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Question:

“What are neurotransmitters and why are they important?  How can I optimize them to improve my training?”

Your neurotransmitters are the basis for so many things that people in the diet industry simply neglect – your neurological drive, your focus, your ability to maintain willpower.  Those are all neurotransmitter-based aspects that are super, super important.

People largely just have no idea about this kind of thing.

Most people may have never heard of glycerol or nootropics (pronounced new-trope-iks) so I’ll give you a quick breakdown:

Glycerol is a fatty acid derivative that when taken pre-workout, provided you get a good source… I’m going to get that little asterisk in there… it can actually drastically increase cellular hydration.  And as you can imagine, increasing cellular hydration during a workout can drastically increase pumps.  So I’ve personally noticed tremendous benefits from glycerol.

And when I say it needs to be a good source, poor sources, or poor quality glycerol can cause tremendous amounts of gut distress and negative things to happen in your stomach.  So we’ll leave that alone.

Nootropics are supplements that help increase neural transmitter drive, so, they can increase acetylcholine, dopamine etc., basically to improve your mental focus and mental drive for workouts or for studying, or for whatever it may be.  As opposed to getting a stimulatory effect to your nervous system, you’re getting more of a stimulatory effect to your neurotransmitters.  The benefit seems to be less excitatory and more focused, and I can give you 100 different examples of that.

And to be honest, I haven’t tried most of them, but I noticed some tremendous results from the few that I have tried.  I don’t however like to mess around with neurotransmitters so I use them very sparingly.  I know some people that use them excessively.  It’s almost like using Ritalin, right?  It’s a very, very similar type thing.  Ritalin, obviously, being the ADHD drug.  I don’t suggest using them for most people, unless in very sparing amounts.

Alpha GPC, which is alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine, is one that I use and I think it’s a fantastic product.  I’ve never noticed any detrimental effects.  I’ve never noticed any type of addictive properties.  I’ve never even noticed any up-regulation of my system, or down-regulation, depending.  I can take the same amount for a year straight a few times a week and I never have to take more.  That’s a good thing.  It makes me feel focused, but not energetic.  Obviously with my business and my life, I tend to have a pretty busy schedule and so my brain becomes cluttered and hectic.

Alpha GPC allows me to focus on the task at hand when I’m training, and I typically take it 30 to 45 minutes before I begin my workout.  I don’t take it in the morning and I don’t take it before bed.  I think it’s a pretty stimulating product so taking it before bed may prevent sleep as it lasts pretty long, around 4 to 6 hours.

It’s a good product in my opinion, I guess this is a little endorsement for it.