Gakic for Go and Grow Power

Gakic for Go and Grow Power
Is This New Supplement Instant Strength in a Can?
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson

Call us human guinea pigs or muscle-building lab rats. It all comes with the IRON MAN Training & Research Team territory, where we try to determine what works and what doesn’t. The word research in the ITRC name means we get bombarded with lots of supplements to test—some good, some not so good. We’re usually excited by the hype that comes with a new product, but we never allow it to hypnotize us. We always go into our “tests” with a healthy dose of skepticism to beat down the placebo effect. That sums up our state of mind when we received the latest power supplement from MuscleTech: GAKIC. Our doubt meters were set solidly on “reality check.”

The formula is a mix of L-arginine, alpha-ketoisocaproic acid calcium and L-glycine, and it’s billed as an “advanced muscle-fatigue-toxin reducer.” In other words, it’s supposed to help you extend your sets—an immediate 10.5 percent increase in strength—which should, in turn, stimulate more muscle growth.

Most IM readers know we’re big fans of extending a set to wring every last ounce of growth stimulation from the anaerobic effort we expend. Our favorite technique is X Reps, end-of-set partials that we kick in at exhaustion, when we can’t get any more full-range reps. They’ve done amazing things for us the past year, so we knew that if GAKIC worked, it would be tailor-made for our efficiency-geared training—bigger, faster gains in less time. We could ignite more firepower in any one set, but, as we said, we were skeptical.

We received two versions of the new product from MuscleTech, capsules and powder. We were dieting strictly at the time, so we chose the capsules because of the carb content of the powder—24 grams per serving. (Not that 24 grams is a lot, but it can make a difference in the final throes of an all-out fat-loss campaign. We’re going to use the powder over the winter.)

The capsules are convenient—no mixing—but you have to swallow eight of the light-gray grenades about 30 minutes before you train. We followed the protocol for the first time on a leg day, a perfect first challenge for the not-so-little power pills.

What happened? We felt nothing—at first. Our two progressively heavier warmup sets on Smith-machine squats felt the same as usual—progressively heavier with no sign of new explosive power in sight. Then we threw on a few more 45s for our work sets. Jonathan went first, looking normal through his first eight reps. Number nine, usually his last, was slower, and then—bam!—he suddenly cranked out five more reps without a lot of trouble. It was like his quads kicked into overdrive. His skepticism meter was immediately reset to “stunned.”

Steve checked the load on the bar. It was the exact weight we’d used at our previous leg workout, but he was still skeptical. He got under the bar, and it and his skepticism weighed heavy on his 46-year-old shoulders. “Ah-ha,” he thought, “Jonathan is just having a good day. I’ll be lucky to get my normal nine reps.”

Well, Steve barely got his nine—and then with a shock wave of power he blasted out four more reps that looked almost as easy as his first four. Was it really the GAKIC, or had the laws of gravity somehow shifted during our first sets of squats? We each got more reps on our second set as well, and, here’s the real kicker for us: We got more X Reps. That really excited us.

We do our X Reps at the end of our second set of Smith-machine squats, firing out partials from below parallel to just above the thighs-parallel-to-the-floor point. They are rough and usually require some partner assistance. On the GAKIC test run both of us whipped out five X Reps on our own. Of course, we needed help getting back to full lockout, at which point we racked the weight and our disbelief spewed forth with, “Holy crap!”

It could have been a fluke. Maybe we were both having a good day. Maybe the planets were aligned just right or the moon was pulling the tides in such away that our squats were easier. But lo and behold, the next day our strength on Smith-machine incline presses jumped, and then at our delt workout after that, our upright rows just kept going and going and going. Jonathan got 15 reps before he racked the weight—more from disbelief than fatigue. We have to say, without any doubt, that the GAKIC worked for us (our skepticism meters are now stuck on “extremely impressed!”).

The background on this supplement is fairly extensive. Its development stems from research studies performed at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center, and GAKIC is patented. We read about two double-blind studies that appeared in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which showed the remarkable, immediate 10.5 percent increase in strength. That’s due to the compound’s uncanny ability to sustain muscle force and delay fatigue so you can increase overload and thus trigger more growth on every set.

It's worked for us every time we've tried it. We've been blogging on it when we do use it at www.X-Rep.com (click on X-Blog). If you're looking for a strength kick that can translate into more muscle mass, Gakic is a giant step in that direction.