Quick Summary

Wanted to add my 2 cents to the already extensive list of reviews on what was, and sometimes still is, my favorite pre-workout on the market.

Introduction

I am a 30-year-old male that has been lifting for about 7 years now. It has only been a year since I decided to start pushing my body further than it has ever gone before both in strength and physique all while switching to a vegetarian diet and starting a second business. With a background in nutrition science I have always been fascinated by the supplement industry but never before have I been so determined to maximize every bit of edge these products can give me.

Ingredient Profile

This ingredient profile is nearly perfect. Everything included is dosed exactly as it should be and the ingredients themselves are high quality. So high quality in fact that NutraBio stands by and releases third party test results. Talk about transparency and truth in labeling.

The list is extensive and has been covered extensively so I will not beat a dead horse. The thing I enjoy most about the profile is that NutraBio really went with everything but the kitchen sink. They didn't just add a few grams of L-Citrulline to compliment a weak dose of Nitrosigine, they included a full 6 grams of fermented L-Citrulline to 1 gram of agmatine sulfate and 750mg of Nitrosigine. This is as much of my favorite pump ingredients as I would want and dosed as recommended in almost every study I have come across.

The 3.5g of L-Leucine is a nice touch to aid with anti-catabolic measures and I like the perfect 3.2g of beta alanine which helps endurance a bit should your routine include cardio or higher reps. The 2.5g of Betaine and 2g of Taurine as well as the nootropic blend are all nice touches and have become fairly standard in all higher end pre-workouts.

I also love that they included creatine. I know some may be opposed to the inclusion of creatine in their pre but as I am not a stickler for the timing of my creatine and I do in fact take it, this is appreciated. Not to mention it is nicely dosed with 3g of monohydrate and .5g of Creatine MagnaPower. This means one less powder for me to mix in or a couple fewer pills to pop in a landscape where many pres seem to be dumping the creatine.

Of note is the inclusion of some high quality Calci-K electrolytes. They use artificial flavors and AceK/sucralose for sweeteners but there are no artificial colors with the amounts used listed. They list the amount of flavoring used, too. 725mg of natural and artificial flavors for the Raspberry Lemonade.

I guess I ended up beating a dead horse. I nerd out over this label.

Taste

I have only tried the Raspberry Lemonade flavor as the lemonade/limeade flavors are my favorites. The flavor of this is actually very light but they do get the flavor profile right with hints of tart lemonade. No lingering after taste and no detectible bitterness. It isn't something I would not necessarily sip on this for enjoyment but I by no means have any problem downing it on my way to the gym.

Mixability

It mixes almost perfectly without much of anything settling. There is some foam left on the side of the shaker but I assume that is largely due to the L-Leucine. Refill once, swirl, down the rest.

Effectiveness

I set 3 PRs while using my first tub; bench press, weighted dips and dumbbell shoulder press. This was at the same time I transitioned to becoming vegetarian and career stress hit an all-time high, so if anything I should have been holding on to my strength at best. I never once had a bad workout while using this even when I walked in the gym feeling like I was already dragging.

I attribute this mainly to my only having to worry about taking one supplement daily. While doing so, being able to take advantage of the maximum benefits of pretty much every compound in it. I don't know that I have ever so diligently maintained clinical doses of the most proven ingredients when I have had to fill gaps in other supplements or take multiple at once.

The focus and the energy I get from this product are also wonderful. The energy comes on smooth and the focus is there without the increase itself even being noticeable. I was able to focus much more easily on proper form and pay closer attention to which muscles I needed to activate or train harder instead of worrying about what my next workday was going to look like. The energy itself outlasted my muscles and I would often find myself working on other tasks at home or the office after leaving the gym more fervently and with a clearer head.

A clearer head until the crash set in. I do not know why I crashed the way I did off of this pre-workout and I really think it may have been caused by overtraining/two-a-days or my new diet much more so than NutraBio's Pre. Regardless, the irritability was certainly there after a long session in the gym. I had to start a few emails over after a few deep breaths when responding to high maintenance clients after the gym.

Value

At the retail price of $39.99 it amounts to $2 per workout. Consequently, this is one of the more expensive pre-workouts on the market but it is also truly a one scoop, fully dosed, very high quality pre that could conceivably replace a few other supplements such as standalone creatine. As such I wouldn't say the value is outstanding but for such a premium product you do really get what you pay for.

Side Effects

I did crash after taking this product which surprised me. I do not view this pre as an especially stim heavy one and with the 350mg of caffeine anchored by 300mg of Theanine I did not anticipate much edginess after my workouts but there was in fact a decent amount. The edginess was not so much one of anxiety, either. The edginess was more the irritable type which my girlfriend absolutely adored (she hates pre-workouts). This may be mostly attributable to my caloric deficit and exacerbated by the fact this pre did allow me to train harder and longer.

Conclusion

I love this pre-workout. The ingredient list is nearly flawless and effectively replaces anything else I would consider taking other than BCAAs and occasionally a protein powder. The flavor is fine though I wish NutraBio would use natural flavors and sweeteners. The price is fair considering everything you are getting and with the exception of a come down that may not even be the fault of this product my experience with NutraBio's Pre has been phenomenal.

Quick Summary

This does not taste that good but has extras and digests well.

Introduction

I would like to thank vmi for sending this to the troopers. I think protein is important to have but sometimes it can be good to lay off artificial sweeteners for a little bit so making this product seemed like a great choice.

Ingredient Profile

Each scoop contains

105 calories
Total fat 0g
Cholesterol 1mg
Sodium 40mg
Potassium 166 mg
Carbs <1g
Sugar 0g
Protein 23g

Whey isolate is supposed to be digested faster than concentrate and casein protein. It is better digested for those who have lactose intolerance also.
The protein is cold processed and contains traac minerals and electrolytes for hydration and recovery. It is free of artificial flavors and sweeteners and use stevia and natural flavors instead.
The ingredients seem great but they reduced the protein content from what was in the old protein. I like that they added electrolytes and minerals. This seems like a great formula overall.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I got the vanilla cake batter flavor and it might seem like a bad flavor if you've never had a natural protein but if you've had natural proteins before you should know to not expect too much from them. This is better than other natural proteins I've tried. It has no vanilla taste but has a smell to it. I honestly would think this is unflavored protein if I got this without looking at the label. When I put this in smoothies it would not effect the taste at all so that is what I did so I could enjoy the product.

I had no problems mixing it but it was really foamy. No matter how much water was added or taken it would always foam my cup.

I would have one scoop mixed in my morning smoothies every day and another post workout with milk.

Effectiveness

It is hard to rate effectiveness of protein normally but I did notice a few things with this protein that I didnt with other proteins. I felt more hydrated than normal after using this. I would not be tired after working out and was able to continue on with my day and not rest from being tired from my workout. I think the electrolytes and minerals helped with this. I did not have and digestion issues with this product.

Value

You can find this for $50 at vmisports.com which is $2 for a scoop. I think that is kind of expensive for a protein powder. For a natural protein I think $1.50 or less a serving is a good price. I would wait to get this on discount if I were to purchase this product.

Side Effects

None

Conclusion

This is a great protein powder but could use a price drop for me to buy it. I would definitely recommend to someone looking for a natural protein isolate powder since most I could find were concentrate.

Quick Summary

A decent low stim PWO that provides you with some nice pumps. The taste gets a little getting used too, and the price is too steep in my opinion. If you do not mind paying extra for an all natural low stim PWO, then I do recommend this.

Introduction

38 years old and lift four days a week, while still recovering to total reconstructive surgery to my left ankle. I like to give my body a break every now and again and try out a low stim PWO. I had also noticed that I have been more sensitive to higher stim PWOs since my surgery in March. Once I saw that Roar Ambition had purchased this site, and put some of their products up for grabs on the TROOPer program, I definitely had to check them out. Big thank you to the TROOPer program and Roar Ambition for their participation here. Let us see how their low stim PWO did for me.

Ingredient Profile

Fully disclosed label which is always appreciate, and almost mandatory for me at my age when it comes to a PWO. I have to know what exactly I am putting into my body. I will quickly go over each ingredient. Each dosage is based off of one serving which is 2 scoops.

Citrulline Di-Malate (6000mg): Citrulline is an amino acid that turns into Arginine in the kidneys after supplementation. Citrulline raises NO levels in the body, dosage to enhance sports performance are 6-8g an hour prior to exercise, here we get 6g so well dosed.

Creatine Monohydrate (1000mg): Creatine is among the most well-researched and effective supplements. It can help with exercise performance by rapidly producing energy during activity. Creatine may also provide cognitive benefits. This is your standard "cheap" version of Creatine, and its a real low dose. At my size (6'2" 240lbs) I require around 8g a day, so this does not do much. Personally I think this is unnecessary here are this dose, and could be removed or upped to at least 5g.

Acetyl L-Carnitine (As Acetyl L-Carnitine HCI) (500mg): L-Carnitine is involved in energy metabolism and mitochondrial protection. It is made in the body, but can also be consumed through food. Supplementation of L-carnitine does not burn fat unless the individual is deficient in L-carnitine. The standard dose for L-carnitine is between 500-2,000mg, so we hit the minimum dose here.

Red Beet (Beta Vulgaris) Root Extract (300mg): This is said to improve physical performance secondary to nitric oxide. It appears to have some evidence for this claim in healthy athletes. Unsure on accurate dosing here as it depends on the nitrate content and your weight. This is a newer ingredient for me.

Coconut Water Powder (300mg): Coconut water is rich in carbohydrates and electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, and magnesium. This is a nice aid to have for hydration, and there are no recommended dosages at this time.

Theanine (200mg): L-Theanine is a relaxing and nondietary amino acid found pretty much exclusively in teas from Camellia sinensis (alongside green tea catechins and caffeine) and is known to promote relaxation without sedation. It appears to be effective at this as well as reducing stress at standard dosages. 100-200mg alongsided caffeine is the typical dose, so we are covered here.

Caffeine Anhydrous (150mg): We all know what this is, our energy boost. Typically low stim PWO's have between 100-200mg, so this is a good dose for a low stim PWO.

Rhodiola Rosea (Root) Powder (100mg): Rhodiola rosea is an herb that's popular for its "adaptogenic" properties (reducing fatigue and exhaustion in prolonged stressful situations). Preliminary evidence has also looked at neuroprotection, among other possible benefits. Doses as low as 50mg have been reported to aid in fighting fatigue, so we have a nice dose here.

Its a nice clean profile here, most of the normal actors you would see in any PWO these days. My only real issue here is the Creatine dosage is very low, and needs to either be upped to 5g or removed. Other than that the other doses you get are good, I like it. The other ingredients listed are natural and this PWO does not contain any Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Soy, or Artificial sweeteners or fillers. So if you are on a strict diet or doing that crazy Keto then this should work for you.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste: So this was interesting. I received the Fruit Blast flavor. The best way to describe this was a very sour Cherry Sweet Tart. It took some getting used to at first, but I honestly did not mind it and it was not hard to drink at all. This is not a chuggable PWO really, as its a bit too tart for that. Good enough for a naturally flavored product.

Mixability: This mixed easily with no issues. I always mixed this with around 8-10oz of water to dilute the sourness a bit. It did not leave any residue or stain my shaker.

Dosing: I stuck with the recommended dosing of 2 scoops (1 dose) around 30 minutes before my workout. I thought I would try out 3 scoops (1.5 servings) but really there was no need.

Effectiveness

I have tried low stim PWO's in the past with some success, most recently Block Buster by MAN Sports which contained 180mg. I had a good run with that so that was my gauge against 4 Gauge (see what I did there). The best way to describe my experience here is to break this down by Energy, Pump, and Endurance.

Energy: This will not give you that kick in the pants energy boost to make you run to the gym, but instead it was a very steady energy boost. What I mean by that is once I started to work out, I would be awake and have some nice low-key energy. I honestly was not expecting much from this, but it surprised me here.

Pump: As you can see with other reviews, and I agree, the pump you get from this is above average. This was not the best pump I have every experienced, but I got a decent pump each and every workout. My workouts vary week to week by rep range, so on my hypertrophy weeks (12-15 rep and 9-11 rep days) the pumps would be the best. On my lower rep days (3-5, 6-8 reps) I still would have a nice pump, but not quite as full as doing higher reps of course. The pumps were not so much where they hurt, but I enjoyed seeing them in the gym mirrors. The pump would last an hour or so after my workout as well, which I really enjoyed on bicep days.

Endurance: My workouts range from 60-90 minutes depending on the day. On the first 18 doses of this I had plenty of energy at the tail end of my workouts and experienced no crash or anything like that. I was real surprised. For some reason on the last two doses (doses 19 and 20) the energy wore off around the 60 minute mark on me. I am not sure why, likely my body was adjusting to this, but keep this in mind if you plan to run this for more than 20 doses.

So yeah this surprised me and I had a pretty nice experience here. Comparing this with Block Buster this was slightly better in my opinion. The motto of 4 Gauge is to Load up your Guns, and with the pump ingredients in here it sure does. Good stuff.

Value

The only place I could find to purchase this is from Roar Ambition themselves. You can save money by buying in bulk, but for one container (20 servings) it is $45 which comes out to $2.25 a serving. This is a bit steep in my opinion as I like my PWOs to be in the $1-1.50 range personally. This is the biggest downfall of the product, as its competitors that are on par here with good Low Stim PWOs are a bit cheaper. I will stick with a 6 here based on the fact that I do couple value with effectiveness. This did a nice job for me, so if I had the money to burn or this was on sale I would buy it again. You can check out the page here for all the deals if you buy in bulk:

https://www.4gauge.com/order.html/

Side Effects

Each and every dose this would cause my to visit the bathroom which surprised me with such a low caffeine content. For my body, caffeine always causes me to have to go to the bathroom, but this was much more violent and explosive experience every time than say a cup of coffee. I really don't think my body likes the natural ingredients, but whatever it was my body got rid of every time. No issues otherwise.

Conclusion

For a low stim PWO, 4 Gauge worked very well for me. As I get older I try to stay away from too many exotic stims and supplements, so this did a nice job with a clean profile. The price kind of kills the product, and your experience will vary when it comes to sides. If you can afford this, I do recommend giving it a try if your in the market for a low stim PWO. Apparently you only need 4 of the 12 gauges (shotgun reference) to get pumped in the gym. Thanks again for the run.

Quick Summary

This is a pretty solid pre-workout, high energy, solid pumps, but there are a number of other products that will do the same job, so I'd only recommend this one if it's on sale.

Introduction

I'm a competing powerlifter, and I'm currently shedding some vanity pounds and getting ready for a 10k. I hadn't heard of TC Nutrition before, but the profile was good, so I decided to give Batch 27 a go.

Ingredient Profile

They offer two options in the profile: 1 full scoop or 1/2 a scoop. One full scoop, gives you:

300mg caffeine (the front says 325 but caffeine citrate is only 50% caffeine).

8g Citrulline Malate 2:1 (5.3g citrulline)- Citrulline malate is a pump enhancer and can also help with muscular endurance. 8g is a pretty liberal dose.

1.8g betaine Betaine is a genereal health supplement that people are now taking for athletic performance: improved power output, muscular endurance etc. I personally haven't seen any benefit from it, but there is some research to support it's use. 1.8g is a bit low. People often use 2.5g/day (sometimes split in two doses).

1g Creatine HCl- Creatine is one of the best known and studied ergogenic aids out there. The most common one is creatine monohydrate (which is dirt cheap and very bioavailable). Here, we have creatine hydrochloride which is supposed to be more absorbable, so less of it is needed. I honestly think that's marketing bs. There are countless studies on CM. There are virtually none on C-HCl and the only one I could find suggests that it may be worse than CM. In any event, 1g is too low.

600mg Agmatine- Agmatine is a metabolite of arginine and is often used as a pump enhancer. I've found it to be very effective for that purpose. I think this is a good dose.

500mg L-Carnitine- Carnitine supplements are often used for various reasons. It can help with fat loss, insulin sensitivity, etc. It's commonly dosed at 500mg-2000mg per day.

250mg Theobromine- Theobromine is mild stimulant and a vasolidator. More research is needed in terms of how to dose it.

110mg Synephrine- This is a common weight loss ingredient. It's chemically related to ephedrine, but no where near as potent or effective. I honestly think it's just a filler ingredient.

100mg l-theanine- This amino acid will help take the jitteriness away from caffeine. I like it's addition here. The dose is reasonable. Too much can make you feel groggy.

5mg black pepper extract- This can help improve the absorption of other supplements. Unfortunately, I don't think it will help with any of the ingredients in this product. A lot of companies add it because it's hot right now.

120 mcg Huperzine A- a nootropic similar to a racetam that may need to be cycled. This is a good dose.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I got the Sour Batch flavor, and I thought it was pretty good, 8/10. It tastes like a sour candy.

The mixability was fine. There was some residue in my shaker, but no clumping issues.

I started with a 1/2 scoop as that was one of the options on the label. I also tried 3/4 scoop and a full scoop and I used 3/4 most of the time. I only used a full scoop on a day that I felt like I was dragging

Effectiveness

I found this product to be pretty effective when I used either 3/4 a scoop or a full scoop. The energy was strong without being jittery (I don't like shaking when I'm trying to lift), and it would last about two hours, which was more than enough time for me to finish my workouts.

The pumps were nice and full. The vascularity was decent, and I actually found that I liked the focus at 3/4 scoop better than I liked it at a full scoop.

At 1/2 a scoop, the energy and focus were still decent, but the pumps were not there. That's not surprising as 1/2 a scoop will not give you enough citrulline or enough agmatine.

Value

One tub is $45, which is a lot for a 20 scoop product ($2.25/serving). If you use 3/4 scoop at a time, you get 26 servings, which brings you down to ($1.73/serving). I still, though, think that is too high. There are a number of pre-workouts out right now that are similar and cost $30-32.

Batch 27 is almost 50% more than the competition right now. That's just too much.

Side Effects

None

Conclusion

I enjoyed my time with Batch 27. I just can't justify paying that much for it when there are other products I liked just as much that were cheaper. If the price came down (and made some minor tweaks from the formula) I think they could have a top contender.

Quick Summary

Simple, I need to stop shopping. However, since I am the one that does the shopping I keep finding new things to try. This time a Protein Cookie from performance inspired nutrition. 22g of protein, 8 g of fiber and the darn things where pretty tasty.

Introduction

I am back again with another PIN product to review. Spoiler alert, I actually liked this one, so we are shooting 2 for 5 so far. I have been lifting 3 days a week and doing cardio on the other days. I am unfortunately in a maintenance stage, or at least that is what I am calling it. The summer became busy, the end of summer is hectic. So I am always looking for something to snack on that isn't totally bad for me. In came these cookies, after liking the chips they offer I decided to give it a go.

Ingredient Profile

One annoying thing is this is 2 servings per 1 cookie container. Come on people don't say 22g of protein only to later tell me that is for 2 servings. Make it a serving and let little people decide to eat half a cookie... I mean who does that anyway?

Per serving breakdown. (Chocolate Chip)

Calories 160

Total Fat: 6g
Saturated 3.5g
Trans Fat 0

Cholesterol: 5mg
Sodium: 90mg

Total Carb: 16g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Sugars 6g
Other carb 4g
Sugar Alcohol 0g

Protein 11g

Ok so a couple things that bother me. As stated above you have to double this to figure out what your getting. Which ticks me off as far as the sugar goes. 12g is a lot of sugar for most of us. It does explain why they taste good though doesn't it. Another issue I have is the Other Carb? What the heck, if you don't know where it comes from maybe it shouldn't be there. I assume that it comes from multiple sources and they didn't want to have to list them all. However you know what assuming things can get you... The protein comes from WPC 80 and Whey Isolate, which is nice to see. They do use non dairy creamer which I am not a fan of though. I guess at the end of the day I used this as a treat, and they are healthier than Cold Stone Ice Cream......

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I used four varieties of these and rank them as follows.
Chocolate Chip
Cranberry Oatmeal
Peanut Butter
Dark Chocolate Chip

They all tasted pretty good. They have that nice soft texture to them. I liked the Chocolate Chip the best and tended to stick with that flavor. They did remind me of Grandma's Cookies, (assuming it wasn't an old one). They where more "soft batch cookie" than say a Quest cookie. They also have more fat and sugar in them. There is no mixing involved as it is a pre-packaged cookie. As for dosing, one silly cookie is 2 servings. Which is annoying as the show 22g protein per cookie, 8g of fiber per cookie on the front. If you don't read the Nutrition Facts, you might miss that to get that you also have to double the other things. Still at the end of the day the dosing is easy. If you can't figure out how to eat a cookie, well, you probably have some other concerns as well.

Effectiveness

This is added protein and fiber. I used them as snacks and they worked great. They took the sweet tooth edge off. They also filled me up enough to get to my next food intake. They are not as filling as Quest bars or cookies which have more fiber. They travelled well, even when left out in the heat didn't get destroyed, (sometimes protein bars melt). For me these where a really nice product to have available when I needed them.

Value

As of 8/20/2018 they list the price at $27.49 for a box of 12, $2.29 a cookie.
https://pi-nutrition.com/shop/protein-bars-snacks/pi-protein-cookies-box-of-12/

I bought them at Hy-Vee for $2.49 per package. I didn't really have a problem paying for them as they where easy to pick up in store. Yep, I am a sucker for things placed at eye level..... In this case it worked out for me.

So the obvious thing is this isn't cheap, a protein shake is cheaper. However sometimes, in my case anyway I need something transportable and this fit the bill. For comparison they are more expensive than Larry and Lenny's which to me are similar.

Side Effects

I had no negative side effects from these cookies....

Conclusion

It is one of those things. I liked them, and I will probably continue to use them. I think if they could drop the sugar, and increase the fiber I would like them even better. But, I drink smoothies that most of you think are grass, take that into consideration. If you like a little sugar and are looking for something that is easily transported and tastes good than these will work for you. I have enjoyed using them and as I said above will still continue to use them as they are healthier than the cookies my wife and kids make. I like the idea of them donating to charity, and I like the marketing of a "clean" profile. So for me these work.

Quick Summary

Myprotein is not a brand with flashy marketing and outrageous claims, but their products are solid. High quality and fairly priced. Their protein is one of the highest quality proteins out there. Hurricane XS Bars pack more protein than your regular bar And contain 5g of Creapure creatine.

Introduction

36 years old financial auditor trying to balance life with three kids and a busy job. Trying to get in some quality time at the gym in the meantime. When I manage to squeeze in some gym time I can use all the supplement help that's out there.
I try to watch my nutrition intake more and more. In the last period I try to get in some more protein and some less fat and sugar. I find bringing a bag of powder and a shaker cup to the office a bit of a threshold. Protein bars provide the advantage that they are easy to carry and require no preparation

Ingredient Profile

Hurrican XS bars contain more protein than your regular bar; 28 grams. The most common amount of protein ranges between 20-22 grams. The nutritional profile besides the protein looks decent, comparable to other brands
Energy 257 kcal
Fat 6.2 g, of which saturates 3.2 g
Carbohydrate 23 g, of which sugars 12 g
Fibre 5.4 g
Protein 28 g
Salt 0.21 g
When compared to other bars, a popular quest bar for instance, the amount of fat is a bit lower, the amount of carbs a bit higher -but considering the size of the bar 70 vs. 60 grams actually about the same-. Dietary fibre is much lower; an average quest bar contains 14g of fibre. As said the amount of protein is much higher; 28 grams versus 21 grams.
What makes this bar really different is that it contains 5g of Creapure creatine, 3g of L-Glutamine and 1g of L-Leucine. The Leucine seems like a little sprinkle on top, but the creatine and glutamine are actually decently doses.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

The bars only come in one flavour, which is chocolate orange. The taste is absolutely amazing. I guess some would say they are a bit chewy, but I love them. The only downside is that there is only one flavour available. After two boxes you would like to change it up a little. I hope they add some other flavors in the future. My wife on occasion took one, but found them a bit heavy to digest. A bit too much. Three quarters of a bar was sufficient for her.

Effectiveness

This bar really fills you up. Being a fairly big guy, normal protein bars leave me wanting a bit more. Hurricane XS actually deliver a bit more. Hurricane XS is marketed as a post workout bar. In my honest opinion you could eat one at any time of the day. How do you measure the effectiveness of a protein bar; They keep me satisfied, deliver a lot of protein compared to other bars and taste deliciously. They kept me satisfied for a longer period of time than other bars i tried in the past. What's important to note is that myProtein is really high rated at independent test sites like Labdoor. Their whey is one of the purest out there.

Value

Compared to other (popular) protein bars, Hurricane XS are a bit more expensive. The regular price is 30 euro's a box (34 dollars). For 12 bars, that's 2,80 a bar. A quest bar goes for 2,08 a bar. The price difference can be explained from the ingredient profile. A Hurricane XS bar contains more protein And has some added creatine and Glutamine. Also, myprotein Always has some sort of sale going on. At this moment there's a 30% discount on the bars which is a steal for what you are getting for that amount of money

Side Effects

None at all

Conclusion

An impressive bar. A bit bigger than most, with more protein And a decent amount of added creatine (creapure) and glutamine. Myprotein isn't a brand that has flashy marketing campains, but their product are solid and of high quality. For people that crave for a bit more than your average bar, Hurricane XS bars are excellent.

Quick Summary

Ghost SIZE is a great creatine-based product that helps boost fitness performance with other well-studied ingredients to create a fairly effective supplement. The main problem I personally have with it though is that it's quite expensive for a mainly creatine-based item when I'd personally just buy good 'ol creatine hydrochloride or monohydrate and leave the other ingredients to my preworkouts or pump supplements to minimize overall spending on supplement stacks. I do however love the inclusion of epicatechin and AstraGin but it's just not quite enough for me to fork over for the bill!

Introduction

Ghost has really made a huge splash onto the supplement industry over the past year and for good reason! Utilizing aggressive product marketing, well-dosed ingredients and a really snazzy overall product style have helped this company really rise up to be one of the big contenders in the supplement game. When I saw the opportunity to give their flagship creatine product a try I had to hop on board. Lets see how SIZE stacks up!

Ingredient Profile

Creatine Monohydrate (2.5g)
Creatine Hydrochloride (2.5g): Well since this is mainly a creatine-based supplement I find it fitting to have a quick little explanation on what creatine is exactly and why people use it to enhance fitness! When we hit the gym or use any muscle activity for that matter our bodies use a source of energy produces by the breakdown of a molecule called ATP. When this reaction occurs ATP breaks down into ADP plus a floating phosphate molecule while creating energy that we are able to utilize. Creatine can bind to this already used floating phosphate molecule to turn into creatine phosphate which the body is able to quickly utilize similarly to ATP to create yet another energy source that is actually greater and more prioritized in comparison to ATP. SooOoo essentially creatine helps us recycle used up energy sources. It's literally free energy! So why wouldn't everyone jump on board the creatine band wagon considering how insanely cost affordable it is? I wish I knew the answer to that one, probably because people are still in the belief that creatine is potentially "bad" for you or that is just causes more water retention. Now let me say this... our muscles are composed of 99% water and getting more water into our muscle cells is really only a benefit to its performance and our overall look and pump so this whole water retention thing is ridiculous in my honest opinion. Anyways yeah, I'm a huge supporter of creatine and have been on the stuff for like 8 years straight with no significant side effects other than stomach aches from the olden days of creatine loading which no one performs anymore anyways.

Beta-Alanine (2g): Super popular supplement that acts as a pH buffer to delay onset of lactic acid build-up to improve our muscular endurance while working out. It appears underdosed since more products have over 3g but since it's in a creatine-based supplement I guess this would just be a plus to help improve the beta-alanine source you're likely already getting from a pre-workout.

Epicatechin 90% (200mg): Epicatechin is a somewhat new supplement that is primarily found in dark chocolate. It doesn't have a whole lot of clinical studies regarding its effectiveness but it has been shown to reduce myostatin, which is the main physiological mechanism that our bodies use to regulate muscle mass and keep us from getting too huge.... unfortunately. The studies used doses around 150mg so it's interesting that Size went with a 200mg dose. Not to also mention that this stuff is pretty expensive and is likely the reason that this product costs so much for a creatine-based supplement.

AstraGin (50mg): New up and coming ingredient that has been used in plenty supplements lately to improve absorption significantly. Now who wouldn't want that?

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I had the pleasure of trying out the Sour Watermelon "Warheads" flavor and though most people might be skeptical on how accurate they'd be able to create this exact flavor but let me tell you that they hit this one right on the money. I used to eat warheads all the time in my younger years and this flavor takes me back just not as sour as the original which is probably for the best. It mixes very well with minimal residue leftover after a couple shakes with the recommended 8oz of water and it's dosed easily with a pre-workout sized scooper for pretty much any water bottle. It's also worth noting that Ghost places their scooper on the upper lip of all their Size tubs so there's no need to search around when popping open a new bottle which might not sound like much but is really a god send.

Effectiveness

I typically mixed Size with my daily preworkout product about 20 minutes prior to hitting the gym floor and though it's hard to objectively note the effects of a creatine-based supplement I did in fact feel a difference with the preworkout from adding the scoop of Size. It may have been from the added dose of beta-alanine or maybe the AstraGin helped with absorbing ingredients from the preworkout as well but it definitely had an intensifying effect to the preworkout. I didn't notice any significant change in weight over the 30 day cycle though I have been using creatine monohydrate for 8+ years and I didn't see any significant increases in overall weight but I knew that the product was doing its job by improving my daily workouts and maintaining my current skeletal muscle.

Value

Priced at a fairly high $40 per 30 serving tubs, each serving will run you about $1.33 which is actually kind of astronomical for a creatine-based supplement but once you put into account the ingredient profile and its inclusion of epicatechin the pricepoint makes a little more sense. I still think it's a bit pricey though and they should have decided to place an expensive ingredient like epicatechin in another product to make Size a more affordable overall supplement.

Side Effects

I personally experienced no significant side effects from using Size.

Conclusion

Ghost is really doing a great job of getting the spotlight on the supplement scene with its awesome product styling and good ingredient profiles and the same can be said for Size! Unfortunately I feel like they went a little too big with Size and should have done without the epicatechin to make it significantly less pricey and maybe added it to their pre-workout Legend to boost its effectiveness there since I feel like that swap would make a little more sense overall. Either way Size is a great product with awesome flavor that is sure to be a big hit for fitness enthusiasts but it's just a little too far out of my price range for the category that it's trying to occupy. Cheers Fellas!

Introduction

I have to admit, I've been a little bit of a Redcon1 fan-boy as of late. What started off as a love simply for the packaging, has turned into my supplement cabinet littered with their products that I'm eagerly awaiting trying out over the next few months. Tango was a no-brainer for me, a creatine blend consisting of three forms equaling a total of 7 grams, with a few added ingredients for recovery? I'm all about it. I've tried so many different brands of creatine products, from the simplest monohydrates to ridiculous blends, and always find some sort of success with it. It's rare though that a product turns out to be as beneficial as Tango is, as my recovery time seemed to nearly be cut in half & the fullness I felt outside of the gym made me feel much bigger than I really am. While actual strength gains were undiscovered because of my current training style, I just felt better in the gym, bigger and healthier feeling pumps and a real noticeable increase in muscular endurance that had me killing one training session after the next.

What makes Tango stand out though? Let's dig a bit.

Ingredient Profile

Tango features a fully transparent ingredient label consisting of seven total ingredients. I just have to take a second to praise Redcon1 for these fully open labels in 2018, it's such a beautiful thing. Brings a tear to my eye.

Creatine Monohydrate (5g): Monohydrate is the most universally accepted form of creatine, it's the most basic and to most people seems to yield the best results with almost no negativity attached to it's name. Playing a massive role in increasing protein synthesis, creatines biggest role is cell volumization within the muscle or in other words, increasing the amount of water volume which can play a massive role in muscle building and strength increases. Redcon1 nails it on the head here with a perfect 5g, the recommended dosing of creatine monohydrate.

Betaine Anhydrous (2.5g): Studies showed Betaine Anhydrous playing a large role in strength increases in all subjects using 1.25g dosages, and it did that by not only increasing protein synthesis but also increasing the bodies natural ability to create creatine. These studies also showed all test subjects taking Betaine post-workout, which makes this added ingredient a key role in the overall effects of Tango.

Creatine HCL (1g): Another widely used form of creatine, HCL is a widely much more absorbed form of creatine. With a proven faster absorption rate than any other form on the market, and dosed at a much lower amount, it seems to be just as high up there in effectiveness as your typical Monohydrate, and tossing a gram into this creatine based post-workout is a nice touch to boost absorption in the body.

Creatine MagnaPower (1g): In much simpler terms, it's creatine binded with magnesium. This binding with magnesium can actually allow for further ATP production within the muscle, being proven to allow for bigger muscular pumps & contractions than any other form of creatine. As a fun little bonus, Magnapower also increases carb metabolism, meaning that insanely needed post-workout meal has the potential to be absorbed better and actually put those carbs to good use.

Taurine (1g): Taurine, as we all know, is an amino acid mainly shown to increase cell volumization, which lends a huge hand to muscle recovery and an increase in nitrix oxide, aka, blood flow. Working hand in hand with creatine & glutamine to pull more water into the muscle, teaming it up with all of the creatine in Tango can increase muscle size and muscular pump.

L-Ornithine L-Aspartate (1g): Acting as a pre-cursor to nitric oxide, this combination of amino acids increase blood flow to the muscles and can play a huge role in muscle pump and recovery.

As we see here, Tango is pretty loaded up. You can really feel the three grams of creatine every single day taking this product, and especially after passing the two week mark. I love this blend of products, and the dosing is exactly how I'd do it, ya know, if I owned a huge supplement company and had expectations to match.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste: Between the few flavors available, I eagerly grabbed Grape & had huge expectations for it. I'll put it this way, I looked forward to mixing this up after every training session. The taste was damn near perfect, not strong enough to push you away but that perfect flavor profile that I actually missed when it was all gone.

Mixability: My prior experiences with creatine products made me watch carefully when drinking Tango, as creatine has a reputation for not mixing too well, and some of the products I've tried have been absolute hell to mix. Tango exceeded my expectations, only settling at the bottom when I let the bottle sit for too long, which was very rare. It's very smooth, never dealing with a mouthful of powder or the feeling of "pebbles" in my teeth after each sip (which is more common than I ever thought), and never felt the need to re-fill the shaker bottle to clear out the rest of the powder.

Dosing: This was the only real struggle I had over the forty-some days I was using the product. According to the label, maximum effectiveness is at two scoops per day. At that rate, you're only looking at 15 days worth of product. I decided to start off with a single scoop post-workout and in the morning on non-training days, and after a week and a half, jumped up to two scoops per day. I noticed a huge difference in the way I felt after bumping this up to two scoops, but I won't debunk using a single scoop instead of two. Using a single scoop you're going to get the full 30 days out of the product and still reap major benefits at that dosing.

Effectiveness

As I had mentioned before, I used a single scoop of Tango on non-training days and post-workout for the first week and a half. That first week, I noticed some small changes in recovery time but that could also be from my BCAA product or diet. It wasn't until I bumped up to the recommended two scoops per day that the big changes kicked in. My recovery time felt nearly cut in half, and halfway through I even cut out my BCAA's to try and simplify final conclusion, and my recovery remained just as great as it was before. In the gym, my muscular pump & endurance shot up tremendously, I noticed full pumps within just a few warm-up sets and this was even on days I didn't take a pre-workout. The entire duration I used the product, every workout just felt so great, and as somebody who loves achieving the most ridiculous pump possible, this did the job for me!

Outside of the gym, I noticed huge improvements in muscle fullness & hardness every single day. I noticed more size in my shoulders and arms the most, and my shirt sleeves felt a tad tighter passing the 2-3 week mark of consistently using Tango. I always noticed a general change while on creatine, but something about this just felt so much better. I felt like I always had a decent pump, and glancing in my reflections while out shopping became more of an enjoyment rather than a fear of mine. Of course, there's a lot of factors for me noticing these changes, but for the last week off of the product, I've noticed a very slight decrease in the changes I noticed most. Just the feeling I had everyday from being on Tango is worth the price alone & I already miss it.

Value

Tango has a price range from $24-$35, the higher price seeming to be the average at retail stores. At single dosing, the thirty servings are worth the slightly over $1 per serving asking price, and doubling up on that I don't mind paying the $24 lowest asking price I found. You can snag a good creatine monohydrate powder for much less than this but if you've never used a creatine blend before or just really want a high end product, I'd pay anything within the general range. No complaints there.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

Tango is killer, as I move on to my next creatine product, I can't help but think about the giant shoes it has to fill. It's worth trying for much more than just the killer pumps you get in the gym, but the recovery time increase and the fullness you get outside of the gym, as it just feels so damn good. There's no proprietary blends, no extra junk or fluff, and the taste is awesome. Try taking this and not looking forward to drinking it after a hard training session, you look forward to it! In my opinion, another killer addition to Redcon1's already awesome line-up of products & an absolute stand out product on the shelves at your local retailer. It's time for companies to step up their game & get on Tango's level.

Quick Summary

Is Full Spectrum Rx expensive? You bet! Is it worth the price? ABSOLUTELY!

Introduction

Big thanks to LabTech Nutraceuticals for letting me finally get a run at Full Spectrum Rx. Since I love PWO products and have tried many over the years, I have developed basic criteria on how I grade each of them for their performance value. My workout style is a mix of Barbell complexes/Functional fitness/Olympic lifting, bro lifting (pump chaser) and sprinting/explosive speed workouts. for me, a successful PWO is one that can shine through all of my workouts (yes, it is a lot to ask for especially with cardio) so with that said, let us see how Full Spectrum Rx holds up to the test.

Ingredient Profile

This has been one of the most reviewed Pre's on this site and the ingredients list is absolutely insane and transparent. To be honest, I am going to copy and paste the ingredients from the website and other well put together reviews because it will take me hours to type it all out. However, I will still highlight some of my favorite ingredients.
Pump/Endurance Matrix Blend:
Citrulline Malate: 8g
Beta Alanine: 3.5g
L-Taurine: 2250mg
Agmatine Sulfate: 1.5g
AAKG: 1250mg
Beet Root Extract: 1g

Energy/Focus Matrix Blend:
Caffeine Anhydrous: 350mg Caffeine

L-Dopa: 250mg Precursor to dopamine, helps with mood, focus, and stress
.
N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine: 250 mg Helps with stress.

L-Theanine: 200mg Takes the edge off the stimulants present.

2-Aminoisoheptane (DMHA): 175mg -Works with caffeine to provide energy and focus.

L-Norvaline: 100mg - inhibits the breakdown of arginine.

Dendrobium Nobile Extract: 50mg

Higenamine Hydrochloride: 50mg fat burning mechanism as ephedrine.

Naringin: 50mg Antioxidant

Phenylethylamine Hydrochloride: 50mg helps with focus, mood, and cognitive enhancement.

Noopept: 30mg - Anti-anxiety and mood enhancement.

Octopamine Hydrochloride: 30mg aids in alertness and fat burning.

N-Methyl Tyramine Hydrochloride: 25mg Stimulant/fat burner.

Synephrine Hydrochloride: 20mg - Stimulant/fat burner.

Rutaecarpine: 10mg Facilitates the breakdown and elimination of caffeine to help combat sleeplessness

Huperzine A 1%: 10mg Cognitive enhancement

Alpha Yohimbine: 1mcg

Mood/Absorption:
Black Pepper Fruit Extract: 5mg

6 7-Dihydroxybergamottin (DHB): 5mg

I am happy that they have 1 entire gram of beetroot extract in this because I cannot begin to describe how beneficial this ingredient is to overall health. Not only does it help increase blood flow and is good for the heart, it can generate a nice pump when working out. Every single ingredient in this product is generously dosed to deliver the maximum effectiveness to the user.

What is nice and refreshing is that this is not filled with artificial dyes to give it a good tasting appearance. It is natural and the color comes from the beets. The less fake dyes and colors in a product the better in my opinion. Overall this product covers the ingredients needed to get a fantastic pump, buffer muscle fatigue and increase the body's ability to burn and use fat as energy during a workout.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

It's a funny thing with this product, almost every review has the taste as a negative. I asked for and received the Black Cherry lemonade, and to be honest it really is not that bad. Does it taste like Kool-Aide? Absolutely not, but it is very drinkable and I found it 100% better tasting than the natural Pre V5 from Nutrabio. Yes, the taste does have some earth tones to it, but that is to be expected with the beetroot and the given fact that the ingredients list is massive, and it is not overly artificially sweetened.

The mixability with this was fantastic. Given that there are this many ingredients I figured that there would be some grittiness and stuff left behind in the shaker cup, as I saw with the M2 pre-workout. This was not the case, I would use anywhere from 10-12oz of water, it did not matter what temperature, and let it sit for 10 minutes, give it a good shake and consume. It is so refreshing to know that you are drinking the full scoop in one serving rather than missing out or having to add more water to get the rest of the dose.

Again the dosing was 10-12oz of water, in the morning about 30 minutes prior to working out. I would have a very small protein heavy breakfast with this as well.

Effectiveness

So this is where I am going to spend most of my time talking about this product. Never have I had a product that delivered this well on a consistent basis. The first thing that I noticed was how smooth the energy was with this. Prior to using this, I saw review after review talking about how they had a daily crash with this, and usually, if I use something stimulant heavy I will have a crash, but not with this. The energy felt great and non-intense. You will NOT feel like a crackhead on this, which for me is great. However, you will notice that you just simply do not get tired and you can keep going and going until you decide that you are done working out.

Because of the above-mentioned perks, workouts were great with every dose. If I wanted to chase a pump I had the ingredients needed to do so, or if I wanted to lift heavy and continue to dominate set after set, again, I had the ingredients to do so, without the fatigue. I really feel like this product has what it takes to cover all lifting types and routines, so it is honestly the perfect product for any user in any type of fitness world.

The other huge noticeable factor with this was being able to do intense cardio while not feeling like I am going into cardiac arrest, but you will sweat a ton on this. This is fine with me because it makes me feel like I am working hard, which in turn makes me push harder.

Finally, to prove my point on how well rounded this product is, I recently did a fitness test as part of a job tryout that consisted of doing bench press, agility runs, 300m sprints, pushups and situps, and capping off with a 1.5mi run. The kicker was that this test was in Colorado at a mile in altitude, but I live in Washington state at sea level. I was able to go do that test while using this product and run fast and push harder at altitude that I have without it at sea level. To me, this shows, that the N02 ingredients really kicked it and allowed better blood flow which equals better transportation of oxygen when I needed it most. That right there was enough to sell me on this product to where I will be buying it again.

Value

This is honestly the only category that this product takes a hit in. Right now I can only find it on the company's website and it is $50 for 30 servings which is $1.66 per serving. Yes, that is a genuinely steep price to pay per scoop, however, if you were to individually buy every single ingredient listed on the panel and does it the way they have, you will find that this is a more than fair price to pay. Additionally, you can find discount codes to use on the website which will help reduce the cost.

Side Effects

Outside of increased sweating from all of the ingredients that help raise your metabolism and burn fat, I had 0 side effects to include crashing. It was nice to not crash at the end of the day from taking a stimulant Pre.

Conclusion

Honestly, I feel that this product should be number 1 in the Pre Workout category. I have used PreJym, and it is night and day on how effective these two products are. This product makes PreJym look like C4. I feel that the thing that holds this back the most is the cost and the fact that everyone keeps trying the sour candy flavor. Pro Tip: Don't get that flavor and you will be ok. Stick with the black cherry lemonade, and prepare to have an awesome workout. I will most definitely be buying this again and will be telling folks at my job to get this if they are wanting to have great workouts and want a product who will deliver time and time again.

Quick Summary

Tried some test boosters in the past. Testofuel rates somewhere in the upper middle. Not bad at all, but had better.

Introduction

35 years old financial auditor trying to balance life with three kids and a busy job. Trying to get in some quality time at the gym in the meantime. When I manage to squeeze in some gym time I can use all the supplement help that's out there.

I read that while you get older test levels decrease. An increase in test levels is beneficial for so many things that I have tried some different test boosters before with different results.

Ingredient Profile

Testofuel has a clean and fully disclosed ingredient profile. Watch out if you have shellfish allergies, contains oyster. Overall looks like a fairly composed product of ingredients that all possess some testosterone increasing benefit

D-Aspartic Acid 2300 mg
I guess the prime ingredient in Testofuel is D-Aspartic Acid dosed at 2,3 gram. D-AA can be used as a testosterone booster for infertile men, and by athletes as a temporary booster. The standard dose for D-aspartic acid is between 2,000 - 3,000mg, so 2,3 gram is a fair amount. Further study is needed to determine whether D-AA should be cycled. There appears to be an temporarily increase in testosterone which reduced to baseline within a month in otherwise healthy men with normal testosterone High doses also seem to decrease free testosterone and total testosterone in resistance trained men. Most scientific evidence shows increase in fertility.

Asian red panax Ginseng (100mg)
An ingredient with many benefits; decrease of blood glucose, increase in cognition, erections, overall well being being the most apparent. 400mg dose appears to confer most cognitive benefit. An improvement in erectile dysfunction is seen with 3g of (Korean) Red Ginseng. This ingredient seems to be dosed a little low, although obviously not aimed at erectile dysfunction

Fenugreek seed (100mg)
Fenugreek has many benefits like a decrease in fat mass, increase in libido. An ingredient commonly used in a lot of test boosters. A lot of information on the lack of evidence for the testosterone claims is circulating on the internet. 100m is a common dose.

Oyster powder (100mg)
A bit of an odd one out, very interesting. I haven't seen oyster powder in a test booster before. Oysters are the richest source of zinc, which is crucial to your ability to produce testosterone. also has the ability to boost muscle pumps by increasing nitric acid in your blood.

Other
The ingredient profile is topped off, actually started with, some added vitamins (D3 at 5000IU, K2 at 18mcg, B6 at 5mg and magnesium and zinc at 200 and 10 mg. These are known to aid in testosterone production, especially zinc and magnesium.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

No taste, just pills. Four red pills a day. The advised dose is 4 pills spread across the day which I found to be somewhat challenging. This is a bit of a different dosing scheme than most supplements.

Effectiveness

I guess I expected a bit more. The effect advertised are Real Muscle Growth
Naturally and safely increase your testosterone level, which is essential for real muscle growth, Increase Strength, Reduced Bodyfat, Improve your Mood, Boost Self-Esteem
I did experience some increased strength although minor. In the gym I could take on a little more kg's. and my muscles felt a bit harder overall. I think my mood was slightly heightened. Although not advertised, some of the ingredients suggest an increased libido, which I did not experience at all. I did feel slightly less tired; a bit more energetic. Again however in a mild fashion.
Overall I feel this product worked for me, but in a minor sense. I have some experience with test boosters containing Arimistane, which I believe did an overall better job. Arimistane is mainly meant as an estrogen blocker and not a test booster but I feel this is a different approach to the same objective. I never used DAA before and maybe this ingredient does not work for me personally that well. I believe Arimistane is subjective to some investigation by the FDA. If it gets banned I believe testofuel is a perfect alternative. For now I will stick to arimistane products when I feel like a pick me up in the test department.
What I would like to add; advertised on the testofuel site is that there are a number of studies showing D-AA can elevate anabolic hormone levels by as much as 45% in 13 days and 60% over 90 days. Perhaps a longer run time of this product would provide better results.

Value

Sold on the own website for 45 dollars. I believe this is a bit pricey for one month's supply. Not crazy, just a bit much. Doesn't seem to be widely available.

Side Effects

None at all

Conclusion

Testofuel has a nive clean label with a well balanced panel of test boosting ingredients. The oyster is fairly unique. While it did provide some noticeable results, I have had better. It's a nive DAA+ product. So while most of the advertised benefits were more or less there I would rate them all pretty mild.

Quick Summary

I took days writing this review, weeks if you count that what I was writing got lost twice! It will take you minutes to read my review if you want to read something interesting ;)

INTRODUCTION

Thanks once again to VMI SPORTS for constantly participating in the SR TROOP program and to SupplementReviews for making this connection possible. I lift weights from Monday to Friday, right now, just lifting to preserve and maintain muscle and also reduce my body weight and fat.

INGREDIENT PROFILE

25mg of Vitamin B6 (1250% DV) + 30mcg of Vitamin B12 (500% DV). Good additions but if you take a preworkout that already has these 2 vitamins, then watch out. Maybe the Vitamin B6 is too high considering we usually also get it from other sources.

Then we have 7g of BCAAs (as InstAminos) in a 2:1:1 ratio so it would be (3.5g Leucine, 1.75g Isoleucine and 1.75g Valine). 7g is more than the standard 4-5g so it's great. It's also the patented InstAminos version so even better. Not the biggest fan of the 2:1:1 ratio though. Then we have 1.25g of Betaine. Betaine has a lot of overall and performance benefits and like SR says: "Betaine's major benefits in the body stem from its ability to act as a methyl donor, meaning it can donate one if its methyl groups to another molecule that may be in need to complete a biological process." I like this inclusion of Betaine. It's not the full dose but it's alright, I don't expect full dose on every ingredient. They say they added Betaine for Strength and yes, Betaine is for that but also it works great with Creatine (another ingredient for strength).

Then we got the TRAACS electrolytes (great) + Sodium Chloride (electrolyte) and finally we got 400mg of Magnesium Glycinate Glutamine Chelate (MGG). I read 2 studies of this ingredient and the product itself explains what's MGG. They say "it's Glutamine bound to a Magnesium molecule. Glutamine alone is not enough! Magnesium works synergistically for recovery and muscle repair. This powerhouse combination can lead to improved repair and preservation of muscle tissue." They forgot to say it has Glycine too.

They made 2 studies on this ingredient MGG. The first study demonstrated the increase on plasma glutamine levels using only 240mg of Glutamine (stabilized in this new form MGG). And the second study compared the effects on lean body mass of people taking MGG and people taking testosterone as anabolic steroid. Surprisingly, "The participants in the chelate group who were taking the non-steroid anabolic formulation (the magnesium glycyl glutamine chelate) had a mean increase in lean body mass (muscle) of 7.04 pounds (3.2 kg). During that same period, the anabolic steroid group that consumed the testosterone had a mean increase in its lean body mass of 6.6 pounds (3.0 kg)."

If you would like to read the complete information of this ingredient, read it here: https://nvienutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Magnesium-Glycyl-Glutamine-and-Anabolic-Study.pdf Pages 1-5 general info and pages 5-10 is the info of the studies.

My thoughts: Sounds interesting, very interesting but very hard to believe that little amount of Glutamine (even if it's stabilized) and the combination with Magnesium can have so much benefits. The product includes the 400mg used in the study though so that's good.

More information of the product: https://www.vmisports.com/blogs/news/aminogex-ultra-bcaas-lift-longer-grow-stronger and here: https://www.vmisports.com/products/aminogex-ultra-bcaa-powder

TASTE/MIXABILITY/DOSING

*TASTE: I requested any of these 3 flavors: Tropical Mango, Pina Colada or Sweet Iced Tea. I received Tropical Mango. I've tried this flavor before, they sent me a sample of this flavor back when I tried their preworkout VMI K-XR and I loved it back then. The thing is when I tried it this time, I was a bit dissapointed because the flavor was "too light" and I like a stronger taste. 1 week and a half before the product was finished, I tried it with very cold water and bam! I nailed it, I finally found how to make the taste be stronger, simply with very cold water. Bad thing was that I only had 1.5 weeks left with the product lol.

Other flavors available: Cherry Lime Italian Ice, Pink Lemonade, Orange Ice Pop, Pina Colada and Sweet Iced Tea. I received 1 sample of Pink Lemonade, Cherry Lime Italian Ice, Pina Colada and Orange Ice Pop. I was able to try Pink Lemonade (8/10), Pina Colada (9/10) and Orange Ice Pop (8/10). I had to give Cherry Lime to someone else (that's the bad thing of opening your package in front of someone else lol) BUT I tried that one also as a sample when they sent me VMI K-XR and back then, I didn't like it.

MIXABILITY: No problems.

DOSING: Feel free to take it anytime you want. Pre-Intra-Post or anytime during the day. I took it as my drink with one of my meals. I know that's not the traditional moment to take it but I was more interested in its muscle building/preservation properties than its performance/strength properties. I did try it 2 or 3 times intra-workout though.

EFFECTIVENESS

I started using VMI Aminogex Ultra (this product) the same day I also started using VMI Protolyte and like I said in that review, the first week was very surprising, I was in shock that after coming back from sickness, I was able to have a week without muscle soreness! But after that week, everything went back to normal. Sometimes taking amino acids with food can make your stomach upset but it wasn't the case with Aminogex Ultra. But where did this idea came from?

Examine.com about Leucine: "The studies assessing Leucine mostly look at muscle protein synthesis when additional Leucine is added to the diet or to a test meal, and it appears that Leucine is able to reliably increase muscle protein synthesis after test meals. Whether this results in more lean mass over a period of time is somewhat less reliable though, and leucine appears to be more effective at promoting gains in muscle in people with lower dietary protein intake(...)"

Also this from the same source: "It tends to be taken either in a fasted state or alongside meals with an inherently low protein content (or protein sources that are low in leucine)." From VMI Sports: "This (taking it in-between meals) can help cause anabolic spikes throughout the day to promote muscle growth by the stimulation of M-TORC1 via Leucine ingestion."

Seeing the benefits of muscle growth and increase on lean body mass because of the ingredients (BCAA, MGG, Betaine) require more time and specific tests that I obviously didn't make. I'm not on caloric deficit but I reduced my calories a lot so my main goal is to preserve/maintain muscle, I know I'm not going to build muscle fast with the calories I'm eating and it got the job done. I tried it 2-3 times intra-workout and couldn't notice much but I honestly didn't pay much attention here. I should try it intra-workout some other moment to perceive the benefits more. Looking at the ingredients, it should work great intra-workout.

About Hydration, I tried it like 3-4 times when I was very thirsty during a normal non-workout day and I wasn't impressed. It worked but only for like an hour. After that hour, I had to go and drink water to control my thirst. It's not completely bad because it worked for some time but it wasn't like I expected.

VALUE

Like other SR users have said here, the product shines here. You can get it on Amazon for $22.85 and $23 but you can't trust the stability of Amazon prices lol, hopefully it stays that way. Other retailers have it for $28.99, $29.99. If it can stay $25 and below, it's going to be great. More than $25 and until $30, it's not the best but it's fair. More than $30, nope, run away.

SIDE EFFECTS

None.

CONCLUSION

Interesting ingredients (especially that MGG ingredient), great profile, nice colors, nice name, delicious tasting flavors, 7g of patented BCAAs (InstAminos), not the full clinical dose of Betaine but extra Betaine is always good news, hydration is there but can be better, does the job. Remember to use very cold water for a more delicious taste.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE COMPANY

1. If you can sell 30 servings of this product for that price, then making a 60 serving container would be a excellent idea in terms of effectiveness and price. Hope you do it. Remember you also put on the bottle's label that 1x improves endurance and 1x twice is maximum recovery. Making it 60 scoops would allow people to have maximum recovery and still get 30 servings (2 scoops per day).

2. Consider reducing the Vitamin B6 dose, just a little bit. This is powdered form, I don't see the need of having 1250% of DV.

Quick Summary

ProtoLyte Naturals is a great all-natural protein supplement by VMI that helps users obtain the goodness of high quality protein without the unwanted artificial additives.

Introduction

A special thanks to VMI and their continued participation here on SR.com. Today, I discuss my experiences with their protein supplement ProtoLyte Naturals. As of said time and time again, protein is often the mainstay staple in most fitness enthusiasts' supplement regimen. Protein itself is a necessary macro nutrient needed by the body for more than a handful of purposes. There are many choices of protein supplements out there, which make the market for these type of supplements very competitive. Regardless, many protein supplements contain a lot of unwanted artificial crud that nobody wants nor needs. That is when users will opt for a more natural alternative version of protein supplements.

Lets see how ProtoLyte Naturals stand up.

Ingredient Profile

Each single scoop serving starts off with providing the following:

105 calories
Total fat 0g
Cholesterol 1mg
Sodium 40mg
Potassium 166 mg
Carbs <1g
Sugar 0g

I like that there are no added sugars, fat, or "bad" carbs. One can see from this alone that ProtoLyte Naturals is clearly a diet friendly protein for those looking to lose fat and reduce excessive weight. Of course, it can be used by anyone regardless of goals.

Getting to the core ingredients, each serving provides 21g of protein. The protein source used is 100% cold processed, non-GMO, micro filtered whey protein isolate.

You also get 5.3g BCAAs and 4g of glutamine do help with recovery as well. Lastly, each serving provides a subsequent amount of additional EAAs and VMI's patented TRAACS electrolytes for hydration support.

Each serving is free of gluten, lactose, artificial flavors, and dyes.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I received the chocolate fudge cookie. The flavor itself was very light and subtle. Though, considering the natural nature of the protein without added fats, sugars, and sweeteners, I found the flavor to be satisfactory for a more natural supplement. It definitely tasted better in milk than water, but was decent in either case. There is also a vanilla cake batter flavor available.

The protein itself mixed fine without any chunks or globs. However, there is some foaming resulting from the preparation. Nonetheless, the foaming wasn't significant.

I stuck to using only one serving a day. I took a serving usually around the evening about 30 minutes post workout.

Effectiveness

As primarily a post workout shake, I noticed my recovery was notably improved. Post workout and next day DOMS was reduced and I was able to go into all my following workouts with more energy and less lethargy and soreness from previous training sessions.

I was experiencing better levels of satiety and had less hunger pangs throughout the days. The hunger spikes during nights were also significantly less frequent.

Since ProtoLyte Naturals had no added sugars and unnecessary carbs or fat, I didn't have any digestion issues such as bloating or gas. In addition, while the hunger pangs were less, my general appetite wasn't killed or too suppressed to the point where I couldn't eat. I was still able to consume all of my meals regularly without feeling excessively full or bloated.

All things combined, it was overall a great natural way to help me meet my macro quotas all throughout.

Value

The cheapest price I found was 39.99 on amazon with free shipping. This is in no way a cheap price considering each tub comes only with 25 servings as opposed to a full 30 days month supply. Natural oriented supplements often go for more, but this is still a bit of a pricey product. Though, I do feel at the same for its quality and efficacy for a natural protein supplement, it's still worth an occasional investment. As I always say, lookout for sales and deals.

Side Effects

none

Conclusion

While the price tag may be discouraging to many, ProoLyte Naturals is a great, versatile protein product that is sure to give you the goodness of protein without the unwanted additives. The additional BCAAs and glutamine will help greatly with recovery and the protein itself will help keep you satisfied and support anabolism for new gains overtime. Be sure your diet and training are in check and lookout for sales given the price.

WARMACHINE OUT!!!

GO RED SOX!!!

Quick Summary

Dymatize Iso 100 is a hydrolyze why protein supplement. This is a higher grade form of whey protein. There is no whey concentrate in this particular Dymatize protein powder product. Dymatize has been around for a long time and they have rebranded their packaging within the last few years.

Introduction

Thank you to Dymatize and SR.com, for the opportunity to try Dymatize's Iso 100 whey protein supplement. Whey protein supplements are a staple for me daily, I probably have been taking them daily for over 15+ years, maybe more. Ironically, Dymatize was my go to whey protein brand for at least 5 years. I have never tried a full container of the Iso 100, always stuck to their regular whey protein.

Why I picked this product:

I have never tried Iso 100 from Dymatize and have heard very positive things about it.

Ingredient Profile

I think certain flavors may vary slightly, below is the flavor I received- Chocolate Peanut Butter:

Per 32 gram Serving (23 servings per tub)
Calories 120
Total Fat .5 grams
Cholesterol 10mg
Sodium 160mg
Potassium 180mg
Total Carbs 2g(includes 1 gram sugar)
Protein 25 grams

Protein consists of-Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Isolate and Why Protein Isolate

There's a 2:1:1 ratio of BCAA's (5.5 grams total) which is pretty standard, consisting of 2.7grams of leucine, which is directly involved in starting protein synthesis.

Also, 4.4 grams of glutamine- potential benefits of muscle recovery

Sucralose is the sweetner

Pretty Straightforward

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste: Ahhhhh the taste, this is my favorite flavor to date !!! The Chocolate Peanut Butter was dead on and delicious. The flavor has a very light sweetness to it, and the chocolate peanut butter was flavorful, not an over powering taste you can get with some whey proteins.

Mixability: I mixed the product in 6 ounces of water in a shaker or 6 ounces of low fat milk in a shaker. No issues with mixability, it blended into each liquid with ease. A couple shakes of the shaker and mixed.

Dosing: I train fasted early in the morning, so 1 scoop immediately after my workout for training days. On non-training days I would take my 1 scoop during the workday.

Effectiveness

Very tough to gauge the effectiveness of a whey protein supplement. I want a whey protein that doesn't cause me any digestibility issues. Which I experienced none of, with this product. Some whey proteins can cause GI discomfort or bloating. Whey protein supplementation is just that, a supplement to your whole food protein consumption. Often I feel whey protein aids in some aspect of recovery for me, which I somewhat felt with this product at times. Feeling less tired post workout.

Value

As of this review, All Star Health has this product for $25.49 for a 1.6lb tub. If my abacus is correct (one time it was wrong on sr.com), that's about $1.10 per serving. Pretty good value for a higher end whey protein. Other sites have this going for $29.99 as of this review. So you can save $4.50 by going to AS Health.

Side Effects

No side effects (No GI issues)

Conclusion

I love this protein, its one of my favorites to date, in addition to the chocolate peanut butter flavor, which I am craving right now because the empty tub is sitting next to me for this review. For years, I have been very frugal with my whey protein, always looking at the deals and just buying whats on sales, not what I truly enjoy. I think this product may have changed me.

Quick Summary

Whey Protein Isolate simply put.

Introduction

First and foremost I would like to thank Redcon1 for sending me out their product so I could try it and review it for you guys. I would also like to thank SR for providing me the opportunity and the tools so that I can share with you guys my experience.

I'm a big boy so I don't usually consume enough protein for my body. So, I do what most of us do and supplement my protein intake. I do prefer whey isolate for the taste and the minimum macros. I noticed this offering from a well known company so I opted to try one.

Ingredient Profile

This profile has three forms of protein isolate ... we don't know how much you get of each ...
Cold processed micro and ultra filtered whey protein isolate, Ion exchanged whey protein isolate and lastly hydrolyzed whey protein isolate.

Hydrolyzed protein is the quickest to digest because of the heat, acids or enzymes process it went trough.
Ion exchanged whey protein isolate is a cheap way to filter protein and the least beneficial process because it's done using chemicals and some of the aminos could be lost in that process.
Cold processed micro and ultra filtered whey protein isolate is what you want really ... I'm hoping that this is the more concentrated protein in this tub since it's listed first. This is the best way to filter and isolate the protein from milk.

You get 25 grams of protein from a 32 gram scoop. So you get 7 grams of fillers. Not bad but not great either.

Lastly,
130 Calories
0.5 grams of Fat
0 of Saturated Fat
5mg of Cholesterol
3 grams of Carbs
Protein 25g

These numbers are really good. There are no enzymes or anything else added to this profile. Actually that's not bad considering that isolate is the easiest to absorb by your body.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

So here is where I have beef with the company ... It's clearly mislabeled ... This was in no way Peanut butter chocolate flavor. I did taste chocolate but there was no hint or trace of peanut butter. If I had to label this flavor myself I would probably say it's Almond butter chocolate flavor. Other than that I mixed one scoop with milk, shake for a few and it was ready to consume. I did also notice that this protein is a little more creamier than other isolates I've tried before. Usually Isolate have that very differential taste from standard whey where it tastes skinnier ... like comparing skin milk with whole milk.

Effectiveness

I'm not sure how to tell you how effective this is ... It's really food so I'm not sure if you go to reviews to read how food was helping your body ... especially food that was stripped from everything to just give you one particular ingredient ... Protein. I can say that I did not feel bloated at all when consuming this product. I did not experience any negative digestive byproduct (flatulence). All in all very easy way to reach your daily goals for protein consumption.

Value

So this can be purchased from many sources ... kudos to redcon1. The cheapest I found at the moment of writing this review was a 2.38lb tub for 35$. That comes out to 1.16$ per serving or if you want to be very accurate it's 0.046 cents per protein .. Compering this to other isolates there are definitely cheaper products out there from reputable companies. So I have to neg rep this product just based on value.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

Unfortunately because of inaccurate labeling of flavor and the fact that there are cheaper standards out there I have to say Meh to this product. I didn't enjoy the taste and I'm to frugal to pay more for something I didn't enjoy. I think I don't even have to be frugal to make the same decision. It just wasn't want I wanted and I didn't enjoy the taste of this isolate. I don't know how other flavors taste but I'm assuming it would be worth a try since this isolate has a creamier taste than others that would enhance the "right" flavor ... I thank you for reading this review and wish you a wonderful day.

Quick Summary

A post cycle therapy (PCT) that I'm not really sure that worked.

Introduction

First and foremost I would like to thank VMI Sports for sending me out their product so I could try it and review it for you guys. I would also like to thank SR for providing me the opportunity and the tools so that I can share with you guys my experience.

I was actually very happy when this was offered because I was in the middle of a pro-hormone cycle and I wanted to make sure I can keep the gains and return my body to it's normal. I noticed that this would help me in many ways so that is why I claimed it.

Ingredient Profile

The first three ingredients are the standard Vitamin D and Zinc ... for some reason missing magnesium ... but replaced with Boron ... It seems that Boron is actually effective and there are two studies that confirms it. Although, examine.com states that there isn't really that much study done to support the it. Mainly they used the word "appears" ... meaning there are hints but nothing conclusive. The dosages are fine ...

Lets go over the "Testosterone Stimulating Complex", what we have here are two ingredients ... Shilajit Powder and Tribulus Alatus Extract ... both at 200mg .. Those two are mainly voodoo right now .. There are very little studies to confirm that these will stimulate your testosterone in any way ..

Now let's go over the "DHT Inhibition Complex" where there are also two ingredients. First we have Saw Palmetto powder at 120 mg and Stinging Nettle root powder in the same amount. Yeah there are some studies that show that DHT is lowered while supplementing saw palmetto but than larger studies counter those findings. DHT is a more androgenic form and can cause hair loss in the genetically susceptible. Stinging Nettle has really very little to do with testosterone .. so I won't bother ... and there is nothing really on DHT. There are claims on the internet ... but they are more a myth than any conclusive study.

Lets go over the "Natural Androgen support" .. So here we have Vitamin D, Boron, and Zinc listed again ... and they have thrown into the mix some Androstenolone (DHEA) which does not have anything conclusive. It does and it doesn't help with testosterone .. but than the increase was mainly in woman ... I'm not saying this is a bad addition but than it can't have a promise.

Lastly we have "Estrogen/Aromatase Regulation" which is mainly based on Acacetin. There aren't many real studies on this compound but they do show positive moderate results.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Nothing to taste .. 2 capsules in the morning before breakfast. Pretty easy to remember.

Effectiveness

The effect after I stopped taking the pro-hormones were pretty rough. Especially a big scare that I had was in the libido department. I just didn't wake up like I used to. I was hoping and ready for my PCT .. I thought this product would help me spring back to my natural self. I don't think it helped and I struggled for a while ... I can honestly say that 2 months later I finally got back to what I was before I took the prohormones (so think twice). Yeah I felt good while taking the prohormones but the side effects were pretty long and the gains I don't think were worth it. It was a boost for the time being that I was taking it but the next time I'm going to have to use something else that can help me spring back much sooner than 2 months. I just felt that this was a little bit like a sugar pill ... I'm not saying it didn't help me at all ... but it didn't help me as fast as I hoped for. This is mainly judged by my libido. Everything else I really didn't experience ... Like the dry look or leaning effects or increased strength and especially libido. Now this taken alone not as a PCT might had different affects ... but I did take it as intended as a PCT after a prohormone cycle.

Value

Currently you can find this for 32.99 per 30 servings. That comes out to ... 1.10$ per serving. That's not bad as for as natty boosters are concerned but I can't justifying spending that much if I didn't feel good results. For something that gave me Meh results I don't think I would spend my money on this personally.

Side Effects

None

Conclusion

I'm not really sure about this product at all. I'm not going to recommend it. I just didn't feel like it helped me they way I hope for. I did take other natural testosterone boosters after this because my main concern was that my libido was not getting back to normal. After 2 months I'm back to normal but I can't thank this product for it. I thank you for reading this review and wish you a wonderful day.

Introduction

Big thanks to Nutrex for giving me the opportunity to review Outrage Extreme Energy Igniter. I've used many Nutrex supplements in the past to include Outrage Pre-Workout powder. I'm not much of a coffee drinker and getting sick of having Monster Zero Ultras... so I've been on the lookout for alternatives. This product came up at the right time for me on the TROOP board as things have been hectic at the house and I've had little energy getting through the day. Another intriguing thing for me was the size of the bottle being 4 oz compared to the usual 2 with other energy shots.

Ingredient Profile

The ingredient profile is a blend of 5 main ingredients totaling 2,250mg per serving. It's important to note there is 2 servings per bottle or 4,500mg total.

Basic Profile:
5 Calories
1g Carbohydrates
35mg Sodium

Main Ingredients:
- L Arginine Alpha Ketoglutarate
- CarnoSyn Beta Alanine
- Taurine
- N Acetyl L Tyrosine
- Caffeine Anhydrous

A good list of basic ingredients that you would find in most pre-workout formulas and some other energy shots. Only negative for me is the blend and not knowing the dosages of ingredients/especially caffeine content.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Nutrex Research Outrage Extreme Energy Igniters come in four different flavors - Blue Raspberry, Fruit Punch, Green Apple, Margarita Lime. They sent me all four flavors to try and I thought each one tasted great. It has a bold/strong flavor that hits you right away but not to sweet nor sour. Everything is bold to include the coloring with the use of food coloring. Overall I would give each flavor an 8/10 - not one flavor stood out amongst the others in a good way: good around!

Since these are bottled there isn't any need to mix anything which saves time. In regards to dosing take 1/2 bottle to start to assess tolerance when extra energy is needed. For me the time I needed energy the most was mid-day when my 1 year old son was wanting to play while I had to still work.

Effectiveness

Compared to 5 Hour Energy Shots & other energy shots you can find at convenient stores & gas stations - Nutrex really hits it out of the park in terms of effectiveness/value. There was a quick rush of energy minutes after drinking having these bottles, I would drink the entire bottle but the taste broke it up into sips for me. This energy lasted for hours without any kind of crashing - this was the case with other energy shots. I had enough energy to get my work done while playing with my son which can be very distracting with the amount of toys/dogs in the house. There was a slight increase with my focus but nothing earth shattering. The main area of need was an energy increase and that delivered.

Value

In regards to value the Nutrex website actually had the cheapest value for a 12 pack @ $21.95. Each bottle is valued at $1.83 while it contains 2 servings! Overall this is a great value compared to 5 Hour Energy Shots & similar energy shots. On the Muscle and Strength website they have a Buy 1 Get 1 Free 12 pack of Nutrex Extreme Energy Igniters that expired on 11/17 for $26.72. In fact I actually took up that offer.... while they are expired you can't go wrong paying over a little over $1 per 2 serving bottles.

Side Effects

None

Conclusion

In conclusion Nutrex Outrage Extreme Energy Igniter gets a thumbs up from me. You'll get a rush of energy at a good value compared to other energy shots. You really can't go wrong with any of the 4 available flavors as they all taste great. Like I said in the value category I bought the B1G1 Free 12 pack case from Muscle & Strength. I wouldn't buy a case every month but I would buy 1 every 3-4 months. Once again I would like to thank Nutrex Research for participating in the SR TROOP Program.