Does Nitric Oxide Work? A Nitric Oxide Supplement
Review:
Lately, I've been hearing alot of buzz about No2
and it's possible effects on building muscle.No2
has been around for a couple of years and there
has been plenty of people who have tried this
particular supplement with mixed results.For those
of you who don't know what N02 is, let me give
you a bit of background.No2 stands for nitric
oxide. Nitric oxide is supposed to relax the smooth
muscle in the walls of very small arteries called
arterioles.When a muscles contracts and it's blood
vessels are dilated, a "puff" of gas appears for
a brief instant and than dissapears.
This gassettles into the underlying smooth muscle
cells causing them to relax which allows a surge
of blood to pass through more easily.This gas
is called nitric oxide.You see, everytime you
do a couple sets of curls and you feel that expanding
feeling in your bicep, it means that nitric oxide
was releasedinto the smooth muscle, causing an
extra surge in blood to your muscles. It gives
your muscles that full feeling and that"puffy"
look.However, once you finish your workout, your
muscels slowly loose the blood that it accumulated
during the workout and it slowly goes backto normal.
Of course, the pump is one of the best feelings
you can get and too lose it, well, sucks. So,
the man who brought creatine to thefitness world,
Ed Byrd, gives you Hemodilator N02.
This stuff is supposed to help release nitric
oxide at different times of the day to keep your
muscles feeling pumped. What Ed Byrd managedto
do was create a delivery system called phyex 9
which is supposed to help stimulate the release
of nitric oxide at different times duringthe day.
Certainly a beautiful concept for just about everyone
out there who weight trains. Who doesn't want
a constant pump...Maybe just walkingdown the street?Well,
I heard alot about no2 and it got my attention.
So, I decided to give this supplement a shot.
I have to admit, this stuff is not cheap.At $80
bucks a pop, it's kind of steep for the everyday
working, weight trainer. Today, there are a whack
of nitric oxide supplements outthere and they
all cost about the same.
Now, I had my doubts. You see, this supplement
uses arginine as it's main nitric oxide delivery
mechanism. That is, arginine is supposed tocause
the nitric oxide reaction which will produce the"pump".
Now, back in the mid 80's, I vividly remember
a supplement called"Inosine" whichwas supposed
to do the same thing as No2. It was supposed to
cause the small artieries to expand which would
cause more blood flow into the muscle.Well, as
a young, wide eyed teenager looking for a miracle
supplment, this fit the bill. I bought a bunch
of inosine in the hopes that it wouldhelp me build
more strength and power. The result? A couple
of hundred dollars down the toilet. I still see
adds for inosine and I still shake my head.So,
after a bit of research I decided to give this
particular supplement a shot and see if the results
were as good as they claimed on the label.I choose
to use the Hemodilator No2 for my nitric oxide
supplement review.According to the label, it reads
"NO2 generates a PERPETUAL PUMP, Helps Boost Strength,
Augments Peak Power, Delays Muscle Fatigue"Well,
does it do all that? First off, according to the
label, they performed a clinical trial of this
supplement at Baylor University. Accordingto the
results, there was a 300% increase in bench press
strength for those who were taking Hemodilator
compared to those who were taking a placebo(fake),
over an eight week period.Also, the group taking
the Hemodilator gained more endurance and power
than the placebo group over the same 8 week period.So,
how did I fare with this supplement? Now, I'm
just finishing up my third bottle and the results
have not been mind blowing. Maybe I was expectingtoo
much from this supplement but I haven't gained
as much as I would have hoped. There has been
a slight change from the pumps I get in the gym
butthey are not perpetual. The pumps stay in the
gym.In terms of strength, I gained a little bit
in some of my compound movements but not as nearly
as much as I would have if I would have taken
creatine.For endurance, I can't say I noticed
any thing at all. In terms of overall power, I
would say that it has increased...
But not 300% or even 20%.Did I get my monies
worth? That's a hard one to say. I mean, would
have I gotten the same results if I didn't use
the supplement? Probably not. The thingI noticed
most about this product was the pumps in the gym.
Like I said before, pumps are the reason I mainly
go to the gym.Am I happy with this product? I
guess you can say that I'm "ok" with it. However,
when I take the supplement Xpand, which is a combination
of thenitric oxide booster arginine and tri-creatine
malate, I simply explode! Maybe the combination
of nitric oxide and creatine compliment each othermore
so than regular creatine or straight arginine. In
terms of side effects, I didn't experience anything.
Just remember, huge doses of arginine can be toxic.
However, there are some reports of usersexperiencing
diarrhea nausea with relatively high doses.Now,
do I recommend this product? If you do not want
to take a product such as creatine, I would have
to say yes. It does work and will produce someresults
provided you have a well laid down eating plan
and steady lifting habits. Just remember, you
have to be on it for at least 8 weeks to seeany
sort of results.However, next to a good creatine
product such as SAN V12 or Dymatize Xpand, I would
have to say no. These products are so much better
and the resultsare more immediate and dramatic.So
there you have it.
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