Quick Summary

You know what it is. This is the best vitamin product. Back up.

Introduction

Ah yes. THE PAK. The quintessential kitchen-sink multi-vitamin for active lifters. If you haven't tried Animal Pak, do you even lift bruh?

I'm a believer in consistently taking a daily multivitamin in order to ensure you're meeting core nutritional needs. I usually stick to a basic, one-pill multi with a relatively simple ingredient profile; ON's Opti-Men is a good example. However I've run Animal Pak before - both the new powder formula and the older version of the paks - thus I jumped on the chance to try the newer formulation of the pill paks.

One final introductory note: I view multi-vitamins the same way I view protein - as a mandatory dietary staple; not a product I expect will take me to the next level.

Ingredient Profile

Animal Pak is absolutely effing loaded and is slightly different from its powdered brother. There are five major complexes: Vitamin, Amino Acid, Performance, Anti-Oxidant, and Digestive Enzyme. While the powder includes a Uni-Pro Blend in the Performance Complex (a prop blend of protein and organ support ingredients), the pill paks include a fully disclosed profile of liver and organ support that is higher dosed and more robust than the powder, but lacks the inclusion of whey protein. A small difference, but notable. I personally prefer the profile of the pill paks here. Say that five times fast.

The only other change between the pill paks and the powder seems to be in the Amino Acid Complex. There are marginal differences in each of these ingredients between these two versions, but overall I think the pill version comes out slightly ahead.

I could write a doctoral thesis on the profile of Pak and how it compares to other products, which ingredients are appropriately dosed, which aren't, and so on. I'll try to do a quick hitter here:

Aside from the Vitamin complex, the other four profiles are basically unmatched by any competitor multi-vitamin. They are insanely robust. Even Vital 4U and its 14 different pills don't hold a candle to Pak on these four platforms. That said, Vital 4U has generally higher dosages of core vitamins and minerals i.e. vitamins A and C, and more ingredients that support the immune system and mental clarity. Even so, when looking at the Vitamin complex in a silo (which I feel is the most important of the five) it takes a product like Vital 4U stack up against the Pak. Your basic one-a-days aren't going to come close.

That's not to say the Pak is flawless. I think some of the profiles are a bit gratuitous. Most of the ingredients in the Amino Acid complex are under dosed, some drastically so. Tyrosine, for example, has a recommended daily dose of 500-1000mg daily. You get 164mg from 2 Paks. Now, I understand the intent here is to support reaching daily values, not to provide the full daily dose, but does 20% of your daily dose of something like Tyrosine really make a difference?

Regardless, as was the case with Animal Pak Powder, it's the Vitamin and Enzyme complexes that are the MVPs for me.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Each pak is 11 hard-packed pills that range from small to relatively large. I'll admit, even for someone like me who generally has no issues with pills, this is still a LOT of swallowing (zing). It took me around 10 oz. of water to get down all of these pills, and I was generally dosing only one pak daily with dinner. No issues with odor or powder burps it's just a lot of pills.

If you struggle with pills - go get the powder.

Effectiveness

It's rather difficult to gauge a vitamin's effectiveness, but I knew I was taking the Pak. I absolutely felt a stronger sense of general health and wellness. Admittedly this feeling could be totally psychosomatic, but I did not get sick or have any sort of health issues while running this product. Both my kids came down with a small bug during the month I was running Animal Pak, and as usual I skated through unscathed. I haven't been sick in about a year, and when I ran the Animal Pak Powder I avoided the flu despite my entire family and half my office coming down with it. I have to think that's a testament to the effectiveness of this brand and this product.

One other note on effectiveness - the Pak doesn't fully replace a proper Digestive Enzyme. I didn't have quite the regularity that I do when I'm running that type of supplement, but I did notice a significant difference in my movements, even more so than I experienced while running the powder version (which is interesting given the digestive enzyme profile is identical). Again, although it may not fully cover a certain health aspect, the Pak assists and supports across the board.

Value

The industry norm for a men's multi is roughly .50c per dose, with the more aggressive products running closer to $1.00 per day. The Pak falls in this range. At $29 for 44 paks and a recommended dosage of 2 paks daily for active individuals, you're looking at a price point of $1.32 per serving. Pretty pricey. That said, I saw solid effectiveness from running 1 pak per day and I honestly think smaller individuals or those already running a robust stack with a true digestive enzyme and amino acid supplement would do just fine with a single pak daily.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

My recommendation of Animal Pak varies depending on the person. It is a solid, EXTREMELY well-rounded multi that I think can be used in a variety of fashions and can be relatively affordable depending on your wallet and how you dose the product. Am I buying this year round? No. But when I need as much health support as possible, this is where I am turning. Animal Pak is the king.

Quick Summary

Quite simply one of the best, no, the best sleep-aid/GH booster I have taken to date. The formula is spot on, the flavours amazing and the effectiveness hits you just like you wish every other sleep-aid would.

Introduction

What up SR community, tonight I'll be writing up my review for Iron Addicts Midnight Dream, IA's go at a sleep-aid/GH booster product. I was tossing up on whether to write this review or not, as it is listed on this site and also on some online retailers are discontinued. However, on the IA's website, it is in stock and available (and the same formulation that I reviewed) and also available at a lot of other places too, so I figured if people can still buy it then a review is worth it.

A little background, I picked up Midnight Dream as a BOGO so I got to pick 2 flavours, and intended to take this through the winter months so I could get decent sleep while I juggled working, a 2 year old (and 1 on the way), building your own dream home and gym life. Needless to say, when I was asleep, I needed to be proper asleep. Let's dig into it.

Ingredient Profile

9.9/10

OK, I couldn't give this a 10 because supplements are always being developed and at some point in time a better profile will come out, but this is the best ingredient profile for a sleep-aid/GH booster I've ever seen on any supplement to date. 1g Phenibut (I love it, and I don't get dependent on it), 1g Mucuna Puriens, 1g GABA, 750mg phenylalanine, 600mg valerian root, 500mg L-theanine, 35mg of zinc aspartate and 5mg melatonin. Convince me that's not the sleep-aid/GH boosting profile of your dreams. Perhaps a 200mg of 5-HTP would be the icing on the cake, but hey, looking at this profile you already know you're getting a good sleep from this. I especially like that IA didn't do the old 'we'll skimp on individual doses so we can use the magical 'synergistic effect' term to fool the masses'. They used effective doses on most of the ingredients without compromise.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I had 2 flavours, Root Beer and Apple Cider. Root Beer was serious 9.5/10 (I was surprised too). Apple Cider was just meh, 7/10.

Mixing was excellent, most of the time I didn't even bother with a shaker, just a swirl in a glass was good enough. I have to admit I've been taking a lot of my good tasting supps straight to the dome lately, and I did that a few times with the root beer flavor. I feel like cookie monster heating up cookie dough on a spoon in the bathroom.

Dosing was as follows: On most nights 5g would be fine (1 serving is suggested at 7.5g) for a good 8 hours sleep. On the weekends I would take a full 7.5g and get an easy 8+ hours sleep. I would notice that on full scoop days I would have a little sleep hangover, so I avoided doing that during weekdays. I would take my serving about 20-30 minutes before bed. I didn't feel the need to deviate from this dosing schedule as the effectiveness was maintained throughout the 2 tubs.

Effectiveness

9.8/10

So this stuff works (surprise surprise). 10mins after taking Midnight Dream I would feel the standard sleep-aid calmness come over me, and the eyelids start to droop. I like to do 15mins of stretching before bed, no screen time and just unwind before bed. During this time I could feel Midnight Dream kicking in, relaxing me and getting me ready for sleep. By the time I actually got into bed I was pretty much asleep already.

On both weekdays and weekends once I was asleep I would be dead to the world (and I am normally a light sleeper most times). This is not unusual though, a lot of sleep-aids do help me get a deeper sleep, it's just a sign they're working. One thing I did not really get a lot of were the vivid dreams some sleep-aids give you. I felt like I was just dead out from the time I hit the pillow until the alarm went off. I would not get a sleep hangover from Midnight Dream, unless I fully dosed it or heap scooped it and it was the weekend, and I was probably feeling a bit lazy then anyway.

I felt my recovery was improved during my time using Midnight Dream. Normally I don't notice the GH booster properties of sleep-aids, but with Midnight Dream I could definitely feel it helping, with the standard chest and legs recovering from a tough session half a day or so quicker than normal.

Value

9/10

I picked Midnight Dream up on BOGO for something crazy like $30 for 2 tubs. For that I'd mainline it for life. It's available at the IA website for $30, and guys like A1 are flogging it off for $35-40 a tub. That's somewhere around $1/serving if you full-scoop it and I think that's great value for something that really works.

Side Effects

None to report, a slight sleep hangover when full-scooping on the weekends, but as said above, that may be due to me being lazier on the weekends. No issues during the week on a slightly less than 1 scoop serving.

Conclusion

9.4/10

I thoroughly enjoyed my time taking Midnight Dream, so much so that I am searching the web to stock up on more tubs if it truly is discontinued, just so I have tubs of this stuff in my cupboard. It's not often I do that with supps. The ingredient profile and the effectiveness of those ingredients were outstanding. Would I buy this product again with my own money? You betcha, I am looking for it now. Would I recommend this product to others? Absolutely. Thanks for reading guys.

Quick Summary

It does what an Intra is supposed to do

Introduction

What is going on guys? I was very excited to use a true intra product with the added benefit of carbohydrates. The name itself 'Workhorse" was also a pretty cool eye catcher that added to the desirability of the product. I'd like to thank SR and Black Sheep for making this review possible. Let's dive right in shall we!

Ingredient Profile

Serving Size: 2 Scoops (42.9g)
Calories: 75
Total Carbs: 18g (Sugars 18g)
Dextrose: 20g
L-Citrulline: 5g
Raspberry Ketone Powder 99%: 2.75g
L-Glutamine: 2g
MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane):1.5g
L-Arginine Monohydrochloride:1g
Agmatine Sulfate: 1g
Beta-Alanine: 1g
Beet Powder: 500mg
Caffeine Anhydrous: 100mg

As you can see, there are no BCAAs in this product just ingredients that help manage stamina, blood flow, pump, and energy. This to me makes it a true intra-workout product and obviously not a BCAA product, hence why I started using a BCAA product halfway through my trial with this. I would like to see them add BCAAs to this product though so that it could have a noticeable impact on recovery.
This product contains 20 grams of dextrose aka the fuel to lengthen your workout and better your performance in the gym. I really like the idea, in theory, this is a fast digesting carb that your body can break apart and use for energy during your workouts. We've got 5 grams of Citrulline here which bodes very well for those skin shredding pumps as it is a good dosage along with 1g of Agmatine Sulfate to really try and pump you up. Raspberry Ketone powder can help aid with fat loss, but I take any 'fat loss aid' with a grain of salt (figuratively not literally) because it really comes down to being in a caloric deficit and it won't matter what shiny fat loss supplement you're taking if you are not in a caloric deficit. 2 grams of Glutamine is nice to see for its recovery benefits, but I personally have only seen/ felt results with daily dosages of 5 grams and up. MSM can decrease pain and inflammation recovery usually seen in dosages between 1.5 and 3 grams (so this product is just making it at 1.5g). Beet powder and beta-alanine are clearly underused but its good to see them on the label along with a little giddy-up of 100mg of caffeine.
I like the label from the looks of the pump ingredients and the carbs. I think that my workouts can only benefit from a quick digesting sugar mid-workout and added pump ingredients.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste: Raspberry Beetdown (clever name) was fine, It didn't taste bad but it wasn't an 'exciting taste' either. Rather bland for me personally and I'm not exactly mad about that lol I'd rather it be bland than really bad.

Mixibility: If you don't follow the mixing protocols and use at least 20 ounces of water then i could see you potentially having problems, however, I used the recommended amount every time and never had any issues.

Dosage: I used 1 serving during the beginning half of all of my workouts. It's recommended to finish it within the first 15 minutes but I can't workout with a ton of water slushing around in my stomach so I sipped mine through the first 30 minutes of my workouts (which was still not even halfway through the session).

Effectiveness

This is where the product was a success for me. This product extends the life of your pumps. If you take a pre workout that is either weak in the pump aspect or just fades during the duration of the workout this product slides in perfectly to give your pump new life! I responded very well in that aspect of the product both with and without a pre-workout. Was it the greatest pump ever? No, but it was still a pretty good pump by normal standards. The carbs were interesting to me. Did they hurt my performance? Not at all, I didn't have any stomach issues or bloating. Was it amazing at giving me sustainable energy? Not amazing, but pretty good! The carbs absolutely had a positive impact on my training. I've never been one to use an intra-carb product before so this was a pleasant surprise. It's not the kind of energy that the normal person thinks of with stimulants like caffeine, but rather more stamina to push through later sets in the workout. The product was a success in my book from that aspect. I also feel like with all the nitric oxide boosters that the carbs were able to be 'shuttled' through my body even quicker, but that may be me reaching a bit lol. There was really no change in my recovery and i was expecting this with the lack of BCAAs in this product (I think if maybe 5g of BCAAs were added to this products' formula that it would push it to a whole other level) even with the small addition of glutamine. With that being said, as far as pump and the carby energy was concerned this product was a win for me.

Value

I could only find this on the manufacturer's website for $49.99 which comes out to around $1.66 per serving. To me, an intra product is a great add to any stack but not a MUST have. $50 isn't cheap and there are cheaper alternatives for pump and some quick carbs.

Side Effects

None

Conclusion

This is a great add to any stack, but not a must-have.

Quick Summary

Myokem has now fully disclosed the nutrition panel for their hit supplement, Magnitropin. This product claims to boost testosterone, build lean mass, increase your endurance and appetite, boost your strength and improve your overall athletic performance to build healthy, toned muscle mass safely and efficiently. Some have experienced the full spectrum of these effects, while others have responded differently. I personally feel as if it left a just a little to be desired, and had some rather interesting results.

Introduction

I used Magnitropin as directed. Three capsules, twice a day for a total of six pills. Sometimes I took them without food, and others with food. I have been in a constant caloric surplus, between 2,600 and 3,000 calories daily. My 5x-Week German Volume Training has been less than perfect, often times with work and it's related travels coming between me and the iron, but has been as consistent as real life will permit. If ever I struggled to get my calories in, I used a mass gainer to plug the rest in to ensure I never fell short in these hectic times.

Ingredient Profile

This is the profile, directly as taken from the manufacturer's website, plus my take on the ingredients.

1.45g PAEDERIA FOETIDA EXTRACT: Paederia foetida is a plant that goes by various names, including Chinese fever vine, and is the best test booster. I haven't found a single study that backs this claim up. I have found only one study of it's libido and testosterone boosting effects, but was done in mice in 2012 and hasn't been replicated since. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1016/j.jomh.2011.12.003 The study indicates that 1.45g would be an effective dose if the ingredient proved to be effective

300mg CISTANCHE DESERTICOLA EXTRACT: Cistanche deserticola extract has been found to improve muscle recovery, strength, and endurance. I couldn't find anything to indicate endurance boosts but found a couple of studies indicating cell protection and proliferation, which could help with recovery and stregnth. I was unable to find effective dose guidelines. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22186624 / https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753332216307429

300mg GENTIANA LUTEA EXTRACT: Gentiana lutea extract improves your digestion while stimulating your appetite, encouraging greater food intake to fuel growing muscle mass. This one was pretty easy to find several articles on. The most straight-forward piece contributes the appetite to a response to increased salivary production and increased upper digestive-tract activity. { lost the article in editing :( }

102mg EPICATECHIN: Studies suggest that epicatechin has been found to increase your resistance to fatigue and can effectively promote muscle growth and increased strength by stimulating muscle protein synthesis. There is an absolute MOUNTAIN of studies done on Epicat. After literally 50 pages (out of 500+ pages), I found one indicating that the mitochondrial protein levels were elevated following doses of Epicat, here. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3741049/

7.5mg BIOPERINE BLACK PEPPER EXTRACT: Black pepper extract is a potent source of piperine which allows supplements to spend the right amount of time circulating in your body. Bioperine is also extensively researched, in both human and rat studies. One of the easiest to understand is here, where 42 (minus the 9 that were disqualified) individuals were tested to see if Bioperine helped the absorption of Curcumin. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT00113841?sect=X70156#outcome1

Dosing

6 standard sized capsules daily. For some this may be a bit much, but I've taken vitapacks that far out-pilled this. Split into two doses of 3 caps daily. I've read some reviews stating that you should take every 6th day off, but all literature on their website says to take it continuously, so I did.

Effectiveness

As stated in the introduction, I had an interesting experience. None-throughout did I feel an increase in appetite, which was very disappointing. That was one of the big turn-ons for me, as I've always struggled with making myself eat more. I've used supplements in the past that make me absolutely ravenous and hungry for anything I can chew. This did not happen. I suppose it may be because I was already pushing myself to eat as much as possible and using a gainer when needed. All I can say definitively, is that I wish I'd noticed more on this aspect.

I did however really like the endurance it gave me. I felt that the physical aspects of work were easier, pulling long, hard days. I also was pleased to notice that my sparse gym sessions didn't suffer due to infrequency. Never did I feel as if I took a step back. I've experienced a loss of progress before when life came between me and the gym, but not while taking Magnitropin. Long "make-up" sessions felt as if I'd never missed a day of working out.

Around the end of the first week, is when I started to notice day-long vascularity and feel that whole-body pump that is amplified by targeted use of the muscles. My muscles, especially in the chest and arms, stayed looking full, and feeling FIRM. I've taken products that have promised this result, but this is the first time I've noticed it. I find it odd, as "muscle hardening" isn't mentioned anywhere for this product.

Obviously the goal in a surplus was to put on some lean mass. That's the big selling point here. I however, lost weight on what has been my surplus, set by a nutritionist. When I started taking this product, I was 156lbs, at 16.2% bodyfat, measured by digital calipers. At the end of the cycle, I am now 152lbs, at 14.4% bodyfat. This suggests that all weight lost was fat. While this isn't the result I was hoping for, I do really like the way it looks on me. I refrained from weighing myself or taking measurements until the run was finished, because nothing gets me going quite like seeing the number on the scale jump up considerably. I was disappointed to see it drop, but that quickly went away after measuring my BF% and doing the math.

Value

$50 - $55 for my results is reasonable in my book. I would however like to see someone other than the manufacturer and BPN carry it.

Side Effects

I noticed no ill effects at all.

Conclusion

Overall, I had a great time. I felt it helped me keep what I worked for in the gym, and kind of re-worked what I worked for in the kitchen. I can see this being something I would try again after bulking more, when I am able to give it the time in the gym it needs.

Quick Summary

Myokem advertises this as an anti-estrogen product that will help the user develop lean muscle mass, reduce excess estrogen and increase muscle hardness, but in all actuality, it only delivers a mild PCT effect.

Introduction

A big thanks to the fine folks over at Myokem for sending Alphadex out for me to try. I am glad to see them back to participating on the site again. For anyone who has taken a testosterone boosting agent or for that matter a PH agent knows that it is important to fight off excess estrogen. Myokem gives us Alphadex which they say is: "an Estrogen Blocker. It helps reduce the amount of the hormone estrogen in the body, encouraging an optimal muscle building and fat loss environment."

A product like this is key to really show off the hard work you have put in the gym when on a testosterone boosting agent. Anti-estrogen products will leave you with a "dry" look rather than a puffy and bloated appearance that comes with the new found size. Let us take a look at how this product does.

Ingredient Profile

Myokem comes out the gate once again giving us a fully disclosed label with more exotic ingredients:

SAFFLOWER SEED EXTRACT 200mg - The seeds of the safflower - scientific name Carthamus tinctorius - contain a lignan that blocks the effect of estradiol in cells as effectively as Nolvadex does, according to pharmacologists at Seoul National University. Studies have found that safflower seed extract can help to reduce fat around the midsection while increasing lean muscle mass. Long-term use of Nolvadex [used to treat breast cancer] increases the risk of ovarian cancer in women. The Koreans are looking for alternatives to Nolvadex in the plant world. In their article, they describe how they bought safflower seed in a shop and isolated various compounds that they then tested for anti-estrogenic effects.

BRASSAIOPSIS GLOMERULATA EXTRACT 125mg - By inhibiting aromatase, Brassaiopsis glomerulata extract effectively increases the amount of testosterone in your body while blocking estrogen. the first investigations in the plant were to investigate the presence of low molecular weight aromatase inhibitors. There appear to be a few aromatase inhibitors in this compound with one of them showing a fair bit of potency, but there is currently a lack of evidence to support the usage of this plant orally for the purpose of aromatase inhibition.

ACACETIN 100mg - Acacetin also works to regulate aromatase and support a healthy ratio of testosterone to estrogen. Acacetin is a natural flavone that is found in the Damiana (Turnera diffusa) plant. Acacetin has been studied for a variety of reasons and some research suggests it may have anti-aromatase and anti-estrogen properties. Research suggests that Acacetin has anti-aromatase properties. Aromatase is the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone to estrogen. Inhibition of the aromatase enzyme helps reduce the amount of testosterone that gets converted to estrogen.

GARCINIA MANGOSTANA EXTRACT 25mg - Studies have found that the Garcinia mangostana extract can accelerate weight loss to eliminate stubborn fat and provide an even greater definition in your muscles. There is not a lot of information out on this ingredient and most research has shown that it is effective for digestion and treating minor infections and maintain a healthy gut and digestive system.

Bioperine 5mg- Standard dose used for increased absorption.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste-These are in capsule form, so there is not really a taste to them.

Mixability-Once again, these are capsules so mixability is not an issue as well.

Dosing is fairly simple. It is one capsule in the morning, and one capsule in the evening. Both doses were taken with food as well.

Effectiveness

So effectiveness was kind of difficult to pin down. This is promoted as an anti-estrogen product and with that being said, there was a slight reduction in what could have been excess estrogen. Muscle tone and definition from estrogen reduction were hardly noticeable over the course of the run. What I did notice while taking this product was an increase in aggression and attitude and things like confidence. I found this to be quite interesting because my confidence level is pretty normal, but on this, I found myself with a sense of feeling immortal. I also notice a significant increase in my appetite. Again, given the list of ingredients, I found this to be quite odd. I primarily used this product as a PCT after coming off a 2 month run of HADES from Savage Supplements.

If we truly categorize this as an anti-estrogen product, then it is going to fail compared to VMI's Arima-XD. However, if we promote this as a PCT to help the body come down from a testosterone or GH product, then it might have more success. The first time I ran HADES I ran it with Arima-XD and I was continually drying out during the whole cycle which was fantastic, however, when both were done I noticed a decent drop in strength and endurance. This time when using Alphadex, I noticed a reduced drop in strength and endurance which tells me that this acted as a decent PCT to help my body recover from having a testosterone boost for 8 weeks. I imagine that if you were to use Alphadex for 8 weeks, you could see an increase in overall strength rather than the slight increase I saw in 4. I also noticed an uptick in libido rather than a reduction due to coming off of a testosterone product.

So once again, I feel that this all goes back to an identity crisis in which we must ask if is this truly just an anti-estrogen product, rather than a PCT. I guess to make it fully identifiable as a PCT, they could add an ingredient like Tribulus, or Longjack, but they did not go that route.

Value

So the cheapest you can find this right now is on bestpricenutrition.com for $45 which for a 28 day supply is $1.60 a day and $.80 a pill. If we say this is an anti-estrogen, then that price is quite a hard price to swallow considering you can get a more effective Arima-XD for under $25

Side Effects

No real side effects found with this one to include joint discomfort from "drying out".

Conclusion

Again, in retrospect, this product is not terrible, but it also not great. If you have money to burn then I say, yeah go for it but get 2 bottles. If you are the type of consumer who wants the most for your money when it comes to anti-estrogen products then I would look elsewhere. Once again, thank you to Myokem for participating in the Trooper Program and I look forward to seeing more from them in the future.

Quick Summary

A solid and well rounded preworkout.

Introduction

Hey SR here today to review the preworkout Driven 2.0 by Rexx Sports Nutrition. I work out at 5 am before going to work, so I always have a preworkout on hand to motivate me in the gym and bust through the sets and cardio. Also, because I work afterwards I definitely need a preworkout that gives me energy without the crash afterwards. I was very pleasantly surprised at this product and here is the review.

Ingredient Profile

Great job Rexx Sports for a fully transparent label. This preworkout addresses all of the concerns that a preworkout needs in terms of energy, endurance, pumps, etc. For energy we get a nice dose of 300 mg of caffeine, 1600 mg of Carnosyn for endurance, 2 g of Hydromax, 1.5 g of citrulline and 1 g of agmatine for pumps. Some minerals for electrolytes, some tyrosine for focusand yohimbine thrown in there as well. Lots of ingredients, some under dosed (Carnosyn), but lots of familiar names at good doses to improve your workouts.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

They warn you on the label and lid, this clumps bad because of the hydromax and they weren't lying. Kind of hard to make sure you got a full scoop because of the clumping. Once inw ater though it mixed well. Dosing is standard preworkout, and the flavor of pink lemonade was a nice balance of sweet and sour.

Effectiveness

Overall, this was a great preworkout. The energy was immediate and strong without a crash. The focus was great as well. The energy was consistent and helped with the endurance, but I did miss the beta alanine some as the reps and sets got a little tough at the end of the workout. The strongest part of this preworkout is by far the pumps though. The big dose of hydromax and supporting ingredients really delivered a nice pump every time. This preworkout just did a great job everytime of motivating me in the gym and helping my workouts with energy, focus, and pumps.

Value

$25 for 25 servings is a very nice value at $1/serving. I'd like the more standard 30 serving tub but at $1/serving for the ingredients and effectiveness this is a great bargain.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

A great preworkout to help you in the gym, especially in terms of energy, focus, and pump.

Quick Summary

A simple and effective estrogen control product.

Introduction

Hey SR, back at it again to review the estrogen blocker Genius Estrogen Balance by the Genius Brand. Being almost 37 years old and hitting a lot of my natural plateaus especially in terms of body composition I always look to a good test booster/anti estrogen product to make a little of headway. Because of the more athletic, cutting, recomp cycle I've been doing I look for to the anti estrogen products as they help with leaning and definition in my opinion. I have had a lot of success with DIM in the past so I was happy to give this a try.

Ingredient Profile

Fully transparent and very simple profile. We have 150 mg of DIM, 150 mg of Grape Seed extract, and 5 mg of Bioperine for absorption. DIM is a pretty well known estrogen blocker, and grape seed extract a well known antioxidant. Genius says the combo of these two ingredients helps block estrogen, control cortisol, treat acne, etc. Overall, I really like the simple, pure approach as it gives you a chance to really evaluate an ingredient and/or dosages.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

No taste or mixability, one easy to swallow pill per day before a meal. I always took before dinner. About as simple and easy as you can get.

Effectiveness

So natty test boosters/anti estrogens aren't going to be game changers, you really should look to them to help boost through a plateau and/or help a little with body comp. For me, this excelled at both. I felt a boost at the gym with this after the first week of taking and several of my lifts increased. I also became much more defined, especially in the shoulders and pecs. My waist slimmed some as my pants felt looser, but my weight stayed about the same. I felt a slight increase in libido as well while taking this which was nice, but did not notice anything with acne/skin but I don't usually have a concern in that area. Overall, I thought this was a great product that helped in me in a lot of ways.

Value

Another strong point of this product is that it's pretty cheap at $19 for a 30 day supply. Most test boosters cost a lot more than this, so if this turns out to be as effective for you as it was for me than it's a great bargain.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

I think this is a very simple, cheap, and effective anti estrogen product you should try if you need to break a plateau.

Quick Summary

A great thermogenic, but needs extra support for well rounded workouts.

Introduction

Hey SR, knocking out a review for the thermogenic Steel Sweat by Steelfit. Being on a cut, this caught my eye. Of course when you're cutting, exercise and caloric (and carb for me) intake is where you're going to see your results, but certain products can really help and speed things up a bit. Thermogenics have been hit and miss for me, but do enjoy when I find a good one that really raises my body temp and metabolism to shed a few extra pounds. This turned out to be a good one. On to the review.

Ingredient Profile

I really liked the ingredient profile of this product as it included a ton of different ingredients, several in patented form. I really like the 1 g of carnitine, but question such a small dose of green tea at 50 mg. Then we have a variety of thermogenics and metabolism boosters in Capiastra (sweet pepper extract), grains of paradise, Capros gooseberry extract, ginger root, and GBBGO a patented form of GBB. This profile also includes a small dose of 100 mg of caffeine, which should be a nice boost but not really anything in terms of a preworkout or fat burner. Overall, with a few question marks this looks like a nice combo of thermogenic ingredients.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

This was a powder that mixed very well y itself or with another product (bcaas, preworkout). Dosing can vary but I always took before I hit the gym or sipped throughout. The flavor I had was strawberry mango and it was very nice as it was a combo of spicy and sweet. You get the sweet upfront and then a nice lingering spiciness from the pepper on your tongue after. I really enjoyed it.

Effectiveness

Overall, this is a very effective thermogenic but not sure I could use it just by itself. I took it in two different ways, sometimes I would dump it in my preworkout and other times I would sip on it throughout my workouts by itself or in my intra bcaas. Honestly, it worked great both ways and during my workouts and/or cardio I noticed a big difference in body temp and sweat production. Over the course of the month I took this my weight loss did accelerate some and I became more defined and the couple target areas I have left in lower abs and love handles shrunk some. Of course diet and exercise were the main factors but I felt this definitely helped. The only reason I say this can't be a standalone is with the limited caffeine and ingredient profile it doesn't really help with your endurance or workouts like a preworkout does. It also doesn't help like fat burners in appetite control, nootropic support etc. This really helps as a thermogenic, but that's about it. So even though it's great at what it does, it's more of an add on for me than a staple.

Value

Another reason this could be considered a luxury item, as it's $35 for 30 servings. Even though it's great at what it does and has a lot of patented ingredients, for this price I would like a more well rounded product that helps in a couple more areas.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a can't miss thermogenic in terms of heat and sweat, this is it. For workouts and other fat burning support you will still need other products.

Quick Summary

This only works as hard as you do: caloric deficit = weight loss. How you manage that caloric deficit is up to you, Shred Sport can assist you in maximizing the weight loss and give you the energy you need to meet your goals. I lost and kept off 10 lbs with 60 days of Shred Sport.

Introduction

A little bit of background so you can understand the effectiveness of this product:
I spent about 8 months unable to work out due to time, available facilities, and recovering from an injury, which led to me gaining around 15 lbs over the course of a year. I moved and changed jobs, which now allowed me to hit the gym as I needed. I started my workouts slowly, without using any "fat burner" supplements until I got up to full-swing. Once I was at full-swing I introduced Shred Sport.

My regular daily workout routine while I took Shred Sport was 5 days a week:
-10 minute row warmup.
-10 minute treadmill run: 1 mile at 75% pace, cool down.
-45 minutes of lifting targeted free-weights
-45 minutes of lap swimming (freestyle) indoor pool at a sub-2:00 pace.

I incorporated 2 rest days into my weekly schedule. Every other week I would drop one gym day for a long-distance run (over six miles) at a slow pace (8-10 min/mi).

My diet was around 1500 baseline, adjusted for caloric expenditure based on the actual times recorded in the gym. This usually led to me consuming between 2300-2700 calories, depending on the day. I eat an intermittent fast diet with a very small consumption window. I used a Garmin 935 to track all of my gym times, laps, steps, etc.

Now on to the actual review!

Ingredient Profile

I started taking the original Shred Matrix eight years ago, and it morphed to a proprietary blend, which was one of the biggest complaints. The new Shred Sport has more disclosure on the label (screenshot of the ingredient profile is attached), but it relies primarily on the 200mg/serving caffeine base. The 100 mg of dandelion root extract gives this a pretty significant diuretic and water-shedding boost, while the 125 mg "Capsimax" formula incorporates the thermogenic benefits of capsicum extracts. This also has 500mg of L-Carnitine, which is the usual recommended dosage of L-Carnitine.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I started taking Shred Sport as one capsule a day - just to make sure that I didn't overstim too soon, since I was planning on using two bottles back to back (two 30 day bottles). A single capsule in the morning was not overkill and not more noticeable than a few cups of coffee. I started taking one capsule first thing in the morning, and then another before my workout. I changed it up after a week by taking both capsules first thing in the morning, and this seemed to have the best effect. If you are sensitive to stims I would suggest starting off with a single capsule, or half dosing throughout the day.

Capsules are tasteless, and there was thankfully no residual flavor. With the "Capsimax" formula I was happy to note that there was no peppery burping, which I've had from some other thermogenics in the past.

Effectiveness

Bottom-line-up-front: I lost and kept off 10 lbs over 60 days using this. I've attached a screenshot of my weekly weight averages over 90 days. For 60 of those days I used Shred Sport, and then I kept tracking for 30 more days to see how much I would rebound.
Initially I could feel a massive stim boost. I had energy for days, which made longer endurance sessions much more manageable. I also felt the diuretic effects, though, which led to me becoming severely dehydrated during a few of those endurance sessions. If you are planning on doing any kind of long-duration exercise (60+ minutes) you must have enough water and electrolytes ready to go while taking this or else you will suffer the effects of dehydration. I noticed I was sweating significantly more than usual. I am naturally sweaty, and this became almost unbearable to the point of embarrassment outside of the gym. There were sweatstains in all kinds of places that I had not had sweatstains before. That's your word of warning!

Because of the water-weight loss I actually lost 16-20 lbs, but once I stopped taking Shred Sport and my body readjusted I had a consistent loss of 10 lbs from the start of the usage. I didn't feel any significant appetite suppressant during this time, but I did have a lot of focus, energy, and sweat. Did I mention how sweaty this product made me?

The energy boost I got from this was amazing and definitely helped me meet my daily goals. I have mixed feelings about the diuretic properties since they don't tend to do anything in the long run, but the thermogenic effect was real. With consistent calorie tracking, consistent working out, and consistent use of Shred Sport I met my short-term goal of dropping 10 lbs over 60 days. This is a modest goal, and I could have done this without Shred Sport over the same amount of time, but it didn't feel like a challenge while using Shred. In fact I would say that this was probably the easiest 10 lb drop that I've ever done, I just had the energy and motivation every day to do what I needed to do.

Value

I used two bottles over 60 days. Each bottle is dosed for 30 days, with two capsules a day. If you are stim sensitive it will last longer, but I only spent a week on reduced dosage before going to the recommended. I found this on Amazon for $33.99 for a two-pack, which is not a bad deal and relatively affordable when spread out over 60 days.

Side Effects

-Sweat. Lots of sweat.
-Stim focus and tunnel vision.
-Dehydration (if not managed properly).
-Stomach issues and diarrhea (if you are stim sensitive).

Conclusion

I do not lose weight easily, even on a significant caloric deficit. Shred Sport helped me to meet my 60 day goals, as long as I put in the effort and discipline. You can lose weight without any supplements, but I used Shred Sport and it made the weight loss that much easier. Shred Sport will cause significant amounts of water-weight loss, which can provide a false sense of accomplishment in the short-term, but over the long term if does provide a small boost to a regular reduced calorie diet.

Would I recommend Shred Sport? If you are dead set on using a thermogenic supplement, yes. This one worked and gave me what I wanted with a very clean stim-boost. If you think that a supplement alone is going to make you lose weight, then no. Do not take this if you are not willing to be consistent with your diet or exercise.

Quick Summary

A cheap BCAA product with no other frills besides Taurine. Gets the job done if dosed correctly, and this can be found with some good deals.

Introduction

39 years old and I lift four days a week while doing physical therapy twice a week for my left ankle due to total reconstructive surgery. Towards the end of last year I got interested in Insane Labz and purchased some of their products during their black Friday and Christmas sales. I am finally getting around to testing them out. I always keep a BCAA source of some sort in my daily stack, the only thing I truly require is that it aids me in my muscle recovery from those evil DOMS. Anything else it does is just a perk on top of that for me. Let us see if I was on Acid when I purchased this or if it turned out to be a good deal.

Ingredient Profile

Fully Disclosed label with only four ingredients. Each 8.9g scoop nets you 4g Leucine, 1g ISO-Leucine, 1g Valine, and 1g Taurine. Leucine plays an important role in muscle protein synthesis, while isoleucine induces glucose uptake into cells. The Valine in the red headed step child here, as more research is needed to even know what this does for you. Taurine is mostly used to reduce cramping caused by fat burners, like ephedrine. It may also help with enhancing exercise performance. It also increases blood flow in diabetics. You do not want to exceed 3g of this daily, so 1g is good to go.

Short and sweet and you get 6g of BCAAs which is not bad. The label does not state the source of the BCAAs so we will assume its the cheap kind (as is the case when its not mentioned), so lets hope it was not animal hair.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste: I ordered and received the Mosh Pit Punch flavor. It tasted fine, like watered down fruit punch. It was not overly sweet and was very drinkable. Not bad.

Mixability: Got some foaming upon initial mixing with my shaker cup, but that would settle down in 30 seconds or so. I typically mix it up and head to the gym, so no problems here as it was good to go when I wanted to drink it.

Dosing: The directions state to take one sieving in 8-10oz of water before, during, or after your workout. Its BCAAs with Taurine, so take it as you see fit. I like to drink my BCAAs while I workout with around 16-22oz of water. On workout days I found the need to take one scoop intra and another late afternoon which we will discuss below.

Effectiveness

So I judge the effectiveness of a BCAA product based off if it reduced my muscle soreness aka DOMS. That is the easiest way to do it as I really cannot gauge muscle protein synthesis. For the first week on this I took one scoop intra workout and one scoop on rest days. I found myself getting fairly sore after my workouts, so after that week I upped the dosing to 1 scoop intra, 1 scoop mid afternoon on workout days and 1 scoop on rest days. This seemed to work well as my muscle soreness was very slight and manageable. Now, I have had products completely eliminate DOMS for me, this did not do that, but still reduced it to a point where it was manageable and not a big deal. So in the end this is an effective product when you dose it accordingly.

The label describes the product as an Amino Acid Bath and Corpse rehab. It also just says Aminos and Recovery on the label. I cannot speak to the corpse part since I am not one, nor did I feed this to a corpse, but I can say this did aid me in recovery. While not the sexiest of products it gets the job done.

Value

I got this free during a black Friday deal when I purchased Sin PWO. The cheapest you can find this is from TF Supplements for $17.95 for 30 servings. With S/H it comes out to $24.90 which is 83 cents a serving. A1 Suplements has this on a BOGO for $39.95 coming out to 76 cents a serving with S/H. So not a bad deal really. One thing to note is that Insane Labz is not currently selling the product and has their new hashtag Aminos out, so it may have been replaced, but that is a guess.

Side Effects

None to speak of.

Conclusion

Overall, a cheap BCAA supplement that will get the job done if you dose it correctly. Nothing much more than BCAAs in this, so if that works for you then great. Lately I have been more into BCAA/EAA combinations as I find that to do a better job at lower dosages, but that is just me and my body. So if you do not mind not knowing where the BCAA's come from, then give this a shot. I have no regrets on this one.

Quick Summary

Great amino/intra product with 7g of BCAA's plus chelated minerals for superb hydration benefits. This performed extremely well for me as both an intra workout and as a general work aid when working outside in the heat.

Introduction

I recently turned 36, and have lifted on and off since I graduated high school. I've currently been back in the gym for about 4 months after taking a year and a half off from working out. My training mostly consists of getting stronger, especially in the "big 3" plus OH press, and I was using Candito's Linear Program for the duration I took this product.

Ingredient Profile

No proprietary blends here, which is a big plus! Everything is fully-disclosed, so you know what you are getting. The ingredient list is as follows:

Vitamin B6: 1250%
Vitamin B12: 500%

Instantized BCAA's (as InstAminos): 7g total
L-Leucine: 3.5g
L-Isoleucine: 1.75g
L-Valine: 1.75g

Betaine: 1.25g

Magnesium Glycinate Glutamine Chelate (MGG by Albion): 400mg
Potassium Glycinate (TRAACS by Albion): 50mg
Magnesium Glycinate (TRAACS by Albion): 50mg
Calcium Glycinate (TRAACS by Albion): 50mg
Sodium Chloride: 50mg

You have a generous dose of BCAA's at 7g, betaine for strength augmentation and increased creatine production, and chelated minerals for hydration. Without getting over my head with the science behind it, to chelate a mineral means to bind it to an amino acid (glycine and/or glutamine here), which increases its bioavailabilty, so we absorb it more efficiently. TRAACS is Albion Human Nutrition's patented method for testing their mineral products, and stands for "The Real Amino Acid Chelate System". In practical terms for consumers, it is basically a quality control system that guarantees purity and that we are getting these minerals chelated as advertised.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I received a tub of the Tropical Mango Flavor, and also sample packs of most of the other flavors offered. Overall they were all good, and were pretty much spot on tasting like the flavors they were aiming for. The tropical mango was sweet, but not too sweet. The mango was most prominent in there, but also had a hint of orange/citrus. My favorite flavor I tried was probably the pink lemonade, but it is hard to say since I only had a sample of that one. I will probably choose that next time. It had a really nice balance of sweetness and tartness. It seemed the key to maximizing the flavors for each of them was using around 12oz of water, preferably very cold water as others have mentioned, or you can get away with a little more water if you use more than one scoop.

I usually went with one scoop to make the tub stretch, but also played around with 1-1/2 to 2 scoops on a couple of occasions. I never had any issues with mixability even when the water was particularly cold. Sometimes there would be a minimal amount of foam, but I would swish an ounce or two of water in my bottle after I finished it to get the remaining bit.

Effectiveness

So how well did this work? Really well, actually! It did everything a BCAA product is expected to do, plus had the added bonus of hydration. I will break this down into categories based on the typical BCAA criteria and the product's label claims for more detail:

Enhanced endurance/performance:
This is where the product really shined for me. I always seemed to be able to work out slightly harder for longer while taking this, and I had a noticeable decrease in recovery time between sets.

Reduced DOMS:
This was probably the least noticeable aspect of this product for me, but that could be due to a number of factors such as diet and training variety. I did notice I never got too severely sore while taking this, though, even after I made some changes in my assistance work, which normally causes extra soreness as my body adapts to the new stimulus, so I do feel like this helped somewhat.

Muscle Building/Improved Body Composition:
It is practically impossible to quantify how much muscle growth would be due to a single product, but I did get stronger and leaned out somewhat while taking this. I had several comments from friends and family about how I was looking bigger/more muscular, and I think this helped. If nothing else, the fact that I was able to push myself harder in the gym probably helped spur a little extra growth, so I'm pretty happy.

Improved Hydration:
I believe the chelated minerals really helped in this aspect because I rarely felt the need to make extra trips to the water fountain while I was using this. This is actually pretty remarkable for me because I am easily the sweatiest guy in the gym at any given moment. I have always sweated a ridiculous amount compared to most other people (hyperhidrosis), so I pay extra attention to not become too dehydrated during physical activities. This stuff worked much better than sports drinks for me in this respect. It was like a secret weapon to combat dehydration. This was useful for me in the gym, and also when working in the yard at home or in a hot warehouse.

Value

You can find this at various online supplement merchants, with the average price being around $30 with shipping. Amazon currently has it for $29.99 with free shipping for Prime customers. At $1 per serving, this is an excellent deal in my opinion, especially considering the quality of the product and the added hydration benefits of the chelated minerals.

Side Effects

I experienced no side effects with this.

Conclusion

Overall, this has been one of the best amino products I have ever tried, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great BCAA product at a good price! It does everything you would expect from BCAA's, and when you add the hydration factor, it really is tough to beat, especially for the price. Thanks to VMI for giving me the opportunity to try this.

Quick Summary

DNPX Powder really didn't blow me away like I had hoped it would. But for the awesome price point it is a great option for someone just getting into the stimulant fat burner market who is looking for a kick and some easy drinking flavors.

Introduction

Whats up SR, its pretty clear based on my review history that I am a big fan of both stimulants and fat burners. I'm always looking for any extra edge I can find to help me lean out because we all know summer seems to jump out of nowhere. I train twice a day and need all the boost I can get before the second workout, so I usually like to add in some sort of fat burner here to get me amped and help me shred a little more. Thank you to ProSupps and the Trooper program for hooking me up.

Ingredient Profile

Lets take a peek at what DNPX gives us, based upon the ambiguous name one could expect a lot of mystery in the ingredient blend, and thats kind of what we get here. DNPX is made up of several blends, which is usually not my favorite (just being honest here). But lets see what we have to work with here:

Energy Matrix - 425mg
- Caffeine Anhydrous, Di-Caffeine Malate, Theacrine (as TeaCrine)

Intensity Matrix - 401mg
- Alpha Lipoic Acid, Garcinia Cambogia Fruit Extract (60% HCA),
Lycii Berry (Lycium Barbarum), Natural Cocoa Extract (10% Theobromine),
Raspberry Ketone, Green Coffee Bean Extract (45% Chlorogenic Acid),
Dandelion Root Extract 10:1, Green Tea Leaf Extract (60% EGCG), Coleus
Forskohlii Root Extract (standardized to 10% Forskolin), Citrus Aurantium
extract (std. min. 25% Synephrine)(9 mg Synephrine)(Kinetiq)

Carnitine Matrix - 400mg
- Acetyl L-Carnitine HCL, L-Carnitine Fumarate, L-Carnitine Tartrate

Focus Matrix - 1.25g
Taurine, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine

Okay so that is a lot of information to look at, so I'm going to just drop a little list of my pros and cons here.

Pro's
- I like the Energy Matrix, I like seeing multiple caffeine sources as well as other stimulants (in this case Teacrine), I find often times companies rely far too much on just caffeine to bring the energy
- I like some of the pieces of the Intensity matrix, especially the Synephrine (which is a physical stim) as well as the Dandelion extract to help shed those excess water pounds and lean everything out.
- I like the inclusion of multiple forms of Carnitine, but see the cons section here.

Con's
- The carnitine is very largely under dosed, I would have liked to see around 2g or so, especially because it is multi sourced, feels like a waste at this dose.
- Some of the ingredients are relatively useless in my personal opinion, such as the Raspberry Ketones, this feels like an attempt to grab the uneducated consumer
- I really wish this was not a prop blend, its much easier to figure out my likes and dislikes when I have exact doses listed, especially when a product has this many ingredients.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I received the Miami Vice flavor, love the name and also loved the flavor. This is a sort of tropical fruit punch I guess, not overly sweet and unique enough that I did very much enjoy it. Mixability was perfect, whether shaken or stirred. Dosing for me was either one scoop pre workout or a scoop as a pick me up while at work.

Effectiveness

So does this work? Lets break that down:

Energy and Focus: Anything with this much caffeine is going to give you a kick in the pants, however DNPX did not hit like a freight train, the blend of caffeines helps this be more of a gentle lift and a consistent energy with no harsh crash, I really liked that aspect, I never had the dreaded crash while taking this. Mental focus really was not there for me at all with this, besides the added focus from increased energy, there really was nothing here for me.

Fat Loss: Okay so this is always pretty hard to gauge, but I did lose a few pounds while taking this product, nothing super significant. Perhaps the best thing DNPX brings in terms of Fat Loss is the thermogenesis, I found I did sweat much more after taking this, helping me get the most out of my workouts and often leaving the gym with a shirt that is soaked right through (always a fan of that). As most of you know, diet is the biggest part when it comes to fat loss, but DNPX did help me get the most of my cardio workouts and shed those extra few calories, full credit there.

Appetite Suppressant: I honestly did not have any noticeable effect here, not that this is ever an issue for me, so perhaps this would be useful for others who struggle here.

Value

DNPX shines when it comes to value, this can be found for as low as $18.99 for a 30 serving tub, being that this is a true 30 servings this value is fantastic, placing it well below $1 per serving. Making this an even better option for someone who is nervous about spending money of a fat burner.

Side Effects

Increased sweat is worth noting, also since this is caffeine heavy, do not consume to close to bed time.

Conclusion

In conclusion I was slightly let down by DNPX, anything with a name that intense I expect to bring the fire. Instead I got a decent energy kick and some sweat gains, nothing game changing here. However I really do think this is a perfect fat burner for someone who maybe has never taken one before or is on the fence, the price point and great flavors help it appeal to the average person.

Quick Summary

Protolyte is an easy way to add high quality protein to anyones diet with the added benefit of having it taste fantastic with whatever you choose to mix it with.

Introduction

Whats up SR, about time I finally get around to dropping this review. I train twice a day and follow a lower carb diet, meaning I need all of the help I can get when it comes to getting protein in my diet. Hence my jumping on the opportunity to review this product, thanks to VMI and the Trooper program for hooking me up as per usual.

Ingredient Profile

Okay so for those of you who consider yourselves veterans of the protein powder game will know that in fact not all protein powders are created equal. VMI delivers on the high end here when it comes to quality in my opinion. First we have 105 calories per scoop (29g scoop), those 105 cals are made up of 24 grams of protein alongside >1g of fat, 1g of total Carb. Our protein source here is Whey Isolate which is put through a cold process. This quality of protein also makes Protolyte both lactose and gluten free.

Where Protolyte really helps separate itself from a crowded market is the inclusion of the TRAACS Electrolytes and Enzyme blend. This is a fantastic addition because any added enzymes is just going to help further improve the digestion process. Adding electrolytes to anything is going to get you positive marks in my books, most people really don't realize how bad their hydration is, so anytime you can improve that is going to help yield even better results.

The TRAACS Blend is made up of the following:
Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate - 500mg
Calcium Bisglycinate Chelate - 300mg
Potassium Glycinate Complex - 183mg
Chromium Nicotinate Glycinate Chelate - 8mg

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Okay so I originally received the vanilla cake batter flavor, but I had ordered the Chocolate Peanut Butter. I was totally fine with this but VMI went way out of their way and sent me a tub of the Chocolate Peanut Butter as an apology. Massive customer service marks here. Along with those two flavors they also sent samples of all of the other flavors in their line. Let me start with the Vanilla Cake Batter and the Chocolate Peanut Butter, wow were these amazing, both were the perfect amount of sweet, mixed with either water or Almond Milk. Both of these being so good had me excited to try the other flavors, boy did VMI really nail it, every single one was good, and I don't mean good as in average I mean these flavors really are fantastic. Mixability was perfect with water and the consistency was thin and easy to drink, with almond milk it was thicker (obvs) but almost milkshake like texture. With the milk it did require more vigorous shaking, but it did mix up fine. Dosing for me was one to two scoops usually after my second workout of the day.

Effectiveness

This is a high quality protein powder with added extras, with all protein powders it comes down to diet. I personally look at protein powder more as a food, I often times find it hard to hit some of my macro goals when it comes to protein based on my training regime. This did a fantastic job of helping me refuel after my workouts and also helping aid in my recovery via the added hydration benefits. In the role I needed this to play it was perfect, the flavoring also helped with my nasty sweet tooth as I was excited to drink this after my workouts. I had no stomach issues and found this super easy on my body overall, whenever I was using this more in a meal replacement role I would mix it with the almond milk and it would keep me full for a surprising amount of time. Overall this protein powder did everything I needed it to do: Help me hit macro goals, help boost my recovery after tough workouts and also allow me to have the option of a quick snack/ meal. I can't ask for much more then that.

Value

This can be found for $36.99 on Allstarhealth.com for a 30 serving tub. While this may seem slightly high for a protein. One must consider the quality of the protein as well as those added extras, those alone help bring the value to a range that I am very comfortable paying.

Side Effects

None, zero stomach issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion VMI really nailed it here, they have managed to stick out in a super crowded market by using high quality ingredients, a super clean blend and adding extra's that other companies just don't give you. Factor in the awesome flavor and various options in regards to which one you treat yourself with, makes this a home run in my books.

Quick Summary

Cluster Bomb from Redcon1 is a carbohydrate supplement that uses HBCD (Highly Branched Cyclic Dextrin) to supply quick energy so you can keep going and/or for recovery.

Introduction

Sometimes I just don't have the energy to do my whole workout as planned. I used to think that this was the sign of an "off day" and would just wrap up early. Since those days I've learned that there is a "cure" for this feeling and that it

Ingredient Profile

30 servings of 25g of HBCD (as Cluster Dextrin). That's it.

This is a carbohydrate produced from a waxy corn starch via cyclization reaction from a branched enzyme. This results in a very fast GET (gastric emptying time), which means it can be used for energy much more quickly compared to other popular carbs like maltodextrin and dextrose.

This GET also means it won't give you that "carb bloat" and it can also theoretically pull other nutrients like protein along with it. I haven't found any studies confirming that "pulling" claim but I'll happily link it in a future update if I come across any.

As much as I enjoy the flexibility of a single ingredient product, I feel like this could have benefitted greatly from some sort of electrolyte/hydration blend.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I've only tried the Grape flavor so far; its strong enough to be convincingly grape but weak enough that I never got tired of it. I don't plan on trying the other flavor because I enjoy Grape so much, though now that they have Unflavored that could be useful for creating more interesting combinations.

The mixability is pretty good considering its a carbohydrate supplement. A shaker is definitely the easiest way but stirring has been all right for me.

I tried a number of dosing schemes and landed on the following:

1 scoop pre and 1 scoop post for endurance training.
1-2 scoops intra for high intensity training, generally after my warmup sets. The number of scoops is determined by the quality of my pre workout meal and/or how I feel that day.

Effectiveness

The product works. I got the energy and lack of carb bloat that I paid for.

When taken pre workout it helped me start strong and maintain my energy throughout. This is harder to gauge when I took this while already feeling good, so I tested it with a session on the rowing machine. If I go at a leisurely pace I can row for quite some time, but at an aggressive pace I generally need a break after 1500 meters. When I started off with this I was able to get an extra 1000 meters before hitting that point. As this was my first test of the product I was ecstatic to use it again.

When I took this as an intra it functioned as a second wind in a bottle; on lifting days this means an extra set or two. I naturally feel a need to hydrate after my first two or three sets so I would just pound down 1 or 2 scoops of this and my muscles would feel fresh by the time I hit the next set.

As a post workout this is a perfect companion to whey protein for recovery as this restores muscle glycogen without delay.

Value

MSRP on this is $39.99, though Redcon1 has discounts available ALL the time. It's also available on Amazon for $32.

HBCD is known to be a fairly expensive ingredient, though this is one of the more reasonably priced offerings.

One thing I'd really like to see RC1 do is offer a larger tub size for this (as they have done for Grunt, their EAA) as this would likely allow them to offer a more competitive price per serving.

Side Effects

No adverse side effects.

Conclusion

This product makes good on its claims and it never felt like a waste.

A hydration blend and a larger tub size could push this to be the best carb supplement in the game, but in the mean time its still a top competitor.

If you have yet to try HBCD then grabbing this with a discount code is a great place to start.

Tetrogen is a stimulant-free weight loss supplement that's quite new on the market.

I ran into this supplement when I was researching an anti-obesity medication in development called Metabocin. It's based off of the popular fat burner, capsaicin, but has shown more powerful weight loss benefits when studied. The studies mentioned the likely reason for its enhanced effects, compared to standard capsaicin, are because of its time released nature as well as an improvement in bioavailability.

For reference, I absolutely love capsaicin. It's one of the only supplements that always provides a noticeable boost to my weight loss.

After learning about Metabocin, I searched up extended release capsaicin supplements and I came across Tetrogen. This certainly isn't the standard fat loss supplement I use. It's marketing seems largely targeted to the weight loss niche rather than fitness enthusiasts.

The company says that the supplement is supposed to take a 'big-picture look at fat loss'. It's supposed to improve the balance of metabolic hormones, alongside a metabolism boost via thermogenesis.

Sounds good to me, but does it actually work?

I ordered it when I saw a 30% off sale. This was right as I began to plateau on my weight loss cycle. I ran 2 bottles of Tetrogen Day and 2 bottles of Tetrogen Night for a total of 2 months.
Let's get into the pros and cons of this supplement:

---- PROFILE - 4/5 ----

There were 4 things that I really liked about the ingredients and 1 thing I was reluctant about.

First Thing I Liked - Lipofuel

They're the only supplement I know of with an extended release capsaicin formulation. The ingredient is called Lipofuel and it's pretty new to the market. I had to email the company to get any literature on the ingredient.

The 2 studies they sent my way weren't independent, but they were well controlled. I'd take them with a grain of salt, but I realized a lot of the same conclusions in their studies were the same found from that prescription medication I researched, Metabocin.

This ingredient was my main curiosity-trigger that got me to fork over the cash and give Tetrogen a try.

Second Thing I Liked - The Perfect Melatonin Dose

Really, the only difference between their day formula and night formula is that the night formula contains melatonin (and the night formula has no green tea extract to avoid disrupting sleep).

Normally that would be meaningless to me, but their specific dose was a good sign that demonstrated some serious thought was put into this supplement.

Most sleep supplements you see have a dose of 3mg or 5mg of melatonin. This bothers me so much because those doses leave many people (myself included) groggy in the morning.

What's the point of getting a good night's sleep if you're exhausted for 2 hours after you wake up???

Most of the original research on melatonin was done with a 0.5-1mg dose - and many studies since have shown more is not better with melatonin. I definitely get the best sleep with a 1mg dose.

**NOTE: While editing this review, I checked Examine's Sleep Supplement Guide and they also recommend 0.5-1.5mg of melatonin.

As far as Tetrogen's rationale for adding melatonin, they say it's because healthy, high-quality sleep is important for fat loss and Leptin sensitivity. Looks like there's plenty of science to back up that claim. Melatonin also appears to boost Leptin levels in people without Leptin desensitization - that's a big win-win to me.

Third Thing I Liked - Green Tea Extract

This one's pretty straight forward.

Green tea extract is one of the most studied fat burners out there with solid science demonstrating its fat burning benefits, along with some solid benefits on metabolic hormones, including leptin-resensitization and cortisol control.

Fourth Thing I Liked - Cissus

I was surprised seeing CQR Cissus inside this supplement. I always thought of it as a joint supplement.

I went back and looked at the science, which led me to another good sign that made me think this is a supplement with a lot of hidden thought put into it. The studies discovered cissus works well for fat loss and appetite suppression - particularly over the long term. They found best results after 10 weeks of supplementation which might explain why I noticed faster weight loss as I hit my second bottle (more on that in a bit).

Another interesting thing I came across was an apparently synergy between African Mango and Cissus which provided better and longer lasting fat loss results in the study. Researchers were unsure of the mechanism.

Thing I Didn't Like - Use Of Celebrity Fat Burners

Main turn off when I first saw Tetrogen was its inclusion of IGOB131 and Dyglomera. These are patented forms of African Mango & a Cameroonian fruit seed extract.

I had never tried these supplements before. I always figured they were just another supplement made popular by TV doctors and talk show hosts, only to die out of popularity a few years later.

Unlike some other fad supplements, like raspberry ketones, these two seem to keep increasing in popularity - is this because they're effective, though?

Science wise, the few studies done seem promising, but they're confounded by industry funding so I question how these ingredients would hold up with independent peer reviewed research. We will just have to wait and see when people do some well controlled studies on these ingredients.

The bright side is, Tetrogen uses the forms of extract which have science backing them. I see plenty of fat burners out there cheaping out and using low doses of the non-patented versions of these extracts. I also liked the fact that African Mango appears to work synergistically with both Cissus and Dyglomera - even if they aren't the most effective fat burners alone, they could be promising when combined.

---- EFFECTIVENESS - 17/20 ----

Effectiveness was probably the biggest surprise I had with Tetrogen.
When I get to about 13% body fat on my fat loss cycle, I hit a wall. I'm a former fatty and spent most of my youth at over 20% body fat, so it makes sense my body doesn't want to get too skinny.

When I reach 13% it usually takes me 4 months to reach 10% body fat - and those 4 months come with a lot of hunger pains and cravings from hell. My intermittent fasting also becomes a lot harder the minute I hit 13% BF.

I started Tetrogen when I was at 13.2% body fat, using the 7 point caliper calculation.
I noticed things really sped up towards the end of the first bottle. I can't really figure out why that was. It could be the proposed synergy between IGOB and Dyglomera. Studies implied the combo works best with about 12 weeks of use. Looks like Tetrogen isn't a case of diminishing returns. At least not with the first few bottles of use.

Another thing I really liked was that Lipofuel capsaicin didn't give me spicy burps or "spicy visits to the toilet" like standard capsaicin does to me.

Diet & Results

I consumed 400 calories below maintenance throughout the entire diet, readjusting every 4 weeks.

My weight and body fat percentage were as follows:
Started Tetrogen June 4th, 2018
Weight: 179.1lbs
Body Fat: 13.2%

July 2nd
Weight: 175.7lbs
Body Fat: 12.0%

Finished Second Bottle August 6th (Didn't take a few days while travelling)
Weight: 168.1lbs
Body Fat: 10.3%

I was really excited by the result since I hit 10% almost twice as fast as I normally do.
The question is what was responsible for the result?

Are African Mango and Dyglomera underrated supplements? Do they only become an amazing fat burner when combined together with the addition of Cissus? Is Lipofuel Capsaicin a game changer?

Or is Tetrogen just a really well rounded supplement that does exactly what the company claims; optimizing your hormones for ideal weight loss.

I really can't say.

All I can say is I expected a fraction of what I got with this product.

I deducted 3 points on effectiveness for 3 reasons:

#1 - It's Stimulant Free

I guess this is a pro for some people, I just feel that stimulants really help me when I'm losing weight.

Personally, I took caffeine, synephrine, and yohimbe while running my first bottle of Tetrogen. I stopped taking the stimulants when the weather got too hot here (I live in the tropics) a few days into the second bottle. I was on these supplements for 4 months before I tried Tetrogen, and I often run them while dieting, so I don't think they're responsible for my faster rate of fat loss. Even in the case where they impacted my fat loss, I had significantly better results on the second bottle.

#2 - No Noticeable Muscle Sparing Effects

Makes sense since it looks like this product is targeted towards people outside of the fitness space.

#3 - Could Be Even Better

This is just a 5 ingredient formula. I can only imagine how awesome this supplement would be if they added a few other ingredients that fit into their "balance the body for fat loss" angle.

Off the top of my head it would be nice to see vitamin D3, LCLT, 5-HTP, and Curcumin inside, since these are less common cutting supplements that have been shown to improve conditions in the human body to promote fat loss.
Of course, you can buy these products separately, it would just be nice to have them since you're paying 45 bucks per bottle if you don't get it while it's on sale.

---- PRICE - 3.5/5 ----

When I first looked up Tetrogen, it was a bit pricey for me at 45 bucks per bottle. When you order you get 2 bottles, one of the day formula and one of the night formula, for a total of 89. After you buy they offer you a really good deal on a longer term supply, I can't remember the exact numbers but it was tempting.

What got me to order it was when I saw it on sale and in hindsight I'm glad I ordered it. If price is an issue for you, I'd try to wait until they have a sale or email out a deal to their list.
Only reason I didn't deduct more points on price was because of the line-up of ingredients.

Everything except the green tea extract and melatonin are patented supplement forms (CQR cissus, IGOB African Mango, Lipofuel Capsaicin, etc) You're inevitably gonna pay a higher price when most of the ingredients are patented, have improved bioavailability versus the standard form, and one ingredient (Lipofuel) is only found in this formula (as far as I'm aware).

---- SIDE EFFECTS - 6/5 ----

I noticed zero negative side effects, not even the usual discomfort I experience on capsaicin.
Didn't get much of a drop in water weight either, but I'm almost half a year into my weight loss so most of my water is gone.

I added a point because I got a completely unexpected side effect, joint relief. I had arthroscopic surgery in my right shoulder a few years back and too much bench pressing tends to aggravate it. A few days into my first bottle and my shoulder had a noticeable improvement (I didn't realized CQR was cissus until after I ordered, and suddenly I understood the lack of joint pain).

CONCLUSION

Tetrogen was probably the most surprising supplement I've ever tried. I wasn't expecting much, but the results really spoke for themselves.

This was the fat loss equivalent of what Arachidonic Acid did for me for muscle-building-wise (I never got much taking ArA for fat loss).

I finished my second bottle of Tetrogen a little over a month ago and my fat loss has slowed once again. I'm at 9.9% Body Fat right now and aiming for 9.0%.

I ended up ordering one more month of supply last week to get me there. This time I'll stack it with Forskolin and curcumin to help get me there.

If you can afford it, I'd definitely give it a try. It seems to be great for pushing past plateaus once you've made some solid progress with your weight loss.

Hope you enjoyed my review!

---- FINAL SCORE - 88% ----

Quick Summary

C4 On The Go Carbonated is marketed by Cellucor as both a preworkout drink and an energy drink. I have used it as both and it works. As is the norm with Cellucor, the flavors are mostly really good. Fans of the classic C4 preworkout will want to at least try this!

Introduction

What's up guys (and gals)? I'm an avid preworkout user albeit, I use the powders mostly. I had ordered a couple other products directly from Cellucor before C4 On The Go Carbonated came out and they sent me a can to try out. I didn't use it as PW, I just opened it and drank it. Since then, I've used C4 On The Go Carbonated occasionally as a PW but predominantly for a quick pick me up during the day.

Ingredient Profile

First and foremost, there's no sugar, which is normal for a PW but not always the case for energy drinks.
Ok, here we go:
Niacin - 30 MG
Vitamin B6 - 500MCG
Vitamin B-12 -35MCG
Potassium - 90 MG

The next group of ingredients is a prop blend they call "Explosive Performance Energy Blend" with an overall total of 6.73g.
This consists of Citrulline Malate, Cellucor's Carnosyn Beta-Alanine and "Beta Power" Betaine, also some Tyrosine and 200mg of caffeine.

Based on these ingredients alone, it seems more like a preworkout than an energy drink.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

These come in 16oz cans which constitutes one serving. When I take this, I usually drink an entire can whether I'm using it as a PW or energy drink.

As I mentioned, the flavors are so good (except for Strawberry Watermelon)
. Twisted Limeade is oh so good! It tastes a little bit like Mountain Dew.
Frosted Atomic Snowcone is basically their blue raspberry flavor.
I have tried the grape, and it's not bad but not as good as the first two.
Strawberry Watermelon is the only one I've tried that is not too good.
I know there is also an orange flavor that just came out but I have not tried that one yet.

Effectiveness

As I mentioned, this is marketed as both a PW AND as an energy drink and I've used it in both manners.
When I use it as a PW, I drink one about 15 mins before a workout. It usually kicks in within 20-30 mins. I get the "tingly" feeling from the niacin and beta alanine pretty quickly. It does give me an energy boost but it's not prolonged. It's more like a "burst" of energy. The can mentions mental focus and alertness which I will get into more when I talk about using it as an energy drink as I didn't notice it too much (just a tad) as a PW.

Mostly, I'll take a can to work and drink it halfway through the day for energy or I'll take it on the weekends sometimes just to wake myself up when I'm tired. As an energy drink, I do get the tingly feeling and an immediate burst of energy and feeling pretty good but it wears off quickly. I'd say within 30-40 mins it begins to wear off. Obviously, everyone's body and tolerance is different but that's what I experienced. The "alertness" and mental focus aspects are more noticeable when using this as an energy drink, which is another reason why I use it at work. Overall, it gives me smooth energy but if you're looking for something that's going to make you bounce off the walls or ready to conquer the world, this isn't it.

Value

It's $29.99 for a 12 pack of any flavor, pretty much everywhere. Cellucor is consistently giving 15-20% your order depending on how much you spend. Some other retailers will occasionally have this for buy one, get one 50% off but $29.99 is the norm.
So at the regular price, it's about $2.50/can which is not terrible in terms of an energy drink.
I think if you use it just as a PW or just as a energy drink, the value is not as good but if you use it for both, it's priced pretty normally compared to the rest of the market.

Side Effects

I use PWs regularly so my body is used to most of these ingredients. So, I didn't notice any side effects. I know a few people that have taken it and had a slight crash when coming down off of it but again everybody's tolerance is different. If you consistently take any PW, you probably won't feel any side effects.

Conclusion

I'm a fan of Cellucor, and overall I like this product. If you're looking for something strictly as an energy drink, there's definitely stronger alternatives that are strictly energy drinks but this is a solid drink literally when you're on the go. Grab one from the fridge and hit the gym or if you need quick energy but don't need to be bouncing off the walls, grab one. For me, it's kind of like a novelty. I have it around and the twisted limeade flavor is so good that I look for any excuse to drink one and if my regular PW is running low, sometimes I'll use these for a few days. I don't believe the "On the Go" line is designed as an every day use drink so if you know that upfront, you will probably enjoy it. At the very least, do yourself a favor and try the twisted limeade on a hot day.