
Gaspari Size-On Maximum Performance is designed as an intra-workout carb/protein/amino complex with a creatine blend. A big thanks to Cray and Cryo for turning me on to this shizzle. That said, let’s get into the review..
----- Ingredients 7.5/10 -----
I’m not going to post the whole profile as it’s rather large and you can easily look it up. This is a 66g/180 calorie per serving hybrid complex carb in a prop blend along with whey hydrolysate, creatine, aminos, etc. Ingredients that stand out (for me) are pterostilbene - an insulin secratogue, whey hydro for di and tri peptides, 5g of l-leucine, sustamine (l-alanyl-l-glutamine), glycerol phosphates and the LOLA . Overall, a well thought out mix of growth and recovery triggers. I seriously just wish it wasn’t in a prop blend. I also personally don’t feel the creatine blend is much of a value add for me but for someone who isn’t taking creatine elsewhere then it’s not a bad addition since it does contain Creapure as the primary creatine. In any case, I’m deducting 1 point since there’s no way of telling how much of any of these ingredients we are actually getting.
-----Taste & Mixability 7/10 ------
Both taste and mixability are, at best, acceptable. It is not the easiest powder to get to mix, and it tends to foam, but if you put it in a shaker with adequate water it will eventually dissolve. I use the grape cooler and it was on the sweeter side unlike some other grape flavors that tend to be more tart. When using it an an intra, I just used a bit more water to mellow out the sweetness. It also takes a bit to get used to the smell. But all these things are relatively minor in my personal rating system; what really matters is effectiveness.
----- Effectiveness 9/10 -----
You can be as critical as you like about the clinical effectiveness of some of the ingredients but one thing that Size-On does deliver on is performance. Given the ingredient mix, its not hard to see why this gets tagged as a bulking agent - 180 calories designed primarily to illicit an insulin spike. I do know one thing, if you want to build muscle and strength then you cannot skip the carbs. We all focus on protein and are willing to spend enormous amounts of money on whey products or so called “muscle builders” but I had no idea how much I was hampering my progress until I started adding serious carbs into my training nutrition.
And Size-On can be used post workout. I have switched from using this as an intra to using it post workout and the results have been great. I guess it all depends on preworkout nutrition and workout style but for me it’s more effective post workout and I just cut the carbs elsewhere during the day.
Recovery with Size-On was much better than anything I’d experienced with other recovery supplements such as adding l-glutamine to my protein shake or mega dosing bcaa’s.
Strength and energy increased, primarily due to the addition of a quality carb source to my training nutrition (and increased greater than what I saw with carb sources like maltodextrin). In the past I have been very frustrated with loss of strength while trying to cut, but with Size-On, I get a great carb hybrid which is allowing me to moderately reduce bf while still add muscle and increase strength.
----- Value 6/10 -----
I got like 20 of the smaller tubs during an insane deal from Allstarhealth, so I’m rating this using the normal retail price which comes in just under $2.00/serving. That is one expensive carb when you compare it to oats or maltodextrin. However, I do think that it is just effective being taken in a half dose post workout and for that method, it comes in at just under $1.00 per serving and definitely would bump the value up a point to a 7, or maybe a 7.5. Of course, you have to compare this to whole food carb sources and as such, it’s always going to be a more “luxury” type purchase.
-----Overall 8/10 -----
If you are looking for something to help trigger some real success when combined with serious lifting, and willing to spend a bit more money, then I think this is a fantastic product to try out. If you are a casual lifter then I think you’re money is probably better spent elsewhere. I particularly like that fact that it is versatile enough to be either an intra or post workout carb source. I also love the fact that you don’t have to use a full scoop and that greatly improves the value. All in all, this is now an addition to my “staples”.
| Pros: |
Cons: |
- Versatility
- Builds Muscle
- Recovery
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