HMB

always meant to ask about this, but has anyone used HMB to any effect? Claims are that together with protein supplements and creatine HMB is pretty much the only supplement in the muscle head area which actually has some scientific evidence to support its claims.

Worth it?

I gave it a good go when it first came out years ago. I didn't notice any effects at all. If I remember correctly, a lot of people were getting similar results i.e. nothing.

HMB is an example of a supplement that looks promising from research evidence but which has failed to deliver in 'real life', in my opinion.

I always want supplements to 'work', but out of the zillions I've tried, only creatine, sesathin and ECA type products have had any definite effect.

agree with tannhauser

used it years ago when it first came out, and IME does pretty much jack!!

When I looked at the research for this area a couple of years ago the bottom line seemed to be that there was some evidence that HMB could be performance enhancing in previously untrained individuals when they start an exercise programme. I found no evidence to support benefits for intermediate or advanced trainers.

HMB is a natural metabolite of the amino acid leucine. This is one of the branch-chain amino acids (BCAAs). These have been found to have anti-catabolic properties, and it was thought that the metabolite HMB may be an important part of this mechanism. Before you rush out to buy BCAAs, however, I should point out that the best way of getting these is to consume sufficient protein.

The market place is full of supplements, not based around normal nutrients, that claim to improve performance. It is extremely rare to find any real evidence to aupport these claims. I like to refer to these as 'snake oil supplements' after the ingredient popular with the travelling medicine shows of the the wild west. Unfortunately, all that they are good for is parting the gullible from their money. I fell prey myself as a youngster. I remember chowing down on expensive raw glandulars as a teenager. Raw orchic was my favourite; this was basically freeze-dried bull's bo***cks. Did they work? Did they bo***cks!

LOL. I see what you did there jim

Awesome quote. PMSL

yeah, it is sad to see young skinny guys who have just started training at GNC or local bodybuilding shop buying all kinds of pills and bottles and taking advice from Flex who get most of their revenue from supplement advertisers.

So HMB is a nay - thats good to hear because it does look quite expensive, cheers

Yep. Get yourself some DHEA. "It's good but banned" lol

I tried it and noticed nothing at all.

Joni - just because something has 'scientific evidence' to back it up doesn't mean it will be any good, and vice versa (protein )