MUSCLE FUEL: CITRULLINE MALATE
Say “Yes” to this potent NO-booster for better workouts and greater long-term gains.
Pre JYM, my best-selling pre-workout product, contains a full 6-gram dose of citrulline malate to support performance and muscle pumps during workouts. Better workouts in turn can and will lead to long-term gains in muscle size, strength and athletic performance when completed on a consistent basis.
But let’s back up a bit, because no conversation about citrulline is adequate without first talking about nitric oxide (NO), one of the most widely discussed topics in the field of sports nutrition over the past 20 years or so.
NO History
Nitric oxide is a ubiquitous molecule that supports numerous functions in the body. Among those functions is increased blood flow to the muscles. NO does this by relaxing the smooth muscles in the blood vessels, which results in a widening of those vessels to allow for more blood to flow through. An increase in blood flow can result in the muscles getting more oxygen and nutrients, which are critical for providing energy during workouts.
This is precisely why NO-boosting supplements became all the rage starting in the late 1990s. And the NO-boosting ingredient of choice back then was a no-brainer: arginine. It made perfect sense. Arginine, an amino acid, is readily converted to NO in the body, so take it prior to training and you’re good to go. Right?
Yes and no. Yes, arginine needs to be present for NO levels to rise. However, as strange as this may sound, taking arginine in supplemental form may actually not the best way to boost arginine levels in the body.
A better way is through the ingredient I referenced at the beginning: citrulline, an amino acid closely related to arginine that readily converts to it in the body. Studies have shown that subjects taking equal amounts of citrulline and arginine experienced higher levels of arginine in their systems when taking citrulline versus arginine. Similarly, it’s also been shown that it takes less citrulline, as compared to supplemental arginine, to raise arginine levels.
This may seem counterintuitive, but there appears to be a likely cause: the excessive breakdown of arginine in the body. One enzyme in particular – arginase – breaks down arginine after it’s consumed, thus limiting its impact on NO levels. Arginase resides mainly in the liver and intestines and this is a significant factor. Citrulline bypasses the liver after being consumed and thus is not broken down by arginase. As a result, it’s able to more effectively do its work to increase NO levels.
Two Types to Choose From
When it comes to supplementing citrulline, there are two main forms being used nowadays in products: l-citrulline and citrulline malate. The former is the free-form version of citrulline and the latter is citrulline attached to malic acid, malate.
Research has shown that both forms provide significant boosts in NO production, and hence exercise performance, but I prefer citrulline malate.
At full doses, both types provide significant muscle pumps, but citrulline malate may offer more of a performance boost during training. Malate is involved in the Krebs Cycle to generate aerobic energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy currency of every cell.
Emerging research suggests that citrulline malate may increase the amount of ATP the muscles are able to generate and also regenerate phosphocreatine (PCr) at a high rate. PCr is what creatine is converted to inside the muscles for an immediate source of energy during training sessions. The results of better PCr regeneration could be noticeable in the gym for you: faster recovery time between sets and the ability to pump out more reps late in your workout.
Better energy and muscle endurance during a workout translates to more reps completed with the same weight. And that’s just the short-term benefit. Over the long term, better workout performance can lead to greater gains.
And this is precisely why citrulline malate is present – and at a full dose – in Pre JYM.
