibers are also surrounded by a large number of small blood vessels called capillaries that bring in oxygen. In addition, Type I fibers contain more aerobic enzymes, which facilitate aerobic metabolism. By contrast, Type II fibers have fewer mitochondria and capillaries, but they have a greater store of the high-energy phosphates and glycogen, the fuels for anaerobic energy release, and more anaerobic enzymes. Now, if we take a closer look, we see that the distribution of fiber types varies widely among different muscles throughout the body and from one person to the next. For example, the calf muscles, which are designed for prolonged activities such as walking or running, contain predominantly Type I fibers. By contrast, the chest (pectoral) muscles, which are designed for short, powerful movements such as pushing, contain more Type II fibers. The average person, like you and me, has approximately a 50/50 mix of Type I and Type II muscle fibers throughout the body, but surprisingly, some individuals have a lot more fibers of one type or the other. Additionally, it’s been shown in studies that while we can’t alter our genetics, we can in fact morph a Type I fiber into a Type II or vice versa, though this is very difficult. Elite marathon runners, for example, are likely to possess a high percentage of Type I fibers in their muscles, whereas bodybuilders are likely to possess a higher percentage of Type II fibers in their muscles. You can get a good visual appreciation of the differences between Type I and Type II muscle fibers in humans by watching a track meet. Like the ones in the Olympic games. The sprinters running the 100-meter dash tend to have larger, more well-defined muscles, which are dominated by Type II fibers and as a result give them greater speed, strength, and power. But, only for short distances. The mid-distance runners, on the other hand, who compete in the 400-meter run or 400-meter hurdles, are somewhat muscular, lighter in bodyweight, and leaner. These individuals have a blend of muscle fiber types that enables them to run at a fairly quick pace, almost at the same speed as

the short-track sprinters, yet quite a bit further, even at their maximum speed. The longdistance runners are just plain skinny. Filled with Type I muscle fibers, they can’t run particularly fast (relatively speaking), but they can practically run forever. My hunch is, by now, you are starting to figure out which type of muscle fibers we want more of—Type II. That is, if you are like me and regularly lift weights and are searching for ways to improve muscle-building performance.

Types of Muscle Fiber Types Genetics are the main factor determining the distribution of muscle fiber types in an individual. Whether we like it or not, we are either born with more of one type than the other. All muscle fibers, however, can respond to athletic training by improving their ability to perform according to the way they are trained. Training aerobically (long-distance, using greater amounts of oxygen) can increase the mitochondrial content and aerobic metabolic capacity of Type II fibers, and training anaerobically (shortterm, without using much oxygen) will enhance the phosphagen system of the Type I fibers. In addition, diet and supplementation can also positively affect muscle fiber characteristics. If we peeked even deeper inside the fibers, we would notice there are actually several different types of Type II muscle fibers. The major types are IIa and IIx. Type IIa fibers are considered intermediate fibers between Type I and Type IIx. Type IIa fibers have much faster contraction speeds than Type I fibers, but they are also much more efficient at aerobic metabolism than Type IIx fibers. Type IIx fibers, on the other hand, have the fastest contraction speeds of any muscle fiber type. They have the greatest capacity for growth and for increases in strength and power. Because they are able to release such tremendous amounts of energy through glycolysis, they produce more hydrogen ions than other muscle fiber types. Incidentally, Type IIx fibers also have the highest concentrations of carnosine to deal with these high levels of hydrogen ion production.



Energy Pathways of Muscle The most basic physiological affect of exercise, whether you are working with weights, running, or playing sports, lies in understanding that energy that drives a muscle contraction is released when a molecule of adenosine triphosphate (abbreviated to ATP) is split apart. The energy stored in the molecular bonds of this compound is made available when a phosphate molecule is separated from ATP. There is no other direct source of energy for muscle work. However, in this instance, there is only enough ATP stored in the muscle to support a maximal effort for a few seconds. As a result, ATP must be continually replenished or muscle contraction will stop. Think of ATP as chips in a casino. You can come to the casino with any type of currency: dollars from the U.S., pounds from England, francs from France, whatever. But to gamble, you must convert the currency you came with into chips. Simply put, only chips can be used to gamble inside the walls of the casino. Similarly, in muscles, only ATP can make a muscle fiber contract. The various fuels that are brought into the muscles—creatine phosphate, glucose, triglycerides—must be converted into ATP before energy can be released for muscle activity and contraction. Essentially, there are three energy pathways that the muscles use to replenish ATP: oxidative phosphorylation (or aerobic metabolism), the phosphate system, and anaerobic glycolysis. For those who perform any type of cardiovascular exercise, like running on a treadmill or elliptical trainer, riding a stationary bike, or outside activities like trail or mountain climbing or running, they use the aerobic metabolism system. In aerobic metabolism, the muscle uses oxygen to break down carbohydrate, fat, and, when needed, protein to generate ATP. Aerobic metabolism is a very efficient way of generating energy for muscle contraction. It is able to generate 38 ATP molecules from one glucose molecule. However, it produces energy at a much slower rate than the anaerobic energy sys-

tems. As I just mentioned, aerobic energy production occurs in small organelles within the muscle fiber called mitochondria. So, the more mitochondria in a muscle, the greater the muscle’s potential for aerobic energy production. For those of us who like to train with weights and work out intensely, there are two anaerobic energy pathways used to replenish ATP: the phosphate system and anaerobic glycolysis. The first system, creatine phosphate is, like ATP itself, a “high-energy “phosphagen compound stored in muscle. Creatine phosphate (CP) is the immediate supplier of energy for the formation of ATP. As CP is broken down to creatine and inorganic phosphate (Pi), it releases energy for the rapid replenishment of ATP. (Thus, the popularity of creatine supplementation.) There is a sufficient amount of CP stored in the muscle to support a maximal effort for eight to 12 seconds. Without this system, fast, powerful movements such as sprinting or intense weight training could not be performed. To draw an analogy, CP is a bit like emergency first responders, such as paramedics. When you have a serious medical crisis, you need help that’s fast, available, and really good at taking care of urgent situations. General practitioners, specialists, and physical therapists are good for non-urgent and long-term care, but when you need life-saving help now, it’s the paramedics you want. Well, a maximum-intensity muscle contraction is sort of like an emergency in your muscles. It demands a fuel source that is fast, available, and really good at providing a huge burst of energy without delay. CP is your muscles’ emergency first responders. The other muscle fuels (glucose, fats, etc.) are more like your general practitioners, specialists, and physical therapists—more useful for less intense and longer term muscle work. A second anaerobic system in which ATP is produced is glycolysis. Glycolysis generates ATP by the breakdown of carbohydrates stored in the muscle in the form of blood glucose and glycogen (long chains of glucose stored inside muscle cells). Glycolysis cannot produce ATP as fast as the breakdown of CP, but it is much faster than



aerobic metabolism, although far less efficient, yielding only two or three ATP molecules per glucose molecule. Therefore, as the intensity of work increases, the muscle cells tend to depend more and more on anaerobic metabolism. For instance, at a comfortable jog, more than 99% of your muscle energy is produced aerobically. During a 90-second sprint, aerobic and anaerobic pathways contribute energy about equally. And during an all-out, 10-second sprint, about 95% of your muscle energy comes from anaerobic metabolism.

Muscular Acidosis To put all of the muscle energy and physiological effects together, we would see that anaerobic glycolysis (pronounced gli-ko-le-sis) and aerobic metabolism work synergistically. In anaerobic glycolysis, which occurs in the cytoplasm of the cell, pyruvate is produced as a byproduct. The mitochondria then soak up pyruvate and break it down further to release additional energy aerobically. However, there is a limit to how fast the mitochondria can use pyruvate. At very high exercise intensities, such as the type of weight training you and I do, anaerobic glycolysis produces pyruvate faster than the mitochondria can snatch it. Unused pyruvate quickly breaks apart into lactic acid and hydrogen ions, which accumulate in the muscle cells and “leak” into the bloodstream. Again, and this is a very important fact to keep in mind, because Type IIx muscle fibers are anaerobic specialists, they produce the most hydrogen ions. In the previous chapter, I explained the importance of pH balance in the muscle tissue for optimal muscle performance. Now I can tell you that pH is actually measured as the concentration of hydrogen ions in tissue—in fact, “pH” stands for “potential for hydrogen.” Basically, the higher the concentration of hydrogen ions, the lower the pH value, and consequently, the more acidic the tissue. The body’s normal pH is approxi-

mately 7.0. Physical exhaustion and muscular fatigue occurs when the pH level drops to roughly 6.4. The following figures demonstrate the two ways accumulating hydrogen ions literally crush muscular performance. In Figure 2, you see the mechanism that brings about muscle contraction, including the role of calcium ions discussed, as I covered in the previous chapter. In Figure 3 (on the following page), you can see more closely where the calcium ions bind into the troponin molecule (colored green). This then lifts the tube-shaped tropomyosin protein away from the binding sites on the actin filament so that the myosin head can bind and bring about muscle shortening/contraction. (Active sites are represented as red dots on the orange-colored actin.)

Fig.2 G

Again, in this instance, imagine the myosin heads as a row of hands and the actin filament as a rope that these hands grab and pull in one direction. This “action” causes the actin filament to slide along the myosin filament, shortening the sarcomere. The simultaneous shortening of all the sarcomeres that make up a muscle fiber causes the entire fiber to shorten or, as we know it, to contract. So the million-dollar question: how does the accumulation of hydrogen ions negatively affect this process?



Here’s how… As our muscles produce more and more hydrogen ions through anaerobic glycolysis during intense exercise, some of these hydrogen ions occupy space on the troponin head, where the calcium ions would bind. As a result, the calcium ions cannot attach and thus the tropomyosin stays sitting on the actin-binding site, preventing the myosin head from attaching. Thus, as hydrogen ions accumulate, the number of sites for myosin heads to bind decreases, leading to fewer and fewer muscle fibers being activated, which translates into decreased force production and ultimately muscle exhaustion and an inability to contract the muscle any longer. Or better stated, as you and I likely experience in literally every set of an exercise we do, complete “muscle failure.” Hydrogen ions also reduce muscle performance by inhibiting ATP production. In Figure 4 on the next page, you can see the typical steps in anaerobic glycolysis. One of the most important enzymes in this pathway that allows the products of glucose breakdown to release ATP is phosphofructokinase (PFK). PFK (See step 3 in Figure 4) converts Fructose 6phosphate to fructose 1, 6-diphosphate—a process releasing ATP. Fig. 3 G

The activity rate of these enzymes (in other words, the speed they can

carry out reactions) is pH-dependent, so any disruption to the “normal” pH levels in muscle will negatively affect their activity. We know the primary cause of pH decline (acidosis) is excessive hydrogen ion production as it occurs during intense exercise. We also know from experimental research that when muscle tissue pH drops to 6.4, glycolysis is completely inhibited, resulting in physical exhaustion. What’s interesting is that PFK inhibition has a domino-like effect, not only inhibiting the ATP produced from its own reaction but also the ATP-producing capacity further down the pathway (see ATP produced in Figure 4), which makes complete muscle failure an inevitable part of training. Fig. 4 G

Carnosine to the Rescue As you’ve been told, carnosine is a natural metabolic acid buffer. This means it is able to neutralize some of the hydrogen ions produced during exercise. The factor that primarily influences the buffering capacity of carnosine (or any other buffer) is something known as pKa. The pKa value is linked to how much of a compound is bound to hydrogen ions at different pH levels.



Again, the body’s normal pH is approximately 7.0. Because of this, a buffer must have a pKa close to pH 7.0 to be beneficial. For instance, a compound with a pKa of 7.0 would have 50% of its total hydrogen ion binding capacity bound to protons. This leaves the remaining 50% of the compound “free” to attach to other circulating hydrogen ions— such as the excessive amount produced during intense weight training. Carnosine has a pKa of 6.83, which is very close to the 7.0 pH found in our bodies. It should come as no surprise, for this reason, that carnosine is one of the, if not the, most effective buffers, or pH stabilizers, in human skeletal muscle. Imagine carnosine as a four-seated car, driving around in your muscles, with two people sitting in the front (hydrogen ions), leaving two seats empty in the back to pick up two more people (additional hydrogen ions). Therefore, the more carnosine in the muscle, the more hydrogen ions the carnosine can pick up. Obviously, this helps prevent the associated decline in pH—stabilizing it. And yep, you guessed it: immediate, explosive power—from increased bursts of “muscle energy,” more intense muscular contractions, and a noticeable delay in the onset of muscular fatigue. To get a good sense of the usefulness of carnosine, it’s helpful to look at some animals that have the most of it. The muscle carnosine concentration in diving mammals, such as whales and dolphins, is approximately 16 times higher than it is in humans. Because these animals breathe in small amounts of air, in sparse intervals, and live underwater, they need to have the capacity to remain active for long stretches of time without oxygen. As they swim underwater, their muscles release energy anaerobically, causing rapid production of hydrogen ions, which their abundant carnosine stores allow them to better manage. Thus, their muscles are much more efficient. Land animals that specialize in speed and power, such as cheetahs and greyhound racing dogs, which have lots of Type II muscle fibers, also pack a lot of carnosine in their muscles. Greyhound dogs, for example, have approximately four times the muscle carnosine concentration of the average human.

You may not need to swim long distances underwater or chase down prey or race on a dog track, but as someone who works out intensely with weights, you can also benefit from having high carnosine levels. Increasing your muscle carnosine stores will enable your muscles to sustain maximum-intensity contractions longer without fatiguing, so you perform better in workouts and get greater benefits, which translates into more strength and continually increasing muscle mass gains. In other words, with more carnosine in your muscles, you will now be able to perform more reps and sets, with more volume, and at a higher intensity than you normally train at.

Carnosine Studies Offer Proof Not surprisingly, studies have found a correlation between muscle carnosine levels and anaerobic muscle performance in athletes, bodybuilders, and others. For example, in a Japanese study, researchers discovered a significant correlation between muscle 7 carnosine concentration and performance in 30-second sprints on a stationary bicycle . If you remember earlier on, I shared how carnosine is naturally most abundant in Type IIx fibers. These, again, are the muscle fibers that respond most readily to anaerobic weight training and are the “trainable” muscle fibers that are more apt to grow in size. The subjects in the above mentioned study who had the highest muscle carnosine levels also tended to have the greatest number of Type IIx muscle fibers. But since we now know that training and supplementation can increase muscle carnosine levels (much greater than with food alone), and there’s mounting scientific evidence that carnosine-boosting supplementation has a positive effect on anaerobic muscle-building performance, it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular supplements to study at present.



Some of the most exciting evidence was presented at the 2005 International Society of Sports Nutrition Annual Conference in New Orleans. At this conference, researchers reported that beta-alanine (a primary constituent in H+Blocker) supplementation increased muscle carnosine levels in subjects and, more important, increased their ability 8 to perform maximum-intensity exercise . Check out the graph below (Figure 5) and see the results for yourself. Pretty impressive, aren’t they?! In this study, subjects performed a graded exercise test on stationary bikes, and their maximum power output was recorded. Subjects then performed a second bike test in which they pedaled as long as they could at 110% of the maximum power output level they achieved in the first test, and time to fatigue was measured. They were then given either beta-alanine or a placebo every day for the next 10 weeks. They repeated the second testing format at four weeks and 10 weeks. The subjects taking the beta-alanine supplement improved their performance dramatically. Based on the results, the study’s authors concluded that “beta-alanine supplementation enhances muscle and exercise performance.”

D Fig. 5: Beta-alanine supplementation increased the ability to perform maximal exercise at intensities experienced in the gym.

Naturally, just like with any other supplements, the results of carnosine-boosting supplementation vary based on the type of supplement used, its purity and potency, and the dosage. It’s for these reasons I believe H+Blocker is absolutely, positively the most effective formulation for muscle carnosine loading. Not only is it the first ever supplement of its kind, but it is also the only such supplement that delivers the optimum, clinically effective dosage, based on the cutting-edge research by Mark Tallon, the world’s foremost authority on carnosine metabolism. As I shared with you

earlier, Tallon helped us formulate H+Blocker, based on his intimate knowledge of carnosine synthesis, using beta-alanine and L-histidine specially bonded with aspartic acid (awaiting patent approval under the name beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine), using his studies and others performed by Roger Harris. In Chapter 4, we’ll go more in-depth on carnosine loading and tell you everything you need to know about using the word’s first carnosine-boosting supplement, H+Blocker. I’ll cover why supplementation is necessary (due to limitations of carnosine in our diets), dosing, timing of supplementation, and the benefits of taking carnosine precursors with certain key carnosine activators. But first, if you would like to hear all about the seven breakthrough advantages you can expect to get from carnosine-boosting supplementation, then do yourself a favor, and turn the page.


Chapter 3:

The Benefits of Carnosine Loading

U

ntil this point, I have been speaking somewhat generally about the benefits of carnosine-boosting supplementation. I have used phrases such as “enhance muscular development” and “boost muscle performance” to describe the effects of this new, breakthrough supplement. But make no mistake: these descriptions, in my opinion, barely scratch the surface. They’re actually an understatement of the truly exciting benefits you can really expect from carnosine loading. As a matter of fact, there are actually no fewer than seven distinct benefits of carnosine-boosting supplementation relevant to your performance, the new lean body mass you can gain from workouts, and the results you get from them. In this chapter, I will detail each of these special benefits. And you know what? I have a hunch, after you finish reading this chapter, you’ll be pushing at the gate to start putting the power of the world’s first carnosine-booster, H+Blocker, to use!

Benefit #1: Immediate, Explosive Strength and Power Gains Carnosine-boosting supplementation increases maximum muscle strength and power in both indirect and direct ways… and better yet, you can expect these increases from the very first time you use it.

Chapter 3 | The Benefits of Carnosine Loading 43

By improving your resistance to muscular acidosis, carnosine-boosting supplementation increases your training capacity, and by taking advantage of your increased training capacity, you can achieve greater improvements in maximum strength and power. For example, very soon after beginning to use carnosine-boosting supplementation, you might find that instead of eight reps with 100 lbs, you can do 10 reps with 100 lbs. Instead of two sets, you can do three. If you take advantage of the increased training capacity and squeeze out those extra reps and sets, you will stimulate a greater adaptive response in your body that will enhance your maximum strength and power. This, in turn, allows you to further increase your workload in the gym, which will trigger even greater results in muscle mass and strength capacity. Research has shown that, when it comes to increasing maximum muscle strength and power, the two most important training variables are the intensity of lifts and the volume of lifting. The higher the intensity of your lifts and the more total lifting you do (within the limits of what your muscles can recover from of course), the faster you will gain strength and power. Carnosine-boosting supplementation allows you to increase your training volume by increasing the amount of high-intensity work your muscles can do before they become fatigued. This in turn enhances all the benefits that come from “super” intense training, including increased maximum strength and power. What’s more, carnosine loading may also enhance maximum strength and power in a more direct way. There are two functions of carnosine in the muscles I have not mentioned previously because they are considered secondary to its role as a hydrogenbinder and pH-controlling agent. But these functions are hardly unimportant for those seeking to increase the strength and power of their muscles. First, carnosine enhances energy supply to the muscles by activating phosphorylase, an enzyme that removes individual glucose molecules from the long chains of glucose



9

molecules called glycogen that are stored in muscle cells . It is these individual glucose molecules that are used to replenish ATP through anaerobic glycolysis. Phosphorylase is like a fuel line that connects the fuel tank (glycogen) to the engine (myosin). Carnosine, in this particular function, is like a fuel injector, which gets fuel from the fuel tank through the fuel line to the engine faster, so the engine can produce more power. Carnosine also activates ATPase, which is the name we give to the contractile protein myosin when we consider its role as the enzyme responsible for breaking down 10 ATP . As you recall, the breakdown of ATP releases the energy that allows myosin to bind to the other contractile protein, actin. When this happens, the muscle fiber contracts. It is well known that the more ATPase activity there is in a muscle fiber, the faster it can shorten (contract), and the faster it can shorten, the more powerful it is. So, by increasing ATPase activity through carnosine loading, you essentially enhance the ability of the muscle to break down ATP to bring about contraction. If you are confused… don’t worry. I was too at one time, but let me see if I can help clear up this confusion with a simple analogy. Imagine a row of 20 kegs filled with gunpowder, each with a 50-lb weight on top of it. The powder kegs represent ATP molecules (energy source) and the 50-lb weights represent the contractile proteins. When the powder in a keg explodes and a weight shoots into the sky, this represents a muscle contraction. Continuing the analogy, ATPase is essentially a flame that lights a powder keg and allows it to explode and shoot a weight into the sky. The more powder kegs you can light and explode simultaneously, the more total weight you can lift. And the more ATPase you can activate, the more powder kegs you can light at one time. Since carnosine

activates ATPase, it enables you to lift more weight, faster. And you don’t have to wait one, two, three, four, or eight weeks to “feel” carnosine working. It makes your muscles stronger and more powerful, from the very first time you try it!

Benefit #2: Increased Training Intensity and Workload Capacity The primary job of carnosine in the muscles is to counteract one of the primary causes of muscle fatigue during high-intensity exercise: muscular acidosis. By increasing the concentration of carnosine in your muscles through supplementation, you will be able to delay muscular acidosis longer. Consequently, you’ll train much more intensely (whether it’s more sets, reps, or using heavier weights while training or more or longer intervals of cardio exercise at a given intensity of training) before reaching exhaustion. Quite simply, you’ll continue to stave off the “inevitable” muscle failure. As you read in the previous chapter, anaerobic glycolysis is a major source of energy for high-intensity muscle contractions. Positively charged hydrogen ions are a byproduct of anaerobic glycolysis. During sustained work at high intensities, hydrogen ions begin to accumulate in the muscle tissue, lowering the pH and thereby hastening exhaustion. If you remember, there are actually two distinct ways hydrogen ions cause muscle fatigue. First, they prevent the contractile proteins actin and myosin from binding, and as we know, the binding of these two proteins is the essence of muscle contraction, power, and force. In addition, hydrogen ions inhibit the activity of PFK, an enzyme that plays a key role in allowing glucose to regenerate ATP (the immediate “energy” source for all muscle contractions) through anaerobic glycolysis. The activity of PFK is pHdependent, so as the accumulation of hydrogen ions causes muscle pH to drop, PFK becomes less and less effective, causing the muscle to run out of ATP.



Consequently, as we’ve come to learn, carnosine helps prevent both of these causes of muscle fatigue by soaking up hydrogen ions like a sponge. Basically, the more carnosine a muscle fiber contains, the more hydrogen ions can be neutralized, and the longer the muscle can continue contracting and “working” at high intensities. More simply, carnosine-boosting supplementation dramatically increases muscle carnosine levels and, as a result, increases the amount of capacity and workload the muscles can do at higher intensities. 11

This was demonstrated in a recent study by a group of American researchers . Their research showed that after four weeks of supplementation with beta-alanine (you’ll recall that beta-alanine is one of the two primary amino acids comprising carnosine) increased the muscle carnosine concentration of subjects by a whopping 58% and increased their anaerobic work capacity (as measured in a stationary cycling test) by a respectable 16% compared to placebo. As you can see, these types of results clearly demonstrate that increased carnosine levels and increased anaerobic work capacity go hand-in-hand.

Benefit #3: Faster Recovery Between Sets, Reps, and Workouts When we think about muscle recovery, we usually think about the couple of days between our workouts. But in weightlifting, muscle recovery also occurs between exercise sets and, believe it or not, even between repetitions within a set. And the best news about carnosine-boosting is that it’s able to accelerate the in-between workout recovery as well as the very short-term type of recovery that occurs during your workouts. You know something? In all my research, I think this is definitely one of the most intriguing discoveries about carnosine (right inline with its influence on the “trainable” Type IIx muscle fibers for rapid growth, but more on that later).

See, when you rest between sets or pause briefly between repetitions, anaerobic glycolysis in the muscles slows dramatically, and the production of hydrogen ions slows equally. This gives carnosine a chance to play “catch-up,” rapidly soaking up hydrogen ions produced in the recently completed set or repetition. Ever wondered why a mere one-second pause between repetitions actually helps— in other words, why can you do more reps with a given weight when you pause between repetitions than you can when you don’t pause? Well, biochemical reactions in muscles occur at lightening speed, so while one second might not seem like much to you, it’s a great big window of opportunity for your intramuscular carnosine stores to take full advantage of. Most researchers would agree, the more carnosine you have stored in your muscles, the more hydrogen ions it can neutralize between sets and reps, the further out you will push the onset of muscular fatigue, and at the same time, the faster you will recover between each set and repetition. As a result, this allows you to take on a higher workload in workouts and enhance the training effect you get from them. In a similar way, what’s great is carnosine loading can accelerate recovery between hard intervals in your cardio workouts too. Even if you perform active instead of passive recoveries (as an example, even if you merely slow down instead of completing stopping while you’re “resting”) between intervals, increasing your intramuscular carnosine stores will allow you to recover faster and more fully so you can perform at a higher level of intensity in the next interval. See, when you slow down from a hard anaerobic intensity level to an easy aerobic intensity level at the end of an interval, the rate of anaerobic glycolysis and hydrogen ion production plummets, opening that window of opportunity for carnosine to work its magic. The net result is you will derive greater benefits from your interval cardio workouts, too.



On top of all that, going back to our first point, carnosine-boosting supplementation may also enhance muscle recovery between workouts. The critical 24 to 48 hours between training sessions. This is because hard workouts reduce muscle carnosine stores, creating a need for additional carnosine replenishment. The fact is, the lower your muscle carnosine stores are at the beginning of a workout, the faster you will become fatigued in the workout. Carnosine-boosting supplementation allows you to complete workouts with more available carnosine and replenish your carnosine stores faster between workouts, so, in less time than it normally takes you to recover, you are physiologically “adapted.” Thus, you’re able to work out sooner and perform better in the next workout. So, in other words, the next time you work out, even if it’s in the next day or two, you won’t be dragging yourself into the gym, still sore. Instead, you’ll be all “fired up” and ready to give it everything you’ve got—to get the most out of every workout. Think about it: with carnosine, you’ll never again have to worry about another bad workout!

Benefit #4: Permanent/On-Going Muscle Hypertrophy, through the Influence of Type IIx Fibers Before I start, I should first tell you, just in case you aren’t familiar with the word hypertrophy, that it technically means “increased ventricular mass.” So, in the sense of skeletal muscle, which is what we’re most concerned with, hypertrophy is the growth of muscle cells—in mass, girth, and volume. There are various types of fibers in our muscles. And those various muscle fiber types have varying capacities for growth or hypertrophy. For instance, Type I fibers, the aerobic, “slow-twitch” specialists, have very little capacity for growth. Type IIx, “fast-

twitch” muscle fibers, on the other hand, have the greatest capacity for growth. (I guess that’s why most researchers call Type IIx the “trainable” fibers, because, once influenced, they tend to grow so much more easily than their counterpart, Type I). Coincidentally, Type IIx fibers are also the greatest hydrogen ion producers, yet at the same time, they contain the highest concentrations of carnosine. What’s interesting is that the highest carnosine levels ever recorded in humans were found in professional bodybuilders. You probably won’t be surprised to learn it was Mark Tallon who discovered this. In a study published in the November 2005 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Tallon and his team took biopsies of the vastus lateralis muscles of six national-level competitive bodybuilders and six age-matched 5 untrained, but moderately active, healthy subjects . What Tallon found was that muscle carnosine in the bodybuilders was twice that in controls (the untrained group of men). The significance of this finding caused the researchers to estimate that these incredible carnosine levels represented at least a 20% contribution to their overall muscle buffering capacity, and an astounding 40% contribution to the buffering capacity of their Type II fibers. Tallon could only speculate as to why the muscle carnosine levels in these bodybuilders were so high. He stated that training was certainly a contributor, and he could not rule out a possible effect of anabolic steroids. But he could conclude that carnosine, somehow, played a role in influencing the Type IIx fibers, and as a result, is certain there is a very strong correlation between muscle carnosine levels and muscle hypertrophy. Now, keep in mind, fast-twitch fibers are the muscle fibers that have the potential to make you almost “super-human.” They are the muscle fibers athletes need to set world records in track and field events like sprinting and in powerlifting... they’re the fibers that have the capacity to grow beyond your wildest imagination... they’re the fibers every athlete (especially those, like you and me, who are serious about training with weights) wish we had lots more of.



D Fig. 6: CARNOSINE STORAGE IN MUSCLE FIBERS In a recently documented study, greater carnosine stores in muscle fibers were shown to be much higher in Type IIx fibers due to their preferential distribution. As a result, this has a huge impact on muscular performance, resistance to high-intensity fatigue, and muscular growth. (Tallon, M.J., et al., J Strength Conditioning Sci)

The good new is, as I just shared, “fast-twitch” muscle fibers have a much greater potential for muscle growth than Type I fibers or “slowtwitch” fibers. The bad news, though, is most of us have just as many slow-twitch fibers as fast-twitch muscle fibers. And unfortunately, only a very small percentage of us who take up weight lifting to build muscle mass are born with lots of fasttwitch fibers. Enough of them to matter, anyway. Sadly, there is nothing you and I can do to alter our ratio of slow- to fasttwitch fibers.

But, here’s some incredible news. While boosting carnosine stores cannot “alter” your genetics, what it can do is “enhance” your genetics. Here’s how… With the patent-pending carnosine synthesizer, found only in H+Blocker, what we can do is “blast” the heck out of the existing fast-twitch fibers we do have. So, in essence, they begin to appear to all “act like” fast-twitch, Type II fibers. In other words, by supplying our bodies with the nutrients to synthesize carnosine, we can preferentially direct the intracellular actions toward the muscles that have the greatest capacity for greater contractions, fullness, workload capacity, and growth! Because of this revolutionary breakthrough, in my humble opinion, H+Blocker will quickly become the standard by which all physique development supplements are held.

Benefit #5: Improved Peak Muscular Contractions and Enhanced Muscle Fullness In recent years, various nitric oxide precursor supplements have become popular due to the fact that nitric oxide is known to increase blood flow and nutrient delivery to the muscles and other tissues. It does this by signaling the endothelial cells on the inner lining of the blood vessels to relax, causing the blood vessels to dilate. In the body, nitric oxide is derived from the amino acid L-arginine with the help of an enzyme group known as nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Most of the nitric oxideboosting supplements on the market are L-arginine-based, yet none have been proven conclusively effective in increasing nitric oxide activity. (Though many weight trainers still swear by the stuff.) Bodybuilders and many other fitness enthusiasts seek out this effect because they like the way it makes their muscles appear larger, especially when blood flow is further enhanced by exercise. Affectionately called “the pump.” Another important but overlooked benefit of increased nitric oxide is nutrient delivery. Because the blood flow increases, it is theorized that nutrients traveling through the blood will be more efficiently delivered to their destination. This, in turn, may be why people claim the intake of other nutrients or supplements they take in combination with nitric oxide stimulators are improved. What most bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts don’t realize is that carnosine appears to be a more effective supplement for nitric oxide production than L-arginine. A study performed at the Imperial College School of Medicine in London compared the effects of carnosine and L-arginine on nitric oxide production and found that carnosine 12 was in fact more effective .



Fig. 7 F

The study revealed that carnosine produced a 62% greater increase in nitric oxide production over the use of arginine. (See the chart to the left.) So, it’s pretty clear to me that if you are currently spending your hard-earned money on an arginine-based, nitric oxide stimulator and if you’re interested in increasing your muscular “pumps”—not to mention the benefit of increased nutrient delivery to the muscles that also comes with enhanced nitric oxide activity—your supplement of choice should probably be the premium carnosine booster, not arginine.

Benefit #6: Reverses Age-Related Muscle Decline and “Shrinkage” The fact is, we now know that muscle carnosine stores tend to decline with age, and as a direct result, muscle-building capacity and muscular performance decline as well. This was shown in another recent carnosine study led by Mark Tallon. In Tallon’s study, muscle samples were taken from the mid portion of the vastus lateralis (thigh) muscle of younger subjects (with an average age of 23 years) by needle biopsy and from older subjects (with an average age of 70 years). Muscle fibers were characterized as Type I and Type II and the carnosine content of each was measured. Interestingly, Tallon and his colleagues observed a marked, noticeable decline in muscle carnosine in the older subjects’ Type II fibers. On average, the older subjects had 47% less carnosine in these fibers than the younger subjects. The study authors estimated that this would result in a seven-percent deterioration of total muscular performance, due to the loss of buffering capacity. So, somewhere between the ages of 23 and

70, your muscle carnosine stores, along with your muscle performance and workload capacity, naturally starts to decline. You can see the importance of carnosine loading, which can literally “turn back the hands of time” by replacing any carnosine you may have lost due to aging. In fact, as we have already explored, it can go even further, in that with proper supplementation, we can elevate your muscle carnosine stores to a higher level than they have ever reached in your entire lifetime. What’s more, carnosine-boosting supplementation can slow and, to some extent, reverse the aging process throughout your entire body. Research has found that carnosine levels are especially high in the most long-lived cells. Carnosine appears to prolong cell life. In at least two ways... First, it neutralizes free radicals, those highly reactive chemical invaders that damage cell membranes and other cell constituents, including DNA. The accumulation of free radical damage to cells over the course of the lifespan is one of the major factors contributing to the functional decline of organs and tissues that characterizes aging. Carnosine also protects cells against a similar aging-related process called glycation. Glycation (pronounced gli-kay-shun) can be described as the binding of a protein molecule to a glucose molecule resulting in the formation of damaged, nonfunctioning structures. Essentially, the sugar roams around in the blood and finds “good” cells, encapsulates them, and kills them off. Glycation alters protein structure and decreases biological activity. Glycated proteins, which accumulate in affected tissue, are reliable markers of disease. What you may not know is that many age-related diseases such as arterial stiffening, cataracts, and neurological impairment are at least partially attributable to glycation. Carnosine is able to prevent glycation and, as some research suggests, may also help dispose of glycated proteins.



What this means for you and me is that by supplying our bodies with adequate amounts of the materials able to synthesize into carnosine, such as from H+Blocker, we’ll not only help our muscles stay young, but we’ll keep our muscles from “shrinking” and atrophying while we’re not working out.

Benefit #7: Greater Performance and Fat-Burning Capacity in High-Intensity Cardio Intervals What most people don’t seem surprised to find out is that fatigue-causing hydrogen ions are produced at high rates not only during weightlifting but also during intense cardiovascular activity. Like riding a stationary bike, running on a treadmill, or sprinting on a track. Because of this, carnosine loading is just as effective for enhancing performance in high-intensity cardio workouts, and the results you get from them, as it is for increasing weightlifting performance and muscle size and strength. Of particular interest to you and me, carnosine loading will enhance the fat-burning and cardiovascular fitness-building effects we seek from high-intensity cardio training. Studies have revealed a strong correlation between muscle carnosine levels and high-intensity cardio performance. One of these studies was done recently at the 7 University of Tsukuba, Japan . The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among skeletal muscle carnosine concentration, fiber type distribution, and highintensity exercise performance in 11 healthy men. Muscle biopsy samples were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle, and the carnosine concentration was determined. The fiber-type distribution was also determined. The subjects then did 30-second sprints on a stationary bike, and their power output was measured.

The researchers found that the men with the greatest number of Type IIx fibers also had the highest carnosine levels. They also found that the men with the highest carnosine levels produced the most power per kilogram of bodyweight. Even more compelling, when the researchers divided the 30-second sprints into five 6-second phases, they observed the strongest correlations between carnosine concentration and mean power per unit body mass during the final two phases—just when you’d expect hydrogen ions to be taking their toll—diminishing muscle performance. The study’s authors concluded, “These results indicated that the carnosine concentration could be an important factor in determining... high-intensity exercise performance.” This particular study looked at the effects of natural differences in carnosine concentration among individuals. But it’s clear that the effect of increasing your muscle carnosine concentration through supplementation will be much the same as that of having been born with naturally higher levels of carnosine (i.e., born with more Type II muscle fibers). So, while you might not be interested in becoming the world champion of 30-second stationary bike sprints, remember, anything—I mean literally anything—you can do to enhance your performance in workouts will enhance the results you get from them, which, in the case of high-intensity cardio training, are greater fat-burning and cardiovascular, heart-strengthening fitness. Just imagine if you could stop wasting valuable hours upon hours on cardio exercises, when you could instead burn two, three, or even four times more calories and bodyfat by using the carnosine-supplement H+Blocker beforehand.

Seven “Over-the-Moon” Reasons There you have it… you now have not one, not two, but seven convincing reasons to experience the powerful benefits of the world’s first carnosine-boosting supplement, H+Blocker.



The next questions are obvious: Is H+Blocker the best carnosine-boosting supplement to take? How much do I take? How often? What else can I take it with? How should I eat and train while using it? How do I get the most out of it? Well, I will gladly answer these and other related questions in the next chapter. So let’s keep moving…

Chapter 4:

Carnosine Loading 101

Y

ou might find it odd for the president of a nutritional supplement company to say this, but I believe people should get all of their necessary nutrients from natural foods as often as possible. Nutritional supplements should be used only when it is impossible or highly impractical to get needed nutrients from natural foods. That’s just the honest truth. Understand, however, that the definition of “necessary” is goal-dependent. In other words, what you need, nutritionally speaking, depends to a large degree on what your goals are. Athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts in general have special goals that create special nutritional needs. To achieve goals such as increasing muscle mass, strength, and anaerobic muscle performance, you need greater than normal amounts of certain key nutrients—amounts that are difficult, if not impossible, to get from natural foods. Making supplementation necessary. Among the key nutrients individuals with such goals need more of are the natural carnosine precursors, beta-alanine and L-histidine. Because when combined, these two nonessential and essential amino acids are natural biological precursors to “carnosine biosynthesis” (once consumed). Therefore, supplementation with them increases the muscle carnosine concentration well beyond the level achievable by eating foods that naturally contain carnosine. As a result, the increased carnosine stores greatly improve the potential for muscle size, strength, and performance more than a non-supplemented diet can. In this sense, carnosine-boosting supplementation is necessary, if not mandatory,

Chapter 4 | Carnosine Loading 101 59

for those with goals like those I just mentioned. (That is, if you would like to achieve them anyway!) Yes, when taken in the appropriate amounts, supplementation can, and does, play a specific role far and above the normal amounts we might obtain from the foods we eat. For example, turkey is a good natural source of carnosine. But you would have to eat four or five pounds of turkey a day to get as much carnosine as you can effectively get from one dose of H+Blocker (which contains the clinically effective 3.2-gram dose of a specially bonded form of beta-alanine and L-histidine with aspartic acid, rather than whole carnosine). Moreover, as Tallon once explained to me, “carnosine cannot be taken up into the muscle intact, and pretty much all of the carnosine consumed in food is essentially lost during digestion.” Rendering it literally useless.

Don’t Take It—Make It Something to consider is that when we eat a food containing carnosine, it gets hydrolyzed (broken down) to beta-alanine and L-histidine by the enzyme carnosinase, which is highly active in blood. These amino acids are then taken up into the muscles, where they are resynthesized to carnosine by carnosine synthetase. We know little about the carnosine transport system at present and apparently, according to Tallon’s latest studies, are some years away from the knowledge we have on creatine transports. But it is believed carnosine may travel through muscle plasma using similar transporters as creatine. And, we do know food does not contain enough carnosine to achieve a significant carnosine-loading effect in the muscles, and much of the carnosine we get from foods never winds up being reconstituted as muscle carnosine anyway.



So, contrary to conventional wisdom, even a pure carnosine supplement is not the best tool for carnosine loading. The problem is lack of efficiency. And besides that, whole carnosine is far too expensive to produce, and therefore to use, and as I mentioned earlier, it is broken down into beta-alanine and L-histidine before it even leaves the digestive tract. For that reason, it is more economical and much more beneficial to consume a supplement containing the individual amino acids beta-alanine and histidine. Interestingly, some research has theorized beta-alanine would do the job entirely on its own, because histidine is fairly present in blood plasma already. However, upon further inspection, I’ve been able to discover that even though beta-alanine is, in fact, more of a limiting factor in relation to carnosine synthesis, histidine is still very much warranted to synthesize carnosine in the body. To better understand this, let’s look at this analogy. Hot dogs are typically sold in packages of a dozen. Hot dog buns, however, are typically sold in packages of only eight. So, if you buy one package of hot dogs and one package of hot dog buns and take them home to feed your family (this is not recommended, by the way!), the limiting factor will be the buns. After all eight of the buns have been eaten, there will still be four hot dogs left over. These leftover hot dogs are available to be eaten, but they typically won’t be eaten because there are no buns to “complete” them. Well, when it comes to carnosine synthesis in your body, under normal circumstances, beta-alanine corresponds to the buns and L-histidine corresponds to the frankfurters. Unless you are a vegetarian, there is probably enough L-histidine available in your body to make more carnosine. However, what prevents more carnosine from being made is the fact that there is not enough beta-alanine. But, on the other hand, if histidine isn’t readily available, then again carnosine won’t be made. The problem, then, is the ability of these two nutrients to synthesize into carnosine, as efficiently as possible. That’s the key, you see. How well do they turn into carnosine, once consumed? Well, work by a couple of researchers in Japan, lead by Aonuma, iden-

tified an amino acid known as aspartic acid (aspartate) as the likely candidate to drasti13 cally improve the rate of synthesize of beta-alanine and histidine in the body. By bonding these two separate amino acids (L-histidine and aspartate) and further manipulating them into aspartyl-L-histidine, we can better enhance muscle carnosine stores by focusing on higher aspartate content and an L-histidine dose already shown to support carnosine synthesis. Thus, my company collaborated with Tallon in his laboratory (and a private manufacturing facility) to create a specially bonded form of beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine. Beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine is absolutely, positively the most superior carnosine synthesizer known to the world of sports supplementation. And it’s found only in H+Blocker. Of special interest, knowing our “one-of-a-kind” carnosine-boosting compound is so powerful and novel, it has become worthy of the U.S. government patent we’ve applied for. Mainly so no one can replicate it, how it’s made, or what it does. (As you know, if you’ve been around the supplement industry for any length of time, “me-too” products and “knock offs” show up pretty quickly after a new supplement gets really popular. Using the latest research, paid for by companies like mine, they rush their cheap, inferior “copy-cat” versions to market, hoping to peddle their products to unsuspecting athletes and bodybuilders who don’t know any different.) But make no mistake: There is only one form of beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine, and you won’t find it in any supplements other than H+Blocker. Because we created it and own the patent on it.

Train Harder—Make It Work Better It’s important to understand that the very first thing you need to do if you want to increase your muscle carnosine stores is create an increased demand for carnosine in



your muscles by regularly doing exercise that is intense enough to cause muscular acidosis. That means performing cardio intensely and working out with relatively heavy weights to near “failure.” Every workout. By overwhelming the capacity of your current carnosine stores to buffer the hydrogen ions produced in workouts, you will trigger an adaptive response in which the genes responsible for governing carnosine synthesis will be “up-regulated.” This means your muscle cells will be able to synthesize more carnosine, as long as the raw materials are available. The potential for synthesizing carnosine was first described in cell-culture studies 14 back in 1994 , and several studies since then have shown that carnosine-boosting supplementation, combined with intense training, results in a significant carnosine loading effect. In one such study, four weeks of betaalanine supplementation resulted in a mean 15 increase of 64% in muscle carnosine . More recently, the same researchers examined the effect of beta-alanine supplementation on muscle carnosine levels in untrained sub16 jects . Twenty male subjects took either betaalanine or a sugar placebo for the first week. By week four, mean carnosine levels had increased by 58%.

D Fig. 8: Shown in a recent study, muscle carnosine levels rise significantly, immediately following supplementation.

So the proper recipe for maximizing muscle carnosine is not necessarily to eat carnosine-rich foods, and it’s certainly not to take a pure carnosine supplement. It is instead to create a demand for more muscle carnosine by

working out intensely and then providing your muscles with plenty of the raw ingredients (our bonded form of beta-alanine, L-histidine, and aspartic acid, beta-alanyl-laspartyl-l-histidine) to satisfy this demand. In other words, when it comes to carnosine loading, the rule is this: don’t take it; make it!

The Ultimate Carnosine Booster When I first sat down with Mark Tallon to discuss the possibility of collaborating to develop a carnosine-boosting supplement, I made it clear to him that my goal was not to produce the first carnosine-boosting supplement for athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness-minded people. I wanted to produce the best possible carnosine-boosting supplement for athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness-minded people everywhere. Being the first would mean nothing to me if someone else came up with a better formula one year, or even 10 years, later. So I asked Tallon to put the full extent of his carnosine knowledge into creating a formula no one else could match—or copy, because it would be so unique and thus patent-worthy. (Keep in mind, Tallon received his Ph.D. in carnosine metabolism and is probably one of the only, if not the only, persons in the world to do so, making him, in my opinion, the top authority on the subject of carnosine.) Tallon came through in a BIG way. The first key point he brought to my attention was the fact that, while L-histidine is not entirely a limiting factor in carnosine synthesis, when taken supplementally with beta-alanine, it does increase carnosine synthesis, beyond the level beta-alanine achieves on its own. The reason is most likely that the addition of L-histidine helps activate the metabolic pathways used for carnosine synthesis. (I think this is where the hot dog analogy breaks down!) Therefore, the ultimate carnosine-boosting supplement should contain both of carnosine’s constituent amino acids, beta-alanine and L-histidine.



Even more important, Tallon explained to me, as we talked about earlier, is the contribution of aspartic acid. Also known as aspartate, aspartic acid is an amino acid that binds with beta-alanine and L-histidine to form beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine. Evidence suggests this compound is the natural biological precursor for carnosine and, 13 as such, it’s metabolized in a similar way as carnosine . Therefore, beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine is, in my and Tallon’s opinion, the absolute most powerful carnosine-boosting supplement you can take. And make no mistake: H+Blocker is the only carnosine-boosting supplement that contains this specially bonded form of beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine. And, like I said earlier, it’s awaiting final patent approval. We also chose to include a small amount of caffeine in the nutrient matrix of active ingredients in H+Blocker. This decision was based on evidence that caffeine, like carnosine itself, stimulates the release of calcium ions in intensely trained muscles. See, for a muscle cell to contract, calcium ions must be able to pass outside the cell membrane. One way of doing this is through a receptor. Think of a receptor as a transport system. The receptor I’m referring to is called a Ryanodine Receptor (RR). During intense exercise, the release of calcium ions may be inhibited, causing a decline in the ability of your muscles to contract and produce force. Carnosine has been shown to stimulate RR-mediated calcium release from the muscle. And in a recent scientific paper, it was found that these effects of carnosine can be further enhanced with the 17 addition of caffeine . This study demonstrated that the combination of these two compounds significantly enhanced the ability of human muscle fibers to prolong the generation of force via increased efficiency in the release of calcium by the RR system. Technical, I know. But it provides clear evidence that even a small amount of caffeine works to enhance carnosine’s effects even further. What’s more, previous research has shown that caffeine enhances performance in sprints, in all-out efforts lasting four to five minutes, and in prolonged endurance exer-

18

cise . It appears caffeine enhances performance in shorter events by increasing muscle recruitment. In longer events, it delays fatigue by reducing the athlete’s perception of effort. It increases the concentration of hormone-like substances in the brain called betaendorphins during exercise. The endorphins affect mood state, reduce perception of pain, and create a sense of well-being. Caffeine has also been found to delay fatigue during exercise by blocking adenosine receptors. Adenosine is produced during exercise and inhibits the release of the brain neurotransmitter dopamine. Decreases in dopamine, along with increases in serotonin, another brain neurotransmitter, have been linked to central nervous system fatigue during exercise. As an adjunct to caffeine, carbohydrates, in the form of a specific ratio of simple sugars—glucose, fructose, and sucrose—increase the effectiveness of our carnosineboosting supplement by improving carbohydrate oxidation and delivery of nutrients. It may help to understand that carbohydrate oxidation is the breakdown of glucose derived from dietary carbohydrate to produce energy. A study from the University of Birmingham in England recently found that caffeine enhances exogenous carbohydrate 19 oxidation (i.e., the rate carbs consumed in a supplement are burned) during exercise . Cyclist participating in this study received a six-percent glucose solution, a six-percent glucose solution plus caffeine, or plain water during a two-hour indoor cycling test. Researchers used indirect calorimetry to measure the amounts and proportions of fat and carbohydrate oxidized during the test. As a result, they found the rate of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation was 26% higher in the cyclists receiving carbs with caffeine than in those receiving carbs without caffeine. The study’s authors concluded that caffeine may have increased the rate of glucose absorption in the intestine, providing fuel to the working muscles more quickly. The likely effect on performance is the ability to work harder for a longer period of time



without becoming fatigued. H+Blocker contains a precise 12.5 grams of simple carbohydrates per serving to achieve this muscle performance-enhancing effect. The final ingredients in H+Blocker’s active ingredient matrix are citrulline malate, a critical precursor to nitric oxide production. What’s exciting about the use of citrulline malate is that many of its functions stem primarily from its ability to increase plasma levels of arginine in the body. Do you want “in” on a little-known secret? Citrulline malate has been shown in a recent study to increase plasma arginine levels higher than 20 taking the amino acid arginine itself , such as what you would find in many of the popular nitric-oxide booster supplements on the market today! Here’s something else you’ll want to know about citrulline malate and why we added it to the H+Blocker formula. It is an intermediate in the Urea Cycle. The Urea Cycle is a complex system in the liver of carrier molecules and enzymes that convert nitrogenous wastes into urea and eliminates them from the body. Basically, the production and removal of urea is essential for the elimination of ammonia and toxic nitrogen metabolites, which are built up in our muscle plasma during intense exercise, which 21 also leads to muscle fatigue . Think of citrulline malate as an immediate source of “muscle energy.” By eliminating all of the muscle “pollutants” and toxic byproducts, which build up from exercising intensely, eventually causing fatigue, cittruline malate quickly replenishes the muscle’s 22 energy-producing capacity . Last, a precise blend of sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) were added to H+Blocker in a specific ratio of 2:1. This is to aid in the rapid transport of the nutrients through the gut (so you don’t experience any stomach discomfort) and into the muscle plasma, to expedite the absorption and further speed the rates of carnosine storage. See, it seems by coincidence that beta-alanine, similar to creatine, possesses the ability to pass into the muscle 23 using the commonplace metabolites sodium and chloride . In essence, these two nutrients help “piggy-back” beta-alanine and force it into muscle for faster carnosine storage.

The Question of Dosage Make no mistake, finding the optimal dosage for any ergogenic supplement is a tricky process. The goal is always to find the smallest dosage sufficient to achieve the most desirable results. On the one hand, you don’t want to shortchange yourself by taking too little and thereby get only a fraction of the benefits that particular supplement offers. On the other hand, it’s inadvisable to consume more than the necessary amount of any nutrient. Taking too big a dose may cause a down-regulation of transporters (so it takes bigger and bigger doses to get the same effect) or present unwanted side effects. To find the dosage “sweet spot” for a new supplement, you have to run experiments to compare the effects of different dosages. In the case of carnosine, the process of finding the optimal dosage actually began in horses. (Even though you may not agree with this practice, this is a fairly common approach. For safety reasons, many researchers begin such a process in animals other than humans when they are unsure what the effects of overdosing may be.) Research by Dunnett demonstrated that horses given 100 mg/kg of bodyweight of beta-alanine for 30 days with L-histidine at 12.5 mg/kg experienced an 18% increase in 15 the muscle carnosine levels of Type IIb fibers . While a horse is not a human, this research was important because it showed that muscle carnosine concentrations could be greatly increased in an athletic mammal through supplementation without ill effects. In 2005, research presented at the American College of Sports Medicine on betaalanine supplementation in humans demonstrated that by consuming 800 mg four times a day (or 3.2 grams per day) for five weeks, a significant muscle carnosine load11 ing effect was achieved . Based on this study, along with the close evaluation of other research reports presented by Stout, Harris, and Tallon, and coupled with our own pilot studies con-



ducted, we fixed 3.2 grams per day as the clinically based recommended dosage for H+Blocker. (And because of this evidence, we made sure every serving of H+Blocker contains exactly 3.2 grams of the exclusive, specially bonded beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine, along with the other ingredients we just covered.) At this level, the muscles exhibit significant carnosine loading, which begins to take affect from the very first dose. And as training intensifies, muscular strength dramatically improves, and peak muscular contractions become more and more intense. As the research shows, in approximately three to four weeks, carnosine stores begin to impart their full benefits, and surprisingly, even greater levels of carnosine have been found after up to 10 weeks of use. What’s more, the rate of continued loading between four and 10 weeks suggests that muscle carnosine levels may continue to increase much longer. In fact, as far as we know right now, as long as you take H+Blocker, you can continue to expect to experience results. Now that, my friend, is worth the investment alone. Simply because, to my knowledge, there is no other supplement that can make that claim. Most muscle-building supplements essentially stop working after about three, four, or five weeks. Unlike other supplements, like creatine for example, you do not need to divide H+Blocker supplementation into separate “loading” and “maintenance” phases. The 3.2 grams per day dosage is adequate for both initial and ongoing carnosine loading. However, if you weigh more than 200 lbs, I would strongly consider taking two servings (two scoops) of H+Blocker per day. Taking two servings at the same time before a workout will maximize workout performance. Or, dividing the dosage into two single servings (for example, taking one serving in the morning and a second in the afternoon) may result in more complete absorption and usability. To maximize carnosine loading, you need to take H+Blocker daily. The best time to take H+Blocker is approximately 20 to 30 minutes before working out. Any type of workout, really. Whether it’s weight training, cardio exercise… running track, or play-

ing basketball. Simply mix a serving (one heaping scoop) of H+Blocker with six to eight ounces of water, and drink it down 20 or so minutes before you are ready to work out. (I’ll say the taste, while not flattering, is kind of like Fruit Punch Kool-Aid® with a bit of a “bite” at the end. The reason for the sharp aftertaste is the potent ingredients are very difficult to cover up—they are extremely bitter. So, in an effort to make the flavor much more enjoyable, we worked closely with a flavor technologist to help us produce the best Fruit Punch flavor we possibly could, but I have to forewarn you, the taste is not going to knock your socks off. But, hey, it’s the results we’re after, right?) You will find that just after you consume H+Blocker, it immediately begins to stimulate increased blood flow. Numerous people have agreed with me—it feels almost like there is electricity flowing through your veins, which will enhance nutrient and oxygen supply to your muscles. Putting your muscles on “standby,” ready to enhance your workout performance and muscular strength. On days you’re not planning to work out with weights or do any form of cardio exercise, it’s best to take H+Blocker with a meal or a meal-replacement shake. Taking it with food aids absorption. In my opinion, because H+Blocker contains a small amount of caffeine, breakfast is the ideal meal to supplement with it. It really gets your energy levels cranked up and keeps you going all day strong.

Cycling Carnosine-Boosting Supplementation So far, the good news is, there is no evidence that muscle carnosine stores reach a saturation point with continued supplementation. This is unlike muscle creatine stores are known to do, after approximately 10 weeks of creatine supplementation. Though



there must be some upper limit to the muscle carnosine concentration that can be achieved. But the fact is, as with other ergogenic supplements, it’s probably not a bad idea for users of H+Blocker to follow an eight- to 12-week “on” period followed by a one- to two-week “off” period. This is not because long-term supplementation is unhealthy. Rather, in my opinion, and that of many leading sports supplementation researchers I’ve talked to, “cycling” this way may enhance the long-term effectiveness of the supplement by minimizing any possible “tolerance” effect. And, it’s also not a bad idea to cleanse your body out every once in a while from all supplementation, regardless of what you are taking. Moreover, following this approach will likely help your body “respond” better and faster as soon as you resume using the supplement again, and you will continue to experience progressive, incremental results. See, unlike most creatines and pro-hormones, where the muscular gains aren’t necessarily permanent and quickly diminish after you stop using them, carnosine doesn’t cause your hard-earned muscle to “shrink” during the time you take a break from using it. So, essentially you get the benefit of picking up right where you left off. Now, how cool is that?!

In Summary—Know This! H+Blocker is not only the world’s first carnosine synthesizer supplement but it’s the only carnosine-boosting supplement on the market that will ever contain the patentpending, specially bonded form of beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine, and whose every ingredient has been verified clinically effective in its suggested role and provides the correct dosages shown by science to produce the desired benefits. Sure, there might be other ways to increase muscle carnosine levels—like eating an entire five-pound turkey every day. Training harder, eating more meat, or taking a cheaper, inferior, alternative form of supplementation that may or may not have some

effect on your carnosine levels. But H+Blocker, combined with intense training, is the only way to truly maximize muscle carnosine and experience the unparalleled, groundbreaking benefits that come with it! And now, let’s get into the specific diet and training plan designed to complement your supplementation with H+Blocker.


Chapter 5:

The H+Blocker Diet and Training Plan

I

t probably goes without saying that to get the best results from H+Blocker, you need to combine its use with a consistent, effective workout schedule and a healthy diet.

If you remember, earlier on, we talked about how intense training creates a demand for more carnosine in the muscles that H+Blocker then satisfies. But it doesn’t stop there. By increasing your muscle carnosine concentration, the combination of H+Blocker and training allows you to immediately increase your training workload (such as lifting heavier weights or doing more sets and so forth), which creates a demand for even more muscle carnosine, which H+Blocker continues to satisfy. As a result, your power output goes up, as does your muscular strength, at a faster rate, which then allows your muscles to continue to get bigger and stronger.

Size, Strength, and Training There are two types of workouts that complement H+Blocker supplementation. The most obvious one is high-intensity strength training. This is the type of weightlifting with heavy loads, at an above-moderate to super high intensity. You’ll recall that Type IIx muscle fibers are the muscle fibers that have the greatest potential to gain size and strength. But let me be clear about something: these fibers

Chapter 5 | The H+Blocker Diet and Training Guide 73

only become active when muscle contractions approach maximum intensity. Therefore, only workouts involving maximum and near-maximum muscle contractions, combined with the power of H+Blocker (taken before each weight-training session) will develop Type IIx fibers effectively… in addition to developing the Type IIa fibers that are recruited at somewhat lower intensities. As previously discussed, Type IIx muscle fibers are the biggest producers of hydrogen ions and contain the highest concentrations of carnosine. Consequently, these muscle fibers benefit most from carnosine-boosting supplementation. Combining carnosineboosting supplementation with high-intensity strength training is the “ideal” recipe for increasing muscle size and strength. And the best part is, these gains are ongoing and permanent.

Super Fat-Burning Cardio The second type of workout that complements H+Blocker supplementation is highintensity cardio training. Doing your cardio workouts at high intensity levels allows you to get greater fat-burning and cardio-fitness-building benefits in less time than you get from low-intensity cardio workouts. The muscle contractions involved in high-intensity cardio workouts are less intense than those involved in strength training. Nevertheless, high-intensity cardio intervals activate some Type II muscle fibers, stimulate rapid production of hydrogen ions, and create a serious demand for carnosine. As a result, high-intensity cardio intervals make H+Blocker supplementation even more effective, and H+Blocker supplementation makes your cardio training more effective by allowing you to perform at a higher level intensity, thereby burning many more calories. So, in essence, by taking H+Blocker 20 or so minutes before any type of cardio exercise, you’re able to stimulate more fat oxidation (burning) and turn regular, boring cardio into super-intense, fat-incinerating cardio.



As I mentioned in the Introduction to this book, before H+Blocker was brought to market, we conducted a small pilot study in which some of our company’s most loyal customers were asked to test the product in their own environment. This was not a scientific study, controlled within a laboratory setting, but to make the results more valuable, we did ask all of the participants to follow a specific diet and training plan (called a protocol, which is similar to what is done in any type of legitimate study). Their diet, although not customized to each participant, was carefully designed to maximize the effectiveness of H+Blocker supplementation and help the participants experience its full gamut of benefits. According to our pilot study trial feedback forms, our participants confirmed that at least 82% of the time, they were able to follow the prescribed diet guidelines (which is pretty darn good, if you ask me). As a result, the participants got amazing results, which showed us not only that H+Blocker is truly the breakthrough supplement we had expected but also that the diet and training plan we designed to complement its use was “right on the money.” As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. With that in mind, I would like to share the very same diet and training plan with you.

Mass Construction Diet The H+Blocker diet couldn’t be simpler. The first rule is to consume approximately 15 times your bodyweight in calories each day. For example, a 200-lb man would multiply his weight by 15 and therefore try to consume 3,000 calories a day (200 x 15 = 3,000). Then simply break down the daily caloric intake into six balanced meals. So, using this same example, our 3,000 calories would be divided into six meals, which consist of approximately 500 calories each. You

want to space out your meals evenly throughout the day, so you’re eating about every two to three hours (however your schedule permits). From there, we suggest that 55% of your daily calories come from carbohydrates, 35% from protein, and 10% from fat. This type of ratio of protein-to-carb-to-fat may seem a little unconventional, but let me assure you, if your goal is to increase your strength (and blow away all of your previous “maximum” lifts) and grow new lean body mass, faster than you ever have, then you should pay close attention. As an example, the same 200-lb man, consuming 3,000 calories, would consume approximately 1,650 calories in carbohydrates (412 grams of carbohydrate), 1,050 calories in protein (262 grams of protein), and 300 calories in fat (33 grams of fat). Easy enough to figure out, isn’t it?! Next, let’s say, for example, you eat six meals each day, using the 55/35/10 protein/carbohydrate/fat profile for each meal... For our same example 200-lb man, each meal would consist of roughly 69 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of protein, and six grams of fat. At first, you will find that eating by these rules requires a fair amount of reading labels and counting calories and grams of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in most of the food you plan to eat. But, rest assured, you will quickly build a repertoire of meals that meet the H+Blocker diet requirements, and once a meal has been added to your “favorites,” you don’t have to count it out ever again. The easiest thing about the H+Blocker diet is you don’t have to fuss about macronutrient sources. Consume proteins, carbohydrates, and fats from sources you normally eat. Like good quality lean red meats, chicken, and fresh salmon and tuna



for protein; oatmeal, yams, brown rice, and whole-wheat pasta for carbohydrates; and, for the most part, fat will take care of itself, especially if you are a meat eater because it’s naturally found in these foods. However, you can add in “good” fats to your diet, like flax oil, seeds, and nuts like almonds and pecans. There is really no need to consume any special forms of these nutrients. Wholesome foods, like the ones I’ve mentioned, work just great. The next important part of the nutritional plan is to supplement your diet daily with H+Blocker. To make a serving of H+Blocker, simply mix one heaping scoop (a single serving) of the supplement into eight ounces of water. Stir it up until it is dissolved completely (it should mix almost effortlessly), and drink it approximately 20 to 30 minutes before your workout (either weight training or a cardio workout). Now, if you are over 200 lbs in bodyweight or would like to magnify your workout intensity even further, I suggest you consume two scoops of the H+Blocker supplement, mixed into 12 to 14 oz of water and drink it 20 to 30 minutes before your workout. Or you can also “split” the two servings of H+Blocker and consume one in the morning, with your first meal, and the other serving later in the day. But always have at least one serving right before you workout! On non-training days (for example, days when you are not planning to train with weights or doing cardio exercise), take H+Blocker with your first meal of the day, usually breakfast, but certainly no later than lunchtime. So, there you have it. Pretty simple. Like I said, this is the exact diet protocol our initial pilot study participants used and with great success. I’ve found that most people tend to overcomplicate their diet, and if you follow the guidelines I’ve outlined for you, it’s really not all that hard.

Hypertrophy-Specific Training The H+Blocker training plan is fairly straightforward too and calls for six workouts per week on a “three-day split.” The workouts should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes to complete. The emphasis is specifically on hypertrophy (i.e., muscular development) and explosive strength, with four weekly weightlifting sessions and two cardio sessions. This plan, in combination with H+Blocker supplementation and the H+Blocker diet, will produce the kind of size and strength gains you will be very satisfied with… and will help “fast-track” your results to a bigger, harder, more muscular-looking body. Here is your weekly workout schedule: Mon

Tues

Strength Chest Back Shoulders

Strength Biceps Triceps Legs

Wed

Thurs

Cardio Strength 35 minutes Chest ~ and ~ Back Strength Shoulders Abs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Strength Biceps Triceps Legs

Cardio 35 minutes ~ and ~ Strength Abs

Off

Now here’s the plan, and individual workouts, in more detail. (If you would rather skip over the following workout section, and come back to it later when you are ready to put it to use in the gym, then I would suggest you turn to page 87, where I’ll discuss, in specific detail, exactly what you can expect from using H+Blocker—from the very first dose to the first few weeks and over the course of time. Again, that’s page 87, Chapter 6, if you’d like to go there now.)



DAY 1—MONDAY, WORKOUT #1 Chest Training G Barbell Bench Presses (or Smith Machine Bench Presses) 1 set x 12 reps for warm-up 2 sets x 8 reps / 3-1-3 tempo 1 set x 5 or 6 reps / 3-0-2 tempo * Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure / 2-0-2 tempo (Tempo is the number of seconds to lower or pull the weight, the “pause” time in seconds, followed by the number of seconds to raise or push the weight. As an example, for a 3-0-2 tempo on bench presses, you would take three seconds to lower the weight, with no pause, and two seconds to raise the weight.) G Incline Dumbbell Presses 3 sets x 6 reps (increase weight each set) / 3-0-2 tempo G Decline Dumbbell Flyes (or Swiss Ball Dumbbell Flyes) 2 sets x 12 reps / 3-0-2 tempo Back Training G Pull-Ups (Chin-Ups) or Machine Lat Pull Downs 3 sets to failure / 3-0-2 tempo G One-Arm Dumbbell Rows 3 sets x 6 reps / 2-0-2 tempo * Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure / 2-0-2 tempo Shoulder Training G Overhead Dumbbell Presses 1 set x 12 reps 3 sets x 5 or 6 reps / 3-1-2 tempo

* Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure / 2-0-2 tempo G Side (Lateral) Dumbbell Raises 2 sets x 8 reps / 2-1-2 tempo Do not take more than 60 seconds to rest in between each set, and rest no more than 90 seconds in between each body part exercise.

DAY 2—TUESDAY, WORKOUT #2 Biceps Training G Standing Barbell Curls 3 sets x 10 reps / 3-0-2 tempo G Seated Dumbbell Curls 3 sets x 5 or 6 reps (each arm) / 2-0-2 tempo * Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure (each arm) / 2-0-2 tempo Triceps Training Lying Overhead Triceps Extensions 3 sets x 10 reps / 4-1-4 tempo G Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 3 sets x 5 or 6 reps / 4-1-2 tempo * Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure / 2-0-2 tempo G

Leg Training Barbell Squats 1 set x 15 reps for warm-up 1 set x 10 reps / 3-0-3 tempo 3 sets x 8 reps / 4-0-3 tempo

G



1 set x 5 or 6 reps / 3-0-2 tempo * Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure / 3-0-2 tempo Take about three minutes (180 seconds) to fully recuperate between sets if you’re really working out intensely and breathing extraordinarily hard. G Or Leg Presses (do not squat and do leg presses in the same workout) 1 set x 15 reps for warm-up 1 set x 10 reps 3 sets x 8 reps 1 set x 5 or 6 reps / 3-0-2 tempo * Immediately following the last set, without any rest in between. * 1 set x 12 reps or until failure / 3-0-2 tempo Again, take about three minutes to fully recuperate between sets. G Leg/Knee Extensions* 1 set x 15 reps for warm-up 2 sets x 8 reps * Superset these two exercises together. In other words, perform one set of leg extensions, and then, without resting, perform a set of stiff-legged deadlifts or lying leg curls. That’s one completed “superset.” Hamstring Training G *Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlifts 3 sets x 8 reps / 3-0-3 tempo G Or Lying Leg Curls (Machine) 3 sets x 8 reps / 3-0-3 tempo Calf Training G Seated or Standing Calf Raises 3 sets x 20 reps / 3-0-1 tempo Do not take more than 60 seconds to rest between sets, and rest no more than 90 sec-

onds after each body part exercise. The only exceptions are squats and leg presses; take up to 180 seconds (three minutes) between sets of these exercises.

DAY 3—WEDNESDAY, WORKOUT #3 High-Intensity Cardio Training G Cardiovascular Exercise (such as recumbent or stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical, or sprinting outside) 35 minutes: 5 minutes @ 60% of Maximum Heart Rate 15 minutes @ 70% of Maximum Heart Rate 10 minutes @ 80% Maximum Heart Rate 5 minutes @ 50% Maximum Heart Rate To calculate your target heart rate zones, I rely on the “Karvonen Formula” as described on page 111, in the Appendix. This cardio workout is carefully designed to test and improve your cardiovascular conditioning for better stamina and endurance and is effective for fat burning if you are already fairly fit and looking to really lower your bodyfat levels. The 80% heart rate zone represents a more vigorous level of activity, so please be careful and pay attention to potential warning signs, including dizziness, lightheadedness, or nausea. If you feel any of these symptoms, stop exercising immediately and seek the advice of your physician if it persists for more than 15 minutes. Ab Exercises G Crunches (on a Swiss ball or on the floor with your feet on a bench) 3 sets x 25 reps / 2-1-2 tempo G Reverse Crunches (or Leg Raises) 3 sets x 20 reps / 3-1-3 tempo



DAY 4—THURSDAY, WORKOUT #4 Chest Training G Barbell Bench Presses (or Smith Machine Bench Presses) 1 set x 15 reps 2 sets x 10 reps / 3-1-3 tempo 3 sets x 8 reps / 3-0-2 tempo (Tempo: take three seconds to lower the weight, no pause, and two seconds to raise the weight.) G Incline Dumbbell Presses 2 sets x 12 reps (increase weight each set) / 3-0-2 tempo G Decline Dumbbell Flyes (or Swiss Ball Dumbbell Flyes) 1 set x 20 reps or until failure / 3-0-2 tempo

Back Training G Pull-Ups (Chin-Ups) or Machine Lat Pull Downs 2 sets to failure / 3-0-2 tempo G One-Arm Dumbbell Rows 3 sets x 8 reps / 2-0-2 tempo

Shoulder Training G Overhead Dumbbell Presses 1 set x 15 reps 3 sets x 8 reps / 3-1-2 tempo G Side (Lateral) Dumbbell Raises 2 sets x 12 reps / 2-1-2 tempo Do not take more than 60 seconds to rest between sets, and rest no more than 90 seconds after each body part exercise.

DAY 5—FRIDAY, WORKOUT #5 Biceps Training G Standing Barbell Curls 2 sets x 15 reps / 3-0-2 tempo G Seated Dumbbell Curls 3 sets x 10 reps (each arm) / 2-0-2 tempo Triceps Training G Lying Overhead Triceps Extensions (E-Z bar) 3 sets x 10 reps / 4-1-4 tempo G Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 2 sets to failure / 4-1-2 tempo Leg Training G Barbell Squats 1 set x 15 reps for warm-up 3 sets x 10 reps / 3-0-3 tempo 1 set x 8 reps / 3-0-2 tempo Remember, whenever you are training leg muscles, take about three minutes to fully recuperate between sets if you’re really working out hard. G Or Leg Presses (Do not squat and do leg presses in the same workout.) 1 set x 15 reps for warm-up 3 sets x 10 reps 1 set x 8 reps / 3-0-2 tempo Again, take about three minutes to fully recuperate between sets. G Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlifts 3 sets x 10 reps / 3-0-3 tempo G Or Lying Leg Curls (Machine) 3 sets x 10 reps / 3-0-3 tempo



G

Seated or Standing Calf Raises 3 sets x 20 reps / 3-0-1 tempo Keep in mind, try your best not to take more than 60 seconds to rest between sets and to rest no more than 90 seconds after each body part exercise. This will keep your intensity levels way up. The only exceptions are squats and leg presses, where you can take up to 180 seconds (three minutes) between sets of these exercises.

DAY 6—SATURDAY, WORKOUT #6 High-Intensity Cardio Training G Cardiovascular Exercise (such as recumbent or stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical, or sprinting outside) 35 minutes: 5 minutes x 60% of Maximum Heart Rate 15 minutes x 70% of Maximum Heart Rate 10 minutes x 80% Maximum Heart Rate 5 minutes x 50% Maximum Heart Rate

Ab Exercises G Crunches (on a Swiss ball or on the floor with your feet on a bench) 3 sets x 25 reps / 2-1-2 tempo G Reverse Crunches (or Leg Raises) 3 sets x 20 reps / 3-1-3 tempo

DAY 7—SUNDAY, WORKOUT #7 Off

Just the Beginning A wise man once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing you’ve been doing and expecting different results. This is certainly true when it comes to getting results from exercise. If you want to make consistent progress over the long term, you can’t just keep doing the same workouts over and over. You must vary your program in sensible ways. I don’t expect you to follow the diet and training plan described in this chapter indefinitely. I wouldn’t even recommend it. The rationale for this plan is to work synergistically with H+Blocker supplementation to deliver fast results over the short term. But one of the great things about H+Blocker is that it has the potential to stimulate consistent progress in muscular performance and development over the course of months and even years, as long as you keep taking it. What’s more, it will enable you to repeatedly take your training to the next level by paying bodybuilding “dividends” that you can then “reinvest” into your training by increasing your workload, volume, and intensity. But to realize H+Blocker’s full potential, along with your own full potential, you have to continually evolve your diet and training program. So, as unconventional as some of the diet and training plans are that I’ve called for, that’s what makes the H+Blocker experience so unique and promising. Make no mistake, my friend, while you might see this as a point where our journey ends together, the truth is: This is only the beginning! Time for us to move onto the next chapter, where I am going to explain exactly what you can expect from your H+Blocker experience. From your very first dose… through the first four weeks of continued use… and beyond…


Chapter 6:

Supplementation and What to Expect

W

e have covered a lot of ground in this informational handbook. You have learned what carnosine is and how it assists high-intensity exercise performance by soaking up the hydrogen ions that are produced through anaerobic glycolysis, thus delaying muscular acidosis. You have seen there is a direct, profound relationship between muscle carnosine concentrations and muscle size, strength, and performance. We explored recent studies that indicated carnosine is preferentially found in fast-twitch (Type II) muscle fibers in humans. The muscle fibers that have the potential to make you almost “super-human” because they grow so fast. We also learned carnosine may be increased in skeletal muscles by both intense weight training and—according to Tallon, Harris, and a handful of other researchers involved in the latest sports sciences—through appropriate supplementation. I have shown you that there are no fewer than seven pretty amazing benefits you can expect to get from carnosine-boosting supplementation: immediate, explosive strength; increased training intensity and workload capacity; faster muscle recovery between reps, sets, and workouts; increased hypertrophy from the influence of Type II fibers; more intense muscular contractions and enhanced muscular fullness; reversal of agerelated muscle decline and “shrinkage”; and better performance in high-intensity cardio intervals, resulting in “faster” fat loss.

Chapter 6 | Supplementation and What to Expect 87

Finally, you have also learned what constitutes the ultimate carnosine-boosting supplement: H+Blocker, which is the only supplement that contains the patent-pending beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine, combined with a unique and comprehensive formula. And, we just walked through how to get the absolute best results from H+Blocker with proper dosing and a complementary diet and training plan. By now, my guess is, you ought to be strongly considering, perhaps even fully convinced, that H+Blocker is a new breakthrough supplement you’ve absolutely, positively got to try… Only one question remains: “When I do try H+Blocker, what can I really expect?” The truth is, this is a big question, which actually contains a host of smaller questions, such as: G

What should I expect, after taking my first dose of H+Blocker?

G

Will taking H+Blocker make me “feel” different?

G

How soon will I begin to experience the benefits you’ve been talking about?

G

How long will it take until I begin to “see” results?

G

Will the benefits of H+Blocker continue as long as I take it?

These are all really good questions and valid concerns. In fact, they were the very same things I was asking myself, and Mark Tallon, before I first tried the “beta”-formulas of what would later become H+Blocker. I will try to answer all of the important questions about what to expect from your experience with H+Blocker in this chapter. To make it as realistic as possible, I’ve



divided the H+Blocker user experience into four distinct phases: the first dose; days 121; days 22-70; and days 70 and beyond. Now, let’s take a “sneak peek” at what you can expect in each phase…

Your First Dose: Prepare for Takeoff! Take your first dose of H+Blocker 20 to 30 minutes before a workout (whether it’s training with weights or cardio exercise). Follow the label instructions, which will tell you to mix one heaping scoop with eight ounces of water. Note that H+Blocker dissolves more easily when you use cool or lukewarm water rather than ice-cold water. I have to forewarn you: when you first open your H+Blocker canister, you may notice it has a fairly pungent aroma. This is due to the beta-alanine content. Most compounds of this nature are hard to work with from a flavor standpoint, but beta-alanine is perhaps one of the most pungent and bitter nutrients of all. I can assure you, though, we worked extremely hard to create a drink mix that people will find palatable, and we made a lot of progress, but I will be honest: H+Blocker’s “Spiked Fruit Punch” flavor is an acquired taste. It’s not something the average person would drink on the front porch for refreshment on a hot summer day. That said, most users find that the taste does grow on them over time. But, the first time or two you drink it, it might taste a little bitter. As for me, I’ve come to enjoy drinking it every morning. Actually, I’ve never quite figured out what all of the fuss has been about! Once I got past the first dose, I continued to look forward to drinking it, simply because I learned what followed… the experience I am about to share with you.

In all my years of studying muscular performance (which is well over 15 now), I’ve never felt any type of supplement that works quite like H+Blocker—and so quickly. You will feel the muscle-stimulating effects almost immediately. Literally, within the first five minutes after I gulp down a serving of H+Blocker, I begin to feel like there’s electricity flowing through my veins. By the time I get to the gym and am ready to hit the weights, I find it really cranks up my workout intensity. (This is helpful, when you train like I do, at 6:00 in the morning!) From there, by the time I start working out, my muscles feel fuller, and the contractions from lifting the weights are much more intense. Twenty to 30 minutes after you take H+Blocker, the active nutrients will reach peak levels in your bloodstream, and you will absolutely feel it by this point. You will probably notice a surge of energy, an elevation in mood, and a growing eagerness to work out intensely. These effects are attributable in small part to the caffeine. But bond betaalanine and L-histidine and aspartic acid (beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine) greatly contribute to these sensations as well. About half of H+Blocker users notice a tingling sensation. It’s technically referred to as parathesia, and it usually happens in the upper extremities—especially the face, chest, shoulders, and upper arms and hands—during the workout following H+Blocker use. It usually lasts only a few minutes and is nothing to be concerned about. According to Tallon, as well as what we know about parathesia, this totally harmless side effect of H+Blocker is believed to be due mainly to beta-alanine’s actions as a neurotransmitter. See, beta-alanine is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to neurotransmitter receptor sites, thereby increasing synaptic activity (i.e., communication between neurons), which we experience in our bodies as a tingling sensation. Some people like the tingling sensation because they take it as a sign the product is “working.” Others do not like the sensation, either because they find it uncomfortable or because they fear it is unhealthy. The truth is that the tingling sensation some



H+Blocker users experience is neither an indication that it’s working (H+Blocker works on everyone, whether or not they experience parathesia), nor is it unhealthy. In any case, this effect tends to diminish and eventually disappear after a couple of weeks of continuous use. Again, the fact that the tingling goes away is not an indication that H+Blocker has “stopped working” any more than the tingling sensation is an indication that the product is working while it lasts. If you’re like most H+Blocker users, you will notice an immediate, explosive increase in strength and/or anaerobic muscle performance… that is, in your very first workout after your very first dose. Some people might theorize that perhaps a portion of this benefit can be attributed to a psychological effect, but only a portion, because make no mistake: psychological effects almost always dissipate, whereas the explosive strength gains you get from H+Blocker only increase as time goes on. You will also experience a greater than normal muscular “pump,” and if your bodyfat levels are low enough (typically less than 10 or 12%), you will also experience increased vascularity (characterized by more visible blood vessels underneath the skin). These “cosmetic” benefits are primarily due to carnosine’s effects on blood flow and to the citrulline malate content of H+Blocker and its production of nitric oxide. Another great benefit is, after you start your workout and begin to lift weights, you’ll notice that muscular contractions become more and more intense. Combined with the insane “pumps,” your muscles, especially in the arms, feel so engorged—so tight, full, and hard, it feels like they’re going to burst. The most remarkable immediate effect of H+Blocker comes after the first workout. A high percentage of new users testify that after completing the workout, they feel they could do the whole thing again. Even though they have taken advantage of the immediate fatigue-delaying effect of H+Blocker to do an unusually tough workout, they still feel uncommonly “fresh” afterwards.

This is a great feeling, but I caution you to not go overboard and actually return to the gym for another go-round! H+Blocker has some incredible effects, but it won’t make you superhuman. While it most certainly will allow you to increase your training workload, if you push it too hard too soon, you could wind up injured or overtrained.

Days 1-21: Setting the Stage The immediate effects of H+Blocker represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The first three weeks of H+Blocker usage, following the first dose, “set the stage” for its full effects. This is the period of rapid, steady carnosine loading in the muscles. In the study he presented for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Mark Tallon showed that supplementation could increase muscle carnosine 1 stores by more than 50% in just two weeks .

D Fig. 9: Well-trained individuals experience over 50% greater carnosine stores in muscle fibers than untrained individuals


Carnosine loading will continue at this incredible rate for at least another week to two weeks before it settles into a more casual pace but continues upward as long as you’re using H+Blocker to supply it. This means you will notice a “rapid accumulation” of the benefits that come from carnosine loading, including greater strength and power, the ability to train harder, faster recovery between sets and reps, and so forth.


During this period, many users report a feeling they describe as “peak” muscle contractions. This may be due to the fact that the burning feeling they are used to experiencing with such contractions (caused by muscular acidosis), as they approach failure, is now absent. You will certainly notice you need less and less rest time after sets or hard cardio intervals to recover, and you feel less and less fatigued after completing your normal workouts too. Well, because of these incredible benefits taking place, and as H+Blocker continues going to work in your muscles, it’s time to leave your “normal” workouts behind! Your muscles can do more now, and if you take advantage of their capacity to do more, you will enjoy dizzyingly rapid gains in muscle size and strength, as well as rapid fat loss. In other words, when you hit this stage, it’s time to start adding weight, doing more sets and reps, and/or throwing new exercises or advanced training techniques, like supersets, drop sets, or failure sets into your workouts. You may need to experiment a little to adapt your workouts to your growing capabilities, but these variables are a great place to start. But seriously, this is the time to fully load your muscles with carnosine and take full advantage of its “rapid accumulation,” synthesis in the muscles, and all of the benefits that come along with it. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend more time in the gym. Because you don’t need as much recovery time, you can squeeze more work into the same amount of workout time. That’s what I do. I almost always perform “supersets” and other techniques to combine lifts to make the most of my time. I hardly ever rest at all between sets now, thanks to H+Blocker. In fact, my workouts last about 35 to 45 minutes at most (not including cardio).

Days 22-70: The “Payoff” Period Let’s get something straight: muscle growth is not an overnight process. If you’ve been training for any length of time now, you can undoubtedly agree with that statement. Even when you create the “perfect” conditions for muscle growth, it takes several weeks to generate measurable gains in muscle mass. We know from research and anecdotal evidence that H+Blocker produces immediate gains in strength and muscle performance by preventing muscular acidosis and increasing ATP availability during intense training. But the full benefits of H+Blocker are only really achieved between weeks three and 10, when your muscles have had time to grow in response to the higher training loads that H+Blocker has enabled them to handle. I think of days 22 through 70 of the H+Blocker experience as the true “payoff period.” This is when you will bust right through your training plateaus, set new maximum lifts, or achieve personal best performances in sports and observe measurable improvements in muscle mass and body composition (e.g., less fat and more muscle). To support this fact, research suggests that your muscle carnosine levels will be in the neighborhood of 75% greater after 10 weeks of supplementation than they were at 16 the time you started . And, what’s so great about H+Blocker is, the harder you train, the more these larger carnosine stores will go to work for you. There are not many supplements (if there are any at all) that can truthfully claim the harder you train, the better they work. But with H+Blocker, it’s a fact! Even if you don’t take advantage of the increased work capacity that H+Blocker gives you by taking your training up a notch, you will get greater benefits from the same workouts because your workouts really won’t be the same. You may do the same exercises and the same number of sets and reps, but you will absolutely, positively lift



heavier loads (i.e., more weight). You may do the same number of cardio intervals, but you will do them faster. But as I’ve said before, the real mind-blowing breakthroughs will happen when you “reinvest” the bodybuilding “dividends” you get from carnosine loading by training harder and heavier. You will experience drastic improvements in muscle performance and size and body composition that you never dreamed were possible. If you begin to experiment with workout modifications from the very beginning, as I suggested earlier, your workouts should be fully adapted to your new capabilities by this time. You might be resting less, lifting heavier loads, doing more sets, working out more often, or challenging yourself in other ways. Any way you look at it, by this point, you’re starting to break into entirely new territory with your personal lifting bests, and your body is really taking shape with new muscle mass, in places you never thought possible. Until now, that is.

Day 71 and Beyond: The Sky’s the Limit No study of carnosine-boosting supplementation, measuring muscular performance, has yet exceeded 10 weeks. So while we have solid proof of the amazing benefits that carnosine-boosting supplementation will produce from the first dose through day 70, we don’t have any idea just how much farther they can go. Interestingly though, the existing research does strongly suggest that the benefits will continue to pile up long after 10 weeks. I’m excited to tell you that anecdotal reports have been extremely favorable as well. From the sounds of these reports, H+Blocker is unlike any other supplement

ever experienced. Indeed, that leaves us believing we truly don’t know where the “upper limit” lies. But here’s the really good news (from people who have reported using H+Blocker for longer than 10 or 12 weeks): the benefits you experience, from the first dose through the first few weeks don’t stop there… no, they keep going and going and going. Or, should I say, they keep growing and growing and growing! Clearly, it appears as if, until someone proves us wrong, the sky is the limit. Here’s what you, too, can expect: See, from what we know, the rate of muscle carnosine loading and anaerobic performance improvements is slower between week four and week 10 of supplementation than it is between week one and week four. However, the gains are still sufficiently rapid so it’s safe to speculate that the ultimate saturation point (i.e., a point where the muscle is “full” of canosine) lies further out. Although it hasn’t been proven yet, Tallon has theorized there isn’t a saturation point for carnosine supplementation, so as long as you continue to supplement with it, you will continue to experience benefits. As you may already be well aware, every supplement has an ultimate saturation point, and if you use or have used a creatine supplement, you are probably familiar with the concept of “cycling.” Basically, after 10 to 12 weeks of daily creatine supplementation, a “saturation” point is reached. The gains in muscle size and performance that were so rapid at first have slowed down and finally plateaued by this point, and some creatine users even begin to slide backward. The only way to make additional gains is to cycle off creatine for two weeks and shake off the “tolerance effect.” In contrast, with carnosine-boosting supplementation, from H+Blocker, there is no need to “cycle” off the supplement—at least not at 10 to 12 weeks, which makes it ideal for those of us who are continually seeking ways to increase our strength and build new muscle mass, virtually nonstop.



In the future, we may find that it is beneficial to cycle off H+Blocker at, say, six months or nine months. Or you can just listen to your own body and cycle off H+Blocker for a couple of weeks whenever you feel your body has reached a saturation point. But it is very unlikely this will happen after only 10 to 12 weeks. Just keep on using it, and you’ll keep getting stronger and bigger. One change you may notice around this time is the disappearance of that tingling sensation, if you ever had it. Once more, do not take this as a sign that H+Blocker has stopped working. This harmless neurological effect of beta-alanine and L-histidine is totally independent of their beneficial effects on muscles. Most H+Blocker users who do experience parathesia after dosing find the tingling has at least diminished by this point, if not gone away entirely. But no one, so far, has reported a plateau of benefits this early.

Hitting Pay Dirt In my opinion, the best recipe is different for different people. What’s important is that you take full advantage of carnosine loading by taking your training to the next level in one way or another. When you do, you’ll begin to experience all of the incredible, groundbreaking benefits you had hoped for, and as a result, you will start to feel completely differently about yourself. Simply stated, you will feel the “H+Blocker experience” at its fullest. How will you know when you’ve hit it? Trust me: you’ll just know. You will feel different about yourself.

You will walk with your chest higher in the air and more confidence in your swagger, and you will feel as strong as an ox. I call this “hitting pay-dirt” because it’s like winning the “muscle-building lottery”! And it feels damn good.

In Closing I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to you for hanging in there long enough to make it through this entire book. Because you are holding this book in your hands right now, it shows me you really do care about what you put into your body and that you demand the very best for yourself when it comes to supplementation. I don’t blame you. In fact, that says a lot about your character. It also tells me you and I are a lot alike, in that we both value education far above the marketing hyperbole and unfounded claims that run rampant in our fitness and bodybuilding industry. I hope you have found the answers you were looking for in the Carnosine Breakthrough book. More important, I trust that you now fully grasp the role of carnosine and its significance in muscle-building performance. You know, I’ve been teaching and writing about athletic performance and bodybuilding for over 15 years now, and I haven’t once, with the exception of the introduction of creatine in 1993, come across a supplement that got me so excited and had the potential to increase strength, power, and muscle the way H+Blocker can. I feel privileged to be sharing such cutting-edge information with you and knowing that you and I are on the cusp of something big—really big!



When you pick up your first container of H+Blocker, I want you to promise me one thing: when you mix up your first drink, before you gulp it down, stop and imagine for a moment, if you will, the excitement you’re going to have in your voice, three, six, nine months from now, when you tell other people you were one of the very first to experience the power of H+Blocker… well before anyone else! Getting in on the ground floor of something like this is truly exciting, and I hope after you’ve had a chance to finish this book, you, too, will be as excited as I am to use it and tell others all about its powerful effects! With that said, enjoy the H+Blocker experience, and please, do me a favor, after you’ve had a chance to try it—and really given it a good “test drive”—please email or call me, and let me know what you think of it. You can email me at [email protected] or call 1-866-688-7679 (Dept. #2205) and tell whoever answers that you just tried H+Blocker and you want to talk to me. I can’t wait to hear from you! Until we meet again, train hard, eat smart, and keep your head high and heart in the game. By the way, in the next chapter, I’ve answered many of the frequently asked questions about H+Blocker and practically anything else related to carnosine. In case there was something you might have missed or weren’t quite clear about, please have a read through it. Or, if you need to, you can always refer back to it, whenever you have a question in mind.

Chapter 7:

Frequently Asked Questions

E

ver since my company launched the first pilot test with H+Blocker, I’ve been receiving and answering questions about carnosine, carnosine-boosting supplementation, and H+Blocker. Later, when we released H+Blocker and made it available to the general public for purchase, what had started as a trickle of questions quickly became a flood. But to me, that was a good sign. The way I see it, asking questions is a natural part of the learning process, and for some, it helps to overcome any initial skepticism. Either way, it showed me there was a high level of interest in our exciting, new carnosine-boosting supplement. And I continue to answer each new question just like the very first one I received—with utter enthusiasm and passion. All of the questions I am about to share with you have been answered in one way or another in this book. But just in case you missed something. Maybe I was unclear. Or, perhaps a section of the material was too complex... This chapter includes concise answers to the most frequently asked questions on these topics below. Further, my answers can serve as a sort of “quick reference guide” that you can refer to whenever a specific question pops into your head—or when a friend or associate (like your training partner) is marveling at your amazing recent progress and begins asking you questions about carnosine and H+Blocker!

Chapter 7 | Frequently Asked Questions 101

Q What’s inside H+Blocker? ■ A The main active compound, found only in H+Blocker, is an exclusive bonded form ■ of beta-alanine and L-histidine with aspartic acid called beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine. These nutrients are the natural biological precursors for carnosine. When you take H+Blocker, beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine ride a metabolic express lane all the way to your muscles, where they are used to increase the muscle carnosine stores in your muscles. This results in enhanced high-intensity workout performance, increased strength and muscle mass, and faster recovery, when combined with intense weight training and a good, healthy diet. H+Blocker also contains citrulline malate, which stimulates nitric oxide production to enhance nutrient delivery and increase blood flow to the muscles during and after workouts. In addition, a small amount of caffeine has been added to further increase the uptake of carnosine and its proven ability to enhance workout performance. The final active ingredients in H+Blocker are a precise blend of carbohydrates, sodium, and chloride to aid in the rapid transport of nutrients through the gut and into the muscles to improve the absorption and storage of carnosine. Basically, you can think of these other important ingredients as the “keys” used to “unlock” the doors and let the carnosine into the muscles, so you can maximize your carnosine stores and take full advantage of its exciting, breakthrough benefits.

Q How does H+Blocker work? ■ A Simply put, H+Blocker increases the concentration of carnosine in your muscles. ■ Carnosine is a natural compound the muscles use to delay fatigue and increase the intensity and duration of muscular contractions during high-intensity exercise. See, when you’re lifting heavy weights or doing high-intensity cardio intervals, your muscles produce hydrogen ions. These hydrogen ions are sort of like the exhaust



that a car’s engine creates—a byproduct that is created when fuel is broken down to release energy. And like a car’s exhaust, these hydrogen ions need to be gotten rid of, or else they will have a negative effect on your muscle’s performance. As hydrogen ions accumulate in your muscles, they lower the pH level of the muscles, causing the onset of muscular weakness, fatigue, and even exhaustion. This phenomenon is known as muscular acidosis because what’s happening is your muscles are literally becoming increasingly acidic, which interferes with the muscle’s ability to contract. Therefore, if these hydrogen ions are not interfered with (i.e., prevented from building up), they quickly become the primary cause of complete “muscle failure.” This is where carnosine comes in. Carnosine is able to neutralize the hydrogen ions produced during intense muscle work. As Tallon and Harris’ studies have shown us, the more carnosine you have in your muscles, the longer and harder they can work before muscular acidosis, weakness, and complete exhaustion set in. So H+Blocker sets up an environment for the muscles to continue to contract, and as a result, provides immediate, explosive strength gains, more intense muscular contractions, and an overall boost in muscular performance, allowing you to train harder and more intensely, which translates into greater long-term gains in muscle strength and size.

Q If I’m trying to increase my muscle carnosine levels, why doesn’t H+Blocker con■ tain carnosine? A ■

Carnosine is made up of the amino acids beta-alanine and L-histidine. H+Blocker contains these carnosine precursors in a special bond with aspartic acid (beta-alanyl-laspartyl-l-histidine) that represents the absolute most efficient way to supplement for carnosine loading. A carnosine-boosting supplement containing actual carnosine would cost a heck of a lot more, without being any more effective (simply because your gut destroys most of the carnosine before it ever reaches the muscles, rendering it literally useless).

Q What kind of results can I expect from using H+Blocker? ■ A One thing I can assure you is that you will feel the muscle-stimulating effects of ■ H+Blocker from the very first dose. You will immediately experience stronger muscle contractions, greater muscle fullness, and a noticeable delay in the onset of muscular fatigue, allowing you to train harder, longer, with less recovery time between reps, sets, and workouts. These benefits will become rapidly more pronounced for three to four weeks, but, according to the latest research, will likely continue to accumulate for many more weeks. Even more exciting, research involving the active ingredients in H+Blocker shows that benefits are still on an upward slope for as long as you continue to supplement with it. It’s for this reason I think H+Blocker is the most exciting muscle-building performance enhancer to come along since the arrival of creatine in 1993.

Q How do I take H+Blocker for optimal results? ■ A As the label recommends, you should consume one serving (a single, heaping ■ scoop) of H+Blocker, mixed with eight ounces of water, about 20 to 30 minutes prior to any form of intense exercise. On non-training days, take one serving following your morning or early afternoon meal. Something to consider, if you’re over 200 lbs in bodyweight or want to magnify your workout intensity, you may want to consume two scoops before working out. Remember, although the effects of H+Blocker can be felt immediately, significant carnosine storage in muscle cells—enough to impart its full, positive benefits—will only truly be achieved after at least three to four weeks of continuous use. But, as we discovered earlier, as long as you keep taking H+Blocker, you can count on continually experiencing benefits.



Q Do I need to “load” or “cycle” H+Blocker? ■ A If you have taken a creatine supplement, chances are the product label has ■ instructed you to start with a higher dosage (usually 20 grams per day) for several days and then ease back to a lower dosage (usually five grams per day) for continued supplementation. Taking a higher initial dosage of a supplement such as creatine is called “loading.” Research has shown that the fastest and most efficient way to increase muscle creatine stores is to divide supplementation into separate loading and long-term supplementation phases. However, when it comes to carnosine-boosting supplementation, loading is not necessary. The same dosage of H+Blocker recommended for initial loading, a single serving taken daily, is also recommended for long-term supplementation. Most creatine users are also familiar with the practice of “cycling.” This refers to the strategy of taking the supplement daily for many weeks and then discontinuing supplementation for a shorter period of time before resuming daily supplementation. Research has shown that cycling prevents creatine users from developing a high tolerance for creatine supplementation that makes it less effective in the long term. We need to do more research before we know whether cycling is necessary with carnosine-boosting supplementation, and if so, what sort of schedule works best. Until these questions are answered, cycling should be considered optional with H+Blocker. You can either wait until you reach a strength or performance plateau and then cease H+Blocker supplementation for two or four weeks, or follow a traditional eight- to 12week “on” period followed by a two- to four-week “off” period. However, as far I’ve been able to tell, taking H+Blocker for any extended period of time, well beyond eight weeks, should continue to produce results that are consistent and keep you satisfied and wanting to continue taking it. The way I see it, as long as

you keep getting greater and greater benefits from H+Blocker, then I’d suggest you keep supplementing with it.

Q How should I eat and work out, for maximum benefits, while using H+Blocker? ■ A Good question. As you know, a good, healthful diet along with regular intense ■ exercise are essential to achieve your bodybuilding or fitness goals. Rather than write out the entire workout schedule and nutrition plan, I’d suggest you simply turn to page 73, in Chapter 5. There, you will find the exact diet and exercise protocol used in our initial H+Blocker pilot trials. It’s produced consistently great results for building muscular size and strength and improving lean body mass to bodyfat ratio (in favor of more lean mass and less fat, of course!).

Q Are there any known side effects? ■ A There are no known negative health effects associated with carnosine-boosting sup■ plementation. In fact, in studies, using beta-alanine supplementation of up to five grams per day has revealed no negative effects on a variety of health markers. Short-term supplementation lasting one month showed no impact on liver, kidney, or heart function or on blood chemistry. As with most supplements, more research is needed to determine the effects of long-term supplementation, but based on the known effects of these amino acids in the body, and considering they are naturally found in certain foods, like turkey, there is no reason to anticipate that any problems would ever be discovered.



Q What is that tingling sensation I experience after taking H+Blocker? ■ A In my experience, approximately half of H+Blocker users notice a tingling sensa■ tion. It’s technically called parathesia. It usually starts during the workout following H+Blocker supplementation and goes away after a few minutes. Most people feel it in the upper extremities—especially the face, chest, shoulders, and upper arms and hands. This harmless side effect of H+Blocker is due in part to beta-alanine’s actions as a neurotransmitter. In non-scientific terms, beta-alanine basically “tickles” your brain cells, producing that tingling sensation in the most extreme nerve endings throughout the body. Those who do experience parathesia at first generally report that it diminishes or disappears altogether after two or three weeks of consistent supplementation. It’s important to understand that parathesia is totally independent of H+Blocker’s effects on muscle carnosine. The tingling sensation that some H+Blocker users experience is not a sign that the product is working. Likewise, the absence of parathesia in other H+Blocker users is not a sign that the product is not working. Nor is the disappearance of parathesia after several weeks of supplementation a sign that H+Blocker has stopped working.

Q I weigh more than 200 lbs. Do I need to adjust the dosage for my size? ■ A Yes. If you’re over 200 lbs in bodyweight, or want to magnify your workout inten■ sity, I’d suggest you consume two scoops before exercise, which would allow you to get 6.4 grams in total of the active components in H+Blocker. Remember, though, as with all supplements, more is not necessarily always better. H+Blocker is engineered to work optimally with a single usage each day. Taking any more than two scoops a day is unlikely to produce better results.

Q I heard the taste of H+Blocker has a bit of a “kick”; can you explain that? ■ A Well, I have to admit. Most amino acids are hard to work with from a flavor stand■ point, but beta-alanine is perhaps the most pungent and bitter amino acid of all. We worked really hard to create a drink mix that people will find palatable, and we made a lot of progress, but I will be honest: H+Blocker’s “Spiked Fruit Punch” flavor is an acquired taste. It’s not something the average person would drink on the front porch for refreshment on a hot summer day. That said, most users find that the taste does grow on them over time. Call me crazy, but I actually look forward to drinking H+Blocker each morning before I leave for the gym. I’ll admit, it did take me a few days to “adjust” to the flavor of it, but I’ve certainly tasted much worse. (And, just between you and me, we’re currently developing a reformulated H+Blocker, with improved flavor.)

Q Can I take H+Blocker with a creatine product? ■ A Yes. In fact, supplements such as creatine, consumed post-workout, may actually ■ increase the overall effectiveness of H+Blocker. If you are going to use a creatine supplement, I recommend 3-XL™. Developed by my company, iSatori, it is, by far, the most advanced creatine formula on the market. 3-XL is a powdered drink mix, engineered to improve the absorption and retention of creatine using a novel form of creatine hydrochloride. What’s great about creatine ester is that it requires a lower dosage than monohydrate, and there’s no “cycling” or “loading” required… and best of all, it doesn’t cause the famous creatine “water bloat” either. You can use H+Blocker before your workouts and 3-XL immediately following your workouts, and you’ll find they work marvelously well together. To date, I’ve heard of nothing less than spectacular results from people who have used these two research-



based supplements together. And, as for me, when I use them together—watch out… I go into hyper-growth and literally blow up like a balloon!

Q How much does H+Blocker cost? ■ A My answer has never wavered here. It is, how much would you be willing to pay ■ to be the very first to try a totally new breakthrough in proven muscle-building supplementation? And take a supplement that not only promises but also has been proven in a clinical setting to produce muscular strength and size gains for as long as you take it? I don’t know about you, but I’d have a hard time putting a price on those “priceless” benefits. Nevertheless, the suggested retail price of H+Blocker is $64.99 for a 30-serving container. (Keep in mind, that’s an entire month’s supply). But, as with all supplements, you can find the best deals by shopping around. There are many online retailers that carry H+Blocker as well, and you can visit your favorite supplement retailer—they should have it in stock. If they don’t, please tell them to call Europa (our distribution partner) at 1-800-447-4795 and order you a container. (By the way, if they don’t have H+Blocker in their store yet, please do me a favor: don’t let them sell you short on some lame, unproven substitute product that they tell you “works just as well” or “this one’s cheaper”… because, as you know from reading this book, there is only one H+Blocker. And I don’t know if I’d blow my hard-earned money on something I wasn’t sure would live up to its claims... if it even works at all.) If you can’t wait and you would like to try using H+Blocker sooner and experience it for yourself completely worry-free, then you can buy it directly from my company and get a full, unconditional 60-day money-back guarantee. This offer allows you to try H+Blocker virtually risk-free, with nothing to lose. Simply call us toll-free at 1-866-6887679 (Dept. #2206) or log on to www.hblocker.com to place an order (or to find a retailer near you who does carry it).

Appendix Calculating Your Maximum/Target Heart Rate Training Zone Using The Karvonen Formula The Karvonen formula is a simple formula to calculate appropriate target heart rates for workouts. Let’s go through the four-step process using a hypothetical exerciser, John, a 38-year-old male, as an example. Step 1: John will need his age (38) and resting heart rate (RHR) to start with. To figure out your RHR, take your pulse (at the wrist, just under the thumb, with your two forefingers) while counting the beats for 10 seconds. Then multiply that number by six. Or, to be more accurate, count the beats per minute for one full minute as soon as you rise from bed or when at complete rest. The average resting heart rate for men is 70 beats per minute while women have an average of 75 beats per minute. John’s resting heart rate is about average at 72. Step 2: Calculate age-predicted maximum heart rate (MHR) 220 - age = predicted max heart rate (MHR). For John, that’s 220 - 38 = 182 Step 3: Subtract resting heart rate from maximum heart rate to get heart rate reserve (HRR) MHR - RHR = HRR. For John, 182 - 72 = 110 Appendix 111

Step 4: Multiply your heart rate reserve (HRR) by 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80% and add your resting heart rate back in: 50% Target range is HRR X .50 110 X .50 = 55 + 72 (RHR) = 127 60% Target range is HRR X .60 110 X .60 = 66 + 72 (RHR) = 138 70% Target range is HRR X .70 110 X .70 = 77 + 72 (RHR) = 149 80% Target range is HRR X .80 110 X .80 = 88 + 72 (RHR) = 160 Keep in mind that your target heart rate training zone should be used only as a guideline. There is actually quite a bit of individual variation in maximum heart rate (even among individuals of the same age) and heart rate response to exercise. Therefore, it is important to complement the use of this heart-rate formula with your own perception of effort to fine-tune the intensity of your cardio workouts.


Scientific References 1 Harris RH, Harris DB, Kim HJ, Hill CA, Boobis L, Sale C, Wise JA. The distribution of carnosine in different muscle fibre types with beta-alanine supplementation. FASEB, San Diego, 2005. 2 Hipkiss HR. Carnosine, a protective, anti-ageing peptide? Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 1998 Aug;30(8):863-8. Review. 3 Metzger JM, Fitts RH. Role of intracellular pH in muscle fatigue. J Appl Physiol. 1987 Apr;62(4):1392-7. 4 Sewell DA, Harris RC, Marlin DJ, Dunnett M. Estimation of the carnosine content of different fibre types in the middle gluteal muscle of the thoroughbred horse. J Physiol. 1992 Sep;455:447-53. 5 Tallon MJ, Harris RC, Boobis LH, Fallowfield JL, Wise JA. The carnosine content of vastus lateralis is elevated in resistance-trained bodybuilders. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Nov;19(4):725-9. 6 Kim HJ, Cho J, Kim CK, Harris RC, Harris DB, Sale C, Wise JA. Effect on muscle fibre morphology and carnosine content after 12 days training of Korean speed skaters. American College of Sports Medicine Annual meeting, Tennessee, 2005. Abstract #988. 7 Suzuki Y, Ito O, Mukai N, Takahashi H, Takamatsu K. High level of skeletal muscle carnosine contributes to the latter half of exercise performance during 30-s maximal cycle ergometer sprinting. Jpn J Physiol. 2002 Apr;52(2):199-205. 8 Harris, RC. Muscle carnosine elevation with supplementation and training, and the effects of elevation on exercise performance. International Society of Sports Nutrition Annual Conference, New Orleans, 2005. 9 Snimoniia GV, Tatishvili NI, Shiliia DSh, Bakanidze NT, Khachidze MV. [The effect of carnosine on the activity of Na,K,ATPase: prospective uses in clinical cardiology] Biokhimiia. 1992 Sep;57(9):1343-7. Russian. 10 Tallon, MJ, et al. In vivo sarcopenic related changes of carnosine in human skeletal muscle. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, Tennessee, 2005, Abstract #0301-0028. 11 Hill CA, Harris RC, Kim HJ, Boobis L, Sale C, Wise JA. The effect of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on muscle composition and exercise performance. American College of Sports Medicine Annual meeting, Tennessee, 2005. Abstract #1833. 12 Alaghband-Zadeh J, Mehdizadeh S, Khan NS, O’Farrell A, Bitensky L, Chayen J. The natural substrate for nitric oxide synthase activity. Cell Biochem Funct. 2001 Dec;19(4):277-80.

Scientific References 113

13 Aonuma S, Hama T, Aoki M, Tamaki N. [Examination of beta-alanyl-l-aspartyl-l-histidine as a precursor for carnosine and anserine (Studies on heart. X)] Yakugaku Zasshi. 1968 Jan;88(1):1-7. Japanese. 14 Bakardjiev A, Bauer K. Transport of beta-alanine and biosynthesis of carnosine by skeletal muscle cells in primary culture. Eur J Biochem. 1994 Oct 15;225(2):617-23. 15 Dunnett M, Harris RC. Influence of oral beta-alanine and L-histidine supplementation on the carnosine content of the gluteus medius. Equine Vet J Suppl. 1999 Jul;30:499-504. 16 Severin SE, Skolysheva LK, Shur SA, Vulfson PL. The pH-dependent conformational transition in glycogen phosphorylase b. The effect of carnosine and anserine on its activity. Biochem Int. 1990;20(2):227-38. 17 Dutka TL, Lamb GD. Effect of carnosine on excitation-contraction coupling in mechanically-skinned rat skeletal muscle. J Muscle Res Cell Motil. 2004;25(3):203-13. 18 Magkos F, Kavouras SA. Caffeine and ephedrine: physiological, metabolic and performance-enhancing effects. Sports Med. 2004;34(13):871-89. Review. 19 Yeo SE, Jentjens RL, Wallis GA, Jeukendrup AE. Caffeine increases exogenous carbohydrate oxidation during exercise. J Appl Physiol. 2005 Sep;99(3):844-50. Epub 2005 Apr 14. 20 Dhanakoti SN, Brosnan JT, Herzberg GR, Brosnan ME. Renal arginine synthesis: studies in vitro and in vivo. Am J Physiol. 1990 Sep;259(3 Pt 1):E437-42. 21 Callis A, Magnan de Bornier B, Serrano JJ, Bellet H, Saumade R. Activity of citrulline malate on acid-base balance and blood ammonia and amino acid levels. Study in the animal and in man. Arzneimittelforschung. 1991 Jun;41(6):660-3. 22 Bendahan D, Mattei JP, Ghattas B, Confort-Gouny S, Le Guern ME, Cozzone PJ. Citrulline/malate promotes aerobic energy production in human exercising muscle. Br J Sports Med. 2002 Aug;36(4):282-9. 23 Peral MJ, Garcia-Delgado M, Calonge ML, Duran JM, De La Horra MC, Wallimann T, Speer O, Ilundain A. Human, rat and chicken small intestinal Na+ - Cl- -creatine transporter: functional, molecular characterization and localization. J Physiol. 2002 Nov 15;545(Pt 1):133-44.


About the Author As an avid weight trainer and one-time national competitive bodybuilder, Stephen Adelé has always had an intense interest in physique enhancement and muscular performance. With a burning desire to “know more” about human physiology, Stephen began following the latest scientific findings on performanceenhancement aids and their impact on the physique. It was then he was confronted with a world of confusing and oftentimes conflicting information and theories. Using real-world applications as a foundation, Stephen looked for scientific evidence to support his theories (which is the opposite of how this process “normally” works!). Stephen has since committed and dedicated his time to continually discovering and reporting the absolute “truths” about such topics as which exercise routines, nutrition plans, and supplements work and which ones don’t. Under the direction of Stephen as Editor-in-Chief, their “tell-it-like-it-is” publication, Real SOLUTIONS magazine, has quickly become the fastest growing, most talked about physique development magazine in the world—distributed in 12 countries—with a loyal and growing readership of over 150,000 weight trainers. Stephen’s newest educational guide, The Carnosine Breakthrough, is yet another example of how Stephen is able to incorporate his many “inside connections” and bring athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts alike the most accurate, up-to-date, straight-

About the Author 115

forward information on the newest innovations in performance-enhancement supplementation and physique development. The Carnosine Breakthrough explores the fascinating science behind the new breakthrough supplement, H+Blocker™, combined with the many lessons learned over the past 15 years in Stephen’s own pursuit of building a lean, muscular physique. In today’s world of over-hyped and under-performing “Holy Grail” tactics for building a respectable physique, The Carnosine Breakthrough provides evidence-based solutions to build muscle and gain strength the right way! Stephen invites you to visit him anytime online at RealSolutionsMag.com or by emailing him at [email protected]

Acknowledgements: Although there is a comprehensive list of references from textbooks, scientific journals, and various authors on the previous page, there are several people I am forever grateful to for making this book better and more comprehensive than I ever envisioned. I am eternally thankful to my wife, Julia, and our two (soon-to-be three) little princesses, for their universal support, patience, and for embracing my passion; my parents, for believing in me from the very start; Mark Tallon, for spending many, many days and nights discussing the role of carnosine, providing his expert guidance to help decipher the science behind this breakthrough supplement, which would inevitably create our new supplement, H+Blocker; James O’Byrne, who, once again, became the spark that ignited me to write this book; Sue Mosebar, our all-star executive editor, for spending countless hours ensuring that every word read just right; and Marcus Knodle, our creative director, for designing his absolute best work yet; Matt Fitzgerald, for his literary genius and the enormous contribution to help turn a tiny little research paper into a book. In addition, I must thank Demetri Bassoukos for illustrating the fantastic “cover model” on the front and back of our book.


CarnosineBackCover

1-866-688-7679

G

2/17/06

11:33 AM

Page 1

iSatoritech.com USA $19.95 CAN $11.95 UK £ 25.95

CarnosineBreakthrough

Recommend Documents