Does Citrulline Improve Muscular Performance?

Citrulline, commonly taken as Citrulline Malate in supplements, has been known for a while in the bodybuilding world and thought to have decent performance benefitting effects.

Let's dive in shall we?

Citrulline Malate is commonly found in supplements, typically pre-workouts for the supposed training performance benefits. It is believed to improve blood flow to working muscles and increase muscular endurance

There was a 2019 published meta-analysis which clarifies some of this speculation. The study broke down 12 studies of the performance benefits of Citrulline and found that 8 studies showed promising performance increases.

They concluded that Citrulline had a decent positive effect on strength endurance and also to a small degree improved power output.

How does Citrulline Compare?

Citrulline was found to provide modest benefit to trained and un-trained individuals alike and can improve performance on any movement. To feel these benefits it is recommended to train in the 6+ repetition range.

It promotes performance by almost twice as much as Beta-Alanine, and almost as much as Creatine or Caffeine.

All considered, it is wise to find a pre-workout supplement to contain all 4 of the aforementioned supplements to get the most bang for your buck (now you know why these supplements are commonly found together). Furthermore they are found to have a somewhat synergistic effect which amplifies the performance increase.

How to take Citrulline

To get the most benefit from Citrulline supplementation, it is recommended that you take 8-9g of Citrulline Malate or 4-5g of Citrulline.

Interestingly, some foods such as Watermelon have Citrulline but you would have to eat at least 200g-1kg to get a similar benefit.

If you are supplementing with a pre-workout that has Citrulline in it, you would want to look at the ingredients listing to see if it contains enough Citrulline to provide any benefit because unfortunately a lot of the pre-workout supplements just miss the mark and are filled with numerous cheap "fillers" whilst the beneficial ingredients are miniscule.

 

Is it Worth Taking?

Citrulline shows promising evidence as a supplement to slightly improve training performance through an increase of muscular endurance.

At the end of the day however, the choice comes down to the individual and their personal circumstance whether they find it in their interest to use it as a supplement.

Supplemental Citrulline can be found cheaply though when bought in a complete pre-workout supplement the cost can increase by quite much.

We recommend that it only be added to your supplement regimen after your nutrition habits are in check and after your basic Whey Proteins and Creatine supplements as they show more promising benefits.

As always if you have any concerns or aren't sure how a supplement might affect you, you should visit your local doctor for advice.


Thank you for reading and if you have anything to say about this article please drop a comment below.

Filip,
Co-founder, Freak Athletiq


Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30895562/