Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - The Definitive Guide to Yohimbine Supplementation

Episode Date: November 3, 2017

It seems like every time you turn around, there’s a new weight loss supplement clamoring for your attention. You know, one that promises to shrink your belly fat, curb your appetite, or maybe even allow you to eat anything you damn well please and still lose weight. It all sounds great at first, but by now, most of us realize the idea of a “weight loss pill” is, at bottom, bunk. No amount of pills or powders alone can give us the lean bodies we want. Does that mean we should write off weight loss supplements entirely, though? Not so fast. When you look at the scientific research, evidence suggests some weight loss supplements can actually move the needle and thus are worth considering. You just have to know what to look for and how they affect your body, so you can use them properly. And that brings us to yohimbine. It’s often found in pre-workout supplements (because it’s a light stimulant) and fat burner supplements (because it purportedly accelerates weight loss), but what is it exactly? Does it actually help with weight loss? What about dosing and side effects? Is it dangerous? Well, this episode is going to answer all those questions and more. By the end, you’re going to know exactly what yohimbine can and can’t do and you can then decide if it’s worth your money. 3:57 - What is yohimbine? 5:59 - Why do people supplement with yohimbine? 7:04 - How well does yohimbine work? 11:16 - What's the clinically effective dosage of yohimbine? 12:54 - What types of results should I expect from yohimbine? 14:25 - What are the side effects of yohimbine? 15:51 - Which product of yohimbine do you recommend? Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

research has shown that yohimbine reduces fat mass without affecting lean mass, which is particularly important to those of us who want to optimize our body composition, not just lose weight. These days, it seems like every time you turn around, there's some new weight loss supplement that's clamoring for your attention. You know, one that promises to shrink your belly fat or curb your appetite, or maybe even allow you to eat anything you damn well please and still lose weight. And they all sound great at first, but by now, most of us realize that the idea of a weight loss pill is basically bullshit. No amount of pills or powders alone are going to give us the lean bodies that we really want. Now, that being what it is, does that also mean that we should just write off weight loss supplements entirely?

And to that, I would say not so fast, because when you look at the scientific research, evidence does suggest that some weight loss supplements can actually move the needle and thus are worth considering. You just have to know what to look for, how they work in your body, and how to use them properly. And that brings us to the topic at hand, which is yohimbine. This is something you will find in many pre-workout supplements because it's a light stimulant and fat loss supplements because it supposedly accelerates fat burning. And in this podcast, we are going to answer your most pressing questions like, does it actually help with weight loss? And how should you dose it? What are the side effects like?

Is it dangerous? So by the end, you're going to know exactly what Yohamine is, what it can and can't do. And then you can decide whether it's worth your money or not. This is where I would normally plug a sponsor to pay the bills, but I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm just going to quickly tell you about something of mine. Specifically, my fitness book for men, Bigger, Leaner, Stronger. Now, this book has sold over 350,000 copies in the last several years and helped thousands and thousands of guys build their best bodies ever, which is why it currently has over 3,100 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average. So if you want to know the

biggest lies and myths that are keeping you from achieving the lean, muscular, strong, and healthy body that you truly desire, and if you want to learn the simple science of building the ultimate male body, then you want to read Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, which you can find on all major online retailers like Amazon, Audible, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play. Now, speaking of Audible, I should also mention that you can get the audio book 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which I highly recommend that you do if you're not currently listening to audio books. I love them myself because they let me make the time that I spend doing stuff like commuting, prepping food, walking my dog, and so forth, so much more valuable and productive. So if you want to take Audible up on this offer and get my book for free, then simply go to www.bitly.com slash free BLS. And that will take you to Audible. And then you just click the sign up today and

save button, create your account and voila, you get to listen to Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for free. All right, that's it for the salesmanship. Let's get to the show. So first, what is yohimbine? Well, yohimbine is a naturally occurring substance called an alkaloid, and that's simply a bitter tasting compound that can cause various types of chemical reactions in your body. And yohimbine is found in several types of plants that are native to the central and western African regions, including the bark of the yohimbe tree. There are two ways that yohimbe can be included in a supplement. So you have yohimbe bark extract, which is a concentrated powdered form of the bark of the yohimbe tree, and it contains a small amount of yohimbe by weight.

And then you have yohimbe HCL, which is the yohimbine molecule itself extracted from a natural source and then combined with hydrochlor nervous system, which is responsible for activating the body's fight or flight response. When this happens, chemicals called catecholamines are released into your bloodstream, and that speeds up your heart rate and breathing. It raises your body temperature and blood pressure. It tightens your muscles up and so forth. Now, these chemicals, which are adrenaline and noradrenaline mainly, they can bind with fat cells via receptors known as adrenergic receptors. And if you're not familiar with the term receptor, just think of it like a lock and key mechanism. The cells contain the lock and certain molecules are the key that

fit into the lock and then cause certain things to happen in the cells. Now, when this happens, when these catecholamines bind with fat cells, this usually initiates fat burning. It doesn't always though, and that's something we're going to talk about soon. Now, why do people supplement with yohimbine? Well, yohimibark has been a popular treatment for erectile dysfunction for quite some time now, and it has kind of a spotty record of effectiveness in this regard, but it has gained a new lease on life thanks to its rise in the weight loss space. It is now a rising star in the world of weight loss supplements and its fat burning effects actually do appear to be much more reliable than its boner effects. Specifically, studies show that

yohimbine can indeed accelerate fat loss, but how it works is a little complicated. I should also note here that it is often sold as a supplement to help you lose quote unquote stubborn fat faster, which sounds like complete humbug, of course. However, there is some scientific evidence to actually back that claim up. And we will talk more about that in a minute. So the bottom line here is that most people supplement with yohimbine to lose weight faster, and it actually does appear to work in this regard. Now, how well does it work? How exactly does it work? Let's find out. So while several studies have shown that yohimbine supplementation is a legitimate fat loss strategy, there's a bit of confusion as to how it actually works in the body. Many people assume that it just speeds up

your basal metabolic rate and suppresses your appetite, much like caffeine or ephedrine or synephrine. And while yohimbine is a mild stimulant, and there is some evidence that it can help suppress your appetite, there is a bit more to its fat burning mechanisms. Now, this is the complicated part that I alluded to earlier, but I'm going to break it down in simple terms. So we recall that fat cells have receptors for catecholamines and that the primary catecholamines involved here are adrenaline and noradrenaline. Well, fat cells, they actually have two types of receptors for these chemicals. They have alpha receptors and beta receptors. And these receptors operate very differently. Again, the physiology is quite complex, but what you need to know is that when catecholamines

bind to beta receptors, the fat cells mobilize for burning. Beta, good. When the chemicals bind to alpha receptors, however, the cells don't mobilize. So as far as fat loss goes, alpha receptors, bad. Furthermore, some fat stores in your body actually contain higher levels of alpha receptors than others, which makes them more resistant to mobilization. And this is the quotequote stubborn fat phenomenon that people complain about and it helps explain why some fat is just so hard to lose you know for us guys it's usually the lower abs for most women it is the hips and thighs and this is why it can be so hard to lose those last few

pounds in those areas of your body. Now, enter your hembene. So what this sneaky little molecule does is bind to alpha receptors. You see, it has a high affinity for alpha receptors in particular. And once it has bound with an alpha receptor on a fat cell, it effectively turns that receptor off, which then allows the catecholamines in your blood to bind to the beta receptors instead, thus triggering fat burning. In other words, what yohimbine does is it prevents your fat cells alpha receptors from preventing fat loss. It takes the brakes off of the fat loss process. And as the fat deposits generally highest in alpha receptors are the hard to lose bits that we want to eliminate most, yohimine helps you lose fat faster in those areas in particular, which is why it's often sold as a

way to help with targeted fat loss, which is mostly a hoax, but in this case is actually kind of accurate. It's also worth noting that research has shown that yohimbine reduces fat mass without affecting lean mass, which is particularly important to those of us who want to optimize our body composition, not just lose weight. There's also evidence that yohimbine can improve exercise performance by staving off physical fatigue, which is also a welcome effect when we are in a caloric deficit, because that generally means worse workouts and just reduced workout performance. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth.

So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at MuscleForLifeFitness, Twitter at MuscleForLife, and Facebook at MuscleForLifeFitness. Now let's talk dosing. So what's the clinically effective dosage of yohimbine? Well, first, in case you are not familiar with the term, clinically effective dosage of yohimbine? Well, first, in case you are not familiar with the term, clinically effective dosage refers to the amount that has been proven effective in scientific studies. So in this case, it's how much yohimbine that you need to take

to actually lose fat faster, to actually significantly impact your fat loss. And studies suggest that a dosage of approximately 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight is sufficient to help with weight loss. So to put that in perspective, that's about 12 milligrams for a 130 pound person and about 16 milligrams for a 180 pound person. Another thing you should know about taking yohimbine is research shows that it looks to be particularly effective when combined with exercise, which makes sense given the fact that exercise greatly elevates catecholamine levels. The only real catch with yohimbine is when your insulin levels are elevated, it completely negates the weight loss effects, which means that if you want to use it to lose fat faster,

then you're going to need to use it when you're in a fasted state. And as it works better when combined with exercise, that means you're going to also want to train in a fasted state. And if you want to learn more about fasted training and how to do it and how to use it to lose fat faster, then head over to legionathletics.com and search for fasted, and you will find the article I wrote on it. Now let's talk results. What type of results should you expect from your hem bean? And the first thing you have to know is there aren't many natural supplements that are scientifically proven to help you lose fat faster. And while yohimbine is one of them,

you just need to know that supplements do not build great physiques. Only proper training and nutrition does that. Supplements at best can help speed up the process. And that's really what you are trying to do with yohimbine. So you should expect a slight increase in energy. You should expect a slight decrease in appetite, and you should experience a slight increase in your resting metabolic rate and rate of fat loss and of stubborn fat in particular. And if that doesn't sound all that sexy to you, I mean, I understand I'm just calling it like it is. I don't want to oversell this supplement, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take it. It just means that if you want to get the best possible results, you should pair it with other supplements that together can really move the

needle. You see by themselves, most natural weight loss supplements are pretty underwhelming, but if you take the right ones together and you take them in the right dosages, you are much more likely to notice their cumulative effects. For example, if you pair your hymbine with fasted exercise and a few other supplements that are scientifically proven to aid in fat loss like caffeine and sinephrine, then the effects can actually be quite pronounced. And that's enough to matter if you are also consistently training hard and eating right. What about the side effects though? Because a quick Google search will turn up quite

a few cautionary tales. And the reality is yohimbine is not as dangerous as some gurus would have you believe. The main side effect that is talked about most is an increase in anxiety. And there actually is some research to back this up. Studies show that when you about most is an increase in anxiety. And there actually is some research to back this up. Studies show that when you take yohimbine in higher doses, it may contribute to feelings of anxiety or impulsivity. And that's why I would say it's not recommended for people that already have issues with anxiety or panic disorders. Yohimbine has also been shown to increase blood pressure at high doses. So it is definitely contraindicated for people with heart conditions. For the rest of us

though, research does show that moderate doses of yohimbine are generally well tolerated. And that's what we're talking about here. The 0.2 milligram per kilogram dosage is a moderate dosage. And I've spoken now with many hundreds of people that have used a him bean to aid with fat loss. And really the worst that I've heard is feeling slightly jittery or slightly nauseous. And those effects usually go away within the first week or so of use. And I also often recommend people to cut that dosage in half when they start if they don't respond well initially. So start with 0.1 milligram per kilogram and then assess tolerance and move up from there. Now, if you're interested in taking yohimbine, but you're not sure which product to take, allow me a shameless plug for my pre-workout fat burner called Forge,

which contains a clinically effective dosage of yohimbine along with two other ingredients. One is HMB, which is a substance produced by the body when it metabolizes the amino acid leucine, as well as CDP choline, which is a chemical that occurs naturally in the brain and is essential for its development in health. Now, there are two very specific reasons why I chose to include HMB and CDP choline with yohimbine in FORGE. The first one has to do with muscle breakdown. Now, you'll recall that for yohimbine to be maximally effective, it must be taken before fasted exercise. This is good for speeding up fat loss, but not so great for your muscle because it

significantly increases muscle breakdown rates. And especially after you're done working out, this is undesirable because if you damage and break down too many muscle cells in your workouts, then your body simply won't be able to keep up with repair. And another downside to fasted exercise is lackluster workouts. If you're like most people, you're going to find that you have less energy when you're training in a fasted state and you're going to find it harder to focus and concentrate on your workouts. And that means it's just going to be hard, if not impossible to maintain the same level of physical and mental intensity that you're used to. These effects make fasted

training a double-edged sword of sorts. It's good for losing fat faster, but it's really not so good for maintaining or building muscle and enjoying your workouts. And HMB helps because research shows that it is an extremely effective anti-catabolic agent, which means that it's very good at preventing muscle breakdown. So in this way, the HMB that's in FORGE, it lets you reap all of the fat loss benefits of training fasted without any of the problems relating to muscle loss. And the reason why I've included CDP choline is studies show that it improves attentional focus, which is of course a welcome effect for most of us because again, fasted training tends to be more mentally draining than fed training.

And lastly, what you won't find in Forge, I think is just as important. There are no artificial sweeteners, there are no artificial food dyes, no artificial flavoring, no unnecessary fillers or chemical junk. It's just clean yohimbine, HMB, and CDP choline. So if you want to use fasted exercise and yohimbine to lose stubborn fat and not muscle faster without having to sacrifice the quality of your workouts, then you should definitely check out Forge today and you can find it at legionathletics.com forward slash forge. Okay, so the bottom line here is that yohimbine is one of the few fat loss supplements that is actually proven to accelerate fat burning. Studies show that it can speed up your metabolism a little bit, it can improve your workout

performance, and help you lose stubborn fat in particular a bit faster. And it's even more effective when it's combined with exercise and other supplements like caffeine and sinephrine. But if your insulin levels are elevated, it's fat loss mechanisms break down. It simply doesn't work as a fat burner. If your insulin levels are elevated, that's why you need to be in a fasted state, which means you need to have not eaten food for at least a few hours, but five or six hours is a safer bet. It really depends on what you last ate. It depends on how large the meal was and what the meal composition was. But just for the sake of context, a scoop of whey takes about two to two and a half hours to be fully processed. So your insulin levels will

not be back to baseline for about two and a half hours after having just one scoop of whey. So yohimine is not going to transform your physique. It's not going to get you absolutely shredded, but it will help you get the body that you really want a little bit faster. And especially when combined with a couple other supplements and with vigorous exercise. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn

how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mikeatmuscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself

and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, so please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously, though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you specifically my fitness book for men, bigger, leaner, stronger. Now this book has sold over 350,000 copies in the last several years

and helped thousands and thousands of guys build their best bodies ever, which is why it currently has over 3,100 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average. So if you want to know the biggest lies and myths that are keeping you from achieving the lean, muscular, strong, and healthy body that you truly desire, and if you want to learn the simple science of building the ultimate male body, then you want to read Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, which you can find on all major online retailers like Amazon, Audible, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play. Now, speaking of Audible, I should also mention that you can get the audio book 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which I highly recommend that you do if you're not currently listening to audio books. I love them myself because they let me make the time that I spend doing stuff like commuting, prepping food, walking my dog, and so forth so much more valuable and productive. So if you want to take Audible up on this offer and get my book for free, then simply go to www.bitly.com slash free BLS.

B-L-Y.com slash free BLS. And that will take you to Audible. And then you just click the sign up today and save button, create your account and voila, you get to listen to Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for free.