I
imported_drtorsten
Guest
There are two studies showing that l-carnitine has quite an impact on DOMS after unaccustomed exercise
Int J Sports Med 1996 Jul;17(5):320-4
Effects of prolonged L-carnitine administration on delayed muscle pain and CK release after eccentric effort.
Giamberardino MA, Dragani L, Valente R, Di Lisa F, Saggini R, Vecchiet L.
Institute of Medical Pathophysiology, G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Italy.
Eccentric muscle effort is known to induce delayed muscle soreness (DOMS) and muscle damage which are not responsive to medical treatment with the most common analgesic agents. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of oral L-carnitine supplementation on pain (VAS scale), tenderness (pain thresholds) and CK release induced by a 20-min eccentric effort of the quadriceps muscle. A single-blind study was carried out on 6 untrained subjects (mean age: 26 +/- 3.8 yrs; mean height: 173 +/- 4.6 cm; mean body weight, 68.3 +/- 4.5 kg) over 7 weeks during which each subject: a) was given 3 g/day of placebo for 3 weeks and, after a week's interval, 3 g/day of L-carnitine for 3 weeks: b) performed 2 step tests on the first day of the 3rd and 7th week inverting the order of the exercising limb. In a separate set of experiments carried out 8 months later, the possible effects of training on pain parameters and CK levels were also investigated in the same subjects who performed 2 step tests at a 4-weeks' interval, without medication. L-carnitine significantly reduced pain, tenderness and CK release after the effort with respect to placebo. In contrast, no significant difference was found in the parameters measured between the two tests performed without medication. It is concluded that L-carnitine has a protective effect against pain and damage from eccentric effort. This effect is mainly attributed to the vasodilatation property of the compound, which both improves energetic metabolism of the hypoxic/damaged muscle and enhances wash-out of algogenic metabolites.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002 Feb;282(2):E474-82
L-Carnitine L-tartrate supplementation favorably affects markers of recovery from exercise stress.
Volek JS, Kraemer WJ, Rubin MR, Gomez AL, Ratamess NA, Gaynor P.
Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA. jvolek@uconnvm.uconn.edu
We examined the influence of L-carnitine L-tartrate (LCLT) on markers of purine catabolism, free radical formation, and muscle tissue disruption after squat exercise. With the use of a balanced, crossover design (1 wk washout), 10 resistance-trained men consumed a placebo or LCLT supplement (2 g L-carnitine/day) for 3 wk before obtaining blood samples on six consecutive days (D1 to D6). Blood was also sampled before and after a squat protocol (5 sets, 15-20 repetitions) on D2. Muscle tissue disruption at the midthigh was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before exercise and on D3 and D6. Exercise-induced increases in plasma markers of purine catabolism (hypoxanthine, xanthine oxidase, and serum uric acid) and circulating cytosolic proteins (myoglobin, fatty acid-binding protein, and creatine kinase) were significantly (P < or = 0.05) attenuated by LCLT. Exercise-induced increases in plasma malondialdehyde returned to resting values sooner during LCLT compared with placebo. The amount of muscle disruption from MRI scans during LCLT was 41-45% of the placebo area. These data indicate that LCLT supplementation is effective in assisting recovery from high-repetition squat exercise.
I wonder if l-carnitine is a nono during HST. As long as I interpret these studies the hypothesis of Volek et al. (in the original study, not noted in the abstract) is that l-carnitine leads to a better vasodilatation while exercising (improving the carnitine distribution in the vascular endothel cells). These leads to a lesser degree of oxygen dept with smaller production of free radicals, that damage the muscle cell membrane, leading to CK elevation and all the DOMS. On the other hand there are animal studies showing that l-carnitine makes pets grow muscle and lose fat, and these effects are dosage dependent:
Gross KL, Wedenkind KJ, Kirk CA (1998): Effect of dietary L-Carnitine and chromiumpicolinate on weight loss and composition of obese dogs. J Animal Sci 76 (suppl 1): 175
Jewell DE, Toll PW: The effect of carnitine supplementation on body composition of obese-prone cats, Adapted from &#8222;obesity: Weight management in Cats and Dogs&#8220; Hill&#8217;s Pet Nutr.
Owen KQ et al. (1996): Effect of dietary L-Carnitine on growth, carcass characteristics, and metabolism of swine. Swine day Report
Owen KQ, Smith JW II, Nelssen JL, Goodband RD, Tokach MD, Friesen KG, Blum SA (1994): The effect of L-carnitine on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. Swine Day: 161
So what to do? I started a self experiment with 10 g l-carnitine per day during my 16 days of SD and my feeling is that I didn&#8217;t lose an ounce of muscle. Normally there would be some small loss, but I can't say for sure that l-carnitine worked muscle sparing.
I will drop the l-carnitine tomorrow, because I&#8217;m starting with the 15s again.
I&#8217;d like to hear everyone&#8217;s opinion on l-carnitine&#8230;(esp. Bryan, Blade, Vicious)
Int J Sports Med 1996 Jul;17(5):320-4
Effects of prolonged L-carnitine administration on delayed muscle pain and CK release after eccentric effort.
Giamberardino MA, Dragani L, Valente R, Di Lisa F, Saggini R, Vecchiet L.
Institute of Medical Pathophysiology, G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Italy.
Eccentric muscle effort is known to induce delayed muscle soreness (DOMS) and muscle damage which are not responsive to medical treatment with the most common analgesic agents. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of oral L-carnitine supplementation on pain (VAS scale), tenderness (pain thresholds) and CK release induced by a 20-min eccentric effort of the quadriceps muscle. A single-blind study was carried out on 6 untrained subjects (mean age: 26 +/- 3.8 yrs; mean height: 173 +/- 4.6 cm; mean body weight, 68.3 +/- 4.5 kg) over 7 weeks during which each subject: a) was given 3 g/day of placebo for 3 weeks and, after a week's interval, 3 g/day of L-carnitine for 3 weeks: b) performed 2 step tests on the first day of the 3rd and 7th week inverting the order of the exercising limb. In a separate set of experiments carried out 8 months later, the possible effects of training on pain parameters and CK levels were also investigated in the same subjects who performed 2 step tests at a 4-weeks' interval, without medication. L-carnitine significantly reduced pain, tenderness and CK release after the effort with respect to placebo. In contrast, no significant difference was found in the parameters measured between the two tests performed without medication. It is concluded that L-carnitine has a protective effect against pain and damage from eccentric effort. This effect is mainly attributed to the vasodilatation property of the compound, which both improves energetic metabolism of the hypoxic/damaged muscle and enhances wash-out of algogenic metabolites.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002 Feb;282(2):E474-82
L-Carnitine L-tartrate supplementation favorably affects markers of recovery from exercise stress.
Volek JS, Kraemer WJ, Rubin MR, Gomez AL, Ratamess NA, Gaynor P.
Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA. jvolek@uconnvm.uconn.edu
We examined the influence of L-carnitine L-tartrate (LCLT) on markers of purine catabolism, free radical formation, and muscle tissue disruption after squat exercise. With the use of a balanced, crossover design (1 wk washout), 10 resistance-trained men consumed a placebo or LCLT supplement (2 g L-carnitine/day) for 3 wk before obtaining blood samples on six consecutive days (D1 to D6). Blood was also sampled before and after a squat protocol (5 sets, 15-20 repetitions) on D2. Muscle tissue disruption at the midthigh was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before exercise and on D3 and D6. Exercise-induced increases in plasma markers of purine catabolism (hypoxanthine, xanthine oxidase, and serum uric acid) and circulating cytosolic proteins (myoglobin, fatty acid-binding protein, and creatine kinase) were significantly (P < or = 0.05) attenuated by LCLT. Exercise-induced increases in plasma malondialdehyde returned to resting values sooner during LCLT compared with placebo. The amount of muscle disruption from MRI scans during LCLT was 41-45% of the placebo area. These data indicate that LCLT supplementation is effective in assisting recovery from high-repetition squat exercise.
I wonder if l-carnitine is a nono during HST. As long as I interpret these studies the hypothesis of Volek et al. (in the original study, not noted in the abstract) is that l-carnitine leads to a better vasodilatation while exercising (improving the carnitine distribution in the vascular endothel cells). These leads to a lesser degree of oxygen dept with smaller production of free radicals, that damage the muscle cell membrane, leading to CK elevation and all the DOMS. On the other hand there are animal studies showing that l-carnitine makes pets grow muscle and lose fat, and these effects are dosage dependent:
Gross KL, Wedenkind KJ, Kirk CA (1998): Effect of dietary L-Carnitine and chromiumpicolinate on weight loss and composition of obese dogs. J Animal Sci 76 (suppl 1): 175
Jewell DE, Toll PW: The effect of carnitine supplementation on body composition of obese-prone cats, Adapted from &#8222;obesity: Weight management in Cats and Dogs&#8220; Hill&#8217;s Pet Nutr.
Owen KQ et al. (1996): Effect of dietary L-Carnitine on growth, carcass characteristics, and metabolism of swine. Swine day Report
Owen KQ, Smith JW II, Nelssen JL, Goodband RD, Tokach MD, Friesen KG, Blum SA (1994): The effect of L-carnitine on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. Swine Day: 161
So what to do? I started a self experiment with 10 g l-carnitine per day during my 16 days of SD and my feeling is that I didn&#8217;t lose an ounce of muscle. Normally there would be some small loss, but I can't say for sure that l-carnitine worked muscle sparing.
I will drop the l-carnitine tomorrow, because I&#8217;m starting with the 15s again.
I&#8217;d like to hear everyone&#8217;s opinion on l-carnitine&#8230;(esp. Bryan, Blade, Vicious)
)