Glutamine is the most versatile supplement an athlete can take. It is the quintessential performance supplement with effects including immune support, growth hormone release, protein synthesis, muscle cell volumizing, and glycogen replenishment. Not to mention that Glutamine makes up over 70% of the amino acid pool in muscle tissue. And that is not the entire list of performance-enhancing effects glutamine supplementation gives you. It’s just a teaser.
Glutamine and Glycogen
Now for more interesting research on Glutamine. Research shows that an 8-gram dose of glutamine directly after exercise promotes the same glycogen storage effect as consuming 61-grams of glucose! Glutamine is very effective for increasing muscle energy stores – more so than any other micronutrient. Obviously, this news has significant implications for all athletes looking to build lean mass, enhance performance, and accelerate recovery, especially those on calorie-restricted diets. Being able to load glycogen into your muscles without adding additional calories is an almost magical effect glutamine gives you.
Glucose is the primary fuel that powers all intense forms of exercise. Think of muscle glycogen as an athlete’s storage tank for glucose. Taking glutamine directly after intense training appears to enhance this refueling process and increase the amount of energy stored!
Based on these results you might think that carbohydrates are obsolete and using glutamine on its own may be a better alternative. However, this assumption is not completely accurate. Using a glucose “tracer” technique, scientists were able to follow the ingested glucose and results revealed that combining glutamine with glucose (GL3 with DGC) provides even greater whole-body glycogen synthesis than either glucose or glutamine alone. The addition of glutamine to a glucose solution ensured greater non-oxidative disappearance of glucose, suggesting that more glycogen is stored within other muscles and the liver.
Enhancing glycogen accumulation within muscle not only means that you can work out harder and recover quicker, but it also serves as a potent anabolic (growth) signal within muscle cells. More glycogen stored within muscle promotes muscle cell swelling and high protein synthesis rates.
Carbohydrate/energy-restricted diets are a necessary evil for many competitive athletes, and many bodybuilders train twice a day – cardio and weight training. This research used intense aerobic exercise to deplete muscle glycogen stores. If you’re restricting carbohydrate intake, the prime time to use glutamine supplementation may be directly after intense cardio exercise.
GL3 L-Glutamine and DGC
Taking GL3 L-Glutamine with a serving of DGC directly after cardio training will provide a dramatic boost in glycogen storage, which, in turn, will trigger a powerful anabolic effect. GL3 L-Glutamine may well be the anabolic activator that can be used in conjunction with aerobic exercise to promote a muscle-growth effect from intense cardio training!
Add 10-grams of glutamine to 1 serving of DGC in solution (the dose depends on your body size) and consume directly after intense cardio training. To amplify the anabolic response even further you may want to add 5-grams of pure Micronized Creatine and one scoop of VP2 Whey Isolate to this solution.
Even while following a calorie-restricted diet, bodybuilders still should be able to gain muscle mass. One strategy that will achieve this is using glutamine directly after intense cardio training. The addition of glutamine to your post-workout supplement will enhance muscle glycogen storage and provide a potent anabolic effect from aerobic training.
