I guess I should stay out of this one (for fear of getting “boycotted” myself), but I simply cant.
First of all, Randy, you called Cy simple minded in your first post! So to both John and Randy, if anyone would have done so to me, I think I may have a little less diplomatic in my response than Cy was in his. And anyway, that’s Cy’s style. He calls everyone bud. I dont think he meant to sound condescending.
Second, Randy, in my humble opinion, the writers here have a bit of expertise on supplementation and nutrition and training. In fact, to some we are seen as experts. And this sets up an interesting burden of responsibility. If we endorse a product, thousands of people will go out and spend their money on it just because we said so. So we’ve gotta be sure not to “lead people astray”. It’s our duty as “experts”. So on what should we base our recommendations? What else other than science and well-controlled research? I am a researcher so I know that studies can be flawed. But we’ve gotta use some objective measure of efficacy to substantiate a recommendation! If not you are just as much an expert as I am. And whether you like to think so or not, you’re not. Ive been trained to conduct and understand the subtile nuances of research and therefore that makes me a bit more sensitive to what may be good and what may not be good in a product or a protocol. A few anecdotal reports should never lead a respected expert to recommend something when the majority of the research (and anecdotes as well) dont support it.
I dont deny your comments that something may work for you. But dont get offended with the placebo effect comment. The placebo effect is freakin powerful thing! It’s not a sign of delusion or weakness. The brain is powerful and honestly, if you think something will work, it can change your physiology in order to make you stronger, bigger, etc. It’s true. There is a much narrower gap between placebo effects and real effects than most imagine. Ive often said that I have to wake up and train every day. And if a supplement makes me train harder or feel better about going to the gym, then damn it, I dont care if it’s a placebo effect or not. There have been MANY studies in which the placebo effect lead to measureable physiological changes. Also keep in mind that the creatine serum product that was just tested gave “results” to hundreds of thousands of people…many of which were just as experienced as we are. Ive heard people rave about the stuff. But a new study showed that it had microgram quantites of creatine or something like less than 1% of label claims. So it looks like the placebo effect strikes again. Unless creatinine is strangely ergogenic! But I bet every one of them is convinced that they got “real results”.
So whether its a placebo effect or not for you, I cant say (nor do I want to). Maybe the stuff works in some people but we cant recommend it to thousands when there is no good evidence that it does anything.