Muscletech Aplodan Review
Aplodan Reviews - Dormant Muscle Fibre Activator?
Muscletech's Aplodan claims to be a "dormant muscle fibre activator" that helps trigger dormant muscle fiber in 7 days, trigger untapped human growth potential, and increase muscle fibre activation by 83%! If you believe it...
According to Marketingtech (er... Muscletech), Aplodan works in a four stage muscle activation process (from the advertising booklet that comes in the Aplodan box):
- Aplodan surrounds skeletal muscle tissue, including dormant muscle fibres
- Aplodan is transported across the skeletal muscle membrane into the muscle fibres
- Aplodan fights muscle dormancy by targeting specific muscle energy pathways to facilitate muscle fibre activation
- Once fibres are activated, it allows for dramatic growth and strength gains in previously dormant muscle
Doesn't that sound great! Take a few little pills, and you can increase muscle fibre activation by 83%. Does it really work, and how does Aplodan work? Read on to find out.
What is Muscletech Aplodan?
Aplodan is a rather simple bodybuilding supplement containing two key ingredients: 1) creatinol-o-phosphate, and 2) alpha lipoic acid. Alpha Lipoic Acid is an antioxidant,
and is widely used in prevention of various diseases.
Its main function is to increase production of glutathione,
which helps dissolve toxic substances in the liver. Alpha lipoic acid can be found in
foods such as meats, and veggies (ie. spinach). Alpha
lipoic acid is also easily absorbed into the blood
stream, and it can also cross the blood brain barrier.
There is quite a bit of misconception that Creatinol o-phosphate (COP) is just another form of creatine that is being marketed. However, creatinol o phosphate is actually NOT creatine, despite what many think. Having the prefix "creatin-" in the name gets many people to automatically associate it with being another creatine supplement. COP is not another form of creatine. In fact, COP is very different from creatine. The only reason COP was named similarly to Creatine is because of their structural similarities.
The basic idea behind how creatinol o phosphate works is that it allows you to workout longer beyond the usual point of failure during your exercises. It does this by increasing anaerobic glycolysis - conversion of glucose to lactate in the absence of oxygen. With COP, you can surpass your normal point of failure, and recruit more muscle cells during eccentric motion even in the presence of lactate.
Muscletech claims there are over 30 independent scientific studies done on COP. They cite one study where Aplodan supplementation allowed the subjects to achieve 83% greater muscle tension thresholds. None of these studies shows up on Pubmed, because apparently much of the clinical studies done on creatinol o phosphate are in German and Italian. In the Aplodan patent, several studies were cited for improving muscle development and increasing the capacity to perform physical activity. [1] Below is the abstract of the Aplodan patent:
The present invention relates to a method of increasing the intracellular concentration of phosphate by employing 2-(carbamimidoyl-methyl-amino)ethoxyphosphonic acid as vehicle and method to transport Phosphate into the cell. The increase in intracellular phosphate increases the availability of Adenosine Triphosphate and phosphocreatine, thereby leading to an increase in the anaerobic energy supply resulting in longer endurance and more forceful muscular contractions.
Does Aplodan Work?
In short, Aplodan works - at least it worked for me. There's plenty of skepticism surrounding Aplodan, especially with many people having the false idea that COP is just another form of creatine. While I can't say that it will work for everyone, but there is plenty of evidence that it works. I followed the recommended use guide on the box taking 2 tabs 3 times daily for the first week, and 1 tab 3 times daily for the remainder of the cycle.
The tablets were rather large, and they were sugar coated. I would prefer just a plain, tasteless pill to chug down. Anyway, what matters here is how Muscletech's Aplodan worked out for me. Within the first week of Aplodan loading, I could clearly tell that I had more endurance during my workouts and seemed to quite easily perform even the last few reps.
What's noteworthy and makes me confident that Aplodan worked well for me is that two weeks prior to my cycle, my wife just gave birth to our second baby (a boy). I took two weeks off training to deal with all the new chores and baby related stuff - I was essentially taking care of our two year old daughter full time, while my wife took care of the new born. From birth to even several months afterwards, it was rather stressful and tiring - juggling between work, family, and working out. I was constantly tired, sleepy, and somewhat fatigued.
I mention this because I was surprised at how capable (considering the circumstances) I was at my weight training. Although I felt tired and sleep deprived much of the time, my workout performance didn't seem to be affected much at all - in fact, I seemed to be able to lift a bit heavier and do more reps.
At the same time, I was noticeably more sore than normal after each workout. With a build up of lactic acid, muscle contraction becomes more difficult, but creatinol o phosphate allows your muscles to work beyond the lactate threshold, which would explain why some users find that they are more sore than normal.
Please share your review of Muscletech Aplodan here if you've used it.
Muscletech Aplodan Side Effects
As far as Aplodan side effects go, I'm not aware of any. I supposed you could include excessive soreness as a possible side effect. The soreness I experienced was not quite the normal soreness you'd experience after a tough workout, but it was soreness almost to the point of pain. On the other hand, studies have found no apparent COP side effects where creatinol o phosphate appeared to be very well tolerated. [2]
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1. Aplodan patent - US patent Office
2. Arzneimittelforschung. 1979;29(9a):1447-9.
Acute clinical tolerance of creatinol O-phosphate.
Melloni GF, Minoja GM, Lureti GF, Merlo L, Pamparana F, Brusoni B.
Sept 2009
