HMB has been widely publicized and has been one of the more popular supplements for over a decade. HMB is a metabolite of the branch chained amino acid leucine. With claims like increased strength, muscle size, recovery and fat oxidation, it sounds too good to be true. In fact, a publisher of a very successful magazine referred to using HMB akin to using the anabolic steroid deca durabolin. Unfortunately, the claims made about HMB don’t seem to hold up in the research.

A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, performed a met-analysis of 9 studies. The analysis was comprised of 394 subjects between the ages of 21 and 25. Some of the subjects had training experience and some didn’t.

The major findings of this meta-analysis are that HMB supplementation results in a small, beneficial increase to overall strength in untrained lifters but has a negligible effect on trained lifters. Furthermore, in untrained lifters, HMB results in a small to possibly moderate increase in lower-body strength, but it has only a negligible effect on upper-body strength. In contrast, all strength outcomes are insignificant in trained lifters. In both trained and untrained lifters, the effect of HMB supplementation on body composition is negligible.

In my view HMB is a waste of money. The only gains made were small strength gains in untrained individuals? Why would any researchers analyzing a supplement, looking for strength or lean body mass gains, use untrained individuals? They are going to make gains, especially in the first few months, just by working out. I’m amazed at how so many studies are poorly performed and yet, are still published.

M5 Extreme,just another expensive product that can’t deliver what it promises.

There are so many ingredients in this product; some of them are worthless and some are not. Most of the evidence concerning the efficacy of the ingredients in M5 Extreme is anecdotal, which is completely unreliable. A few ingredients have been studied using the double blind method, which is very reliable, but there are too few subjects and they were not young healthy adolescence or athletes. I have a huge problem with this, because these companies extrapolate data and draw conclusions about something unknown.

Some of the main ingredients:
The names of the proprietary blends are hilarious.

Vasodynamic Force – These ingredients are worthless. Are they harmful? No. They’ve been around since the eighties, and shortly died out because they didn’t work. Now they’re being marketed for completely different purpose. Any company with any type of integrity would not use such products.
For more info: Peddling nitric oxide products with voodoo science

Catechotropic Surge – Although products like Bacopa Monnieri Extract has been shown to improve cognition, (Calabrese , Gregory, Leo, Kreamer, & Oken), how do we know it’s pure, the right dose, or if will work for young healthy athletes.

Myosmotic Infusion – Many companies market magnesium creatine chelate (MCC) as being the best creatine product out there for gaining size, strength, speed, etc. because of its absorption ability. But when it comes down to it, good old reliable creatine monohydrate (CM), one of the most studied supplements on the planet, is still king. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found plain CM and MCC were similar in performance tests, suggesting that the proposed mechanism of entry (absorption) of MCC is no better than CM when 2.5 g of CM is administered and performance is measured as work. Another ingredient in this infusion, Betaine HCL, is a naturally occurring substance can be recommended by doctors as a supplemental source of hydrochloric acid, especially for those that may suffer from hypochlorhydria, a deficiency of stomach acid production. Betain HCL should always be taken at the start of a meal containing protein! If taken without food, stomach burning may result. I don’t see this anywhere on the product label. If you don’t have a low acid output in your stomach, why take this product?