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thefameinmyname
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Ok I've heard so much talk about ZMA (i.e. it doesnt do shit or it works great). Ive decided to type up the entire article in Men's Fitness dealing with ZMA. It took a while and please disregard spelling or grammatical mistakes I was in a hurry.
Enjoy
-G-
NUTRITION SCIENCE Heralded as the next creatine, ZMA is the hottest new supplement in years By Brian Rowley
Bigger Muscles
While You Sleep
Looking for the next creatine? Some scientists claim to have found it. A new supplement called ZMA, boosts levels of two of your body’s strongest muscle-building hormones, testosterone and insulin-line growth factor 1, improving performance, recovery and even sex drive. Not to be confused with Zima- you may be dangerously low in testosterone if you find yourself holding a bottle of that- ZMA can lay claim to the greatest supplement-marketing jingle ever: “Bigger muscles while you sleep!” And for once the heat supports the hype.
The twist is that ZMA is nothing more than a remarkably well absorbed form of two common essential minerals: zing and magnesium. Active men tend not to get enough of these valuable nutrients from their food, and they also burn them up at a higher rate. Because the Recommended Daily Allowance for magnesium is too high to fit in a single one-a-day multivitamin, and because absorption of zing and magnesium in other forms is less then ideal, taking ZMA along with your multivitamin could soon be considered essential to achieving your training goals.
The excitement surrounding ZMA stems from research done at Western Washington University. Scientist found that giving ZMA to NCAA football players for two months boosted testosterone and IGF-1 levels and doubled improvements in leg power. In the study, 12 players were given ZMA nightly during eight weeks of intensive spring practice, which included lifting weights; their testosterone levels subsequently increased by 33.5 percent over the course of training. Conversely, the players who went without ZMA experienced a testosterone drop of about 10 percent, which is a pretty common with intensive training. ZMA also preserved IGF-1, producing a 3.5 percent gain in the hormone in those who took it, as opposed to a 21.5 percent slum in those who did not.
New Benefits from
Old Nutrients
Why such a big payoff from two somewhat common minerals? Correcting any nutritional deficiency tends to deliver impressive results, and male athletes are typically lacking in zing and magnesium. Two studies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, found that runners and basketball players suffered greater than normal losses of zinc. In another study, published in the International Journal of Sports and Medicine, serum zinc levels were “significantly below the normal range” in 23 percent of male athletes. That translates as bad news for muscle recovery, growth and even libido, as being a low in zinc can cause declines in both testosterone and androgen receptors.
Magnesium is another critical performance enhancer (in a second USDA study, 250 milligrams a day improved both leg power and muscle recovery), but it has also proven to be widely deficient in many athletic men. Most multivitamins contain only about 25% of your Daily Value for magnesium, and to make matters worse, they often use a far less absorbable form called magnesium oxide. A magnesium that is bound, or “chelated,” to an amino acid such as aspartate (not to be confused with the sweetener aspartame) is absorbed much more efficiently.
“Unfortunately, some supplements that claim to have chelated magnesium are 96% magnesium oxide and only 4% magnesium asparate or other chelates,” says Victor Conte, co-author of the ZMA study published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology. “The ZMA we gave to athletes was 100% magnesium asparate.” ZMA also contains 10½ milligrams of vitamin B6, which helps double the absorption of both the Zinc and Mag, according to Conte.
As if all that weren’t enough, Conte also believes that ZMA may have potential as an anti-aging supplement. “IGF-1 is important in maintaining muscle mass as well as the health elasticity of your skin and internal organs,” he says. “IGF-1 levels go down by 50% every seven years after the age of 21, so you increasingly miss out on its benefits as you mature. Since ZMA preserves IGF-1 levels in athletes, it’s my hope that it will do the same for men as they age. That could mean a better ability to maintain skin elasticity and muscle mass [over the long haul].”
Perhaps best of all, ZMA is as harmless as a Nerf Ping-Pong ball. Rest assured that two years from now you won’t be seeing news reports that prolonged use of ZMA will make your hair fall out or make your breasts resemble those of your girlfriends. And that’s always a good thing.
Enjoy
-G-
NUTRITION SCIENCE Heralded as the next creatine, ZMA is the hottest new supplement in years By Brian Rowley
Bigger Muscles
While You Sleep
Looking for the next creatine? Some scientists claim to have found it. A new supplement called ZMA, boosts levels of two of your body’s strongest muscle-building hormones, testosterone and insulin-line growth factor 1, improving performance, recovery and even sex drive. Not to be confused with Zima- you may be dangerously low in testosterone if you find yourself holding a bottle of that- ZMA can lay claim to the greatest supplement-marketing jingle ever: “Bigger muscles while you sleep!” And for once the heat supports the hype.
The twist is that ZMA is nothing more than a remarkably well absorbed form of two common essential minerals: zing and magnesium. Active men tend not to get enough of these valuable nutrients from their food, and they also burn them up at a higher rate. Because the Recommended Daily Allowance for magnesium is too high to fit in a single one-a-day multivitamin, and because absorption of zing and magnesium in other forms is less then ideal, taking ZMA along with your multivitamin could soon be considered essential to achieving your training goals.
The excitement surrounding ZMA stems from research done at Western Washington University. Scientist found that giving ZMA to NCAA football players for two months boosted testosterone and IGF-1 levels and doubled improvements in leg power. In the study, 12 players were given ZMA nightly during eight weeks of intensive spring practice, which included lifting weights; their testosterone levels subsequently increased by 33.5 percent over the course of training. Conversely, the players who went without ZMA experienced a testosterone drop of about 10 percent, which is a pretty common with intensive training. ZMA also preserved IGF-1, producing a 3.5 percent gain in the hormone in those who took it, as opposed to a 21.5 percent slum in those who did not.
New Benefits from
Old Nutrients
Why such a big payoff from two somewhat common minerals? Correcting any nutritional deficiency tends to deliver impressive results, and male athletes are typically lacking in zing and magnesium. Two studies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, found that runners and basketball players suffered greater than normal losses of zinc. In another study, published in the International Journal of Sports and Medicine, serum zinc levels were “significantly below the normal range” in 23 percent of male athletes. That translates as bad news for muscle recovery, growth and even libido, as being a low in zinc can cause declines in both testosterone and androgen receptors.
Magnesium is another critical performance enhancer (in a second USDA study, 250 milligrams a day improved both leg power and muscle recovery), but it has also proven to be widely deficient in many athletic men. Most multivitamins contain only about 25% of your Daily Value for magnesium, and to make matters worse, they often use a far less absorbable form called magnesium oxide. A magnesium that is bound, or “chelated,” to an amino acid such as aspartate (not to be confused with the sweetener aspartame) is absorbed much more efficiently.
“Unfortunately, some supplements that claim to have chelated magnesium are 96% magnesium oxide and only 4% magnesium asparate or other chelates,” says Victor Conte, co-author of the ZMA study published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology. “The ZMA we gave to athletes was 100% magnesium asparate.” ZMA also contains 10½ milligrams of vitamin B6, which helps double the absorption of both the Zinc and Mag, according to Conte.
As if all that weren’t enough, Conte also believes that ZMA may have potential as an anti-aging supplement. “IGF-1 is important in maintaining muscle mass as well as the health elasticity of your skin and internal organs,” he says. “IGF-1 levels go down by 50% every seven years after the age of 21, so you increasingly miss out on its benefits as you mature. Since ZMA preserves IGF-1 levels in athletes, it’s my hope that it will do the same for men as they age. That could mean a better ability to maintain skin elasticity and muscle mass [over the long haul].”
Perhaps best of all, ZMA is as harmless as a Nerf Ping-Pong ball. Rest assured that two years from now you won’t be seeing news reports that prolonged use of ZMA will make your hair fall out or make your breasts resemble those of your girlfriends. And that’s always a good thing.
