If the studies done by Metabolic Technologies are to be believed then the muscle-strengthening effect of HMB Free Acid is comparable to that of anabolic steroids. And as if that’s not enough, sports scientists at the University of Central Florida have reported that HMB Free Acid makes athletes miraculously much faster and fitter. If the athletes do high-intensity interval training at least.
The new HMB study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition is not completely new. In 2007 Canadian researchers reported that subjects who did high-intensity interval training three times a week on a treadmill made more progress if they also took 3 g calcium HMB daily. [Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2007 Feb; 17(1): 56-69.]
In that study the maximal oxygen uptake increased by 8.4 percent over a period of five weeks in the placebo group. In the HMB group the figure was 13.4 percent.
But what about HMB Free Acid? This is the question that the researchers set out to answer in the study that was sponsored by Metabolic Technologies. Metabolic Technologies is the inventor and patent owner of both calcium HMB and HMB Free Acid, and is planning to launch HMB Free Acid under the trade name BetaTor in the near future. [betator.com]
The researchers did experiments with 19 male and 15 female students, who they divided into three groups. One group did nothing for the four weeks that the experiment lasted. This was the control group.
You’ll get fitter if you use HMB Free Acid with your high-intensity interval training
The first experimental group did high-intensity interval training three times a week on a stationary bicycle. The training consisted of 12 bouts of 2 minutes, during which the subjects had to cycle at 85-120 percent of their maximal oxygen uptake. Between bouts the subjects rested for one minute.
The second experimental group followed the same schedule but also took 3 g HMB Free Acid daily. On non-training days the students took 1 g of the supplement with main meals. On the training days they took 1 g 30 minutes before starting to cycle, 1 g 1 hour after the workout and 1 g again 3 hours after finishing the workout.
At the beginning and end of the four weeks the researchers tested the students’ fitness. The figure below shows that HMB Free Acid boosted the effect that the training sessions had on maximal oxygen uptake, maximal power, time to exhaustion, ventilatory threshold and power during the ventilatory threshold.
“Our findings support the use of high-intensity interval training in combination with HMB Free Acid as an effective training stimulus for improving aerobic performance”, the researchers conclude. “While more research is needed, the current investigation suggests that in this sample of college age men and women, the use of HMB Free Acid supplementation may enhance the benefits of high-intensity interval training on aerobic performance measures.”
High-intensity interval training and ?-hydroxy-?-methylbutyric free acid improves aerobic power and metabolic thresholds.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Previous research combining Calcium ?-hydroxy-?-methylbutyrate (CaHMB) and running high-intensity interval training (HIIT) have shown positive effects on aerobic performance measures. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of ?-hydroxy-?-methylbutyric free acid (HMBFA) and cycle ergometry HIIT on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak), ventilatory threshold (VT), respiratory compensation point (RCP) and time to exhaustion (Tmax) in college-aged men and women.
METHODS:
Thirty-four healthy men and women (Age: 22.7?±?3.1 yrs ; VO2peak: 39.3?±?5.0 ml?·?kg(-1)?·?min(-1)) volunteered to participate in this double-blind, placebo-controlled design study. All participants completed a series of tests prior to and following treatment. A peak oxygen consumption test was performed on a cycle ergometer to assess VO2peak, Tmax, VT, and RCP. Twenty-six participants were randomly assigned into either a placebo (PLA-HIIT) or 3 g per day of HMBFA (BetaTor™) (HMBFA-HIIT) group. Eight participants served as controls (CTL). Participants in the HIIT groups completed 12 HIIT (80-120% maximal workload) exercise sessions consisting of 5-6 bouts of a 2:1 minute cycling work to rest ratio protocol over a four-week period. Body composition was measured with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Outcomes were assessed by ANCOVA with posttest means adjusted for pretest differences.
RESULTS:
The HMBFA-HIIT intervention showed significant (p?< ?0.05) gains in VO2peak, and VT, versus the CTL and PLA-HIIT group. Both PLA-HIIT and HMBFA-HIIT treatment groups demonstrated significant (p?http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24782684
