Creatine, HMB Effective for Building Lean Muscle Mass, Strength

AMES, Iowa

Two sports supplements show promise in augmenting lean mass and building strength when combined with resistance training. In the August edition of The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports (13, 4:272, 2003) (www.ingenta.com), researchers at Iowa State University reviewed studies published between 1967 and 2001 that were at least three weeks long and had volunteers who had resistance trained two or more times a week. Of 250 supplements examined, only creatine and beta-hydroxy-betamethylbutyrate (HMB) were found to increase net lean mass gains (by .36 percent per week and .28 percent per week, respectively) and strength gains (1.09 percent per week and 1.40 percent per week, respectively).