Over the past several of months, the United States Sports Academy (www.ussa.edu) has been performing research on a top-rated pre-workout supplement containing creatine, beta-alanine, caffeine, and amino acids among other ingredients. (The supplement, Assault™ by MusclePharm, is the top rated and top-selling pre-workout supplement and was named the new supplement of the year in 2011 on bodybuilding.com).
Of particular importance to athletes, this supplement contains no banned substances and is tested and certified by informed-choice and the National Science Foundation (NSF). In light of recent incidents regarding the pre-workout supplement Jack3d, the product (Assault™) recently tested at the Academy could be a legal alternative for athletes looking for a pre-exercise workout booster. However, the true effects of a pre-workout supplement containing creatine, beta-alanine, caffeine, and amino acids on performance had not been evaluated before now.
The research study, which was designed by primary investigator Dr. Jordan Moon, employed a two phase project design that would test the supplement on various factors such as human performance, safety, and effectiveness. Graduate assistants and other Academy doctoral students all worked together to make this study a success.
The purpose of the first phase was to determine the effects of the supplement on various human performance aspects such as upper and lower body muscular endurance, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, and choice reaction time. Those who participated in the study visited the Academy’s human performance laboratory on three separate occasions, each session lasting 2 to 3 hours in duration.
Participants sport background varied in a wide variety of sports/activities such as baseball, football, mixed martial arts, tennis, cycling, kickboxing, etc. Each workout session began with ingesting one scoop of either the supplement or the placebo (Maltodextrin) 20 minutes before exercise.
Results indicated that with the ingestion of the supplement, participants felt higher levels of energy, alertness, and focus. In addition, subjective feelings of fatigue were delayed in comparison with the placebo. With this, subjects experienced an 18.4% increase in total number of leg press repetitions with the ingestion of the pre-workout supplement. Subjects were also able to significantly improve their choice reaction times; which could be practical in sports or activities that require quick agility movements and responses.
In the second phase of the research study, the Academy sought to examine the safety and efficacy of the pre-workout supplement. Participants performed a very similar protocol to the first phase, although this time each participant would be required to ingest the supplement for 33 days and undergo blood analysis. A majority of the subjects who participated in this phase of the research study were local athletes on Spring Hill College’s rugby team in Mobile, Ala.
Results indicated that the supplement proved to be a safe and effective product for long-term supplementation. Consuming one scoop of the supplement for 33 days had no impact on resting blood pressure, resting heart rate, or fasting glucose. In addition, chronic supplementation of the supplement did not affect kidney or liver enzymes or cholesterol values. This phase of the study also validated the first phases’ findings in that the supplement was consistent in increasing lower body muscular endurance.
The overall findings of the Academy’s research suggest that the supplement Assault™ is safe, effective, and may promote increases in strength, muscular endurance, energy, choice reaction, and agility; all while decreasing fatigue in healthy men.
