SportLegs

[lauraelmore1033]

Have you ever tried your Cal/Mag supplement right before riding, and noticed the same effect of less lactate build-up on hard efforts?

If I don't take the cal/mag supplement I notice a difference, but I don't notice a difference between the sportslegs and the cheaper supplement.

[Starfish]

If I don't take the cal/mag supplement I notice a difference, but I don't notice a difference between the sportslegs and the cheaper supplement.

Well, this is great to know. On the SportLegs bottle, it is listed as the lactate forms of the Cal/Mag. I was curious if this was a real difference, or just marketing.

Thanks for your answer...that's what I was wondering!

[makbike]

Can one get too much Ca/Mg? The capsules I have 1000 mg of calcium, 500 mg of magnesium and 200 IU of vitamin D. According to the website for Sportsleg each capsule has 131 mg of calcium, 65 mg of magnesium and 65 IU of vitamin D. Should I reduce the number of recommended capsules per dose (3-6 capsules daily)? I've not tried taking this before a ride. In all honesty, I often forget to take this supplement on a daily basis so I can't say that it has helped or hindered my performance on my bike. However, I do know my legs are tired and in addition to several days of R & R I need to add a supplement to help them meet the demands I'm placing on them.

[Starfish]

Can one get too much Ca/Mg?

Should I reduce the number of recommended capsules per dose (3-6 capsules daily)?

I'm not remotely qualified to answer your questions. I will say, though, that I have now taken the Sportlegs twice. Once on Saturday before a prolonged, hard, climbing ride, and once today before a hard spinning class that really made my legs burn and hurt last time. Truly, I think the supplement is helping me work harder, longer, more comfortably. I'm thinking I will just take it two days/week as a training aid...for spinning, and for my long weekend ride.

[kelownagirl]

This is an interestign thread. I've been trying to remember to take my supplement on a regualr basis but I think I may try taking it an hour before my next hard ride and see if it helps.

Makbike - My tabs have 250mg each of C and M, and 200 of Vit D. I take 2, once a day. (500, 500, 400) No idea if that's good or bad.

[SportLegs]

Starfish and others-

Our ingredients label has to adhere to meticulous FDA guidelines. A glance suggests SportLegs is just regular old cal/mag and vitamin D. As clever Starfish noticed, it's not: It's lactate forms of those minerals, and that's what makes the difference. See, "lactic acid" IS lactate. It's what your muscles exchange to handle short sprint-duration energy needs. And most sports are just sequences of sprint activity. The better your muscles exchange lactate, the faster, longer and more effortlessly you can go. The problem is that when you begin sports, your muscles start making way more than they can use constructively, which causes a technical domino effect which subsequently lowers your Lactate Threshold, the point where you run into the "burn" and accumulate the nasties which contribute to next-day soreness. Your muscles continue to make too much lactate until your blood lactate level rises. But taking SportLegs an hour before riding raises your blood lactate the same way. So you trick your muscles into not making too much in the first place- as Bicycling magazine wrote, "a sneaky way to raise your lactate threshold and boost performance." We think using something healthy to help sidestep the biggest turnoffs about riding isn't so much sneaky as just plain smart. And it sure works, doesn't it?

We're grateful to you all for helping spread the word about a good thing. Oddly, "team testosterone" members don't seem nearly as willing to tell anyone else about SportLegs.

[meridian]

SportLegs, shortly after my first reply post here I decided to dig around a little bit and do some more extensive research before ordering to see if there was a less expensive alternative to SportLegs which would be just as effective.

While I do believe the calcium/magnesium combo of ingredients aids in minimizing ‘the burn’, which in turn leads to performance gain, I have done my research and disagree with your stance on the lactate forms of these ingredients being vastly superior in effect to other forms of calcium and magnesium.

The difference between the lactate forms of these ingredients versus other forms isn’t all that vast. 1. Lactate form provides higher solubility and dissolution rates, which simply means it breaks down easier and faster during digestion than some other forms. 2. Lactate form is often contained at smaller density, which means you often must consume a higher dosage of lactate form versus another form to acquire the same amount of supplement.

I believe plain old calcium carbonate or calcium citrate + magnesium supplements taken at the right time and in the right dosage could exhibit the same results as your product, which some athletes have tried and attested toward. (Also, if someone wishes to use faster dissolving calcium lactate, this form of calcium can be found much cheaper elsewhere.)


As a side note, during my research on your product I have seen you post on several cycling forums attesting to somewhat peculiar claims about both the performance gains of your product and also how it works. Personally, I don’t believe all the hype you’ve posted on the other boards and forums I have come across, and from what I’ve read, neither did many other readers.

Ultimately, while your product has worked for me in the past, I'll be using alternative supplements of cal/mag/d for aiding performance and after-ride recovery. Why? 1. I believe this product is overpriced. 2. While I understand that your #1 goal is to market, push, and sell your product, I don't really agree with the marketing tactics and misinformation exhibited on the forums I have visited.

[Starfish]

And it sure works, doesn't it?

We're grateful to you all for helping spread the word about a good thing.

Maybe it works. I have tried it three times, and although I felt it helped the first two times, I don't believe it did on try number three. I will be giving some other more cost effective forms a try, too. Time will tell.

I didn't start the thread to spread the word. I started it to ask a question in a noncommercial setting, to get feedback from peers without the marketing spin your posts reflect.