L-Carnitine L-Tartrate Supplementation Reduces Muscle Soreness
and Improves Biomarkers of Recovery
There are not many supplements that I can recommend to bodybuilders, but ones of the few is L-Carnitine L-Tartrate (LCLT). LCLC first appeared on the bodybuilding scene as a supplement that improves androgen receptor activity. You can pump your testosterone levels through the roof, but if you don’t have the receptor for it, it’s not going to do you a whole lot of good.
In a previous study, administration of 2 grams of LCLT increased the number of pre-workout androgen receptors, compared to results produced by a placebo group and also enhanced testosterone levels after resistance exercise.1 In addition to increasing androgen receptors, LCLT also has an effect on repairing muscle tissue, possibly due to enhanced muscle oxygenation. For example, researchers reported that LCLT reduced tissue damage, reduced muscle soreness, and enhanced recovery when muscle tissue was exposed to hypoxia.2
In that study, nine healthy, previously resistance-trained men ingested 2 grams per day of LCLT or an identical placebo for 23 days in a randomized, crossover design. On day 21, the researchers wrapped a tourniquet around the arm of the subjects to cut off blood supply and cause muscle damage. Interestingly, plasma malondealdehyde, a marker of cell membrane damage, was reduced during the LCLT trial.
The researchers concluded that LCLT-enhanced oxygen consumption, which explains why hypoxic stress was reduced with LCLT supplementation. It’s no surprise that if you take 2 grams of LCLT, you will get better muscle pumps. LCLT has been shown to increase blood flow by reducing biochemical markers that cause blood vessels to constrict.
For example, researchers administered subjects a high-fat meal and measured arm blood flow after three weeks of LCLT at 2 grams per day. After the high-fat meal, blood flow dilation decreased to 5.8 percent at 1.5 hours during placebo but increased to 7.7 percent during the LCLT trial. In conclusion, consistent with other work showing a beneficial effect of carnitine on vascular function, these findings indicate that carnitine supplementation in healthy individuals improves postprandial FMD after a high-fat meal.3
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New Study Supports the use of L-Carnitine L-Tartrate for Increasing Muscle Recovery
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Researchers from the University of Connecticut performed a new study which gives bodybuilders one more reason to use LCLT. Researchers had subjects perform a double-blind, placebo, balanced crossover design for three weeks and three days of supplementation, followed by a one-week washout period before the other counterbalanced treatment was initiated. After three weeks of LCLT supplementation with 2 grams of LCLT, each participant performed an acute resistance exercise challenge of 4 sets of 15 reps of squat/leg presses at 50 percent 1-rep maximum, and continued supplementation over the recovery period that was evaluated.
During the supplement trials, subjects were provided with capsules of carnipure tartrate in which they consumed two capsules with breakfast and two with lunch, for a total dose of 2 grams of L-carnitine per day. The researchers were specifically interested in looking at how LCLT affected biochemical markers of muscle damage. LCLT was found to reduce serum hypoxanthine (a marker for free radical damage) and serum levels of xanthine (another marker of free radical damage).
Additionally, MDA was reduced, as well in the LCLT supplementation group. MDA or Malondialdehyde, a by-product produced when free radicals oxidize fat, is recognized as a standard measurement for determining the degree of free radical oxidation which is occurring in the body’s cells.
The researchers concluded that LCLT supplementation at the biochemical levels can reduce free radical damage, resulting in less metabolic stress, less muscle damage, and less muscle soreness and enhanced muscle recuperation.4
If you’re not taking LCLT, then now may be the time to start taking it, as it may enhance muscle recuperation from training.
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References:
1. Kraemer WJ, Spiering BA, Volek JS, Ratamess NA, Sharman MJ, Rubin MR, French DN, Silvestre R, Hatfield DL, Van Heest JL, Vingren JL, Judelson DA, Deschenes MR, Maresh CM. Androgenic responses to resistance exercise: effects of feeding and L-carnitine. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2006 Jul;38(7):1288-96.
2. Spiering BA, Kraemer WJ, Hatfield DL, Vingren JL, Fragala MS, Ho JY, Thomas GA, Häkkinen K, Volek JS. Effects of L-carnitine L-tartrate supplementation on muscle oxygenation responses to resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res, 2008 Jul;22(4):1130-5.
3. Volek JS, Judelson DA, Silvestre R, Yamamoto LM, Spiering BA, Hatfield DL, Vingren JL, Quann EE, Anderson JM, Maresh CM, Kraemer WJ. Effects of carnitine supplementation on flow-mediated dilation and vascular inflammatory responses to a high-fat meal in healthy young adults. Am J Cardiol, 2008 Nov 15;102(10):1413-7.
