MuscleTech Clear Muscle Post Workout Recovery and Strength Builder, Amino Acid & Muscle Recovery Supplement, 168 Count

I began taking Clear Muscle's HMB Free Acid on February 2, 2016. My purpose for using HMB Free Acid was to decrease muscle breakdown and improve recovery time for high-intensity half-marathon training. I am 42 years old and have been running competitively for 30 years. I regularly run 40-60 miles per week combining intense hill training, interval speed work, tempo runs, and weight training.My results have been pretty dramatic. Muscle soreness and recovery time have improved noticeably. One of the biggest challenges I've faced in the past decade continuing to train competitively is that, with aging, my recovery time from one workout to the next has increased, making it harder and harder to train with high intensity for more than one workout per week. Over the last few years, I've shifted more into a maintenance regimen to minimize injury.What HMB Free Acid appears to have done for me is return my body -- specifically by decreasing muscle breakdown and improving recovery time -- to a level I haven't seen since I was in my mid-to-late 20s.Most of the scholarly research on HMB has focused on resistance weight training or in the case of a handful of cardio-based research designs (e.g., rowing, cycling, and running) are dated and made use of calcium HMB. Presently no research studies on HMB Free Acid have focused on high-intensity anaerobic threshold training with middle-aged participants.I think this may actually be the area where HMB Free Acid supplementation has the greatest potential to improve health and fitness.Where it doesn't seem to work as well is in younger participants who follow a maintenance weight training regimen. If you're 15-30 years old and you basically lift weights within a comfortable training zone (i.e., general maintenance weight lifting), you're not going to see much benefit from HMB Free Acid. You'd be better off taking creatine or protein supplements.On the other hand, if you regularly exercise to such a high degree of intensity that you're pushing to the point of injury from over-reaching workouts, HMB Free Acid will help. It seems that a particularly vulnerable population in this regard are those of us 35 years and older.For me, I would say it has decreased muscle breakdown by ~30-40% of what I would experience without it and improved recovery time by 50-60%. I'm able to fit in 2-3 high intensity workouts now, whereas I was limited to only one per week (or even one per two weeks sometimes) prior to taking HMB Free Acid.I would love to see researchers conduct a study on advanced or elite middle-aged distance runners using HMB Free Acid. This particular population segment probably has the most to gain by using HMB Free Acid to improve recovery time and decrease muscle breakdown.

First off, Let me say something about the delivery. They got it to me pretty fast, like... 2 days. And that's with 2 other orders from two other vendors. I honestly RARELY EVERY get a shipment that takes longer then a week. Unless it's a plant or heavy. Maybe because I'm in the Midwest, idk.Now as far as the product goes, it's NOT a stand alone product. You have to still take your proper meals every 2-3 hours, take your BCAAs and proteins soon as you wake up, soon as you get done working out, and at least some before you go to bed. From what I researched before I started these. The active ingredient in Clear Muscle IS a BCAA. BUT! The body only uses it to protect the muscle from being broken down and or stops your immune system from using the broken down muscle for energy (if your not consuming food). Also, up your reps and or weights when your taking this. Workout longer and harder. If I'm working out longer then an hour, I'll take food with me. Like organic peanut butter and organic honey on protein bread, a couple of steamed pieces of chicken, and every 2 hours I'll take a partial serving of my whey protein mixed with my BCAA powder. If your aim is to get bigger, increase the protein amount in your (hopefully clean) meals.Workout hard but safely. I don't feel much soreness at all. Thats after going hard on my primary muscle group on the specific day I do it. I usual do reps AND go my heaviest on the machines. At least 200 reps. Starting at my maxs and doing sets of 10 till I can't do it anymore. Then I do my Rest Reps (at least 25 reps) with the lowest weight. Then pop back up to the max I'm able to do. And lower the weight 10 pds if I'm not able to do me max. Free weights I'm a little more careful.I'm not saying this will work with everyone. Cause your body may use it differently then what it's INTENDED for. But, before giving it a bad review, understand what the proper method of using it is for. And don't do a petty workout that won't normally make you feel sore. I'll always recommend you take a high quality organ support supplement when taking ANY SUPPLEMENT. PLZ!

It can make you feel a little off at first, but this only lasts 1-3 days in my experience. For me, it is semi-sharp pains in my stomach and sometimes my jaw feels weird. It only lasts for 45ish minutes and has never happened after the first few days. I've stopped taking this for months a couple of times (to keep my expenses down), so I've gotten to experience the start-up a couple times. Oddly, I don't recall having these symptoms the first time I tried it.I recommend starting with a serving of one capsule and working up from there. Two capsules, twice a day works well for me being on the lighter side of weight classes. The stuff really, really works once you get going. I especially like to take it if I'm dieting. It's great for keeping muscle on while dieting (any kind of caloric-restricted diet), but also works great when eating lots and lifting lots. The recovery aspect of it is like nothing I've ever experienced. I can lift very heavy sets, to exhaustion, twice a day, every day, and barely get sore. I certainly can't lift like this when I don't take it. This makes the muscle appear like crazy.