Study Financed by Gaspari Finds Positive Effects of Size On Maximum Performance

Sometimes, I am not really sure whether I shall thank Rich Gaspari or condemn him for financing studies on the effectiveness of his supplements. Anyways, you better take the results of the most recent study (Hofheins. 2010) on Gaspari's Size On Maximum Performance with a grain of scepticism.

In a  randomized, double-blind design study 20 healthy men (mean ± SD age, height, weight, % body fat: 22.9 ± 2.6 y, 178.4 ± 5.7 cm, 80.5 ± 6.6 kg, 16.6 ± 4.0 %) were matched for age, body weight, resistance training history, bench press strength, bench press endurance, and percent body fat and then randomly assignedto ingest ½ scoop (dissolved in 15 oz water) of Size On Maximum Performance [SOmaxP] or competitive product [CP] prior to, and another ½ scoop (dissolved in 15 oz water) during resistance exercise. The scientists measure body composition (DEXA), muscular performance (1-RM bench press and repetitions to failure [RTF: 3 sets x baseline body weight, 60-sec rest between sets]), and clinical blood chemistries at baseline and after nine weeks of supplementation and training and found:

When adjusted for initial differences, significant between group post-test means were noted in: 1-RM bench press (SOmaxP: 133.3 ± 1.3 kg [19.8% increase] vs. CP: 128.5 ± 1.3 kg [15.3% increase]; p<0.019); lean mass (SOmaxP: 64.1 ± 0.4 kg [2.4% increase] vs. 62.8 ± 0.4 kg [0.27% increase], p<0.049); RTF (SOmaxP: 33.3 ± 1.1 reps [44.8% increase] vs. 27.8 ± 1.1 reps [20.9% increase], p<0.004); and fat mass (SOmaxP: 12.06 ± 0.53 kg [9.8% decrease] vs. 13.90 ± 0.53 kg [4.1% increase], p<0.024). No statistically significant differences in systemic hemodynamics (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures) or clinical blood chemistries (glucose, BUN-to-creatinine ratio, sodium, potassium, serum protein, albumin-to-globulin ratio, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol, LDL-cholesterol, CBC) were noted.

If you ask me, the only relevant improvement is the one in repetitions to failure (RTF) and if (as I assume) the competitive product was not as energy-loaden (and probably fattening) as the Gaspari stuff, this would be negligable, because by adding a few bananas you might well have produced a similar effect.