Issue 096

December 2012

Learn how carnitine tartrate can help increase recovery from hypoxic training and normopoxic training 

Some of the best fighters and jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world have a training secret few know about. And it can send endurance through the roof. It’s called hypoxic training, and is essentially training in a reduced oxygen environment. 

Now you’re probably thinking, ‘Where the heck am I going to find a reduced oxygen environment?’ If you guessed a hypobaric chamber, then you’re right, but don’t get discouraged if you don’t have access to one because a pool will suffice as well. 

The advantage of a pool is that it can also offer resistance in planes of motion that are tough to model in normal training conditions. Either way, hypoxic training and especially hypoxic water resistance training can help build low-oxygen training endurance which is critical for mixed martials arts and jiu-jitsu. 

However, it can also be extremely taxing physically and can accelerate cellular damage and redox status. Because of this, it should be conducted under the care of a certified strength and conditioning coach.

FIGHTING HYPOXIC FATIGUE & DAMAGE WITH SUPPLEMENTATION

If you’ve learned anything from this column over the past few months, under-dosed supplements are not worth taking. If you want real benefits, using clinically validated doses are your insurance policy to gain the benefits your hard-earned money should give you in return. 

So what are some of the doses used in the carnitine tartrate research? The typical doses used in research studies is 1–2g of carnitine in the form of carnitine tartrate to show improvements in recovery in resistance-trained men.

A study at the Human Performance Lab at the University of Connecticut showed that carnitine tartrate helped reduce hypoxic muscle damage due to enhanced muscle oxygenation during a hypoxic state. 

It should be mentioned that most of this research is double blinded and placebo controlled with a crossover, meaning these studies really put carnitine tartrate to the test in real athletic men. Much of this research was conducted using a highly refined form of carnitine tartrate called carnipure just like the UConn study looking at its effect in a hypoxic state. 

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

So, with all the great benefits of carnitine tartrate for combat practitioners in mind, you’re in luck because getting carnitine tartrate is quite easy and affordable. If you’re just looking for plain old carnitine tartrate, NOW Foods offers a encapsulated version at 500mg per dose and at two to four capsules a day will provide accurate dosing (1–2g). If you’re looking for a more synergistic formula geared towards athletes, Gaspari Nutrition’s Anavite contains 1g per serving recommending two servings per day and comes in tablet form. 

Either of these products can help limit oxidative stress and increase recovery should you decide to employ hypoxic training into your training. Some of the best in the world use hypoxic training to condition themselves for combat so if you haven’t considered, please do – and along with the supplements to help you recover faster. 

Even if you don’t employ hypoxic training, carnitine tartrate can enhance recovery to help you be at your best at all times.