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Labrada's Creatine and Glutamine Supplements
by Hugo Rivera
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For those of you that don't know Lee Labrada, Lee is a former world champion professional bodybuilder
and a past winner of the IFBB Mr. Universe and twenty-two
bodybuilding titles. He is one of only three men in history to place
in the top four in the Mr.Olympia for seven consecutive years, a
feat matched only by legends Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lee
Haney. Lee has been featured on the covers of over 100
magazines worldwide, in hundreds of articles, and has appeared
on NBC and ESPN television. Lee is co-author of Get Lean, and two
exercise videos, "I Want To Pump You Up!" and "Mass With
Class".
Lee has always been on my list of favorite bodybuilders not only because he achieved a physique that epithomizes how bodybuilders should look like, but also because of the professional manner in which he represents the sport. Besides, I also identify with him as like myself, he is a 5'5" bodybuilder of latin descent who also holds a bachelors in engineering. I know what it takes to go through engineering school, so believe me when I say that Lee is no musclehead.
Sometime in the 1990's Lee Labrada decided to found Labrada Nutrition, a sports supplement company based in Houston, Texas. In a market where there is a lot of snake oil lurking in every corner, it was a relief to see somebody that not only has the knowledge on the needs of bodybuilders (and also other people that want to get in shape) but also has the integrity to produce quality products.
Usually I buy his Labrada bars on a pretty consistent basis as they are very convenient to have on the run and are also very tasty; I mean, my whole family loves them-especially the chocolate coconut flavor. This month, when I ran out of my creatine and glutamine supplements, I decided to take advantage of a special that his company was running through his site www.labrada.com and get those supplements through him.
When his very nice customer service representative told me that it would take 5-10 business days to get the products, I was prepared to wait for 10 days. However, to my surprise, I got the product in 5 days! When I opened the box I was pleased to see my jar of creatine and my jar of glutamine. One thing that I really love about the way that he designed this jars is the fact that they are big enough for you to fit your hand in them in order to access the powder. A problem that I see with most supplement manufacturers is that they selll their creatine and glutamine products in bottles that make it virtually impossible to access the powder once the level drops below the middle of the bottle. In addition, most manufacturers do not supply the customer with a 5 gram scoop, something that Labrada does as well (I mean, how expensive can supplying a small 5 gram scoop can be?).
Powder Quality
One thing that Lee makes very clear in both the labels and his website is the fact that every product that is shipped is tested for quality and purity (you can even write the company in order to see the full lab report on the product). When I opened up the bottles, the high quality of the powders was readily evident. Both powders were odorless, pearl white and very grainy. When you move the jar the powder moves along with the motion. This is a great sign. A powder that is clumped up or is like chalk is either a powder of very poor quality, an expired one, a powder that may not be pure or one that may even have impurities in it! (Refer to my article on The Basics of Creatine and see the section "Good Sources/Bad Sources" where I talk about creatine quality). In addition, one thing that I like is that both powders are 100% pure. What that means is that if you take a 5 gram serving of the powder you are getting 5 grams of creatine or 5 grams of glutamine respectively. Watch out for powders that claim to be 100% pure but yet tell you to take 2 teaspoons (10 grams) in order to get 5 grams of the desired compound. If you need to take 10 grams of a powder in order to have 5 grams of the compund that you are looking for, that indicates that the powder is not 100% pure as there are 5 extra grams of something else in it.
When I took my three grams of creatine 30 minutes prior to my leg workout, I certainly got the results that good creatine gives me during a workout; namely a great pump along with an uncanny capability to recover fast in between sets. As a matter of fact, since I started using it, I have been exclusively training with non-stop supersets (refer to my New York Workouts, Part 1 and Part 2 articles in order to see this style of training) without a problem. After the workout I take 3 more grams with the post workout meal and also 5 grams of glutamine.
Conclusion
While I am not saying that Labrada's creatine and glutamine products are the only products in the market that work and are high quality, what I am saying is that his claims of utmost quality on the products he produces are certainly true. Combine that with the fact that the prices are one of the best in the market and you have excellent cost effective products. So in conclusion, Labrada's Creatine and Glutamine products get two thumbs up from my part. From now on, Labrada will be the brand that I will be using for my creatine and glutamine supplements.
Even if you decide not to check out his products, it is certainly worth it to at least check out his site www.labrada.com as he has alot of good free information on how to get in shape. He even has a Free Coaching Club where people get very useful free weekly tips on their e-mail on how to get in shape.
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