Lately, I've been hearing alot of buzz about No2 and it's possible effects on building muscle.
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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.
Nutritional Supplements
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 gas settles 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 released into 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 back to 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 the fitness 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 managed to do was create a delivery system called phyex 9 which is supposed to help stimulate the release of nitric oxide at different times during the day. Certainly a beautiful concept for just about everyone out there who weight trains. Who doesn't want a constant pump...Maybe just walking down 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 bucks a pop, it's kind of steep for the everyday working, weight trainer. Today, there are a whack of nitric oxide supplements out there 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 to cause the nitric oxide reaction which will produce the"pump". Now, back in the mid 80's, I vividly remember a supplement called"Inosine" which was 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 would help 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. According to 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 expecting too 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 but they 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 thing I 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 the nitric oxide booster arginine and tri-creatine malate, I simply explode! Maybe the combination of nitric oxide and creatine compliment each other more 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 users experiencing 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 some results 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 see any 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 results are more immediate and dramatic.
So there you have it. A personal nitric oxide supplement review.
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