Spike Notes Day One: Initial Gym Experience After all, on some level we all want to know what happens in our own bodies and lives. I'm not a coach but rather an insatiably curious nutritionist, physiologist and lifter. This wouldn't be a scientific demonstration, but a simple tinkering with nature, a simple observe-and-record, informal case example. Importantly, I had no delusions of grandeur. I ordered up a case of Spike® Shooter for my little investigation. Simply put: I'd bathe the neuromuscular circuit involved in the stretch-shorten cycle with stimulant compounds and see what happens. So, being less interested in a boost of my one-rep max, which has met with mixed results by researchers before (3, 7), I wondered what would happen regarding purposeful manipulation of more explosive performance. Indeed, I use it as an educational lab activity: We provide some prior eccentric stretch and the bar flies up with vigor.įigure 1. What if the right dietary stimulant was used to augment the stretch reflex? I know for a fact this is a reproducible phenomenon.
There's been an idea brewing (pun intended) in the back of my mind since I undertook some coffee research last year. Ever the skeptic, I immediately pondered whether the effects I was hearing about were simply limited to cognition or whether there may be an actual motor nerve or muscular effect. I've used Spike in tablet form, so I got curious. Coffee doesn't perfectly equal pure caffeine, which does not quite equal energy drinks or pre-workout tablets. I bet many of you will agree that they do differ. We discussed the nuances of different stimulants, as far as the perceptual effects. When I heard one of them say "Spike", I butted in. Being a caffeine/stimulant researcher these past four years and getting pretty adept at detecting the cognitive and neuromuscular effects thereof, I leaned in to hear more. At a strength and conditioning workshop I overheard two of the speakers raving about an energy drink as a pre-workout supplement. Individuals vary considerably – including genetically – in their responses to dietary stimulants.
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