Who doesn’t want to build muscle? It’s a key factor in almost every fitness goal because muscle is great for everything – looks, performance, and even burning fat.
If RedCon1 claims that their 11 Bravo product can contribute to this process, they’re going in the right direction. It’s a big claim but, if true, it makes for a great product and a boost to your fitness goals.
Today, we’ll figure out if this product lives up to these bold claims. This is make-or-break time for 11 Bravo Muscle Builder and if you’re interested in what it might (or might not) do for you, read on.
Table of Contents
About RedCon1 11 Bravo
RedCon1 are an award-winning manufacturer and have gained ridiculous amounts of publicity in recent years for their work with popular athletes. From Rumble Johnson to Jeff Seid, their presence has been varied but always met with good reviews and support.
In this context, it’s interesting to see how the 11 Bravo product fares and the things it does right and wrong – but we’ll get to that.
Firstly, what is 11 Bravo, what are the ingredients, and how are you meant to use it?
11 Bravo Supplement Facts
The RedCon1 product gets by on a single compound, in which they must have amazing confidence. This is Phosphatidic acid – a type of dietary fat that is found in small concentrations in foods like cabbage and Japanese radish.
However, you’re not going to get the 750mg supplementary dose that is required for any significant effect by simply eating it. This is why a product like 11 Bravo provides a concentrated dose in a capsule, meaning you don’t have to eat several kilos of cabbage.
This leads us to the label, which is a pretty easy one to understand and evaluate…
Label
Directions for Use
There are no official recommendations on how to take this product on the RedCon1 website.
As a result, we’re suggesting taking 4 capsules a day (either all at once or 2 tablets twice a day) with effective hydration and ideally far away from your protein supplements.
However, before you worry about how to take it, you might want to ask yourself why you should use 11 Bravo in the first place. With only the one ingredient, we’re going to take you through what it is and what it might do for you…
What Is In Redcon1’s 11 Bravo Supplement?
With only one ingredient, it’s key that the whole success of this product is going to hinge on the effects of phosphatidic acid (which is a mouthful, so it’s PA for short).
This is a risky play by RedCon1!
We already know that there are other compounds that could have comparable effects. For example, compounds like Creatine can produce favorable changes in performance and thus muscle, and the science is pretty clear. Going all in on one compound could be questionable if it doesn’t live up to these standards.
The real risk is that Phosphatidic acid and its ability to build muscle are very controversial. We love a chat about controversial supplements – especially when it helps you get a better picture of what supplements work for you.
So, next stop is figuring out what Phosphatidic acid is, what it might do, and if RedCon1 have put all their eggs in a dodgy basket or not…
Phosphatidic Acid: The Key to 11-Bravo
What Is Phosphatidic Acid?
Phosphatidic acid is a type of lipid that is thought to interact with mTOR. This is a big deal since mTOR is responsible for muscle protein synthesis – key to recovery and growth.
Obviously, if this holds up, that’s great news since it’s totally plausible that Phosphatidic acid (PA) can improve muscle mass. RedCon1 will live up to their promise of a muscle-builder if it works the way that everyone is hoping PA supplementation works.
As you might have guessed, it’s not quite as clear-cut as some other supplements like Caffeine or Creatine. The body of evidence is limited still and while everything seems promising, it’s not clear just what to expect from PA.
Does PA Stimulate mTOR?
If we’re all being optimistic and taking supplement companies at their word (as it turns out, that’s not the best approach ever), PA stimulates mTOR.
The idea is that stimulating mTOR through resistance training and PA supplementation increases signaling for muscle growth. This is possible, since increased mTOR action is often considered to be a key metabolic process associated with muscle growth and strength gains.
It’s also interesting to note that your body produces PA during eccentric contractions, which are thought to trigger muscular recovery/growth processes. It looks like PA is actually a chemical signal within the body that muscles use to say “I’ve done hard work, send more muscle proteins”.
If PA can achieve this in this way, it is likely to at least add to the results seen with resistance training. This is key since anyone who is considering this product is likely to be committed to resistance exercise – because it’s the simplest and most effective tool for rapid muscle gains.
Unproven Hype?
The obvious problem for everyone who hasn’t bought into the hype is that PA isn’t quite proven to work like that. It isn’t total bunk – the science just hasn’t reached consensus (yet) – but the overall picture is that we have a way it could work.
Petri Dish and Rat Studies
What we seem to see with the supplementation of phosphatidic acid is a combination of petri dish studies and rat studies. There are some clear differences here: we aren’t rats or cells, and the oral supplementation of PA isn’t the same as whacking it straight into your body.
This is compounded by the fact we don’t know what the oral availability of phosphatidic acid is. You can get benefits with it when applied directly, but how much of it is going to get into your system? It’s hard to tell.
The studies on the use of oral PA in humans are very rare and even less likely to be well-designed and prove RedCon1’s point. On top of this, the studies using 750mg used a lyposomally-encapsulated form of PA, which is likely to be more orally-effective than the kind in 11 Bravo.
The problem is that there’s some evidence that it works and people out there are hailing it as the next big thing in building muscle.
Not enough studies to make it reliable, in our honest opinion (at least for now)
In other studies, the hype doesn’t quite stand up. There are a few studies that note that it may be effective when combined with resistance training, but this is far from a well-understood connection. The alternative is also that it’s associated with the other side of mTOR – the production of fat cells in the body.
The simple answer to “does it build muscle” is that it really could but we don’t know how effective oral PA is. It definitely has a role in resistance training, internally, but not clearly through supplementation.
Phosphatidic acid could be promising, and we hope that RedCon1 are right about this, but for now, it’s not clear cut.
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PA for Recovery and Indirect Gains
If Phosphatidic acid doesn’t stimulate improved muscle growth directly – which we’re still unclear on – maybe it can provide significant indirect benefits.
One of the ways in which it might be able to do this is through improving recovery and supporting the overall muscle-building process. If you can recover more effectively, you’re likely to build more muscle while also improving your day to day performance in the gym.
Recovery is clearly important otherwise we wouldn’t take diet and sleep as seriously as we do. Better recovery almost universally means better performance and results – so can 11 Bravo do that?
Muscle Damage: Why Muscular Recovery is Important
There are some great indications that Phosphatidic acid has significant benefits for these processes. The key area where it’s going to make a difference is muscle damage and specifically from metabolic change.
Muscle damage is usually a bad thing: it produces reductions in performance in the gym and is the key reason your legs feel like a mixture of jelly and flaming trash after high volume squats.
This is what happens when you’re exercising, and the repeated action affects the muscles at a chemical level. This is also the key reason why you experience muscle soreness after intense training.
Metabolic change is also one of the big drivers of muscle gains (along with mechanical tension), so support here can be a huge change.
This is why supplements such as Post-Workouts and BCAAs have become very popular.
How can 11 Bravo help?
PA seems to have a role in the damage caused by the metabolic change of exercise and how it affects muscular damage. The build-up of calcium ions in the muscle is one of the key factors in muscle damage and it seems to be able to protect you from the worst of this. Phosphatidic acid actually reduces the residual calcium ions in your muscles after exercise. Again, this helps you improve the recovery process.
On top of the benefits to muscular recovery, this can reduce muscle soreness – so you could experience less pain (which is usually good).
The signaling process also has some cool links to creatine kinase (CK) levels. To oversimplify in a big way, CK is a metabolite compound that is released during intense exercise and is a good indicator of total muscle damage.
Phosphatidic acid actually seems to reduce circulating levels when combined with resistance exercise. This is probably because CK is the result of muscle damage and the response PA triggers is specifically designed to clear creatine kinase and support muscular recovery.
So, overall, it seems like there’s likely to be some area of recovery and growth where PA is useful.
11 Bravo Formula Analysis
It’s confusing: phosphatidic acid is pretty cool and might be the next big thing but it’s also totally possible that RedCon1 have put the wagon before the horse.
Right now, there do seem to be some benefits to PA but the way they manifest – as improved lipid metabolism or as muscle gains – is not something we can totally understand. The mechanisms are promising, however: it seems to allow you to convince your body to recover more/faster than it needs to.
This is a cool mechanism and it may be a great choice, but the oral availability of phosphatidic acid supplements isn’t clear. We really want the science to vindicate PA since, if it gains consensus for its effects and oral benefits, it could easily be a 5* product.
The overall theme you’re getting is that there are some solid results to the muscular recovery/muscle soreness effects. On the other hand, there are some uncertain benefits to the direct muscle-building gains.
This uncertainty is one of the things that we would like to see bolstered with a secondary ingredient like Creatine. Overall, there’s a lot riding on this one compound and it’s definitely going to be useful, but this means 11-Bravo could be anywhere from an overpriced recovery aid to a legitimately great muscle builder.
As of right now, we simply can’t say which!
RedCon1 11 Bravo Benefits
The main benefit of this product is to provide support to a resistance training routine. Whatever the science says over the next decade about its ability to stimulate mTOR, it’s already a clear muscle recovery supplement.
All other considerations aside, this is one of the best things you can do for your training, especially when it comes to the indirect benefits to muscle and strength.
At the very least, we can also say it’s likely that the phosphatidic acid 11 Bravo can support muscle gains. There are a few studies with some statistically significant gains to muscle (especially in the lower body).
Who Takes 11 Bravo?
This product is clearly designed for those who are taking their strength and size training seriously. RedCon1’s overall brand identity is about serious strength, size, and performance. It’s no surprise their muscle builder triples down on this demographic.
11 Bravo’s effects are likely to be beneficial whatever your fitness goals. There’s never a bad time to have better muscular recovery, as well as the possibility of greater muscle gains. On top of this, there are significant benefits to better dietary fats, so we like the effects overall.
If you’re looking for an interesting new muscle-builder, this might be the kind of thing to look for. This is especially true if you’re already working with a compound like Creatine or Citrulline.
RedCon1 11 Bravo Side Effects?
Phosphatidic acid really isn’t likely to cause any significant side effects. It’s a type of dietary fat and you’re usually not going to run into problems since your body is well-adapted to deal with macronutrients.
One of the major considerations, however, is that there seem to be some negative interactions between phosphatidic acid and whey protein. This is a really unexpected effect, but it does seem to be a problem since most fitness enthusiasts take a protein supplement.
The signaling processes that are triggered by whey protein or by phosphatidic acid simply aren’t triggered by a combination of the two (in rats). This doesn’t carry over perfectly to humans but there’s an alternative: don’t use whey.
Whey proteins and their rapid absorption could be a factor in destructive interaction with phosphatidic acid. Alternatives like Casein or Oryzatein have a slower digestion and longer protein-accretion. This improves relevance to muscle building and could reduce problems with RedCon1 11 Bravo.
See Our #1 Recommended
– T-Booster Here –
or
– BCAA Here –
11 Bravo Summary
Pros
- Clear implications for better muscular recovery
- Seems to combat muscle soreness after intense training
- Phosphatidic acid research seems promising and future evidence may support RedCon1’s claims
- Mechanism for boosting recovery/growth is definitely there – just a matter of availability and more research!
Cons
- Unproven muscle-building benefits
- Pricier than we’d like for a product with uncertain effects
- Bit of a gamble
RedCon1 11 Bravo Price & Buying Info
The main problem we run into with 11-Bravo is the pricing of it. With everything we’ve said about phosphatidic acid, you might be willing to spring some spare change – but $64.99 could be a bridge too far.
You can get a 20% discount for subscribing, but the obvious problem with that is that it commits you to a product that you just might not like. Even then, $51 is a significant cost for 30 days of a supplement.
For us, a product with only 1 ingredient for $64.99 isn’t worth it. But that’s just our honest opinion, you should make up your own mind about this one.
RedCon1 11 Bravo Review: Final Word
The overall impression we get with 11-Bravo is that it could be one of the best muscle building support compounds around. However, the uncertainty really does leave us a little cautious.
The things that we know it can do are decent, but they’re not entirely comparable with better compounds like Creatine. However, if it lives up to the hype and the indications for improving mTOR signaling/muscle gains, it could be a fantastic compound.
Ultimately, this is a matter of whether you want to spend your money on a product whose overall effects are still unclear.
For the price, we’re skeptical, but we do really like the product. We’re hoping the price comes down or the evidence becomes clearer. These would both really improve our opinion of 11-Bravo, but in the meantime we’re cautious: it’s good, but until we know more it’s hard to call it great!
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