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anyone use ZMA?

used to, personally doesn't really do anything for me.

good minerals to have in ya though.

from what i have heard that one is a bust..it makes Bane's list of useless compounds

google " Bane's+Big+Useless+Compounds+List"

1st link is Shadars post on BB

From an older thread-

ZMA might provide a very slight test benefit if your diet and other supps do not provide enough Zinc, but for the vast majority that is not the case. It is not remotely comparable to Adaptogen N as a test booster in any way, shape or form. Worlds apart.

There is a reason we've never stocked ZMA, same as with so many other very marginal but hyped to the moon items that have come and gone over the years. If someone asks me for ZMA, I hand them a bottle of Multi-Life to smarten them up and away from the hype.

i take a zink matrix with magnesium. both are lacked in my diet.
magnesium deficiency is really common, I remember reading something like 65% of Americans are have a deficiency. helps me sleep too. when i tried a cheap brand of ZMA a while back it did nothing for me, but then again you cant really tell with things like that.

Good point, Tufluk.

Magnesium is such a key for us serious athletes that I probably should always ask people if they have it fully covered, because I tend to assume they do.

There is good reason spinach is a staple food for so many, and it's another reason Alkaplex is so popular.

ALKAPLEX is one of the absolute richest sources of organic magnesium, potassium and calcium you can find, and the price is right, too.

https://bodybuildingsupplements.com/health-fitness.html

Hank! wrote:from what i have heard that one is a bust..it makes Bane's list of useless compounds

google " Bane's+Big+Useless+Compounds+List"

1st link is Shadars post on BB

Hey Hank,

I just checked out that bulletin. He also has Kre-Alkalyn on there. The Blueprint is hugely based on that. Here's what he said:

"Kre-Alkalyn
How to make your own kre-alkalyn:Buy 100grams baking soda from your local grocery. Costs a few cents. Throw it in your regular mono. Voila. You just saved 10$. Nuff said. I'm not even going to adress the crappy claims that mono gets rapidly cyclyzed e.t.c."

I don't agree with him, that is just what he said. Do you have any comments about that John?

JML2011 wrote:anyone use ZMA?

I use it every night. Is it an absolute staple? No. However, given it's pricepoint to benefit ratio I feel it's worthy of consideration.

Ole' Vic Conte WAY overplayed what it does... but as a quality source of Zinc/Magnesium, it's pretty solid.

For example, check your local supermarket versions. You'll find large amounts of Zinc and Magnesium OXIDE. This form of the mineral is NOT well absorbed.

Just one more reason champs like Frankenstein (aka BigJaz) use Multi-Life. That stuff is no joke insofar as they (the company/people formulating such) did their homework. A BIG part of the reason MASS carries/distributes it. All minerals, etc. contained therein are chelated, asparates, picolinates etc. for a reason.

A very good one: They actually get absorbed/utilized by your body!!

dropthebeats wrote:

Hank! wrote:from what i have heard that one is a bust..it makes Bane's list of useless compounds

google " Bane's+Big+Useless+Compounds+List"

1st link is Shadars post on BB

Hey Hank,

I just checked out that bulletin. He also has Kre-Alkalyn on there. The Blueprint is hugely based on that. Here's what he said:

"Kre-Alkalyn
How to make your own kre-alkalyn:Buy 100grams baking soda from your local grocery. Costs a few cents. Throw it in your regular mono. Voila. You just saved 10$. Nuff said. I'm not even going to adress the crappy claims that mono gets rapidly cyclyzed e.t.c."

I don't agree with him, that is just what he said. Do you have any comments about that John?

There is a grain of truth to this, but it's a small one. I hope The Blueprint didn't come across as too biased. Apparently it did. I do support mono if that works for you.

I view Kre-Alkalyn simply as a much more efficient form of creatine with none of the downside. Given my most recent blood panels (a bit high on the creatinine readings as I was using di-creatine malate vs. kre-alkalyn when testing "The Formula").... I've switched back.

Just my $0.02. Use what works best for YOU and what YOU find to be a quality product...

Hope that helps...

BTW somehow I never actually posted something I wrote. 8-(

My understanding, from a person that SEEMED honest and claimed to know the person that STARTED ZMA was that that person had a LOT of problems, and found he had a definciency. I forget if it was zinc or magnesium. He asked a friend of his to try to create something that would help, since supplements didn't help him. After some tweaking, he came up with ZMA. IT WORKED! He felt great! It somehow caught on.

BTW he spoke of how calcium has a STRONG bond with other minerals, so taking a calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement is near worthless. The idea of the bond is RIGHT! His theory SEEMS sound, BUT....

That said, I used to have a BAD magnesium deficiency and had nearly every bad symptom. I picked up a body building magazine and a MIRACLE happened! MAN, that magazine was one of the BEST investments I EVER made!

I had a NASTY cycle when I used to exercise. If ONLY I knew this a few years earlier. 8-( Oh well, there was a Q and A section that the magazine just seemed to open to, I looked at the Q and A and WOW!!!!!!! A guy there had the SAME symptom and noticed the SAME pattern I had! AND, a BIGGER MIRACLE! THE ANSWER WAS CORRECT!

I pieced everything together, and will tell you more later here BUT the answer was I had a MAGNESIUM deficiency! So I took one of those "worthless" calcium/magnesium/zinc supplements and it WORKED LIKE A CHARM! EVERY symptom went away or improved!

You WANT to make sure you take around 1Gr calcium a day. If you take TOO much, you could get kidney stones, etc... but too little can lead to some symptoms. You want to take about 400mg of magnesium. If you take TOO much more, it can be a laxative. If you don't take enough? Well, I'll cover that later. Females don't often have to worry about zinc, but maybe 10mg would be a good target anyway. Too much COULD affect copper, but females are nowhere NEAR that danger. Im not even sure about THEIR need for copper.
Personally, I think males need about 25mg or more of zinc. That should still be WELL below interfering with the 2mg of copper you need. BTW the RDA of zinc is only 15mg.

OKAY, magesium is used for MANY things. Two are for building bone, and breaking protein into amino acids. At least that is true of glutamine. Ironically, amino acids have a similar kind of bond to the one between calcium and other minerals, etc... And you can't really use protein. Your body takes the amino acids to create its OWN protein. Magnesium is one link to the puzzle of actually being able to break that bond.

YIKES, GLUTAMINE! Do you realize how important THAT is? It drives the immune system, the brain, and the repair of tissue. If you are borderline on magnesium, and you exercise, you will be more susceptible sickness. Sound familiar? It can also cause headaches and even osteo arthritis.

BTW my feelings about zinc are based on some tests I took when I was VERY susceptible to differences. Frankly, I took 50mg, but many doctors apparently agree that that is TOO much, as over time it can build up and interfere with things like copper. And 15mg is certainly NOT enough.

SO, do you need a supplement? YES, almost 100% certainly. Do you need to take ZMA? Almost certainly NOT! BTW one of the best natural sources for calcium is milk. One of the best sources for magnesium, zinc, and I believe calcium(although not as much calcium as milk) is SPINACH! I guess popeye was right! But women probably shouldn't overdo spinach if they are pregnant. It probably won't be ENOUGH to hurt, but spinach has IRON, which ironically can hurt a fetus if she has TOO much.

Steve

All VERY good points Steve. Many thanks for your contributions here!!

Now, one line in particular hit me hard: "I picked up a body building magazine and a MIRACLE happened! MAN, that magazine was one of the BEST investments I EVER made!"

While it's true that they're largely a waste of money and full of absolutely ridiculous content (ever try to read one of these on a plane?), there are a few gems in there.

God, is it maddening and hella' expensive to weed through all of that B.S. though.

That's a big part of why I wrote The Blueprint, BTW...

That's not a Kre-Alkalyn home brew.

Not at all.

More akin to the effervescent styled creatine before.

We sold mountains of mono as Pure Power Creatine in the day, but Kre-Alkalyn totally eclipsed it in efficiency.

I was there during formulation trials and had significant input when it was little more than a theory.

It comes from one lab, it's Patented and that Patent Formula is protected like the Coke recipe, and you surely can't concoct it at home from mono and baking soda (which does have lots of athletic benefits, mind you).

I also use it 30 min before my pre-bed shake.

One of the main concerns when choosing a multi vitamin and mineral supplement is the quality of the raw ingredients, particularly the type of vitamins and minerals used. Many companies will use oxide based minerals, these are very cheap to buy, however they have very low bioavailability. A better option is to use a product that has chelated minerals. These are minerals that have been bonded to an amino acid to increase their stability, reduce molecular size which ultimately leads to better utilisation by the body.

I dont know if it raises test but I have a much better sleep and that counts from me!

skia123 wrote:I also use it 30 min before my pre-bed shake.

One of the main concerns when choosing a multi vitamin and mineral supplement is the quality of the raw ingredients, particularly the type of vitamins and minerals used. Many companies will use oxide based minerals, these are very cheap to buy, however they have very low bioavailability. A better option is to use a product that has chelated minerals. These are minerals that have been bonded to an amino acid to increase their stability, reduce molecular size which ultimately leads to better utilisation by the body.

I dont know if it raises test but I have a much better sleep and that counts from me!

A. Deeper sleep, yes. Any kind of meaningful test boost outside of a VERY bad Zinc/Magnesium deficiency? Err..... no.

Apologies to my boy Vic Conte. Good guy, too.

Sometimes, bad things happen to good people..