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The perfect workout — the ultra-productive workout that most efficiently generates new muscle mass — is all about volume and duration. Volume is obvious; the more weight you can lift, the more power you can generate, the stronger you are, the bigger you can get.

Duration doesn’t refer to the length of your workout — a session that goes on much beyond 45 minutes to an hour actually becomes counterproductive — but rather to the length of each set. The key is to maintain proper form on each rep, while postponing fatigue and putting off that last rep as long as possible until you finally have nothing left to give.

That last brutal rep — the rep to absolute failure — is especially important because it facilitates the release of lipase, a pancreatic enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of fats for energy. Those last difficult reps also promote the release of testosterone and growth hormone which will aid in increasing lean body mass, fat burning and recovery.

Finally, that last rep is stressing and damaging muscle fibers that your body will have to rebuild bigger and stronger to meet the extreme physical challenges that lay ahead. Unfortunately, most training individuals don't attain any of these benefits because they're lifting too little and giving up too soon.

Modern sports nutrition science, however, offers a dramatic edge to serious athletes looking to increase workout productivity, specifically in the combination of supplemental creatine monohydrate and beta alanine.

A Perfect Synergy for Dramatic Muscle Growth Increase

If power and duration are the keys to an ultra-productive training session, then creatine monohydrate and beta alanine are paired perfectly to help you get to your goal.

Creatine monohydrate, of course, is second only to whey protein in its importance to athletes seeking to increase strength and muscle mass. It supports muscle cell volumization by literally pulling water into the muscle cell, making muscles bigger and fuller. Bigger and fuller muscles can generate more force potential. Proper cellular hydration also facilitates the Kreb's cycle, the process whereby muscle cells convert nutrients like carbohydrates and fat into ATP, which in turn facilitates the contractions that make exercise possible.

Creatine, especially in its monohydrate form, has been associated with positive effects on strength and power increase, training capacity, muscle mass, and overall cell hydration and volumization in literally hundreds of clinical studies conducted all around the world. Creatine has functioned as the wellspring of muscle strength and power increase for generations of successful athletes.

This brings us to duration. If creatine has you covered for short, intense bursts of power, then beta alanine has you covered for stamina. A naturally occurring beta amino acid, beta alanine plays a rate-limiting role in carnosine production by interacting with histidine. High muscle carnosine levels improve muscle performance through their ability to buffer skeletal muscle pH (acidity) during high intensity, fatiguing exercise. By counteracting the negative effects of lactic acid formation, beta alanine allows your muscles to delay the onset of fatigue, increasing endurance and forestalling muscle failure.

Creatine monohydrate and beta alanine appear to be the perfect one-two punch for peak performance and growth, and clinical science backs this up. In one ten-week study, published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, collegiate football players experienced significant increases in strength after supplementing with a combination of beta alanine and creatine, as compared to placebo-controlled test subjects. In the same study, the subjects who took beta alanine along with creatine also lost body fat and gained muscle, without altering their diet or training program. [Hoffman 1]

Supplement with High-Potency, Super-Premium Forms of Both Creatine and Beta Alanine

Clearly, creatine monohydrate and beta alanine, working together in perfect tandem, have significant benefits to offer hard-training athletes. Adding them to your regimen can be as simple supplementing with each individually.

Indeed, ProSource offers both products in highly potent, super-premium formats. ProSource Creatine Monohydrate is 100% Creapure® sourced from Alzchem of Germany, the world leader in superior creatine manufacturing. This ultra-pure, micro-crystallized creatine monohydrate is unsurpassed in providing the muscle volume and strength-increase results you're seeking. Likewise, ProSource Beta Alanine is 100% sourced with CarnoSyn® brand carnitine, well-established as the gold standard in the industry, and reliably pure and potent to ensure maximum efficacy.

Or you can take both creatine monohydrate and beta alanine in precise ratio (with added co-factors) via an advanced, super-premium pre-workout like BioQuest's Fusion Force®. The creatine in Fusion Force® is the same 100% Creapure® found in ProSource's stand-alone brand, and Fusion Force's beta alanine is 100% CarnoSyn® sourced. The ultimate multi-pathway pre-workout performance optimizer, Fusion Force® supports every aspect of performance and muscle growth, while delivering its key ingredients in optimal potencies.

One of Fusion Force's key active ingredients, betaine, has been associated with cell-volumizing and power-enhancing qualities much like those of creatine monohydrate. Betaine anhydrous, also known as trimethylglycine, is an amino acid derivative of choline that helps support cell hydration and volume during the dehydration, stress, and metabolite accumulation associated with high-intensity exercise.

Fusion Force also provides a powerful matrix of precision-targeted essential aminos, dynamic energy-boosting compounds, muscle pump potentiators, and fat mobilization co-factors. The result is a true all-in-one performance optimizer that functions as an ideal solution for athletes seeking a vitalizing surge of strength, stamina, energy and training intensity that will help you attain peak physique enhancement.

Scientific References
1 Jay Hoffman, Nicholas Ratamess, Jie Kang, Gerald Mangine, Avery Faigenbaum, Jeffrey Stout. Effect of creatine and beta-alanine supplementation on performance and endocrine responses in strength/power athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Aug;16(4):430-46.


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The articles featured herein are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Specific medical advice should only be obtained from a licensed health care professional. No liability is assumed by ProSource for any information herein.