Perform Beyond Your Limits Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Eating Perform Beyond Your Limits Say Goodbye to Fatigue and Soreness by TC Luoma February 10, 2020February 3, 2022 Tags Nutrition & Supplements, Workout Nutrition Be Unbreakable The limiting factor in anyone's training is, of course, recovery. You simply can't push the body past where it begins to break down without consequences. It's like those old Westerns where the outlaw would ride a horse until it was spent. In the horse's case, they'd end up shooting it, but in your case, working out until you're "spent" would just leave you too beat up to train the next day or two. You could get all brave and go to the gym anyway, but you'd likely have a crappy workout or injure yourself. You sure as hell wouldn't make any progress. Enter the workout formula, Plazma. It stuffs your muscles with exotic functional carbohydrates, highly structuralized di- and tri- peptides, and research-proven ergogenic aids so that you become, well, unbreakable. Quickly you find you can train hard six days a week. Extended sets, cluster sets, drop sets, and forced reps don't faze you. You no longer get sore and you come back stronger each day. Here's what pro bodybuilder John Meadows experienced while experimenting with it: "After taking Plazma I didn't get sore anymore. I tried. I mean I really tried. It was so unusual that I'm thinking maybe I just didn't train hard enough. So Dave Tate and I went through a three-hour leg workout where every single exercise was probably 7 or 8 sets. "We worked hard and then we just did an insane drop set at the end of each exercise. It's one thing to go to failure, but we'd go way beyond that. We'd take it to failure and then do partials. Then we'd do even smaller partials. And then we'd do something where we could maybe move the weight an inch. "Testing Plazma, we did things that I'd never advise anybody to do, and honestly, I wasn't sore and I had this mind-blowing pump. After the workout, I went home and got out of my truck real gingerly like, just waiting for the cramps to hit hard and for me to fall over... but nothing. No pain. So I mowed the lawn and then went out to a movie." Sounds pretty good, right? So what exactly is in this stuff? Why Plazma Works So Well If you look at Plazma's ingredient list, the first thing you see is "nutrient partitioning functional carbohydrates." Maybe you think, "Oh, carbs. Big deal." But if you do, you'd be giving these particular carbohydrates short shrift. First things first, contrary to what the keto cult believes, carbs are your muscle's preferred form of fuel. Without them, particularly before, during, and after training, your muscles won't grow. The trouble is, most solutions that contain ordinary carbs like maltodextrin have a high osmolality. That means it leaves the stomach slowly. Contrast that with low osmolality carbohydrate solutions that travel rapidly through the stomach to the small intestine where they're quickly broken down into glucose. The latter is exactly what you want for training, and nothing fits the bill better than highly branched cyclic dextrin, which is a main component of Plazma. In addition to being absorbed and put to work quickly, its unique molecular shape allows it to bind to amino acids, making it the perfect delivery system for the di- and tri-peptide proteins that are part of the Plazma formulation. But highly-branched cyclic dextrins aren't the only "magical" carbs in the Plazma formulation – it also contains something called isomaltulose (Palatinose), which is derived from beet juice. It's another great functional carbohydrate that causes the body to oxidize fat at a greater rate, thus improving endurance and athletic performance. Studies on both it and highly-branched cyclic dextrin have shown it to result in quicker times (for endurance athletes), lower perceived exertion, and reductions in stress response. Okay What Else You Got Plazma isn't just a combination of super sophisticated carbohydrates designed to give you the pump of your life. It also contains the aforementioned di- and tri- peptides hydrolyzed from casein. This is important because the digestive system doesn't need to break down peptides that are smaller than four linked amino acids. That means these small peptides are thus able to slip in, all sneaky like, without bothering with all that dreary digestion stuff. They slip right through the intestinal wall where, in the case of Plazma, they're also aided by those highly branched cyclic dextrins, which, because of their cage-like shape, bind to or "entrap" some of these di- and tri-peptides. They're then ferried to muscle cells where they quickly initiate muscle protein synthesis. That, in essence, is what gives you the skin-splitting pump that Biotest calls "the reactive pump." In literal terms, the muscle has been "force-fed" a huge bolus of protein and carbohydrates, allowing it to perform better and recover much, much faster. As far as improving workout endurance, those functional carbs go a long way in allowing you to work out harder and longer, but Plazma takes it a couple of steps further by including two well-known and well-studied ergogenic supplements: Betaine Anhydrous – Research shows that supplementing with this natural compound not only increases endurance and workout volume, but also increases muscle mass and improves body comp. L-Citrulline – Multiple studies have shown that supplementing with this amino acid increases endurance and reduces soreness. One study, in particular, showed that it reduced soreness by an impressive 40% over placebo, which is a big deal. Lastly, Plazma contains a robust blend of electrolytes, which are an absolute necessity when you're working out Plazma-hard, especially in hot weather where you sweat like a farm animal. These electrolytes (potassium, sodium, magnesium) are critical in allowing the cells to generate energy (e.g., contract muscles, move water and fluids to different parts of the body, etc.). How to Use Plazma If there's a drawback to Plazma, it's that it's not just a matter of throwing a sloppy tablespoon of powder into your coffee mug; it involves a tiny bit of preparation. Casual athletes or only semi-committed lifters won't want to bother with it because they'd rather spend their time picking out a color-coordinated workout outfit. However, for those who are serious about actually making progress, they'll find the three minutes it takes to prepare Plazma absolutely worth it. Prior to heading to the gym, prepare a serving of Plazma. Start sipping it down about 15 minutes before you get there. Ideally, mix another full serving of Plazma at the same time, take it to the gym with you, and sip on it throughout your workout. Here's how you mix it up: Pour 1,000 ml of cold water into a 2,000 ml bottle. Pour 3 scoops of the Plazma formula into the cold water, secure the cap on the bottle, and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds, or until thoroughly mixed. If done correctly, the shaking will foam the contents of the bottle. While the mixture is still foamed, pour in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of Biotest Intensified Liquid Flavoring (which comes with Plazma) and gently swirl the contents until thoroughly mixed. Allow the flavored mixture to clear the foam and form a semi-transparent liquid. The foam should clear within 60 seconds. Add enough cold water to increase the fill volume to 1,800 ml and gently swirl the contents to mix thoroughly. Personally, I've got a smaller-than-average stomach, so I've sometimes made do with making just one Plazma drink. I start sipping it 15 minutes before I start working out and I finish it off during my workout. Granted, I'm not going to get the full benefits of two servings, but one serving is enough to allow me to work out six days a week while still indulging my obsession for extended sets and drop sets. References König D et al. Substrate Utilization and Cycling Performance Following Palatinose Ingestion: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2016 Jul;8(7):390. Cholewa JM et al. Effects of betaine on body composition, performance, and homocysteine thiolactone. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013; 10: 39. Perez-Guisado J et al. Citrulline Malate Enhances Athletic Anaerobic Performance and Relieves Muscle Soreness. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 May;24(5):1215-22. Furuyashiki T et al. Effects of ingesting highly branched cyclic dextrin during endurance exercise on rating of perceived exertion and blood components associated with energy metabolism. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2014;78(12):2117-9. Takii H et al. Fluids containing a highly branched cyclic dextrin influence the gastric emptying rate. Int J Sports Med. 2005 May;26(4):314-9. Thompson RL et al. Protein Hydrosylates and Tissue Repair. Nutr Res Rev. 2011 Dec;24(2):191-7. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Diet & Fat Loss Samurai Tweaks to Eating Plans The Samurai warrior offers common-sense tweaks to many popular eating strategies. Check ‘em out. Diet Strategy, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Nate Miyaki June 24 Eating The Two Faces of Cortisol Think you know all about the "evil" hormone cortisol? 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