[Irish Cannon]

Do any of you guys take HMB? What dosages have you found to be effective? I'm looking into trying this stuff out. Most people that take it seem to really love the stuff. I was thinking of doing an HMB/Powerfull/Formestane/DHEA/CEE stack.

[strategicmove]

Originally Posted by Irish Cannon;

Do any of you guys take HMB? What dosages have you found to be effective? I'm looking into trying this stuff out. Most people that take it seem to really love the stuff. I was thinking of doing an HMB/Powerfull/Formestane/DHEA/CEE stack.

About a minimum of 3gr of HMß per day. Here is why:
As you know, HMß (Beta-Hydroxy-Beta-Methylbutyrate) is an L-Leucine derivative, that, like BCAAs, minimizes training or stress-induced catabolism, improves VO2-Max, and aids in fat metabolism. It is highly recommended to take it with creatine supplements, as it reduces the depletion of creatine phosphate, just like Rhodiola and co.
Only about 3% - 5% of the consumed L-Leucine is metabolized to HMß. This implies that the recommended minimum of 3gr per day would correspond to a minimum ingestion of 60gr - 100gr of L-Leucine! L-Leucine is a more versatile compound than HMß, so HMß cannot replace L-Leucine, but can dramatically boost the effects of L-Leucine.
HMß has a half-life of about two hours. This means it is best to take it in its 100% pure liquid form. Timing should be before or during training. It can also be taken as time-released Calcium-HMß capsules (in this case you would need about 3.75gr to obtain 3.0gr of HMß). By hardly any other supplement is the effect so dependent on the form (capsule, tablet, powder) of ingestion. The wrong form would deliver next to no results. The right form will make it one of the most effective supplements of all! HMß can help develop about 5% - 10% more lean mass per year!

[jcam222]

I have never seen HMB liquid available.....where do you get it?

Are you saying bulk powder is not effective?

[thesinner]

I was going to say 5g per day has received more positive user feedback.

[Sevename]

The bulk powder is effective up in the 9-10g/day range, split into 3 doses. Pre-WO, post-WO and before bed taken with 3-5g of creatine mono and protein. Its effective if you're cutting or bulking, you have to stick with it for a few months. You won't see huge results in 30 days like you will with AAS or PH/PS. But its safe, you can gain pounds of muscle over the course of a year and your gains will last when you quit taking it. If you buy it by the kilo you could even argue that its probably one of the more cost effective sups for real lasting gains. There is probably more research on HMB and creatine mono together than any other two sups out there.

[Irish Cannon]

I'll have to give this stuff a try. Thanks for the advice.

[DevilSmack]

5 grams a day works great for me. I have been back on HMB for the last 4 months after I seen Nutraplanet had some bulk powder at a decent price.

[jcam222]

Lots of follwo up questions I have as i finally get a little time to post

1) has anyone seen liquid HMB??

2) For those of you that buy the powder how do you use it (other than capping) it tastes terrible but worse is that its not water soluble so its a mess

3) does anyone sell the hmb /calcium combo? is that a form of them bonded together or simply calcium and hmb mixed?

[thesinner]

HMB is hydroxy-beta-methylbutanoic acid, and is a liquid at room temperature. The calcium is bonded to the carboxylate group to make it a water soluble salt. The addition of the calcium will slow the formation of the free HMB ion. I would also imagine most companies mix with dicalcium phosphate to slower the release of the HMB salt into your system. So to answer your question, yes to both.

I bought NP's HMB powder a while back, and mixed with grape kool-aide. Never had any issues. Where have you reached the conclusion that it's not water soluble? This is a short enough carboxylate chain that it will dissolve quite easily in water. If anything, mix with orange juice, the acidity will speed up the dissolution of the HMB powder.

[jmh80]

Sinner's right - 5 grams seems to be best.

PLENTY of feedback on HMB on this very board - if you search.

HMB is VERY synergistic with creatine - Bobo posted the studies a few years ago. Look for those.

Pretty sure it's an ionic bond between Ca and HMB.
NP sells CaHMB powder.

[jmh80]

Yeah - I've never had mixing issues with HMB. It's fluffy - does take a bit more water to dissolve all of it. But - I can get it all into solution without odd tricks.

I also use Crystal Light - taste isn't bad. But - maybe that's because I've taken garbage like Yellow Gold and un-flavored BCAA's before (yuck).

[thesinner]

I love how people complain about BCAAs. I've definitely eaten them straight out of the tub on numerous occasions. Although, it's a lot less bitter when it hasn't dissolved in water yet.

[Distilled Water]

Originally Posted by thesinner

I love how people complain about BCAAs. I've definitely eaten them straight out of the tub on numerous occasions.

wow, your a true hard a s s

[warbird01]

Originally Posted by thesinner

I love how people complain about BCAAs. I've definitely eaten them straight out of the tub on numerous occasions. Although, it's a lot less bitter when it hasn't dissolved in water yet.

same here, IMO they dont taste bad at all, i jujust scoop em straight in my mouth

I think they taste WAAY worse when you try to mix it with water (unless you hide the taste with crystal lite or something)