A choline sort that you can buy off the shelf in the better supplements stores boosts the growth-hormone peak after a weights workout. Sports scientists at the American Center for Applied Health Science Research discovered this when they gave 600 mg alpha-glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline to reasonably experienced strength athletes.
The structural formula of the substance the researchers tested is shown below [4]. Alpha-glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline resembles phosphatidyl choline [3], which together with inositol is an important component of lecithin [3]. [But you have to imagine no fatty acids included.] It's also a precursor of choline [1], and choline is a precursor of the neurotransmitter acetyl choline [4].
Acetylcholine helps the brains and nerve cells to communicate with each other. Acetylcholine ensures that the brain can embed memories and instruct muscles to move. Because of the first property the longevity movement has always been interested in substances that boost the synthesis of acetylcholine.
According to ChemiNutra [cheminutra.com], the manufacturer of the alpha-glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline preparation AlphaSize, alpha-glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline is a better acetylcholine precursor than choline or phosphatidylcholine.
Supplements containing acetylcholine precursor may be of benefit to strength athletes. There are indications that an increased concentration of acetylcholine in the brain boosts the production of growth hormone after training. [Horm Metab Res. 1992 Mar; 24(3): 119-21.] That's why ChemiNutra commissioned the study, the abstract of which was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
The researchers gave seven young men 600 mg alpha-glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline or a placebo one and a half hours before they did a training session. The workout consisted of 6 sets of squats with 70 percent of the 1RM, followed by three sets of bench-press-throws with 50 percent of their maximal weight.
The figure below shows that the single dose enhanced the concentration of growth hormone in the blood.
The researchers write that as a result of the supplement the “peak GH increased 44-fold”. This is so, but it's a little misleading. Growth hormone is released in pulses. Sometimes you have almost none in your blood, but if you train the concentration shoots up. Measuring the effect of supplements on growth hormone levels is very laborious.
