Comments on: Beta-Alanine clinically proven to enhance performance in endurance athletes

By: Nutrition in Cycling

Nutrition in Cycling — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:57:08 +0000

New research from the University of Oklahoma suggests that beta-alanine, a supplement used by many athletes and body builders, helps improve muscle endurance in elderly men and women. Beta-alanine is a naturally occurring amino-acid in the human body that has been clinically proven to increase exercise performance and muscular endurance.

By: Robert Kunz MS

Robert Kunz MS — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:52:46 +0000

John,
Thanks for your great question. Optygen and OptygenHP do not work accutely, so you do not need to time your use prior to a workout. These products work to improve your ability to handle stress from heavy training. The product needs to build up in your system through daily use, so it matters little if you take it in the morning or evening. The key is to use it consistently for several months and primarily during a heavy training block. If you take a week or more easy or off you can abstain from Optygen & HP use during this easy week.

By: John

John — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:31:23 +0000

Now I know that it says that you’re supposed to take 4 pills with breakfast, but i do most of my training around 6pm while breakfast is around 11am would it be more effective to take 2 pills with breakfast and 2 with lunch? I am a runner and as of now i am consistent with an easy day approximately every other day with medium or hard workouts in between. Would it make more sense to take less or no optygen during the easy days? The label does say to take during intense training and my easy days are not intense and do not require the help of optygen. Also would it make sense to take a bit more optygen a day or 2 before a race including the day of the race? Such as 5 or 6 pills instead of 4 to help increase the effects or is optygen meant more for training no racing?

By: Shari

Shari — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:50:03 +0000

I am being coached by Andrea Ratkovic, and she is a huge proponent of Optygen. I wanted to say how helpful I think this blog is in educating people on your product, and that I am just about to start using it myself.

By: Robert Kunz MS

Robert Kunz MS — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:12:30 +0000

Mike,
Thanks for your comment on Beta-Alanine. WE have found through our clinical research that the use of Beta-Alanine in the complete OptygenHP formula works great and likely offers greater benefit than supplementing with Beta-Alanine alone. The complete formula we offer not only improves lacate threshold, but also allows you to adapt to the stress of heavy training so you can handle greater training loads. Thanks for your support!

By: Mike - Beta Alanine Lover

Mike - Beta Alanine Lover — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:48:37 +0000

I absolutely love Beta Alanine. Some weightlifters/bodybuilders claim that it gives more endurance in the gym, but I notice the extra endurance mostly in my runs and a bit in my swims. I rarely get the “tingles” but when they come they’re pretty fun.

Cheers!

By: Robert Kunz MS

Robert Kunz MS — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:54:34 +0000

Pat,
Great question! Because Optygen works primarily to modulate stress, you could argue that abstaining from its use during taper time should be considered, with OptygenHP and its additional benefit of synthesizing lactate it is certainly better to remain on the product for those last two weeks. Since neither Optygen nor OptygenHP work acutely, but need time to build up in your system its better to remain on the product. Realize that since Beta-Alanine takes some time to build up and its the presence of Beta-Alanine that increases carnosine and improved lactate threshold staying on the product will assure you have the beta-alanine necessary on race day. So stay on it!

By: Pat O

Pat O — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:59:23 +0000

Hi Robert, Great article on effects of OptygenHP while training. I just started using it (4 pills/day) with a warm up race coming up in a month.. then my “A” race coming up 4 weeks after that. I’m wondering about the usage of OptygenHP during the week or two before a race which generally includes some sort of taper. Should you take the pills during taper weeks prior to race, and if not, will there be any detrimental effect on your race day ability? I started taking the pills a month before race so I i would get all the effects, but this article just made me wonder about the week or two before a race which is usallly a lighter work load.. Wouuld appreciate your thoughts or comments.. Thanks Pat

By: Robert Kunz MS

Robert Kunz MS — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:00:28 +0000

Karl,
Its important to note that Optygen does NOT have beta-alanine, only the OptygenHP formula contains beta-alanine. Neither product is designed to help you peak, nor should you try and time the usage for a peak. Its a training supplement that allows you to greatly improve your training when you are training very hard. It is with this improved ability to train that you gain physiological benefits which carry over to race day.
I don’t see exactly where we posted ‘Increased Supplementation Strategy’ though we do mention a similar phrase in the 2nd to last paragraph. This is referring to beta-alanine and means that the synthesis of lactate will likely manifest within a week into your supplementation but will improve consistently for many months. In other words Carnosine will not simply spike after 4 weeks but will slowly and steadily increase with your use of Beta-Alanine from OptygenHP. The clinical studies simply took a minimum of 4 weeks before they had results which were statistically and measurably significant. Make sense?

By: Robert Kunz MS

Robert Kunz MS — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:53:30 +0000

Scott,
We do recommend you cycle on & off, but only when there is a down week or week of recovery in your training blocks. If you tend to have an easy week or two following a big race then going off OptygenHP is a good idea since you are not putting your body under stress during those ‘off’ weeks. The key is to make sure your OptygenHP supplementation parallels your ‘training stress’ or heavy training blocks. Because you are an Ultra runner and tend to have races 6-8 weeks apart it probably does work well to lay off a week or two following your race before you ramp up again. For those who race more frequently and find they do not have recovery or ‘off’ weeks their best option is to remain on OptygenHP the entire racing season.