r-ALA and carao

[SofaGeorge]

I'm making the ultimate sacrafice for the cause. I've been on cycle for 9 months. I finished my high dose fina/test/whinny portion in August and have been on a 10-12 week bridge of 300mg deca wk/400mg EQ wk since.

During this time I saw my strength go up to an all time high. There is some specualtion that this may have been a result of my taking r-ALA post cycle... and some that it may be due to my taking an odd plant extract called carao... or to a synergistic combination of the two.

I'm now stepping off juice completely for a couple months.

I'll post back in several weeks whether or not my strength gains continue to maintain with the r-ALA/carao combo.

There are now several other people on EF trying the same experiment. Hopefully we will get a cross section of results in the next several weeks.

 

[Frackal]

What da hell is cararo

 

[Frackal]

As in what is it supposed to do exactly, how much is it and how can I get some....

 

[SofaGeorge]

As in what is it supposed to do exactly

Good question... I got interested in it when I read about it being used to increase the size of cattle and as an anti anemia cure. It sounded sort of like organic fina. Unfortunately, I've been pulling teeth to get information on it.

It's got a lot of folklore tradition as an anti fatigue tonic.

There are a couple scientific studies that show it increases hemoglobin by as much as 130%.

I started looking at it seriously when 3-4 weeks into using it I set a PR on my deadlift... up 20lbs... then the next week I rep'd that weight 6 times for 3 sets. This was about a month after a heavy test/fina/whinny cycle... when I would expect my strength to be going down.

Since then I've been mostly collecting anecdotal accounts of personal experiences of people in Costa Rica who have taken it. The interesting and almost universal comment is that it makes you "feel" strong. Not that it actually MAKES you stronger... but that it seems to impart a FEELING that you are strong.

I know that for myself I've been walking around feeling like Superman... kind of a wierd cocky confidant feeling like when you are totally jacked at the peak of a good cycle. Kind of hard to describe.

Unfortunately, at this point the majority of the interesting info as it would relate to sports and bodybuilding is wholey anecdotal and speculative.

 

[Frackal]

I want some, whaddoo i do

 

[SofaGeorge]

I want some, whaddoo i do

The website where I got mine is on this thread.

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=172381&highlight=carao

The guy who makes it owns a small organic farm in Costa Rica. He appears to be the first person making the stuff commercially.

If you can find other sites selling it please let me know. I want to compare samples.

My next door neighbor is a former pro bike racer. He was on the American team with Lance Armstong. (Lance calls him "Coach.") I'm trying to bend his ear to get him to try it, but he is very skeptical. He knows I am a juicer... and I think he thinks I'm trying to slip him d-bol.