Use of N.O. before vaulting and workouts.

[Jfraser]

Most athletes in the Track and Field Sport know what N.O is (nitrous oxide). It is a great pre workout drink that really gets your blood pumpin. I am no nutrition expert and dont know a whole lot about this stuff. I have been on it for 4 years now and i still love it. When i first got on it i gained 20 pounds and increased my maxs a ton.
My question, does it really help? i know it has creatine in it and as soon as you get off of it you lose strength. I will say i am kind of addicted to this stuff now cause it pumps me up so much, and going to collegiate meets i see many people take it before meets (even though the caffeine amount in it is illegal).
So someone who knows about this stuff.
Should i stop? or is it ok. from a pole vaulting training perspective.

[AVC Coach]

Take some time and read your post carefully.

"When i first got on it i gained 20 pounds"

"as you get off of it you lose weight"

"I will say I'm kind of addicted to this stuff now"

"even though the caffeine amount in it is illegal"

How many competent coaches and athletes are going to tell you to stay on this stuff?

[vault3rb0y]

For what it's worth, here is what my exercise physiology professor had to say:

Nitrous Oxide (the chemical compound, not the supplement) is a vaso-dilator in the blood, meaning that when it is present (lets say in the bicep), it helps open up the veins/arteries in the muscle. The problem is, it is a LOCAL vaso-dilator, so it is created by your muscles and then only present for maybe 1/2 second in your blood. So taking it as a supplement really makes no sense, because it is gone and gets broken down in your blood or even in your stomach. My professor ended with "Sorry folks, you got tricked."

It does have all the other stimulants you would expect in your average workout supplement these days. The creatine will affect everyone differently, but there's no way it should have made you gain 20 Ibs. That is probably a compound effect from the creatine, your natural progression from training, and the placebo effect.

I'm no nutrition expert, but yes, you should stop. If you ever feel like you NEED to take something in order to feel good enough to vault, that thing is no longer helping you, it's a crutch to you and your natural abilities. Also, there is no evidence that caffeine/stimulants do anything more than hype you up. They do not make you faster, more explosive, or even increase your reaction time. It's all psychological. And in the vault, so much of your performance is about control and focus, that I think taking too much stimulant would make you too amped, especially at the big bars, and probably make you over-stride or miss your mark. I would stop.

In your training, caffeine is a diuretic. So expect to be peeing a lot if you take this before a lift or a workout. Then, you have less blood volume to help increase circulation while you are training, which decreases the effectiveness of your training. You will take longer to recover between sets and you won't get the "pump" as much, because that requires a higher blood volume. The effects might be marginal, but they are there. The most important effect is that if you use stimulants in your training, you will feel like you have to use them all the time.

[EIUvltr]

It's nitric oxide, not nitrous (trust me you dont want to ingest Nitrous). And its not actually N.O. at all, its arginine, the precursor to N.O. And it does nothing at all, sorry.

[vaultmd]

Who says we don't want nitrous?
:-)

[vault3rb0y]

Hey at least Nitrous would help your head float over the bar. Forget about the rest of your body

[Jfraser]

i agree. ha