Anybody know about this stuff? Another joke? You gotta at least ask.
well, it is not a joke unfortunately. the basis of the product may be scientifically solid, but possible health ramifications are troubling.
it purportedly allows conversion of AA to a prostaglandin and any anti-inflammitory med or supp will block its gains.
here are the counterindicated things during use:
- Omega 3 fatty acids
- Flax and Fish oil supplements
- N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC)
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
- Avoid the regular consumption of foods known to be high in omega 3 fatty acids or anti-inflammatory nutrients, such as cold-water fish, peanut butter, and sesame, olive or peanut oils.
as you can see, this means that one must eat poorly with respect to fat intake for up to 50 days during the cycle.
now i find this extreme dietary modification absolutely stupid and potentially harmful for what is claimed to be about 2 pounds of lean mass gains per week.
this is about what a person could achieve by eating better and more, something they have to do anyway to see any gains: “Because X-Factor�?� intensifies protein turnover in exercised muscles, you may need to increase your total daily protein and calorie intake in order to gain significant muscle bulk. This often falls in the range of a 500-1000 calorie per day increase.”
i wonder where the gains might come from.
at this point sniper1, i am definately leaning towards joke because of what can be achieved with some of the counterindicated supplements, namely fish oil, CLA and borage oil.
these 3 EFA supplements are also associated with lean mass increases on a similar order, but instead of requiring caution and cycling, they can be taken everyday and will improve your health AND your body composition.
for the same cost, one could take 20 fish oil pills (6g EPA/DHA), 10 CLA (7g of the 2 active isomers), and 5 borage oil pills (1200mg GLA). this is basically the full dose of each of these 3 EFAs.
in the end, it is not a question of whether it works - it may - rather, it is a question of can i take something else that will give me similar gains with a better health profile. and the answer to that is fish, CLA, and borage.
if one is interested in anabolic supplements, Carbolin 19, Se7en, and syntra EC by syntrax are better choices. the Carbolin 19 is a tweaked version of forskolin, Se7en is a tweaked version of methoxyisoflavone, and the syntrax product is a high concentration ecdysterone product.
While I’ve heard good things about it from people, I’m not sure why one would take it. For starters, the makers strongly recommend AGAINST compound lifts while on this product. Why? Because the increased inflammation can cause problems with lifts that place more stress on joints. As already mentioned there’s also the fact that they recommend AGAINST EFA’s and NSAID’s.
To me it doesn’t sound worth it. I’d rather be squatting and deadlifting than increasing my inflammation. But hey, that’s just me.