I'm currently bulking. How much of l-arginine should I be taking and when should I take it.:confused:
I have 500mg capsules

5' 10" 190lbs

Morning
1cup cooked Oats
1/2 cup cottage cheese
hand full blueberrys
1/4 cup walnuts/almonds
1/2 cup skim milk
1 scoop nitrean/water
2 Mega Men multi Vitamin
4 ETS

Mid Morning
2 Scoops Opticen/water
Banana

Lunch
Chicken Breast
Broccoli
Sweet potato

Mid Day
2 Scoops Opticen/water
5g creatine mono

Supper
Salmon/Chicken/Steak
Broccoli/Esparagis
Whole wheat rice/Sweet potato

Before bed
1 1/2 scoops Opticen or
2 slices wheat bread cottage cheese peanut butter
4 ETS
Work out days
Pre work shake 2 hours before
2 scoops opticen
bannana
1/2 hour before 1 1/2 scoops no-xplode (MSN)

Post work out
2 scoops nitrean
5g creatine

It somewhat depends on your goals (as well as who you ask).

Arginine is first and foremost an NO2 booster, which in theory helps to carry nutrients into your cells. For this reason it is awesome post-workout to aid in carrying all the protein and carbohydrates you are ingesting to their destination.

It is also the key ingredient in virtually all "pump" products. While this feels awesome in the gym, I've seen decent arguments on both sides as to whether taking an NO2 product pre-workout has any direct benefits.

From my own research the standard dosage seems to be 3g before and after workout, with the pre-workout often paired with 1.5g of Ornithine, an arginine precursor. Layne Norton, a competitive bodybuilder and general know-it-all, has written articles advocating its use post-workout to the tune of 6-10g or so.

I'd try both approaches separately and see what works best for you.

I'll also mention that if you get a more readily absorbed form of Arginine, such as the fairly popular Arginine Alpha Keto Glutarate, you do not need to take as much. This is the form that's in most of the more expensive NO products, and it is what I've personally used (3g before and after workouts). Arginine can have some potentially negative effects as too high of a dose, so you want to find the lowest dose that gets you the results you want.

Citrulline Malate would also be a good pairing with Arginine, since it has NO2-related properties of its own as well as overall benefits for workout endurance. I do 3g before and after workout.

Glaive, thanks for the help. I'll try that.:tu:

I'm dropping the arginine and diverting that cash to citrulline and BCAA's. (per Layne) http://smiley.onegreatguy.net/banana.gif

Citrulline and BCAA's. I have not heard much about these two together without arginine. Do you know what the advantage would be without arginine?

Citrulline and BCAA's. I have not heard much about these two together without arginine. Do you know what the advantage would be without arginine?

The better question might be what the advantage of arginine is? :lol: Arginine has some arguable benefits. But there's little dispute that BCAAs as a standalone or with anything else will probably benefit a hard-training lifter more than argininge.

Citrulline and BCAA's. I have not heard much about these two together without arginine. Do you know what the advantage would be without arginine?
There is no advantage. The only advantage would be my taking the $35 for the arginine and putting it towards another 1000g tub of BCAA's. Come late Spring/Summer I'll most likely grab some just to have on hand for muscle hardness. (yeah I'm as vein as the next guy :D ) There's really no need for me to buy more at the moment since I'm getting 6g of di-arginine malate in 2 scoops of SuperCharge. I hadn't even thought of that until just this minute. I should have been more clear in my post above. :bang: