We've just received samples of PR Lotion from AMP Human. It's designed to be applied to the skin and delivers bicarbonate to your muscles (yes, the same stuff that's popular for sorting upset stomachs), which is an electrolyte that boosts performance and speeds recovery.
While we're yet to try it, Welsh road cycling wizard, Geraint Thomas, is a fan along with other pro athletes from the worlds of swimming and triathlon.
Amp Human say that applying PR Lotion 20 minutes before exercise "can diminish the progression of fatigue during high intensity training sessions and competitions". If true, this will enable users to train harder for longer – with the increased adaptive benefits that those more punishing sessions will bring, or enable them to perform better on their big day.
Amp Human also claim that the bicarb lotion can "alleviate post exercise inflammation and edema or swelling following intense training", in other words, the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). This should allow riders to recover more effectively and be ready for further training sessions more rapidly than before.
We're keen to give it a go and will report back on out findings as soon as possible. There will be a caveat though – we're not sports scientists, so any findings will be purely anecdotal rather than evidence based and, of course, we will be mindful of the potential for a placebo effect. However, a rider we know has already been using PR Lotion and reports that it gives him the feeling of reduced lactic build-up in his legs during hard rides.
PR Lotion comes in a 300g bottle (£35) which is good for 10 to 15 uses, or a 100g box of five single use sachets (£20). For more information and to buy direct, head to Amp Human's website. We'll post a review as soon as we've tested it properly and compared our findings.
And hey, if it does turn out to be the latest sporting snake oil, you could always use it as a really expensive way to clean the bath!
