Game Time® – Game on?
First, to clarify, I do not have any relationship whatsoever with Corr-Jensen Laboratories Inc. I found this recent clinical trial about their product, Game Time® while searching for Cordyceps on PubMed. If you would like to find out more information on the line of products available from Corr-Jensen Laboratories Inc., their products are marketed under the brand, Training Day®. If you’re already thinking about Denzel Washington, yes, he was in the movie, Training Day, but that’s completely unrelated.
What does Game Time® contain?
Game Time® contains a proprietary blend of the following ingredients: whey protein, cordyceps sinensis, creatine, citrulline, ginseng, and caffeine.
Cordyceps is a Tibetan mushroom used in traditional Chinese medicine for “lung protection.” It has been studied previously for potential benefits including enhancing endurance and lung function.
The results of a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled studied about Game Time(R) was recently published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (Smith et al, 2010). In this particular study, they examined the effects of a pre-workout supplement (Game Time) combined with three weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in moderately- trained recreational athletes.
The study authors did concede that three weeks of HIIT alone did improve anaerobic performance, body composition, and VO2 max.
Results:
- Significant improvement in VO2 max (10.3% vs 2.9% in placebo)
- Lean body mass increased (+1.2 kg vs -0.5kg in placebo)*
- Training volume was 11.6% higher in the Game Time(R) (GT) group than placebo*
- Body fat percentage decreased (3.2% vs 2.2% in placebo)
- Anaerobic running capacity increased (10.6% vs 22.9% in placebo)
- Critical velocity increased in GT group (+2.9%, placebo didn’t change).*
*results differed significantly from placebo (p values <.05)
What do these results mean?
Limitations of this study design include the relatively small sample size of subjects (24 total) along with the single-blind as opposed to double-blind design. Participants are blinded to the study intervention in a single-blind study while the administrators know which intervention the subjects are receiving. In the preferred method, a double-blind study, both the participants and administrators are blinded to the intervention which reduces potential bias.
Compared to the placebo group which did experience statistically significant benefits on many of these outcome measures, the Game Time(R) group differed statistically from placebo on the measures of training volume, critical velocity, and lean body mass.
Curiously, anaerobic running capacity improved more in the placebo group than the Game Time(R) group in this study through a statistical comparison between these groups is not available until the full text of this study is available.
Game Time® Conclusions:
Conclusions: This study showed that even 3 weeks of HIIT training resulted in improvements on several of the listed outcome measures. Additionally, the Game Time(R) group additionally improved on measures of lean body mass, critical velocity, and training volume in comparison to placebo.
Clinical trials on dietary supplement products, as opposed to ingredients, are often lacking. For this reason, I applaud Corr-Jensen Laboratories Inc. for performing this trial and publishing their results in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The cost of conducting trials of this nature for dietary supplement products can be considerable.
Reference:
- Smith AE, Fukuda DH, Kendall KL, Stout JR. The effects of a pre-workout supplement containing caffeine, creatine, and amino acids during three weeks of high-intensity exercise on aerobic and anaerobic performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010 Feb 15;7(1):10