Researchers from The Center for Applied Health Sciences said that, aside from the convenience of having multiple ingredients in one product, there is a high potential for proprietary ingredients in sports drinks and supplements to exert additive or synergistic effects.
According to the study, published in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the use of Size On Maximum Performance (SOmaxP) – containing additional ingredients – four times per week for nine weeks resulted in statistically significant improvements in strength, muscle endurance, lean muscle mass, and percentage body fat versus a comparator with identical quantities of creatine, whey protein and carbohydrate but lacking the additional compounds.
“This double-blind, comparator study showed that nine weeks of supplementation with SOmaxP resulted in statistically significant improvements in muscular performance, decreases in body fat and fat mass, and increases in lean mass, versus a comparator product matched with similar amounts of creatine, carbohydrate and whey protein,” said the authors, led by senior author Robert Lemieux, from The Center for Applied Health Sciences, USA – a private R&D facility.
Sports supplements
Among the most commonly used supplements for increasing muscular strength are those containing creatine salts (such as creatine monohydrate), carbohydrate, protein, and amino acids (particularly branched chain amino acids) – for which the authors said evidence for their effectiveness has been “consistently seen in published studies.”
“Research data is most plentiful on supplementation with creatine monohydrate, carbohydrates, and protein and these three ingredients are consistently recommended by expert panels as ergogenic [performance enhancing] aids … and as such are the core constituent ingredients of many pre- and peri-workout supplements,” said the researcher.
Manufacturers have developed sports drinks combining the same three core ingredients, however in addition have begun to add proprietary ingredients (such as additional vitamins, minerals, and amino acids) for the peri- (during) workout period, to increase muscle strength, lean mass, and endurance.
“Because most products purporting to build strength and/or endurance contain the same three core ingredients, and the preponderance of evidence suggests that these three ingredients are the most important contributors to observed ergogenic gains, then it is reasonable to assume that if similar quantities of the core ingredients were compared, a valid comparison could be made,” said the authors.
They said that if differences were found upon comparison of products with the same quantities of core ingredients, then a likely explanation would be that the proprietary ingredients have some additional effect or synergistic effects – either by exerting independent effects or enhancing the effects of the core ingredients.
The new study compared the effects of Size On Maximum Performance (SOmaxP – manufactured by Gaspari Nutrition) to a comparator product (CP) standardized to contain equal amounts of the three core ingredients.
Study details
Twenty healthy male subjects were tested for muscular strength, muscular endurance, and body composition during nine weeks of intense resistance training. During the time they were required to maintain their normal dietary habits and follow a specific, progressive overload resistance training program.
Body composition, muscular performance (one repetition max bench press, and repetitions to failure), in addition to clinical blood chemistries were measured at baseline and after nine weeks of supplementation and training.
For one rep max bench press the SOmaxP group improved performance by nearly 20 percent, compared to just over 15 percent increase for the CP group – showing a statistically significant improvement in performance of 4.5 per cent.
The SOmaxP group was also reported to perform significantly better in the repetition to failure test (44.8 percent increase for SOmaxP vs 20.9 percent increase for CP).
The authors also found SOmaxP to perform significantly better that CP in terms of volunteers’ lean mass, and fat mass.
They noted that there were no statistically significant differences in vital signs (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures) or clinical blood chemistries between either treatment groups.
Synergistic effect
“Given that the quantities of the core components were identical, and these components are presumed to contribute most to ergogenic effects, the differences between the SOmaxP and CP groups may be due to additive or synergistic effects of the proprietary ingredients in SOmaxP,” said the authors.
They said that additional research is needed to further explain these effects; noting that a double-blinded, comparator controlled study of six weeks duration which includes muscle biopsy measurements is currently underway to examine, and possibly help identify the mechanisms by which SOmaxP may exert these effects.
Sports nutrition 2011
Sports nutrition will take center stage next week at the Sports Nutrition 2011 virtual conference, hosted by NutraIngredients-USA.com. The live one-day event called The Sports Nutrition 2011 Virtual Conference, will take place on Thursday, January 27, 2011.
The conference will cover key topics from high-profile industry personalities from The Coca-Cola Company, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and Euromonitor International.
The event also features a chat lounge where you can interact with a range of experts from industry, and experts from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN).
For more information and to register, please click here.
Source: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Volume 7, Issue 40, doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-7-40
“Nine weeks of supplementation with a multi-nutrient product augments gains in lean mass, strength, and muscular performance in resistance trained men”
Authors: S.M. Schmitz, J.E. Hofheins, R. Lemieux