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Consumer Review: HMB And Creatine Are A Great Combination For Increasing Endurance And Reducing Recovery Time.
I have tried EAS' HMB as well as Creatine. I've been using both for 3 months now and here is what I have gathered:
Neither one will directly help your strength. What they seem to do (especially the HMB) is speed the recovery time so you can handle more next workout...and THAT'S what makes you strong. This is great for beginners because those first few workouts are usually the ones that either keep you in or make you quit. I'm sure that all of us who started out and had a workout where you couldn't touch your lips with your fingertips or drive without leg shakes took a day or 12 off after that. Most don't go back to lifting again.
For example, on one of my heavy days, I'm usually sore as hell the next day and even worse the day after that due to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Even when stretching before/during/after lifts. With HMB, as long as I am getting enough water, rest and protein (protein=good...whey protein=better), I am only mildly sore the next day and barely stiff the next day. By the time it's ready to work that body part again, it's as if I never trained it hard. I'm full strength, locked, cocked and ready to rock.
Now, Creatine seems to be a similar animal (HMB and Creatine work doggone good together). Creatine seems to give me more endurance than strength. I can bench that 200lbs maybe 3 times with no creatine. During a good Creatine cycle, I can get it up maybe 4 or 5 times and feel the same as if I did it 3. Then the HMB kicks in and helps me recover from the heavier workout.
Do I recommend them? Yeah. Definitely. I would recommend both to beginners. I myself take both during my bulk cycle. Make sure to cycle off after a few weeks. Also, be sure to follow the dosage TO THE LETTER! I don't practice the loading phase in creatine and have had about the same gains as everyone else. Also, I can't stress how important it is to consume mass quantities of water. Your muscles will react better and you will be able to handle the creatine a lot better. If you feel you have drank enough water, go fill up and drink some more!
Don't feel discouraged. Train hard, eat right and get plenty of rest. If you are dedicated and patient, the rest will come.
Response #1
I'm the poster of the above with an update. I got a little short on cash and ran out of HMB. I stopped taking it for about 10 days. The results? Well, call it placebo if you want, but it took 2-3 days longer to recover from workouts. I was a hell of a lot more sore than when I was taking HMB. As a result, I wasunable to lift more. So, I'm really a believer at this point.
On an unrelated note, anyone know where I can get my supps cheaper than what GNC pimps me for?
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