I figured I'd post this write-up here (I originally wrote it for another forum that I participate in). Please excuse the parts where I go over some of the background info on C60 as it was originally intended for others that aren't necessarily as familiar with it as you guys I do believe there might be some useful observations in here to share, hence my decision to put it here. Please feel free do with this as you please!
Buckyballs, Exercise, and Me...
Preface
I've gathered enough data now to write-up my first weeks experience with C60 olive oil. You'll have to excuse my long-windedness, I tend to do that. I also sometimes ramble a little off topic. Anyhow, this is my write-up and I hope it makes at least some sense :o
A few caveats to get out of the way before I begin.. This is not a scientific test.
I'm pretty sure a 5th grader could design a better study than this. So, you're just reading my opinion which as much as I've tried to remain objective, it is probably fairly biased towards expecting positive results. Naturally, that would be my ideal outcome for anything new I try. I'd also mention that C60 is not something to be taken lightly. It certainly didn't turn me into the bionic man, but it did have quite a noticeable effect (on me at least). There are still a lot of unknowns and potential risks that may be associated with it and as much as I try to improve my athletic abilities, I must still strike some sort of a balance between health and performance with overall health being the goal in mind. I'm not sure where C60 fits into all of that at the moment, so without any indication of exactly how its doing what it does, the best approach I have is to take it intermittently, at as low a dose as I can.
My Summary Thoughts & Conclusions
- 3mg was enough to produce noticeable effects. I suspect (although admittedly I have nothing to prove this) that people are taking way more of it than is actually needed.
- I think its likely that there may be a 'therapeutic window' regarding exercise gains that eventually closes with uninterrupted use. This is just an assumption on my part based on experience with other PED's. For athletic purposes it may be best to use it on some sort of cyclic schedule, but again that is purely speculation on my part.
- C60 is multi-faceted. On the one hand it appears that it (might) dramatically extend the lifespan of rats, as much as 90%. On the other hand it also appears to significantly increase exercise endurance in humans.
- There are several interesting theories (ROS, De-Methyl, SOD mimetic, epigenic mtDNA, etc) regarding the common denominator to explain how it works in vivo but its all speculation (albeit very good) at this point. Peer reviewed follow-up studies are likely still a good way off.
- The stated opinion of the authors of the original study is that the effects of C60 in olive oil are due to the optimized structure of the C60 lipofullerene molecule and its ability to capture free radicals. I tend to believe this too.. and being a believer in Occams Razor I personally think the SOD mimetic / ROS catalyst theory fits well with my observed results.
- Looking back through my notes, the most common denominator I see are effects that can be attributed to delayed onset of muscle fatigue, and a general feeling that the 'peak power output' of the muscle was lasting far greater than normal.
- The delayed fatigue was most noticeable in exercises requiring a rapid sustained burst of muscle energy.
- I did not experience anything in my opinion during a purely aerobic phase of training. There were no noticeable effects during the 6-8 mile runs I did.
- I noted an increased rate of recovery immediately following intense exercise (as much as 35%) and a general feeling of being more recovered than usual over the course of a week. Perhaps about fifteen percent or so, overall.
- I'm sure its almost certain that C60 interacts in unknown ways with various drugs & supplements, and across a host of metabolic pathways.
- There are so many unknowns at this point. How will it effect the metabolic clearance of prescription drugs? Will it interact with MAO inhibitors? What is its effect on ferritin levels? What is its true role in immune activation? Is it really hypothetically possible that it can attach to the minor groove of DNA? Does the lipofullerene molecule oxidize in solution over time? Will it give me cancer??
- So that leads me to my last point. As the saying goes... You pays your money and you takes your chance.
Begin LOG!
Intro:
There are a number of anecdotal reports out there that add up to show that the most common observed (short term) "effect" of C60 is increased exercise endurance. I plan to explore that concept more in-depth. It also seems from the anecdotal reports of those exercising with C60, that its most beneficial to older guys (like myself) whose bodies don't function as well as they used to. More proof that getting old 'aint so bad'.. at least stuff works that doesn't seem to in younger people.
I would say that's reasonable assumption. From a point of perspective, if you were to give a 40 year old guy the metabolism of a 20 year old that would be a profound experience. Give a 25 year old the metabolism of a 20 year old, and not so much. Also, looking at this from a purely exercise related point of view of what C60 does, IMHO I think that if you're a rather sedentary person your not going to experience much, if not any of these immediate changes I noticed.
All that being said, the big question of course is was it an experimental fluke that the rats in the Baati study lived 90% past their normal lifespans, with no signs of cancer/disease that would normally be present? I really hope that can be answered in the future and I'll leave that to a smarter person than myself; however for the purposes of this write up I'm just going to speak of my initial experience with C60 and its effects on the various workouts I do
I'm going to use an intermittent dosing protocol (3mg on Tuesday and 3mg on Friday) and assess the results based on key workouts that I do during the week that target specific performance related goals. The workouts are either largely anaerobic, aerobic, or a hybrid of the two so there should be some useful data gathered on C60's effect on different metabolic pathways.
Below is a brief bio on me regarding what I feel is relevant to the overall results.
Test Subject:
I am male (ref. pic below)
I am 42 (will be 43 in October)
I am approx 6' 1" 185lbs
I having been exercising consistently 5-6 days a week for 28 years.
I have a fair bit of experience with AAS, and various supplements, PED's etc, having used those for roughly the past 20 years.
My background is primarily weight training, but I have for about the past 6 years taken a much more rounded approach to fitness that includes weight training, plyometrics, endurance training, martial arts, and functional type exercises. I have done all of these though, to varying degrees throughout my life.
I am a so-so runner. I run approx 18-20 miles a week.
I have hypoglycemia and try to avoid carbohydrates
I have a good bit of chronic inflammation that I struggle to keep under control, and am always fighting that aspect of it.
I've had my share of training related injuries including a torn pectoral, fractured metatarsal, ruptured disk, Sciatica, etc.
I tend to train at a high level, usually around 85-90% of maximum effort.
Over the years, adaptation and improvements are far and few between. I have a pretty stable baseline and I can usually notice 3-5% improvements. Such an improvement of that magnitude would be considered a worthwhile endeavor to me.
(Yours Truly)
Tuesday Workout
The workout I do on Tuesdays I perform in my garage, after work. I can say that in the middle of the summer here in the deep south it can get quite hot and heat is definitely a factor during the summer months. The heat adds a difficulty factor to an already difficult workout so I figured this one would be a good test since I typically am barely able to grind through it, having to exert 95-98% towards the end of this 2 part workout. As I mentioned, the workout is comprised of 2 parts.
Part 1
The first is a functional type routine that involves lifting a 75-80lb log in various positions:
('Old Misery' with 20lbs of plates duct taped to the ends)
1) Laying down rotate the log into a vertical position (ie. lengthwise with your body) and press 15 times
2) Rotate the log (still laying down) to a horizontal position and press 15 times
3) Stand up and throw the log over your shoulder and press it side to side overhead 15 times
4) Drop the log off your shoulder into a curl position and curl it 15 times
5) Rest 4 min
Repeat 4x
The purpose of this exercise is to train all the little stabilizer muscles and develop a good functional strength for athletics & general use that focuses on being able to exert heavy muscle force dynamically in various positions, without running out of steam. That kind of sounds way cooler than it actually is, so I would just refer to it as endurance strength. Its useful (to me) for obstacle course 5k races like warrior dash, spartan etc. It takes about 25 minutes to complete and is very intense, as you are lifting an awkward shaped bulky object 60 times per set while hauling it around into position. Do this 4 times and you've got 240 reps. On a side note, I dream about adding 15 reps of squats to the end of each set but I admit I am afraid of that notion :rolleyes:
Results
Tuesday afternoon I took 3mg approx. 4-5 hours before my afternoon workout.Going into part 1 of the exercise I felt pretty good in general, not too tired mentally from the workday etc and I had not noted anything up to this point noticeable (in any way from) the c60 taken 4-5 hours previous. I was in a fairly skeptical state of mind with my attitude at the time being 'I'll run through this as usual and see if anything shows up'. I picked up the log for the first set and noticed it felt a little light hefting it into position but in all honesty that's not too uncommon depending on how hot the afternoon is and how tired I am from the days work. I did note however, that it felt esp. easy to pick up which was a little odd. The first 8 reps of pressing the log told me right away that something was going on. Its hard to describe, but its like there was a fairly large energy reserve still remaining behind each rep, as if no fatigue was accumulating. I remember thinking during the set that I wanted to throw the log into the air a little bit for several reps just to see if I could (fortunately I didn't) but had I wanted to tap that extra energy I'm certain it would have been possible.
It was very weird that I thought that, and the perception wasn't really that of increased strength but of some kind of increased propulsive power. I think that's a key point in this personally. I did fatigue out over the course of the 4 sets, but at the end of sets 3 and 4 typically I can just barely give it my all and get the 15th rep of the shoulder press part. This time around I made it a point to notice where I was at the end of those last sets and I felt as I could have given about 4 more reps past the 15th. This being primarily from a feeling of not reaching total muscle fatigue like I usually would at that point.
Overall, once fully into the workout with my body becoming fatigued and trying to clear out all the waste byproducts of the exercise I felt subjectively about 25-30% less worn down at the end of part 1. In a sense I felt I cruised through it smoothly when normally its an absolute struggle to complete. Regarding the feeling of not struggling through it - That is very significant, as the closest reference I have that matches that perception is a testosterone/EQ (steroid) cycle. But that being said, with an AAS cycle its more of a greater strength ability that's translating into less perceived work. What was different though from anything I've ever experienced using AAS, was that feeling of enhanced propulsive power, and the perception of delayed muscle fatigue that wasn't hormone-enhancement related. In a sense with C60 it was not like I was charging through the weight and muscle burn with brute force power; there simply wasn't any real feeling of muscle burn and there was that immediate feeling that what I was lifting was not as heavy as I thought it was. Very perplexing to feel that sensation!
The second part of my workout is a boxing stations routine.
Part 2
1) 3min heavy bag
2) 60sec rest
3) 3min jump rope
4) 60sec rest
5) 3min speed bag
6) 60sec rest
Repeat this sequence 3x for a total of nine 3 min rounds.
The purpose of this exercise is to build endurance, speed, and coordination. I feel like this is the most challenging part of the workout, since it comes on the heels of part 1 and forces you to switch gears and perform lots of repetitive high intensity movements with lots of motor coordination. while under heavy fatigue with minimal rest. That also sounds way cooler than it probably is I'd say it pretty much hammers your CNS and lactate threshold. It really tends to leave me feeling completely wiped out mentally as well as physically. Many times it takes at least a full day to recover from it. Good times for sure.
Results
Starting off this part of the routine, I felt that I was definitely more rested than I normally would be at this point. I generally try and box the bag with good form and technique, occasionally throwing power punches in here and there. For the most part I try and 'fire' jabs and straights with speed and snap. This is important to mention, since again like the start of the first part I noticed right away something different was going on. I found I could explosively 'fire' the punches with much greater speed than normal, and this lasted through most of the round. Usually I tend to start burning out fatigue-wise about halfway into the round but I was able to maintain the snap of the punches down to about the last 45 seconds. I also noted I felt steadier on footwork than normal and had a sensation of being more coordinated in my movements, perhaps due to delayed fatigue but I have to mention that I did indeed feel a sense of coordination and ease through the footwork and punching that normally is not there. There's no question though that the punches were much more quick & explosive, by a wide margin. I've been training consistently on the heavy bag for about 5 years now so I know this is not just a case of 'punching a little harder this time around'. Very interesting for sure.
Moving on to the jump rope routine I typically need to stop about halfway into the 3 min round and pause for 15 sec to catch my breath (I'm old ). I felt comfortable this time around waiting until the 1 minute mark to do this and in the later rounds, down to the 45 second mark. I was careful to not 'self-fufill' the desire to see improvement in this part and simply took my pause when I got that feeling I normally get that says 'stop don't overdo do it!'. Seems there was some definite improvement here. I felt a little bit more light on my feet but not enough to say it was significant. I do not recall tripping on the jump rope now that I think about it, I usually do about 2-3 times but that's not necessarily an indication of anything. I've certainly had occasional good jump rope sessions in the past w/o a trip. Total reps for each rope round is about 350.
Moving on to the speed bag routine, I noted something very interesting. I normally tend to 'mess-up' on the speed bag rhythm about 3-5 times each round. My timing is usually off just a hair and I'm fatigued, slow on the rebound etc. I noted that I only lost the bag rhythm 3-4 times across all three of the rounds. This is not something I really have control over and it was very apparent that I was able to track the bag with more precision, enough so to significantly not screw up like I have countless times in the past. Part of that could be due to not reaching the level of shoulder-arm fatigue I usually experience at this point. I know for sure that I didn't have to switch hands constantly and rest one against my chin to wear off lactic acid (while hitting the bag with the other hand) so I can use it again.
If I could quantify how I felt after finishing the workout, I noted that it felt I was about 35% less worn out overall. I have trouble accepting that number, but that is the figure I came back to again and again after running everything through my mind about how I felt vs. previous workouts (I've done this same routine on Tuesdays close to 100 times now over the past year and months).
That night I felt very good up until dinner time and didn't feel like I had pushed myself nearly to the point I had usually with this workout. Shortly after dinner though I started feeling pretty bad. I just kind of felt sick in a way and very dragging. I did not sleep well at all.
Wednesday
For the most part I felt awful the entire day :( I felt completely drained, and 'out of it' in general, feeling kind of hot and feverish. Not good!
I mention all this because I think its relevant in the following manner - I had baked fish, steamed veggies, Greek yogurt, and a boiled egg for dinner that night. In the past I have had allergic food reactions to fish, eggs, peanut butter, and shrimp. However for the past 8-10 years now it has largely gone away (it used to be so bad my face looked like I got into poison ivy with eyes swelled almost shut!) What always led to this type of a reaction was a combination of over-stressing my body in some way (too much exercise or drinking usually) and eating one of those mentioned foods. Either by itself was mostly ok, but combine those 2 things and I'd likely suffer a major immune-related inflammatory response!
I still get 'echoes' of those food allergies from time to time, and this is exactly what I think happened that night and into the next day. The extreme workout stress was there (despite my perceived decrease in fatigue), and the danger foods were there. Also, there is evidence that C60 has immune-stimulation properties.
Is there a connection here in that regard? Possibly. I'm going to really watch for this and if it happens again, I'm probably going to discontinue use.
In any case, despite feeling quite bad that entire day I went ahead after work and drove over to the lakes to do my afternoon 6 mile run. This actually ended up going really well. I'm hesitant to comment too much on it because I happened to buy a new pair of running shoes earlier at lunchtime and they were a bit of a letdown. The shoes felt very sluggish and unresponsive, I ended up returning them the next day. Despite all that I turned a very decent time, the mile splits looked slightly better than average and in fact close to the lowest times since the summer heat arrived. However, having changed something so significant as the shoes I'm hesitant to draw any conclusions on the effect (if any) of C60 on purely aerobic endurance. In any case, my main aerobic endurance test will be the Saturday AM 8 mile run.
Thursday
Woke up at 5 am for a trip to the gym. I felt esp. well rested, which seemed a bit out of the norm. Much more so than the previous week, but beyond that, that's about as far back as I remember stuff like that . I figured this would be interesting to see if there were any anaerobic changes to note since this is purely a weight training routine. This is one of two muscle-building workouts I do at the end of the week. Its strictly an anaerobic routine of chest/shoulders/tris comprised of classic free-weight exercises. 3 sets each exercise, 8-10 reps. Not a whole lot, about 18-20 sets total for the workout followed by an easy 15 min stationary bike.
Results
I really didn't notice anything out of the ordinary during the weight routine except during the one exercise where I decided that in the interest of time I should hurry up and finish the shoulder routine by doing a combo exercise of free-weight upright bar rows super-set with dumbell side laterals. After pushing slow heavy 8-9 rep sets on the bench press, incline etc and not noticing anything at all, I unexpectedly got that feeling again that I was speeding through the reps and it was a really light load. I used the same amount of weight I have in the past, too.
The only real difference here is the reps are higher, always to 12 and the pace is a bit quicker. Plus you immediately rack the bar and grab the dumbells, repping out the last 12 (and completing the super-set). My only thoughts on this are that there doesn't appear to be any kind of increase in muscle torque that would be useful in those heavy muscle contraction sets. That's distinctly different than AAS, and maybe this all comes down to delayed onset of muscle fatigue? I don't know, its still hard to reconcile anything here with Tuesdays experience other than there were some similarities there with the super-set portion I just mentioned. I'm probably going to need to get in a few more of these workouts
Friday
Woke up at 5 am for day 2 of the gym workout to complete the end of week weight training routine. I didn't feel quite as good as Wed. but certainly ok and nothing out of the norm. Today I did a basic back/biceps routine, doing 8 sets for back consisting of t-bar rows, lat pull-downs, and pull-overs. Next I did 8 sets of biceps, using free weights for various exercises. I followed this up with a short 15 min ride on the stationary bike.
Results
I'm fairly certain that I did not notice anything out of the ordinary today except that the workout went very smooth, with less 'dragging' on my part than usual. I typically feel pretty tired in my early AM routines since its the end of the week and I've had quite a few workouts by this point plus a full weeks work, family obligations, etc. I think I can confirm for the most part there's not much in the way of AAS type effects, at least from what I've seen thus far.
Saturday
This is my other 'Key' workout that is very important to me. It's here where I work the most on developing a good aerobic base for endurance running. Plus, I really like to run. I'm just not that good at it, unfortunately In any case, its a great relaxing time to unwind from the week for about an hour, starting around sunrise. The family is sleeping, the outside world is quiet, its still cool outside, and the sun is just coming up over the horizon.. Ahhh
(out with the old, in with the new!)
Results
I took my 3mg dose of C60 the night before, not noticing anything out of the ordinary during this time. I have not had any allergic trouble since Wednesday but I did have a lingering feeling of irritation on my skin, like I'm still recovering from that incident.
Earlier as I had mentioned I replaced the old pair of running shoes (and the new ones that didn't work out) with just another pair of my favorites so it was pretty much business as usual. During the run I definitely did not feel anything out of the ordinary, in fact I felt I struggled a little. The run ended up well overall with an improvement in time that was consistent with previous weeks improvements. However, I attribute that to really kicking in the last couple of miles at a quicker pace than usual.
To further explain, towards the end of the run I decided to give something a try and test a different scenario. I decided to kick in the last couple miles about as hard as I would want to for a training run and I seemed to not quite reach the level of exhaustion I normally would in doing so. Plus, my pace during this last effort was surprisingly a bit quicker than that amount of effort would usually produce, about 15-20 sec/mile faster than usual (for a kick-in). Again, I seemed to recover very quickly after the run and return to a lower metabolic resting state much sooner than usual. However, as I stated earlier I did not note any direct improvement in aerobic endurance overall, it was only during the kick-in and to be honest I can't really say anything definitive on that. Both the runs actually had the sensation of struggling a bit more than usual, which may or may not be notable. It was only at the end of this run when I started using more glycogen based energy to kick in the last 2 miles did I notice anything.
Summary and Random thoughts
I feel that overall I experienced some very positive effects. As I write this summary I have a pretty good feeling of being in a more rested state, and that is notable for me. For the most part my workout routines leave me in a recovery deficit at the start of the next week so this is quite nice and unexpected. I hope I can capitalize on some of that and improve the runs via better general recovery. I don't know why I have the nagging sensation that I'm a slightly more sluggish on the runs than normal, but I do. I am also slightly concerned about the allergic reaction and the feeling that my skin is slightly irritated and 'prickly' feeling. However, those are not uncommon sensations for me, its just something to keep note of that I will be watching closely in the future. I hope to report further after a few more weeks and I'm sure that I will have an overall clearer picture and perhaps some new observations that might contradict what I've said above.
The last point I'll mention is my hypoglycemia seems much improved, almost non-existent now. I don't know what to make of that or why that would be the case. I guess more time will tell if that's all in my mind, but its unlikely I could relieve myself of hypo symptoms by wishful thinking (Believe me I've tried that )
My current to-do list is:
1) Investigate if timing the dose has any effect on performance.
2) Do some more workouts (obviously!)
3) Cover the C60 bottle in tinfoil to err towards the side of caution (it is photosensitive)
3) Keep an eye on some positive skin changes that may be occurring. (despite the skin irritation issue)
4) Make note of any inflammation changes (nothing bad so far)
5) Try some more anaerobic running, ie 100, 200, 400M sprints and note if there are any effects.
To be continued...