Natural athletes are often left with an impossible choice: accept that highly anabolic compounds come along with a host of negative side effects, disqualify them competition, and render them an “enhanced athlete,” or turn to these same compounds to reap their benefits on muscle anabolism and protein synthesis. A long line of supplements has purported to reconcile this problem, promising increases to muscle protein synthesis and nitrogen synthesis comparable to AAS (anabolic androgenic steroids). Such promises, of course, were empty, as the real-world effects of these compounds never matched the laboratory results.
Laxogenin appears to be different. While no natural compound will deliver the same effects as PEDs (performance enhancing drugs), and it’s irresponsible to suggest otherwise, Laxogenin does, in fact, seem to operate through the same mechanism of action that makes these compounds so effective – the so-called PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. This pathway directly regulates a process known as “protein turnover,” the ratio between protein synthesis (where your body “builds” muscle tissue) and protein degradation (where your body “destroys” muscle tissue to feed other physiologic processes). In situations where protein synthesis exceeds degradation, your body is in a state of ‘net positive protein turnover,’ commonly known as “anabolism.” While the data is still emerging, Laxogenin appears to induce this very state by significantly enhancing protein synthesis through the very same PI3K/Akt pathway. These trials show Laxogenin simultaneously reducing protein degradation, perhaps inducing muscle into a state of net positive protein turnover.
Combined with the patented ingredient Peak O2, clinically demonstrated to increase power output, endurance, and other metrics of exercise performance, BOLIC is a fully natural but fully effective performance supplement. It not only increases exercise performance, but makes the underlying response to exercise more efficient – ensuring that your hardwork is paying off!
Laxogenin:
Laxogenin, also known as 5a-hydroxy laxogenin is plant-based steroid derived Smilax sieboldii. Laxogenin is part of the Brassinosteroid class of plant hormones, polyhydroxylated derivatives 5a-cholestane – and thus is structurally to the cholesterol-backbone steroid hormones found in animals and ecdysteroids found in insects. Brassinosteroids function in plant tissue as steroid hormones function in animal tissue, namely by stimulating protein synthesis and inhibiting protein degradation via the PI3K/Akt signaling cascade. Unlike steroid hormones, however, both Brassinosteroids generally, and 5a¬¬-hydroxy laxogenin specifically, show no binding affinity to the androgen receptor (AR) in vitro.
While evidence is still emerging, the extant animal data on Laxogenin is promising. In a trial in healthy rats fed a protein-controlled diet (39.4% protein content), oral administration of Laxogenin “increased food intake, body weight gain…[and]…lean body mass.” Upon dissecting the animals, researchers demonstrated that both phenotypic variation and muscle hypertrophy occurred. Laxogenin “significantly increased” Type IIa and IIx muscle fibre phenotype and increased Type I and Type IIa cross-section. As noted above, Laxogenin dose- and time-dependently increased Akt phosphorylation in rat muscle cells at levels similar (though less) than insulin and IGF-1 controls. Protein synthesis as a result PI3K/Akt activation increased by approximately 35%, while protein degradation decreased by approximately 9% - suggesting that administration of Laxogenin promotes net positive protein conservation in animal muscle.
PeakO2™:
PeakO2™ is an organic-certified combination of six Ayurvedic mushroom strains extracted for their principal bioactives (Cordyceps militaris (Cordyceps), Ganoderma lucidim (Reishi), Pleurotus eryngii (King Trumpet), Lentinula edodes (Shiitake),Hericium erinaceus (Lions Mane), and Trametes versicolor (Turkey Tail).
The results of several human clinical trials on this compound suggest that it may meaningfully and dose-dependently impact several key metrics in exercise performance and physiology. A recent trial on 13 healthy, exercising adults consuming either 1.3 grams of PeakO2 or placebo, for example, demonstrated significant increases to oxygen kinetics, aerobic power and time to fatigue. In the adults receiving the 1.3g of PeakO2 for three weeks, VO2max (a measure of aerobic capacity) increased by 11% as compared to 1.8% in placebo; TTE (total time to exhaustion) increased by 8.2%; and peak power increased by 10%.
The results were similar in an additional study with 40 healthy adults, provided both low and high-dose PeakO2 for 28 days and compared with placebo. In this trial, participants receiving the mushroom extract experienced statistically significant increases to both VO2max and heart-rate economy – suggesting that PeakO2’s effects are both systemic and cumulative. That is, not only does PeakO2 exert its effects on the entirety of the human cardiovascular system – likely due to the multiple mechanisms of action in the mushroom blend – but these effects accumulate over time.
These results suggest that PeakO2 may have beneficial effects on:
- Workout duration
- Time to exhaustion
- Maximum power output
- Peak strength
- Anaerobic peak power
- Oxygen utilization during exercise
- Ability to uptake oxygen
- Exercise capacity
