Final Review:
Dosing throughout this log was 2 caps either 30-45min pre workout or off days first thing in the morning (for consistency). Only the last 4 days was dosing increased to 3 caps.
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Based on label claims:
-improved muscular and cardiovascular endurance
Most of my training was geared towards improving overall endurance so this was an area I expected to see the most benefit, alas I did not notice much. My running did not improve in any measurable amount as I trained up to my half marathon, and even though I felt i did very well in the event, I attribute this to the training, and not to this supplement as there was not any extra increase when I began taking it. At 3 caps/day (last 4 days) there may have been a very slight muscular endurance increase, but with this short of a time frame its hard to say that this product was the sole reason for that.
-improved strength.
While training throughout most of this log was not centered around strength, I did not experience any benefits here. Strength dipped as could be expected due to diet changes, and after calories were added back in, did not improve in any measurable amount.
-increased aerobic metabolism, strength, endurance, lean muscle development
My diet was not tailored to build muscle, but I also felt that I did not lose much if any while training lighter. I attribute most of this to diet, but there may have been a small amount of help from this. I can say that strength did dip and stay lower even after the race as calories were added back to normal.
-reduced body fat
The body fat and overall weight that was lost leading up to the race was right on par with what I had expected from my dietary changes. Nothing extra was seen and as the pictures show, once calories were added back, body composition did not even stay the same, but actually got worse even with only a very slight increase in total weekly calories.
-reduced Myostatin levels and increases Follistatin in the body (cannot test)
-reduced blood pressure
i typically run about 106/90 and when measured yesterday in my normal fasted state it was 105/88. I cannot say that this is statistically significant and I'm sure is easily attributable to sodium intake, etc. No results here.
Other expected/reported benefits:
-Increased pumps
I typically have a fairly low carb diet most of the week, with a few refeeds sprinkled in so pumps are not necessarily something I get to a strong degree normally. That said, there have bee quite a few days where I have eaten plenty of carbs during and after my race and I have not seen any increase in my normal state. Vascularity has not improved either.
-Increased daily fullness
Again, diet will dictate a large portion of this, so for reference I will use my last stack of xgels/abe which had me noticeably fuller and tighter throughout the day. This was not the case during this run as I felt soft and looked flat for most of the run. Even after refeeds I did not see any increase in fullness beyond what is normally experienced.
Based on the label claims and my expectations, this was a huge disappointment for me. I felt that I got zero benefit from this product at the recommended dose. There were potentially some benefits that may have come on had it been run higher for longer, but this was not the target of this log and cannot be expected for most as the price to run at a higher dose would make it non cost-effective. I would not recommend this product as it simply did not work for me.
Based on my experience I would give this product 1/10 with the single point based on the potential to see benefit at the higher dose (3+caps/day)
Thank you to
AlphaCommandr for the opportunity to get my feet wet in the (-)-Epicatechin field. Unfortunately this looks like an area that I may not be delving into much further. My next (and potentially last) run will most likely be with Epi-Plex to see if there is a significant difference with the addition of an absorption enhancer.
yeah lifting on no carbs isn't very gratifying, trying to get a pump is like trying to find a waterfall on the moon
