The LATEST Science On A Popular Supplement!

In this week's sports science news, HMB supplementation, Kim Collins' PB at 40, external cueing

Eric Curry

By Eric Curry
Last updated: January 13th, 2025
4 min read

This week in the world of sports science, here’s what happened…

  • The ISSN’s Position Statement on HMB
  • How Kim Collins ran his personal best at the age of 40!
  • Picking the right external cue…

The ISSN’s Position Statement on HMB

(Image: Holland & Barrett)

β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyric acid (HMB) is a dietary supplement utilised to enhance recovery, promote lean body mass, and increase muscle strength and power. As a metabolite of the amino acid leucine, HMB is naturally synthesised in the human body. Recently, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) published a Position Statement regarding HMB, which provides an update to their prior statement released a decade ago. This Position Statement is grounded in a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the effects of HMB and presents several critical conclusions.

The foremost priority associated with any supplement is safety, and the ISSN has concluded that oral supplementation of HMB is considered safe for a duration of at least one year. No adverse effects on insulin sensitivity were observed, addressing concerns that have been previously posited regarding HMB supplementation. Nonetheless, additional research is warranted to evaluate the safety of long-term use.

The Position Statement further indicates that the primary mechanism of action for HMB is through the facilitation of muscle protein synthesis and the suppression of muscle protein breakdown. Consequently, the supplementation of HMB may contribute to the reduction of muscle damage and the enhancement of recovery. While HMB may yield improvements in strength and power among untrained individuals, its effects on trained individuals regarding strength and power are less definitive. In athletic populations, the primary benefit of HMB seems to be its ability to enhance recovery processes.

Daily supplementation of HMB, combined with resistance training, may aid in improving body composition. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommends a daily dose of 38 mg per kilogram of body weight to support this finding. Additionally, HMB may have a positive effect on aerobic performance in trained individuals, although the mechanism behind this effect still remains unknown.

While the Position Statement is an excellent resource on HMB, those considering HMB supplementation should still consult with qualified professionals.

How Kim Collins ran his personal best at the age of 40!

Kim Collins (Image: The Irish Independent)

Last week, we reported on football star Anthony Gordon’s refusal to lift weights. Several readers reached out to share a similar story recently covered by leading performance coach Fred Duncan in an Instagram post.

In the post, Duncan discusses the remarkable journey of Olympic sprinter Collins, who achieved a personal best time of 9.93 seconds in the 100m at the age of 40! Although Collins was extremely talented, he referred to himself as “lazy” in the early stages of his career and, like Gordon, did not engage in weight training.

However, in his 30s, Collins’ wife became his coach and convinced him to start weight training. In Duncan’s post, Collins is shown performing partial back squats, highlighting this significant change in his training routine. Duncan believes that Collins’ improved performance, even at the age of 40, was not a coincidence; it directly correlated with his commitment to strength training.

This story suggests that even in the later stages of an athletic career, strength training can yield substantial benefits. However, one must wonder—if Collins had adopted this approach at a younger age, would he have achieved even greater success?

Picking the right external cue…

(Image: Science For Sport)

Research has firmly established the efficacy of external cueing compared to internal cueing in enhancing athletic performance. However, it is often overlooked that the specific type of external cue employed significantly impacts outcomes.

A recent study examined drop jump performance among 21 adolescent male football players under four distinct cueing conditions: a height cue (to jump to the ceiling), a ground contact cue (get off the ground as fast as possible), a combined cue (integrating both previous cues), and a neutral cue devoid of any external focus.

The findings indicated that the height cue resulted in a markedly higher jump height and increased impulse. In contrast, the ground contact cue led to a significantly reduced ground contact time and enhanced vertical stiffness. Although the combined cue did effectively influence kinetic responses, its impact was not as pronounced as that of the height and ground contact cues.

These results underscore the importance of recognising that various external cues can elicit different kinetic responses. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches familiarise themselves with a range of external cueing strategies to select the most appropriate cue for optimising specific exercise components tailored to an athlete’s needs.

If you would like to learn more about external cueing, check out our detailed blog: Coaching Cues by the esteemed Brett Bartholomew! Interestingly, my MSc thesis was very similar to this study, so this subject is one I’m keenly interested in!

From us this week:

>> New course: Energy System Development
>> New podcast: The Science for Sport Story
>> New infographic: Do Stronger And Faster Athletes Have A Reduced Risk Of Injury?
>> New article: Hydrotherapy

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Eric Curry

Eric Curry

Eric is a Strength and Conditioning Coach from Ireland. Eric holds a MSc in Sports Strength and Conditioning and an undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise. Eric is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the NSCA. Eric currently works as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in Ireland predominantly with youth performance Tennis players. Eric also has experience working with athletes from basketball, martial arts, football, hurling, and Gaelic football.

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