Muscle Building Study Participants
Comparison of creatines: NO-Xplode, Creatine by Prolab, Xpand and Cell-Tech
Leanne Collins - Xpand by DymatizeLeanne is a 43-year-old female, who has been exercising for about five years. She does strength training in a studio and uses bosu balls, stability balls and rubber bands. She also participates in a belly dancing class once a week. Leanne says her eating habits are consistent and fairly well-balanced. She limits her alcohol and caffeine consumption. She makes most meals at home and usually eats a lot of whole foods, fruits and vegetables. She tries to limit the amount of junk food in her diet. Leanne has tried protein powders in the past but finds them chalky and to have a weird texture.
Goals: Leanne wants to increase her upper-body strength as well as strengthen and tone up her entire body.
Results: Leanne found that Xpand really helped her at the gym -it gave her more stamina during her workouts. However, she found that is caused her feet to cramp during her workout. Leanne was a little uncomfortable with all the artificial flavors and sweeteners in the product; she found it to be a little too sweet. But she was impressed with her results. Overall, Leanne lost 4.25 inches and 3.4 pounds. She also lost two percent body fat. Her strength went up in all her exercises, including an impressive 101 percent on the bench press!
Miguel is a 20-year-old male. He’s been working out for a little bit, usually training his upper body with weights and doing some cardio (running or going on the elliptical). Miguel says his eating habits are OK. He eats about three meals a day but mostly eats take-out. He’s tried creatine in the past and found it worked really well to help him build muscle.
Goals: Miguel wants to put on some muscle and gain about 20 pounds.
Results: Miguel was taking the placebo, but surprisingly still saw impressive results in strength. This goes to show that some supplements might simply have a psychological effect.
Jeff Moore - NO-Xplode by BSN
Jeff is a 27-year-old male. He’s been working out for awhile, but he recently took a bit of time off due to an injury. He trains heavily with weights and uses the bike for cardio, about three to four times a week. He says his eating habits are decent - he eats fairly consistently and doesn’t have a lot of take-out. He usually brings lasagna, pizza or hamburgers for lunch. Jeff has tried Kreaklyn before and didn’t feel stronger, but his muscles did feel bigger. He’s also used protein powder in the past.
Goals: Jeff lost some size because of his injury, so wants to put some muscle mass back on.
Results: Jeff felt bigger after taking NO-Xplode. He felt more blood in his muscles and could go a bit longer at the gym without tiring. But he found the supplement actually made his feel quite sick. He would try taking it again if he didn’t get sick.
Overall, Jeff gained 4.2 pounds and half an inch on his arms, and his body fat went down by 2 percent. His strength increased by at least 10 percent on most exercises, but actually went down on the leg curl.
Sam is a 50-year-old male who just started working out recently. He does a circuit-style workout at the gym and some cardio. Sam says his eating habits are fair; he tries to eat several small, balanced meals throughout the day. He eats a lot of take-out but tries to make healthy choices (avoiding Big Macs and the like). Sam hadn’t tried any supplements before this study.
Goals: Sam wants to improve his muscle mass and overall upper-body strength. He also says that losing a few pounds along the way would be a bonus.
Results: Sam felt that his strength increased, specifically his upper body. He found Prolab’s Creatine to be decent, but he did experience the occasional muscle cramp. At the gym he felt a real “buzz” while training. He said it was as if his mind was saying, “You’re done,” but his body was saying, “Nope, I think we’ve got a couple more reps.” Sam isn’t sure if he would try this supplement again, as it caused him to gain some weight. If he were to take another muscle-builder, he would focus more on his diet and eating habits.
Nick is a 26-year-old male who does a lot of cardio at the gym. He plays hockey and swims. Nick eats consistently throughout the day and usually consumes take-out for lunch, but he has a good supper. He has tried protein supplements before but didn’t really notice any results.
Goals: Nick wants to decrease his body fat and improve the overall composition of his physique.
Results: Neil’s body fat actually went up two percent during the study. But he did gain one inch on each of his arms and his strength went up by an average of 10 percent .
