Scivation Xtend Review
Scivation Xtend Review |
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What is Scivation Xtend
It’s a Branch Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) supplement that’s designed to enhance recovery, reduce fatigue and decrease the likelihood of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). One of the claims is that it will help ‘burn fat’ – that is, in itself pretty misleading (but what’s new there).
Like most things that require you to spend significant portions of your pay-check on, it often falls under the ‘heavily scrutinised’ category. And with good reason – those are some significantly bold claims on the label, matched up with sh*tload of ‘asterisks’ on each one. Do I hear a collective ‘sigh’?
Why you’d use it
Other than being used as suggested on the label, Xtend can be used for an entirely different purpose – that is namely, to prevent muscle catabolism during periods of caloric restriction and or fasting.
This may make sense for those of us that train in a fasted state (without eating before, during or after the training window) where the likelihood of the body using muscle proteins as fuel becomes a concern (albeit a ‘small’ one).
For that reason, it might be worth a try for those that train in the mornings (early) whom don’t have their first meal until around lunch time.
The caveat
BCAA’s do in fact raise insulin levels which activate the mTOR pathway thus negating the health benefits of autophagy during a fast or whilst training fasted. For this reason, I wouldn’t recommend consuming Scivation Xtend or any other BCAA for that matter before or during your ‘fasted workouts’ and only ingest a serving 1 hour post-workout at a maximum (if in fact the ‘full’ benefits of fasted-training are to be maintained).
Would I use it again?
At the time of writing, I have around 10grams of Xtend around 1hour post training, then another similar serving 2 hours later. The reason for this is to increase anabolism which is great in terms of ‘muscle gain’.
I will probably ditch BCAA’s altogether either when a) muscle gain is no longer a priority or b) I stop fasted training.
In conclusion
Scivation Xtend is a great supplement when used sparingly and in times of absolute need as described above. If DOMS or fatigue are an issue for you ongoing, then perhaps give them a try. Otherwise, you can probably save your hard-earned money for something like whole foods or even whey protein.
| CRUDE RATING | 7/10 | Interested in purchasing? $54.99 USD |
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