Citrulline malate works pretty well for me, but I only see noticeable effects when using 4+ grams a day. It mixes well with any sour beverage (nearly any juice or energy drink) and I don't see any side effects. I notice a slight boost in endurance and recovery; I can run and pump a little longer before feeling fatigue, and muscle soreness seems to fade faster the day after workouts. I don't find it stimulates muscle growth for me, but it does help in improving the pace and duration of my workouts, which gives the same result.
One thing to consider is that citrulline contains a lot of sodium. If you've mixed it with a drink, you probably know this already from the cotton mouth. :) This isn't a big deal to most people, since many of us could use electrolytes anyway, but those who need to control their sodium intake for any reason should think about this.
One more weird thing to note: Being vegetarian, I don't get any extra creatine in my diet. I normally take creatine before working out, but I noticed that if I take citrulline but not creatine, I become fatigued much faster, especially with heavy lifting. I can only guess this might be because citrulline boosts the Krebs cycle and maybe cycles phosphocreatine faster, so I run out of available creatine much more quickly. Anyone have any info on this? |
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