Dear Lyle,
I’m a big fan of yours Lyle as you have always provided invaluable advice for bodybuilders on the net! Lyle I was wondering if you can help me out. I am in the middle of losing bodyfat and cutting up. I have been on the ECA stack with 500 mg of l-tyrosine for months now and have seen very good results along with my morning cardio. I was wondering what you
I thought about Yohimbine for fat lose in MEN (I know women see good results with it). Should I take yohimbine (Twinlab) for further fat loss or is it an unstudied product for fat loss? Also if I take yohimbine, should I take it with the ECA stack or on days I am not on the ECA stack? How much l-tyrosine is effective when taking the stack? I have been taking 500 mg but have been told 1 gm is much better. Lyle, are thermogenic products like Ripped Fuel even close to the real ECA stack? I find Ripped Fuel and Thermadrene are not as effective. Should I take Ripped Fuel with an aspirin and l-tyrosine to make it better? thanks for your help Lyle and God bless!
Answer:
Jeez, where to start?
I would have to say that yohimbe will have relatively greater effects in women than men but only because women tend to have higher levels of alpha-2 receptors than men do. But it might cause some additional fat loss in men and I think it’s worth a try. Do note that some people get really wild heart rate responses from combining ECA with yohimbe so make sure to raise the dosage of the yohimbe gradually. Yohimbe needs to be taken on an empty stomach and is probably going to be most beneficial for cardio done first things in the morning. A female bodybuilder I helped prep for a contest last year got her best results taking yohimbe by itself (she worked up to 24 mg per day) with caffeine before her morning cardio. Then she’d wait about 4 hours (to let the yohimbe clear her system) and then use ECA during the rest of the day. And she was ripped.
AS to tyrosine, 500-1000 mg seems to work well for most people. As a real life example, I gave my training partner (who has been on ECA non-stop for almost 3 years now) 1000 mg of l-tyrosine and he noticed a BIG kick from it.
I would have to say that the herbal forms of ECA (like ripped fuel) are probably not as potent as the drug forms. They don’t have the same kick but they don’t have as many side effects either (in terms of jitters, etc). so it’s a six of one, half a dozen of another situation. If you can get and handle ECA, I think it’s the better choice. If ECA gets you too wired (or you can’t get real ephedrine) you can use the herbals and get at least *some* effects.
I do think that the tyrosine will help with herbal ECA products though. There is still some debate on just how much the aspirin helps. The studies seem to suggest that it does more for obese individuals compared to lean but I don’t see that it can really hurt.
About the author
Lyle McDonald+ is the author of the Ketogenic Diet as well as the Rapid Fat Loss Handbook and the Guide to Flexible Dieting. He has been interested in all aspects of human performance physiology since becoming involved in competitive sports as a teenager. Pursuing a degree in Physiological Sciences from UCLA, he has devoted nearly 20 years of his life to studying human physiology and the science, art and practice of human performance, muscle gain, fat loss and body recomposition.