DO any of you take these supplements?? Do they live up to their claims of great muscle recovery after workouts or is it just another supplement with a nice sales ploy???
Unlike supplements which claim to have special training effects from some newly discovered compound or combination of compounds, Endurox R4 and Accelerade are based on providing an optimum combination of macronutrients for fueling and refueling the body. Their effect is based on research by Burke and others into how best to deliver glycogen to working or recently worked muscles. You know the pitch so I won’t recount it here. This is far different than claims about things like andro, HMB, or even Endurox’s own pills. R4 and Accelerade don’t claim to have any of these “special” ingredients. Other than some electrolytes, you’ll find a simple mix of macronutrients.
I have found personally that my body tolerates these products well during long events. I have also found that I do better using Accelerade only than I do combining Gatorade with bars containing protein, when I hold the mix of nutrients and overall caloric intake the same.
I’ve extremely sceptical of these types of products, however, R4 appears to be making a fairly well established training principle easier to apply. You can find in many places the recommendation to take in protein and carbs after a hard workout. From my understanding, R4 is simply giving you a simple and convenient way to do this. If there were other claims or other substances in R4, then I wouldn’t take it.
I’ve tried Accelerade as a calorie replacement drink during exercise and I found it hard to stomach. Something about it made me cramp up very quickly. I gave the can to my brother in law who loves it. I now use GPush #2 and it works great.
I use both Acclerade and Endurox. I think that the Endurox really does help with recovery. I can definitely tell the difference when I don’t use it after a work out. I am sort of indifferent about Acclerade and think that I would probably be fine w/ Gatorade or some other similar product. However, Acclerade may be help out more at longer training distances than I typically do.
Endurox is good stuff, I use it at half strength as my race hydration drink (on the bike) and feel pretty strong when it comes time to run. I also take an extra bottle for post-race, and I think it’s partly responsible for me feeling pretty chipper the day after. It tastes pretty funky, but not nearly as bad as Accelerade. As I understand it, the formulae are identical, or almost identical, just a difference in concentration.
Doesn’t matter, Accelerade tastes like rhinoceros urine. I wouldn’t give it to my ex-wife’s cat.