L-Arginine

Drew Cavner

L-Arginie is an amino acid that is quite frequently overlooked.  Most people assume that aminos are aminos, but this is not the case.  Each amino acid has it's own responsibility, and supplementing some more than others can help increase performance in and outside of the gym.  L-Argine is probably mostly known for giving you that "pump" in the gym.  The reason for this is because L-Arginie is a vasodialator.  Vasodialtion basically means it expands all of the blood vessels in your body, so you are able to deliver and absorb more; blood, oxygen, and nutrients to your muscle cell.  This is obviously extremely important during the gym because it will prevent you from fatiguing as fast, and it will also help speed up the recovery process.  L-Arginie not only vasodialtes blood vessels but it also increases growth hormone levels.  It also has the ability to decrease blood pressure.  Taking anywhere from 3-5 grams of L-Arginine before going to bed will help with recovery due to the large growth hormone increase during sleep.  It is very important to note that L-Arginine has a very short half life.  It last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.  With that being said, try not to spend a whole lot of money on just an L-Arginie if it is not in a hard pressed tablet.  Somehow L-Arginine in a hard pressed tablet has a longer time release ability.  My two personal favorit Arginie supplements are ; BSN - Nitrix, and NO-D2T by Biogenetix.