Tricking Supplements Volume I

Three things you may have missed

An ambiguous boost: Rhodiola Rosea

I kept ignoring Rhodiola Rosea because the hype surrounding it is crazy.



Reading this book did not help. This book is horrifying, unashamed propaganda.



But somehow I acquired free Rhodiola Rosea samples from www.kare-n-herbs.com.



Rhodiola's effects are incomparable to anything else I've tried.

Tricking benefit #1 - Increased tolerance to heat and humidity.

Alabama summers are hellacious, hot and humid.



It's like venturing into Norfair in Super Metroid without the Varia Power Up. Without the Varia Power Up, you melt.



When I used Rhodiola Rosea during the most treacherously hot days of the summer, I realized something amazing had happened: I stopped suffering from the heat. WHOA! I wasn't looking for, or ever expecting to find a supplement with this amazing effect, but Rhodiola Rosea does this for me; I can withstand Norfair when I use Rhodiola Rosea.

Tricking benefit #2 - Increased focus and stamina

Rhodiola has a laundry list of supposed benefits, and I've come up with a theory on how it does many of the things it claims to do: Go about your day and ignore your breathing, it tends to slump. When your breathing slumps you become weaker. But if you focus on your breathing depth and quality, you will be much calmer and more powerful. When I take Rhodiola Rosea, I notice my involuntary breathing patterns improve for hours after a dose; and it seems like I'm getting more oxygen with every breath. This "improved breathing" helps increase focus and stamina, which helps during strenuous tricking sessions (or stressful situations).

Rhodiola Rosea is pretty cool

I like Rhodiola Rosea a whole lot. The focus and stamina boost it imparts is pleasant and helpful while tricking, but since I already use an insane stack of stimulants and nootropics when I trick, I usually save it for hot weather.

Take it on an empty stomach, it actually does work better that way. When I use it, I take two tablets supplying 360 mg with 4% Rosavin and 2% Salidroside from www.kare-n-herbs.com.

Turn the voltage up: Electrolytes

Maintaining a steady intake of electrolyte tablets during hot, summer tricking sessions makes a remarkable difference in my fatigue resistance. I'm simply able to throw quality tricks longer. Without electrolytes, I feel faint more quickly; and when I feel this way, the sun takes on a visage similar to the sun in Mario 3.



I started using these electrolyte tablets for plyo sessions too. In this comfortable environment, I'd take one tablet before tricking with my stimulant stack. While the benefit wasn't as dramatic as taking it during a heat wave, I did notice one interesting little benefit: My mind wasn't trailing off as quickly.

There are many recipes for creating your own electrolyte formula online, which you can mix yourself into a custom drink. You can buy electrolyte capsules. You can do as most people do and drink a sports drink with electrolytes during a session. You can eat foods like bananas and potato clocks. Or blend various vegetables and fruits into a pre-workout smoothie. I recommend trying all of these to see where your preferences reside. Me? I prefer the pills (not so much the potato clock).

Is it going to kill me?: DMAA

DMAA is a very cheap and powerful stimulant. It's like a very mild, sustained ammonia inhalant without the anger or nostril burning. Anyone who's cracked and whiffed an ammonia capsule knows how it makes you stop thinking and makes you start doing; Ammonia inhalants kill thought and emotion (your humanity), and turn you into a machine for a brief instant. DMAA is almost like that: You stop over-thinking and simply notice that you're in the process... DOING. Movement is smoother and more autonomous.

Unfortunately, DMAA can lead to kidney stone buildup, acts as a mild toxin to your liver, aberates cardiovascular tissue's ability to regulate heart rate, and will destroy irreplaceable cellular receptors in your brain. Eventually, shifts in your visual perception result in our 3-Dimensional reality taking on the appearance of a 2-Dimensional reality. But it's all worth it, because DMAA will improve your tricking performance a little bit.



Joking aside (sort of?) I've discontinued use of DMAA for weeks at a time from when I first began using it almost two years ago, and I've never experienced any symptoms of withdrawal. DMAA isn't even psychologically addictive. I've not experienced anything negative in the long term yet, so far it's business as usual, and business is good.

How much?

25-75 milligrams. At this dose, the stimulant effects seem to last between 2-4 hours, and you would only take this dose before a tricking session, or twice for two tricking sessions spaced apart. If I go up to 100+ mg for a single dose, I feel numb, floaty, a bit sleepy, calm, and nauseated; and my pulse becomes frighteningly high and weak.

July 16th, 2014: After writing this article a couple years ago, there have finally been formal studies on DMAA. It appears the half life is, on average between 7-9 hours and peaks in the blood between 3-5 hours. Following the new result, if you can still acquire DMAA (since it was banned, I was correct in that assumption), you might want to take it a couple hours before you train instead of right before. You can read the study here.

How do you take it?

Buy it as a powder and measure it yourself with a pocket microgram scale, or buy a pre-workout product that contains it like Jack3d.

How good is DMAA?

I like it pretty well. I even ordered 100 grams of the junk. That's about 2500 training sessions worth. Then I borrowed a laboratory gravimetric scale and spent 20 hours one weekend fishing out 50 mg allotments from said 100 gram pile with a microspatula, meticulously loading gelatin capsules until I had an unreasonable quantity of DMAA pills. So Jujimufu will still be freaking out on DMAA long after it's a banned substance or goes way up in price.

Stacking it

My pre-tricking stimulant stack is simply ECA. Ephedrine 12-25 mg, Caffeine 200 mg, Aspirin 325 mg. If I throw in DMAA at 50 mg, I have to reduce Ephedrine to 6-12 mg, otherwise my pulse sky rockets and I feel awful.

Wrapping things up

So there you have it, two supplements that can make a big difference when tricking in nuclear hot weather and a mysterious stimulant that would certainly concern your parents.