yohimbine and ephedrine watch out
I have had two tweaked out experiences with using yohimbine and ephedrine.
I thought about calling 911 man, and believe me I am no lightweight when it comes to recreational stimulation.
Here's what I found in researching the two.
In the body, there are two general types of adrenoreceptors (receptors
which interact with the adrenal hormones adrenaline and
noradrenaline). They are beta-receptors (of which there are 3, maybe
4 types) and alpha receptors (of which there are two).
Beta receptors can generally be thought of as accelerators, like the
one in your car. When they are stimulated (or agonized), they speed
up certain processes including heart rate, blood pressure, calorie
burning, and fat burning.
alpha receptors can genrally be likened to braks, like the ones in
your car. When agonized they slow things down, like heart rate, blood
pressure and fat burning.
Ephedrine is a beta agonist, meaning it stimulates fat and calorie
burning (and also raises heart rate and blood pressure).
Yohimbe is an alpha-antagonist (meaning it blocks the effects of alpha
receptors). By blocking a blocker, it has the effect of also
increasing fat breakdown and heart rate and blood pressure.
Important note: although ephedrine and yohimbe have similar end
results, they work through two totally different mechanisms.
So what's the deal with ECA and yohimbe.
Many bodybuilers use (abuse?) ECA to improve their dieting. ECA
increases metabolic rate, increases fat burning and may spare muscle
loss during dieting.
Yohimbe can be used to increase fat loss as well. Yohimbe seems to be
more effective for 'stubborn' fat deposits (like women's hips and
thighs, and maybe men's abdominal fat) since those 'stubborn' deposits
tend to have higher concentrations of alpha receptors than beta
receptors (making it more logical to block te alpha receptors than to
stimulate teh alpha receptors).
Some have combined ECA with yohimbe in the hopes that you will get
maximal fat mobilization (remember: E and Y work through different
mechanism so their effects should be additive). The problem is that
combining the two tends to lead to freaky heart rate and blood
pressure responses in some people. In general, Y probably shouldn't
be combined with anyting more potent than caffeine, the potential for
side effects is simply to high.
One last thing: yohimbe should not be taken with meals or any fat
mobilizing effects are lost. In fact, taking yohimbe with carbs will
give you a larger insulin response than you would have gotten
otherwise.
this led to the idea of using yohimbe first thing in the morning
before cardio by itself (or with some caffeine, which also increases
fat breakdown). By using it at this time, insulin is low, and you're
not eating, and you should get maximal fat burning effects. If you
tried to use yohimbe later in the day, you'd have to work it in
between meals to avoid the insulin response. Also, during cardio
adrenalie and noradrenaline levels are up, stimulating beta receptors.
I've always kind of wondered if ECA would really have a major effect
during cardio. That is, will ECA + the normal adrenaline release from
cardio have a greater effect than just the cardio by itself. So by
using yohime before morning cardio, you're getting the alpha
antagonist effect of yohimbe plus the beta agonist effects of
aerobics.
By waiting a few hours before using the ECA stack, it is hoped that
most of the yohimbe has cleared the body, so that you don't get the
heart rate/BP responses from the combination of Y and ECA.
So draw your own conclusions, but I am telling you pleased be careful with mixing the two. If you do you can get quite the scare!