"All my athletes took it. It is bigger than creatine."
-Victor Conte
Victor Conte is of course referring to Viagra. Like Viagra, Cialis also is used to treat erectile dysfunction. What’s the difference between the two? Although Viagra and Cialis both work by inhibiting an enzyme called phosphodiesterases, which increases vasodilatation, there are pharmacologic distinctions between Viagra and Cialis, being that Cialis has a longer half-life (17.50 hours) compared to Viagra (4.0–5.0 hours) and Levitra (4.0–5.0 hours), resulting in longer duration of action14 which is partly responsible for Cialis being dubbed "The Weekend Pill." Cialis’ molecular structure differs significantly from Viagra; one of the benefits of Cialis is there are no visual side effects like Viagra and an absence of effect of food on absorption. Nitric oxide is a hot topic of debate in bodybuilding, as NO-producing supplements are always one of the top-selling products. Being in touch with many bodybuilders and powerlifters, many swear that by taking Cialis, they get better pumps in the gym and can recuperate from exercise faster.
Many suspect its enhanced nutrient delivery or some other mechanism. Cialis demonstrates similar vasodilator (blood pressure-lowering) effects in healthy subjects when compared with Viagra in studies of 10mg or 20mg doses (mean systolic blood pressure reduction, of ~4.3mg).12 Many of the experts in sports will attest that nitric oxide only increases performance in environments with low oxygen availability, such as high-altitude training or areas with high air pollution. Brazilian Eduardo de Rose, president of the medical commission of the Pan-American Sports Organization, stated in a recent interview: "Scientifically, the only proof that Viagra improves sports performance happened at high altitude. That is why it was decided not to include it in the banned substance list. You will hardly get to play a football match on Mount Everest." If there are no performace-enhacing effects, then why were Olympic athltetes using it? There have only been a handful of studies on the performance-enhancing effects of Cialis and sports performance, and none yielded beneficial effects:
Ø In one study, 14 healthy young males were given a 20mg dose of Cialis or a placebo and performed a maximal exercise test on a treadmill. The study found that a single dose of Cialis had no effect on exercise performance, exercise tolerance or cardiopulmonary responses.5
Ø The second study involved three “all-out” sprints to determine if Cialis could increase anaerobic threshold. The study found no significant differences in peak power, average power or fatigue index compared to a placebo. One positive finding noted was that Cialis decreased the time to reach peak power. The author concluded, “Cialis did not have an effect on peak power, but time to peak power output was reduced. Only to sports that need to reach maximum power output in a few seconds could Cialis administration be beneficial.”13
Bodybuilders are known for bringing cutting-edge pharmacology to the forefront of science. If NO (nitric oxide) products really don’t work, then why do so many people use them? Given that the second study reported that the author claimed that Cialis may increase peak force, the powerlifters who swear by Cialis increasing performance may be onto something that research has not discovered yet.
Nitric Oxide Supplements Increase Satellite Cells
You may have read in the Nutrition Performance section that aging results in a blunted anabolic gene response to exercise. It has been previously reported that aging results in a blunted satellite cell response to exercise. A decrease in NO production with aging may be a contributing role of the decrease in muscle mass with aging. Previous research has shown that blunting production of NO decreases muscle hypertrophy during muscle overload.9, 10 Others have reported that NO is a primary signal for satellite cell activation.11 NO is an important regulator of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which is a cytokine with various cellular functions on muscle.2 Specific to skeletal muscle hypertrophy, HGF activates satellite cells and may be responsible for causing satellite cells to migrate to the injured area.1 A previous research study that stretched muscle-induced hypertrophy via release of HGF found that the release of HGF was dependent on NO concentrations.3 Interestingly, researchers measured HGF levels in serum after an intense bout of eccentric exercise. They found that liver-derived HGF rose 19 percent approximately 4 hours after exercise, which resulted in an activation of satellite cells! It is possible that the observed rise in serum HGF showed that HGF may be carried to the site of injury by immune cells rushing to the site of injury, which are increased in number during the inflammatory response to muscle damage… or that muscle itself produces HGF, so they were not sure which one it really was.
NO Increases Satellite Cells!
Researchers from the Center for Exercise Science in Gainesville, Florida reported that increasing nitric oxide increased satellite cell activity! They took old and young mice and induced muscle damage in both groups. They found that the older mice had an impaired satellite cell response. More importantly, they found that L-arginine and nitric oxide precursors effectively increased satellite cell activation and that nitric oxide precursors “rescued” satellite cell activation in older mice.4 This study suggests that taking a NO precursor supplement may increase satellite cell and lead to greater muscle growth! Another interesting study reported in the Journal of Muscle and Nerve was that NO was able to reverse the damaging effects of cortisol-induced satellite cell depletion. They found that NO had a dose-dependent effect on increasing satellite cell levels.20
-Victor Conte
Victor Conte is of course referring to Viagra. Like Viagra, Cialis also is used to treat erectile dysfunction. What’s the difference between the two? Although Viagra and Cialis both work by inhibiting an enzyme called phosphodiesterases, which increases vasodilatation, there are pharmacologic distinctions between Viagra and Cialis, being that Cialis has a longer half-life (17.50 hours) compared to Viagra (4.0–5.0 hours) and Levitra (4.0–5.0 hours), resulting in longer duration of action14 which is partly responsible for Cialis being dubbed "The Weekend Pill." Cialis’ molecular structure differs significantly from Viagra; one of the benefits of Cialis is there are no visual side effects like Viagra and an absence of effect of food on absorption. Nitric oxide is a hot topic of debate in bodybuilding, as NO-producing supplements are always one of the top-selling products. Being in touch with many bodybuilders and powerlifters, many swear that by taking Cialis, they get better pumps in the gym and can recuperate from exercise faster.
Many suspect its enhanced nutrient delivery or some other mechanism. Cialis demonstrates similar vasodilator (blood pressure-lowering) effects in healthy subjects when compared with Viagra in studies of 10mg or 20mg doses (mean systolic blood pressure reduction, of ~4.3mg).12 Many of the experts in sports will attest that nitric oxide only increases performance in environments with low oxygen availability, such as high-altitude training or areas with high air pollution. Brazilian Eduardo de Rose, president of the medical commission of the Pan-American Sports Organization, stated in a recent interview: "Scientifically, the only proof that Viagra improves sports performance happened at high altitude. That is why it was decided not to include it in the banned substance list. You will hardly get to play a football match on Mount Everest." If there are no performace-enhacing effects, then why were Olympic athltetes using it? There have only been a handful of studies on the performance-enhancing effects of Cialis and sports performance, and none yielded beneficial effects:
Ø In one study, 14 healthy young males were given a 20mg dose of Cialis or a placebo and performed a maximal exercise test on a treadmill. The study found that a single dose of Cialis had no effect on exercise performance, exercise tolerance or cardiopulmonary responses.5
Ø The second study involved three “all-out” sprints to determine if Cialis could increase anaerobic threshold. The study found no significant differences in peak power, average power or fatigue index compared to a placebo. One positive finding noted was that Cialis decreased the time to reach peak power. The author concluded, “Cialis did not have an effect on peak power, but time to peak power output was reduced. Only to sports that need to reach maximum power output in a few seconds could Cialis administration be beneficial.”13
Bodybuilders are known for bringing cutting-edge pharmacology to the forefront of science. If NO (nitric oxide) products really don’t work, then why do so many people use them? Given that the second study reported that the author claimed that Cialis may increase peak force, the powerlifters who swear by Cialis increasing performance may be onto something that research has not discovered yet.
Nitric Oxide Supplements Increase Satellite Cells
You may have read in the Nutrition Performance section that aging results in a blunted anabolic gene response to exercise. It has been previously reported that aging results in a blunted satellite cell response to exercise. A decrease in NO production with aging may be a contributing role of the decrease in muscle mass with aging. Previous research has shown that blunting production of NO decreases muscle hypertrophy during muscle overload.9, 10 Others have reported that NO is a primary signal for satellite cell activation.11 NO is an important regulator of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which is a cytokine with various cellular functions on muscle.2 Specific to skeletal muscle hypertrophy, HGF activates satellite cells and may be responsible for causing satellite cells to migrate to the injured area.1 A previous research study that stretched muscle-induced hypertrophy via release of HGF found that the release of HGF was dependent on NO concentrations.3 Interestingly, researchers measured HGF levels in serum after an intense bout of eccentric exercise. They found that liver-derived HGF rose 19 percent approximately 4 hours after exercise, which resulted in an activation of satellite cells! It is possible that the observed rise in serum HGF showed that HGF may be carried to the site of injury by immune cells rushing to the site of injury, which are increased in number during the inflammatory response to muscle damage… or that muscle itself produces HGF, so they were not sure which one it really was.
NO Increases Satellite Cells!
Researchers from the Center for Exercise Science in Gainesville, Florida reported that increasing nitric oxide increased satellite cell activity! They took old and young mice and induced muscle damage in both groups. They found that the older mice had an impaired satellite cell response. More importantly, they found that L-arginine and nitric oxide precursors effectively increased satellite cell activation and that nitric oxide precursors “rescued” satellite cell activation in older mice.4 This study suggests that taking a NO precursor supplement may increase satellite cell and lead to greater muscle growth! Another interesting study reported in the Journal of Muscle and Nerve was that NO was able to reverse the damaging effects of cortisol-induced satellite cell depletion. They found that NO had a dose-dependent effect on increasing satellite cell levels.20
