# VO2 BOOST**anyone try this yet??



## iwantalitebike (Jun 17, 2009)

I seen the ad for this. Anyone try this? Just curious if this works..


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## flargle (Apr 15, 2009)

Your mom works.


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## Nenbran (Dec 7, 2010)

flargle said:


> Your mom works.


Zing!


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Here's their website which has the ingredients for BRL "V02 Booost" on:

http://www.vo2boost.com/products.html

They also have a sister site "EPO Boost". Don't be fooled into expecting a herbal supplement to provide the effects of taking the drug EPO.

http://www.epoboost.com/products.html

Here's what appears to be the basis for the VeloNews logo. An advertisement for the product pretending to be an article, rather than a review. Page 5

http://www.cervelo.com/reviews/Velo_News_2011-04.pdf

*Ingredients*
The basic ingredients of BRL "V02 Boost" are ok - Vitamin C, B vitamins and iron. They're all common vitamins and minerals which could be useful if you're deficient. They aren't performance enhancing however. Including them doesn't justify the price as there are many inexpensive supplements that provide similar amounts of these ingredients.

Herbs like echinacea and rhodiola probably aren't going to make an appreciable difference to performance but are popular supplements. Echinacea is usually taken as a way of trying to boost your immune system and reduce upper respiratory tract infections. Rhodiola is usually taken as a way of trying to improve mood and alleviate depression.

The BRL "EPO Boost" supplement is a bit more questionable in terms of its ingredients. Things like Nickel, Silicon, Tin and Vanadium aren't proven to have any benefit when taken as supplements. You normally get the tiny amounts that your body needs through your diet.

The labelling of both products doesnt give a clear breakdown of just how much of each herbal ingredient is included. 8g of echinacea per day is a lot. Typical amounts from other echinacea supplements would be to take 1200mg per day approx. The big claim that both the BRL "V02 Boost" and BRL "EPO Boost" supplements make is that taking all this echinacea boosts your erythropoietin levels and athletic performance. The level of improvement isn't specifically set out anywhere unfortunately.

*Pricing Comparison*
Looking at the BRL "VO2 Boost" product the main things to consider are that it's $64.95 USD per bottle and you're supposed to take 4 capsules per day so each bottle will last 30 days. That works out at $790.22 USD for 365 days supply. The sticking point has to be the price.

If you want to try taking 8g of echinacea per day then you can buy 100 400mg capsules from Amazon.com for $1.79 USD. At 20 capsules per day that will cost you $130.67 USD for the 365 days supply.

http://www.amazon.com/Echinacea-400...U25O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1306618249&sr=8-4

Is either the BRL "V02 Boost" or BRL "EPO Boost" product going to live up to the claims and give a performance boost? Very unlikely. It's not going to do any harm taking this (apart from to your wallet) but it's probably not going to give you much of a benefit either.

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http://jaredroy.blogspot.com/search/label/Echinacea cycling

*Echinacea EPO Report*

"I did a post on July 2 about Echinacea and EPO.

I started taking 8 grams/day on July 2. I went to Target and picked up Natural Whole Herb Echninacea, 400mg. 8 grams breaks down to 20 tablets a day. The recommended dose on the bottle is 1-6 tablets. I take 7-10 in the morning and the rest around lunch time. I have not noticed any side effects from the dosage, except taking 20 tablets is a little annoying.

So, did it make me faster? For the Hopkins Race, which was day 6 I felt awesome. I was able to double dip and felt great in both the 35+ race and the 3/4 race. I have not had that good of legs in a long time. At the Lifetime Triathlon, day 12, I also felt really really strong on the bike. I'm not a TT guy at all, but I had the fastest time on the bike in the 35-39 class and had the 4th fastest time on the bike out of 1134 people. 8th overall out of 121 Men 35 to 39 and Overall Place: 33 out of 1134 Short Course finishers. Again, I have not had good legs like that for a long time and the run, which I never run felt great. I'm not sure if it was the Echinacea or bringing the high altitude lungs to Minnesota that allowed me to feel so great. I've raced in MN in the past coming from altitude and have never felt as good as I did this time.

Day 15 and 16 = July 17 at the Tuesday night crit in Golden I felt like crap with terrible legs and July 18 at Copper I also had bad legs. I'm going to continue to take it until Salida and then try another experiment during cyclocross season.

So, does it work? I didn't do any scientific tests of power or VO2 max, but I did feel strong in Minnesota. It could be the Echinacea or it could be the high altitude lungs. If you give it try, let me know how it makes you feel." *Jared Roy*

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There weren't any follow up posts on the subject after that one.

Here's an interesting discussion of Echinacea and the shortcomings of many supplements. It's worth reading through:

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http://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/transfusionsmedizin/institut/eir/content/2009/66/article.pdf

*Herbal Supplements and Athlete Immune Function -What's Proven, Disproven, and Unproven?*

David S. Senchina,1,* Nisarg B. Shah,2 Danielle M. Doty,1 Cole R. Sanderson,3 Justus E. Hallam3

"More is known about the effects of Echinacea supplements on physical performance than on immune function within the context of this review. To examine effects of Echinacea supplements on parameters related to running, 24 young adult males were given 8 g/d of Echinacea or placebo for 28 d. VO2max and running economy (decrease in submaximal VO2 at the first 2 stages of the graded exercise test) were improved in the Echinacea group compared to control (172). Effects of blood-related parameters were heterogeneous: erythropoietin increased in the Echinacea-treated group (172, 173), but there were no effects on hematocrit, red blood cell count, or hemoglobin concentrations (174)." *Page 17*
...
It can be difficult to ascertain chemical information regarding supplements. For instance, some brand name supplements include chemical composition information in the label, but studies using both Ephedra (67) and Echinacea (60) supplements have repeatedly demonstrated that supplement composition and dosage do not always reflect manufacturer claims. Acknowledging this, some laboratories have gone to chemically profiling all supplements themselves, but this is not without problems itself. As this author team can personally attest for Echinacea, and as another team encountered when trying to chemically profile Siberian ginseng supplements (36), chemical standards are not always available. Manufacturers may also be reluctant to disclose proprietary formulae for competitive reasons. The lack of herbal supplement characterization in medical research has not escaped notice (182).

Extending this train of thought reveals why botanical considerations are equally important. A plant's biochemical composition (both in terms of diversity and quantity of molecules produced) is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Different plant genera have different biochemical profiles; within genera, different species have different biochemical profiles; and within species, different subspecies, accessions, or ecotypes often have different biochemical profiles. If chemical differences are important in understanding the exercise immunology of herbal supplements, then botanical aspects of the supplement need to be known. The use of common names muddies such clarity, as common names for plants are often applied to more than one species or genus and may vary geographically. Many exercise immunology investigations of herbal supplements do not report which specific species were used and often use common or proprietary names; thus, the same problems identified in our discussion of chemical data are amplified when botanical data are absent." *Page 20*

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Pictured below: BRL "V02 Boost" supplement label. The way that the labelling is laid out makes it impossible to tell just how much of each herbal ingredient should be included in the product.


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## mward (Apr 7, 2004)

You can't buy speed. Well, you can, but it's illegal. Nothing you can buy over the counter is going to be legal or effective. Go ride your bike more.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

mward said:


> You can't buy speed. Well, you can, but it's illegal. Nothing you can buy over the counter is going to be legal or effective. Go ride your bike more.


Food supplements are a huge minefield. There's often a grain of truth somewhere but then the claims, marketing and price become blown out of all proportion to what benefit the product being sold will actually provide. Hyperbolic claims and suspicious testimonials are warning signs to look out for. Here's an extract from the VeloNews print advertisement for BRL "EPO Boost" which makes claims that go far beyond anything taking 8g echinacea per day is likely to achieve. Note that this is an advertisement placed by the company and not an article by VeloNews itself.

_"Since its release last year, competitive athletes have flocked to this new supplement, *which offers all the benefits of greater EPO levels with none of the dangerous side effects or legal trouble.* A company spokesman confirmed that the patent pending formula contains active components that have been shown to boost EPO levels, resulting in greater strength and endurance.
...
While the controversy over the advantage athletes using EPO Boost are obtaining is unlikely to go away anytime soon, one thing is for sure: *blood doping and synthetic drugs are a thing of the past now that amateurs and professionals alike can tap into a natural product that generates Olympian like strength and endurance*.
...
A company spokesman, speaking off the record, admitted that the product doesn't work overnight and that most athletes won't see the *extreme performance enhancements *for up to four weeks."_ *BRL Advert in VeloNews online edition February 2011 Page 59.*

http://www.velonews-digital.com/velonews/201102?pg=60#pg60

A lot of it comes down to what the people selling these supplements are able to legally get away with. In the US when a supplement is classed as a food then how it is regulated by the FDA varies from if it is classed as a drug. This is a very important point as loopholes mean that you can make all sorts of ridiculous and unsubstantiated claims when marketing a food supplement, without needing to prove that they're true or that the product is effective.

_"In the United States, herbs intended for preventive or therapeutic use would be regulated as drugs under federal laws. To evade the law, these products are marketed as "foods" or "dietary supplements" without health claims on their labels. Since these are not regulated as drugs, no legal standards exist for their processing, harvesting, or packaging. In many cases, particularly for products with expensive raw ingredients, contents and potency are not accurately disclosed on the label. Many products marked as herbs contain no useful ingredients, and some even lack the principal ingredient for which people buy them. Surveys have found that the ingredients and doses of several products varied considerably from brand to brand."_ *Quackwatch.com*

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/herbs.html

http://www.quackwatch.com/02ConsumerProtection/dshea.html

Labelling of supplements is a big issue as well. If you look at the BRL "V02 Boost" label pictured above the actual amounts of herbal ingredients aren't specifically stated. The website is confusing because "V02 Boost" and "EPO Boost" are used interchangeably. It's claimed on the website that there should be 8g of echinacea per 4 capsules of "EPO Boost" but the label doesn't actually say that. The only way to know if it's true would be to have the product tested independently. This is common for many supplements but something to be wary of. What you buy isn't always what you think you're getting.

This is an interesting link about some diet products and what they actually contained when tested by the FDA.

_"Pills spiked with powerful undisclosed drugs. This year FDA found so many diet pills secretly laced with powerful drugs that it was impossible for the Slim Chance selection panel to single out any, and could only group them together as "dangerous and outrageous." FDA cited 69 weight loss "supplements" containing hidden, potentially harmful drugs or toxic substances, most imported from China, and says there may be hundreds more. In an analysis of 28 weight-loss products FDA found sibutramine (a controlled substance) in all of them; some also contained rimonabant, phenytoin or phenolphthalein. Sibutramine is associated with high blood pressure, seizures, tachycardia, palpitations, heart attack and stroke, and the potency in the pills tested as high as three times prescription doses. Rimonabant (not approved in the U.S.), has been linked to five deaths and 720 adverse reactions in Europe during the past two years, and to increased risk of seizures, depression, anxiety, insomnia, aggressiveness and suicidal thoughts. In October the European Medicines Agency recommended halting all sales of the drug. Phenolphthalein is a suspected cancer causing agent. FDA warned consumers not to buy or use any of the 28 products. (For more information go to www.fda.gov and search "tainted weight loss pills.")"_ *Healthyweightnetwork.com*

http://www.healthyweightnetwork.com/fraud.htm

Pictured below: BRL "EPO Boost" advertisement from VeloNews February 2011 is an example of how supplements can be marketed in a misleading manner. It's complete with a "Science and Nutrition" headline, and written in a style resembling a news article. This is to try and convince readers that it's actually a review or editorial by VeloNews endorsing the product, as opposed to the advertisement it actually is.


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## mward (Apr 7, 2004)

WR304, that was an overkill response to my post. I don't believe anything you can legally take in or out of competition is going to give you an edge. All this looking for a magic bullet would be time better spent training right or paying for coaching. For the money you would spend on a couple of these bottles you could get one of Hunter Allen's training plans and see much bigger gains.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

mward said:


> WR304, that was an overkill response to my post. I don't believe anything you can legally take in or out of competition is going to give you an edge. All this looking for a magic bullet would be time better spent training right or paying for coaching. For the money you would spend on a couple of these bottles you could get one of Hunter Allen's training plans and see much bigger gains.


That post was the shortened version. I cut out the entire section on issues to do with money back guarantees on this sort of product.:eekster:

I always like looking at the claims for supplements to see if they stand up. To adapt a famous saying: "there are lies, damn lies and then there are food supplement advertisements".


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

Most people can benefit by improving the way the breathe....technique.


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## perrygeo (Aug 20, 2008)

To answer the OP question - yes I have tried it and yes it seems to work for me. *

I don't have lab tests to confirm any of the claims and I won't say that it was the product alone that caused an increase in fitness. My personal theory is that the ingredients in VO2Boost don't necessarily make you faster but help you recover and adapt quickly to hard training which is what causes the performance boost. If you just pop pills without doing the work, you'll get nothing. 

What I like about VO2Boost is that all of the individual ingredients are listed and if you do the homework you'll find that they all have at least some evidence of performance enhancement. That's how I found out about it .. I researched a list of viable, legal performance enhancing plants and natural compounds and they were all found in VO2Boost. I suppose I could have bought them all individually but I was willing to pay for convenience and consistent quality. 

One thing that I've found helpful is to take periodic breaks from using adaptogens such as those found in VO2Boost. You don't get the full benefit if you take them 365 days a year ... better to do a few weeks on, week off type of thing. 

* I should add that I'm sponsored by BRL. I spent my own money and tested their products for a season first - only when I was convinced that their products were legit did I approach them about a sponsorship!


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## Hostilemonk (Feb 9, 2011)

Wonder if anyone has experienced the Placebo effect, or the nocebo effect.


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## KPduty (Nov 22, 2004)

This is how it helps: It makes you ride your bike more in order to see if it's actually helping.


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## Hussler (Jul 11, 2011)

I currently use the VO2 Boost product from BRL and have used the EPO Boost in the past.

I have found serious improvements within 8 weeks of training using this product, in 12 months I have gone from doing my Base level rides (I am primarily a Triathlete) on my road bike at 19mph to what I now do at 21mph..... people will argue this is the training effect but I have been stuck at 19mph for 2-3 years now during the winter base period and since taking the product I feel as though it has helped me push past this barrier.

I can do repeated attacks and efforts during races and am able to handle the lactic acid build up better.

I would highly recommend this product!!


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## estabro (Oct 9, 2009)

KPduty said:


> This is how it helps: It makes you ride your bike more in order to see if it's actually helping.


My new bike has made me ride a little faster 'cause it's shiny and I think it's purty.


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## lapinGTI (Dec 30, 2009)

It's so good, so you had to register on this forum to tell us.

Than you, i just order EPO and VO2. Will be twice as fast.



Hussler said:


> I currently use the VO2 Boost product from BRL and have used the EPO Boost in the past.
> 
> I have found serious improvements within 8 weeks of training using this product, in 12 months I have gone from doing my Base level rides (I am primarily a Triathlete) on my road bike at 19mph to what I now do at 21mph..... people will argue this is the training effect but I have been stuck at 19mph for 2-3 years now during the winter base period and since taking the product I feel as though it has helped me push past this barrier.
> 
> ...


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## Bobo1 (Jul 12, 2011)

I have been using V02 Boost since Apr. 2010. I follow it by their recommended 2 months on one week off method during the road racing season. I found out about this product from a friend who had been using for a year or so. I race in the PRO 1/2 fields and got anemic from the extreme training that it takes to compete at this level. I went to the doctor in Apr. 2010 feeling very bad. They did a blood test and found that I had a low red blood cell count. I started looking for vitamin supplements to help my condition. I started using V02 Boost at this time and begin to recover over a period of 3-4 weeks. I continued to use the product through the season and finished VERY strong. I discontinued its use over the winter months of base training. In Jan I started up my program and started to use V02 Boost along with my training. I race for Team Monster Energy and this has been a very good year for me. After running myself down the spring before, I decided to get a blood test in Apr to compare where I was the year before. I was pleased to find that all of my results were normal. This shows the claims to be true as my training/racing load was actually heavier this year than last year. I am very happy with this product and use it to keep me healthy and performing well. I am not a science guy that can break down what is in it. All I know is how I feel racing and what the blood tests confirm. I have never taken any other products to compare but it seems to me that they have hit a perfect balance of natural and most importantly legal ingredients that I fully trust. 

I was so happy with the V02 Boost that I also tried their other product Endurafuel. I can tell you for a fact that you will experience immediate performance improvement with this product. The V02 Boost is a gradual subtle improvement felt over months. The Endurafuel used properly is immediate. I highly recommend you give this a product a try before your next race or hard training day. I recently raced 3 Pro 1/2 races and 2 masters races in the same weekend and finished strong even through the last race with mutiple podiums. If you want to try it and really see how it works here is what I suggest. I consume one serving one hour before my race and a second serving on the bike. I start the race consuming the Endurafuel first then finishing with water with electrolyte supplement. The performance gain is very noticeable. They have a money back guarentee so what do you have to lose?


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## estabro (Oct 9, 2009)

Bobo1 said:


> I have been using V02 Boost since Apr. 2010. I follow it by their recommended 2 months on one week off method during the road racing season. I found out about this product from a friend who had been using for a year or so. I race in the PRO 1/2 fields and got anemic from the extreme training that it takes to compete at this level. I went to the doctor in Apr. 2010 feeling very bad. They did a blood test and found that I had a low red blood cell count. I started looking for vitamin supplements to help my condition. I started using V02 Boost at this time and begin to recover over a period of 3-4 weeks. I continued to use the product through the season and finished VERY strong. I discontinued its use over the winter months of base training. In Jan I started up my program and started to use V02 Boost along with my training. I race for Team Monster Energy and this has been a very good year for me. After running myself down the spring before, I decided to get a blood test in Apr to compare where I was the year before. I was pleased to find that all of my results were normal. This shows the claims to be true as my training/racing load was actually heavier this year than last year. I am very happy with this product and use it to keep me healthy and performing well. I am not a science guy that can break down what is in it. All I know is how I feel racing and what the blood tests confirm. I have never taken any other products to compare but it seems to me that they have hit a perfect balance of natural and most importantly legal ingredients that I fully trust.
> 
> I was so happy with the V02 Boost that I also tried their other product Endurafuel. I can tell you for a fact that you will experience immediate performance improvement with this product. The V02 Boost is a gradual subtle improvement felt over months. The Endurafuel used properly is immediate. I highly recommend you give this a product a try before your next race or hard training day. I recently raced 3 Pro 1/2 races and 2 masters races in the same weekend and finished strong even through the last race with mutiple podiums. If you want to try it and really see how it works here is what I suggest. I consume one serving one hour before my race and a second serving on the bike. I start the race consuming the Endurafuel first then finishing with water with electrolyte supplement. The performance gain is very noticeable. They have a money back guarentee so what do you have to lose?


Cool story, bro.

Mods- can we delete this SPAM bull-shiz?


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## mward (Apr 7, 2004)

Bobo1;8232517They did a blood test and found that I had a low red blood cell count. I started looking for vitamin supplements to help my condition. I started using POO Boost at this time and begin to recover over a period of 3-4 weeks[/QUOTE said:


> So POOBoost is just an iron supplement? Is that what you're saying? Surely you're not implying that POOBoost helped you overcome anemia? Smells like horse ****. And all you ****tards astroturfing this forum can go eat hot death.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Bobo1 said:


> I race in the PRO 1/2 fields and got anemic from the extreme training that it takes to compete at this level. I went to the doctor in Apr. 2010 feeling very bad. They did a blood test and found that I had a low red blood cell count. I started looking for vitamin supplements to help my condition. I started using V02 Boost at this time and begin to recover over a period of 3-4 weeks. I continued to use the product through the season and finished VERY strong.
> ...
> I have never taken any other products to compare but it seems to me that they have hit a perfect balance of natural and most importantly legal ingredients that I fully trust.


If your diet is poor to begin with, and you are borderline anaemic, then supplementing with Vitamin B-12 and iron could be useful. These are both inexpensive items though and there's no need to spend hundreds of dollars per year.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/anaemiab12.htm

The amount of Vitamin B-12 per 4 capsules of "V02 Boost" is listed as 1g.

Looking on Amazon 1g Vitamin B-12 tablets cost $16.57 for 300 tablets. $20.16 USD for a 365 day supply.

http://www.amazon.com/Spring-Valley...ef=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1310568989&sr=1-2

Iron tablets are very cheap too. The ones I'd suggest if you're concerned about possibly being anaemic are Ferrous Sulphate tablets 200mg and take one a day. They're available over the counter from a Pharmacy without a prescription in the UK.

http://xpil.medicines.org.uk/ViewPil.aspx?DocID=18081

Doing that instead will save you well over $750 USD a year. (unless you're sponsored and get them for free of course).



Hussler said:


> I have found serious improvements within 8 weeks of training using this product, in 12 months I have gone from doing my Base level rides (I am primarily a Triathlete) on my road bike at 19mph to what I now do at 21mph..... people will argue this is the training effect but I have been stuck at 19mph for 2-3 years now during the winter base period and since taking the product I feel as though it has helped me push past this barrier.


Dietary supplements are something which offer marginal gains at best. They generally promise a lot and deliver very little.

There's no way that just taking these supplements, and not changing anything else, will make you go consistently 2 mph faster every ride after 12 months of taking them. It's a nice idea that just taking lots of expensive supplements can provide a big jump in performance but it doesn't work like that in practice unfortunately.


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