Zma?
 

Does anyone know if ZMA is considered a "drug/doping" by USCF and/or UCI? I've heard some people say it is and others say it's just like a multivitamin.

This is what EAS says, but I'd like to make sure since the USCF and UCI has their own definitions when it comes to doping:

"ZMA is a scientifically designed anabolic mineral formula. It contains Zinc plus Magnesium and vitamin B-6, and is an all-natural product that has been clinically proven to significantly increase anabolic hormone levels and muscle strength in trained athletes. It is all natural! Studies have shown that supplementing with 30mg of Zinc and 450mg of Magnesium per day can elevate testosterone levels up to 30%! In a recent study, the strength of a group using ZMA increased by 11.6% compared to only a 4.6% increase in the placebo group. This is not a pro-hormone and is not doping."

According to this test ZMA did nothing for testosterone levels.

http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.or...2-12-20-04.pdf

hmm, waste of money then I assume

You could get a plain zinc supplement for quite a bit cheaper. Their is some evidence for its use and it's not doping.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum
Both resting and exhaustion total and free testosterone levels following 4-week zinc supplementation were found significantly higher than the levels (both resting and exhaustion) measured before zinc supplementation (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Findings of our study demonstrate that exhaustion exercise led to a significant inhibition of both thyroid hormones and testosterone concentrations, but that 4-week zinc supplementation prevented this inhibition

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum
t the end of the supplementation period, the parameters of the subjects in groups 1 and 3 were significantly higher than those of group 2, both before (p<0.005) and after (p<0.05) exercise. These results suggest that zinc supplementation has a positive effect on hematological parameters in athletes.

A waste if you are not deficient in zinc. The only way to know is testing at a reputable medical laboratory. And as Enthalpic pointed out there are cheaper methods of getting zinc.

I used to take ZMA a couple years ago when I used to lift weights a lot. The only thing I noticed was the lumber would wake up a lot more...lol.

Well, that makes it worth it.