HICA

Most of you know my list of "must-have" supplements – whey protein, casein protein, creatine, beta-alanine, betaine, and BCAAs to name a few.

But if you've seen the ads for Labrada Nutrition's HICA Max, you may wonder if HICA belongs on that list. The rest of you may wonder what the heck HICA is. So I've decided to break it down for you.

You should know by now that leucine is one of, if not the most critical of all the amino acids when it comes to muscle growth.

And there are a number of leucine metabolites that also have anabolic and anticatabolic properties in the body, such as KIC (Ketoisocaproate) and HMB (beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate). Alpha-hydroxyisocaproic acid (HICA) is another one. HICA is formed when leucine is completely broken down and has been shown to inhibit muscle loss by blocking the action of catabolic compounds known as metalloproteinases.

The first study to test the effects of supplementing HICA was done in competitive wrestlers by researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

This was just a pilot study and the results were never published. However, they were fairly impressive, nonetheless. The wrestlers were given 500 mg HICA three times per day during six weeks of intense training. They took the HICA after workouts. Yes, they did three workouts per day! I said it was during a period of intense training. At the end of the six weeks, the wrestlers added about 2 pounds of lean muscle to their frames. While this may not sound like much, the results are rather impressive considering they were training up to five hours per day, a time period in which they would be expected to lose muscle. The wrestlers also reported significantly less delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) compared to the previous six weeks when they were not receiving the supplement.

After seeing these results in wrestlers, the Finnish researchers decided to run another study in soccer players.

They gave one group of athletes 500 mg of HICA three times per day with meals while the second group received a placebo over four weeks. All of the athletes participated in an intensive training program consisting of four practice sessions, one match and two weight-training workouts each week.

As they found in the wrestlers, the soccer players receiving HICA increased their muscle mass.

The researchers reported that they added one pound of muscle to their legs. The placebo group, on the other hand, lost muscle as expected due to the high volume of training and energy expenditure over the four weeks. DOMS was also significantly less in the HICA group compared to the placebo group.

Jim's take-home message:

So what do these studies mean for you? Well, both studies on HICA involved periods of very intense training and often multiple workouts per day. While you may be training with a lot of intensity, I doubt that you're doing multiple workouts per day. So it's hard to confirm whether or not HICA would increase muscle mass for those who may train just an hour or 90 minutes per day. However, if you are following an intense program like Showtime or HIIT 100's while also following a strict diet, like in both of these programs, then taking HICA may work to help prevent you from losing muscle and actually help you gain muscle.

I suggest you take 500 mg of HICA three times per day, which is the dosing that they used in the studies.

Take it with meals. On workout days take one dose with your preworkout shake and another with your postworkout shake.

If you do try HICA, let me know how it worked for you and what your training and diet were like.

So far, the feedback that I have received has not been very promising. But none of the guys that were using it were training hard enough or dieting strict enough in my opinion.

Reference:

Mero, A. A., et al. Effects Of α-hydroxyisocaproic Acid On Body Composition, Doms And Performance In Athletes. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 7:1, 2010.

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