Using Yohimbine to Boost Fat Loss

There are boat loads of supplements and other products on the market that are boasting extreme claims of expediting the process of weight loss. Unfortunately, many of these products are ultimately scams to get your money based on questionable research. Some products even come with dangerous side effects. Even though Dr. Oz might be touting garbage products like garcinia cambogia, the research does not back these up. (2)

I’ve personally tried a medley of supplements on the market in hopes of burning stubborn body fat. Most of them made me feel like I was going to have a heart attack and failed to elicit any favorable changes in my body composition.

After doing a good bit of research on the topic, I have only managed to find a small handful of

supplements that actually work for me. The one fat burning product that I use with great success, and recommend to my clients is yohimbine.

What is Yohimbine?

Yohimbine is an alkaloid that is sourced from Pausinystalia yohimbe trees in the lowland forests of west and central Africa. The substance has been found to improve thermogenesis (the metabolic process that creates heat in the body).

There are several speculations of how Yohimbine results in fat loss, though it is not fully

understood. The principal hypothesis is that it may work by facilitating the secretion of adrenaline by inhibiting adrenergic receptors—this ultimately results in an increase in heart rate which will stimulate metabolic function.

What does the research say?

A study done on male soccer players who were already quite lean (<11% body fat) found that Yohimbine supplementation decreased fat mass in a 21 day period. (4) All of the participants (control and experimental subjects) were placed on a standardized diet of 55% of their daily calories coming from carbohydrates, 25% from fat, and 20% from protein.

The group taking yohimbine lost an average of 2.2% body fat, whereas the men in the placebo group actually gained an average of 0.3% body fat during the study.

What’s fascinating is that the population in this study had a very low amount of body fat to start, and many of the research studies on different fat burning supplements are only done on obese populations. If you’re looking to lose that last bit of stubborn body fat to get better definition, Yohimbine may be a great option for you.

Another study tested for the efficacy of topical cream to spot reduce body fat from the thigh in female participants. (1) Every participant received a topical yohimbine cream on one thigh and a placebo cream on the other thigh to measure differences between one side and the other. The researchers hypothesized that the yohimbine cream would counteract the alpha2-adrenergic activity and thus result in regional fat loss. Their results seemed to affirm that hypothesis as all 4 women lost more girl in the thigh that was treated with the yohimbine cream compared with the thigh that received the placebo cream. The population size was obviously quite small, but these findings suggest that topical use of yohimbine may be effective in facilitating spot reduction (even though the currently accepted literature shuns the concept of spot reducing fat). Surely more research needs to be done in this area, but the potential implications are quite fascinating.

How much should you take?

The dosage can vary, like with anything else. I suggest taking a smaller dose of only 2.5 mg to 5 mg initially to see how you respond to it. Once you’ve gotten an understanding of how your

body reacts to Yohimbine, you can increase the dosage gradually. Many of the studies done on Yohimbine have used ~0.2 mg per kg of bodyweight. This means that someone like me who weighs about 58 kg should consume about 11-12 mg of Yohimbine. In the previously mentioned study on soccer players the men took 20 mg daily.

Precautions

I don’t recommend taking Yohimbine before aerobic exercise, as it can elevate your heart rate

significantly. I made that mistake originally where I took it about an hour before exercise and

struggled to catch my breath. After that, I started taking it in the morning (about 3-4 hours prior to training) and had no issues with managing my heart rate.

If you have any type of anxiety disorder, you may also want to be careful in taking Yohimbine as it can exacerbate feelings of anxiety. As with any supplement, make sure that you consult with a physician before using Yohimbine, especially if you have a heart condition or take other medications to make sure you won’t have any adverse reactions.

1. Greenway, Frank L., and George A. Bray. "Regional fat loss from the thigh in obese women after adrenergic modulation." Clin Ther 9.6 (1987): 663-9.
   Heymsfield, Steven B., et al. "Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) as a potential antiobesity agent: a randomized controlled trial." Jama 280.18 (1998): 1596-1600.
2. McCarty, Mark F. "Pre-exercise administration of yohimbine may enhance the efficacy of exercise training as a fat loss strategy by boosting lipolysis." Medical hypotheses 58.6 (2002): 491-495.

3. Ostojic, Sergej M. "Yohimbine: the effects on body composition and exercise performance in soccer players." Research in Sports Medicine 14.4 (2006): 289-299.

Will Creatine Help You?

Creatine is, without a doubt, one of the most popular supplements touted by bros on the market today (at least that one can legally use). Bodybuilders and other athletes use it to improve work capacity and increase size. In fact, Froiland et. al. found that about 37% of NCAA athletes take creatine. Before you start scooping heaps of creatine into your protein shakes, however, it's important to know how it works, and also what it does and doesn't do.

There are seven different types of creatine supplements: creatine monohydrate (the most popular form), tri-creatine malate, micronized creatine, liquid creatine, conjugated creatine, buffered creatine, and ethyl ester. For the purposes of brevity of this article, though, I will only discuss creatine monohydrate supplementation.

Naturally produced in your liver, pancreas, and kidneys, creatine is transported to your muscles through the bloodstream. Creatine is also sourced from meat and fish, or, obviously, supplementation. Along with a compound known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine is the primary energy source for all anaerobic activity (shorter activities that don't require much oxygen).

With creatine supplementation, you have more ATP-PC stores, and, thus, you're able to improve your work capacity! Creatine is effectively giving you that extra "boost" in your workout, so if you were only able to perform 4 repetitions on your bench press at a given weight, using creatine supplements, you'll ideally be able to do 6 or more repetitions. In summary, creatine isn't a miracle supplement that you take and wake up looking like Arnold and lifting like Mark Henry, but, rather, it's aiding you in getting more work done than you would've been able to do otherwise. An increased work capacity allows you to increase volume (repetitions) at a designated intensity (weight), which can result in an increase in muscle mass and strength as a byproduct.

What does the research show?

For one, Rawson et. al. noted that weightlifting performance and muscle hypertrophy increased considerably in subjects using creatine:

Although there is considerable variability in the increase in muscle strength and weightlifting performance in subjects ingesting creatine during resistance training, subjects ingesting creatine experience on average an 8% greater increase in muscle strength (20 vs. 12%) and a 14% greater increase in weightlifting performance (26 vs. 12%). Additionally, untrained subjects experienced a larger increase in muscle strength following creatine supplementation plus resistance training than trained subjects (31 vs. 14%).

They both reviewed 22 different studies on the supplement, and those were there collective conclusions. The review also considered possible gender disparities, and didn't find a substantial difference in response between men and women:

One group has reported that men and women experience similar improvements in exercise performance following creatine supplementation (51), but that women show a lesser increase in lean body mass (32) and no reduction in protein breakdown (34) following creatine supplementation compared with men.

In another study, Becque and his colleagues tested 23 male subjects with one or more years of training experience. The experimental group ingested 5 g of creatine, while the control group ingested a placebo drink with sucrose. One of the most interesting findings of the study was that "body mass was significantly greater for [the creatine group] than [the] placebo [group] at pretest and post-test." The experimental group also noted a larger increase in arm flexor (biceps brachii) strength than did the control group.

Similarly, Volek tested 19 resistance-trained men over the course of 12 weeks. Towards the end of the study (weeks 5-8), the experimental (creatine) group performed more volume in the bench press than their control counterparts did. There were no noticeable differences in squat volume. The 1 repetition maximums for all subjects, but more significantly in the creatine supplemented subjects on both the squat and the bench press. The creatine subjects saw a larger increase in lean muscle mass, as well (5.8 kg versus 1.3 kg in the placebo group).



With those things in mind, here are a few final points:

• For optimal digestion of a creatine monohydrate powder, mix it with fruit juice, as it has been shown to increase absorption. 
• The use of loading phases are often disputed. It is unlikely that it is necessary. So long as you're getting around 3-5 grams per day, you should still reap the massive benefits of creatine monohydrate.
• Timing doesn't seem to matter much, either. Studies have found benefits to both pre and post-workout consumption. Unfortunately, no study to date has compared the efficacy of pre and post-workout creatine intake.
• Studies have indicated that creatine may cause gastrointestinal distress in some, so that's an important side effect to consider.
• Despite myths indicating the contrary, creatine has not been linked to liver or kidney problems in the short term or the long term.

If you want to do some more reading into these studies, I've listed them in the works cited below. Overall, the majority of the literature seems to lean in favor of creatine for both hypertrophy and for strength gains. In fact, it's tough to find studies that contradict those findings.

With supplements, it's always a good idea to experiment and see what works best for you. I've tried a number of different products on the market, and I'm constantly making adjustments accordingly. Creatine monohydrate just may be the missing link in your training plateau!

My List of Product Recommendations!

My clients and friends often ask me what type of supplements/fitness products I use. Here's my list of product recommendations for you holiday wish list! Please note that, aside from GoMacro, I do not endorse any of these products, so I do not receive anything for writing these reviews. The items on this list are simply products I use myself and have found to be the most effective and helpful.

Supplements:

• RawFusion or PlantFusion are both delicious, dairy free, plant-based brands of protein powder. I've tried countless different protein powder brands. Whey has never been kind to my stomach. I was always left with bloating and cramping afterwards, so I decided to switch to dairy free alternatives. Both of these brands taste absolutely delicious, and have no artificial crap (which seems to be pretty uncommon for protein powder). Although I like all of their flavors, I recommend RawFusion Natural Chocolate and PlantFusion Cookies 'n' Cream. Some plant-based protein powders taste grainy and leaf-like. Both of these brands have an incredible taste and mix easily with water. You can buy 2 pound tubs of these brands on bodybuilding.com for around $26, which is about $0.87 per serving. Not bad!
• GoMacro bars are a clean alternative to many of the bars I've tried in supplement stores. All of the ingredients are organic, plus they're gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free. They have higher protein options as well! My favorite flavors are the Protein Pleasure and Protein Purity. You can buy them on Amazon for $38.99 for a box of 15 bars.
• NutriForce Glutamine is an excellent product to help expedite the recovery process. If you're training hard, glutamine should be a staple in your recovery arsenal. I prefer to mix mine right into my protein shake. Cost is about $20 for 10 ounces.
• BSN AminoX is another excellent product to speed up your recovery. The fruit punch flavor is the best, in my opinion. This product contains 6 essential BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) to aid in muscle repair and minimize catabolism. A tub is only $37.84 for 70 servings! Take these both before and after your workouts for maximal results.

Food:

• Daiya Cheese is a yummy alternative for those, like me, whose stomachs do not respond well to lactose. Daiya is also soy free, if you like to avoid soy! The cheese melts and stretches, just as real cheese does, and it comes in a ton of different flavors. You can buy it at most Whole Foods or other similar grocery stores.
• Feel Good Foods chicken dumplings are the bomb! They're gluten free with great ingredients, unlike many other frozen meals. I buy these from Whole Foods!
• I'm obsessed with Cashewtopia ice cream. Ice cream is my weakness, and I don't need to feel guilty about eating this brand, because it's made from organic, clean ingredients. The "cream" is made from cashews, and it's incredibly rich and decadent. If you have a sweet tooth like me, I recommend checking out this awesome dairy-free alternative. I love the vanilla bean and chocolate flavors!

Apparel:

• The Inov8 F-LITE shoes are great for anyone who's looking for a more minimal sneaker. I mentioned these shoes in my previous article on barefoot training. I think these sneakers are a great transition for someone who was wearing really bulky sneakers beforehand, and doesn't want to commit to the ridiculous-looking toe shoes. They're light (as the name dictates), comfortable, and they last a really long time! I'd say they're pretty well-fit for any activity, whether it's running, weight training, or just playing basketball in the park.
• Elite FTS  Heavy Knee sleeves are great for those (like me) who squat often and heavy. I chose these because the price is the best out of any other brand I've found and they're excellent quality. You can buy these on eliteFTS.net for $23 per pair! Most brands cost more than that for one!

Books:

• The Weightlifting Encyclopedia: A Guide to World Class Performance by Arthur Drechsler is a great text for anyone who's looking to get more into the sport of weightlifting! Lots of excellent cues and anecdotes for fixing common problems in the lifts! This book sells for around $56 on Amazon, and it's worth every penny!
• Original Strength by Tim Anderson is a short, but informative read on how to regain the strength you had as a child. He teaches you how to rock, roll, and crawl your way to an injury free lifestyle. I love his videos as well, and I'd recommend checking out OriginalStrength.net for more information from him. This book is one of several he's written, and it only costs $11 on Amazon.
• Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise by Alex Hutchinson is another easy read that looks to dispel common fitness myths and covers topics such as the effectiveness of compression gear, static stretching, and running sneakers. Also around $11 on Amazon!