About
ENGN Shred is a pre-workout made by EVLution Nutrition. It was created to increase energy, raise focus and burn fat.
The product contains 18 ingredients, most of which are found in either the “ENGN Mind-to-Muscle Matrix”, the “ENGN Shred Matrix” or the “ENGN Energizers” blends.
The product uses the likes of betaine, choline, L-tyrosine and huperzine A for focus, while green tea extract and caffeine are thought to boost both physical and mental energy. Designed to help burn fat, the product’s “Shred Matrix” contains conjugated linoleic acid, L-carnitine L-tartrate and yohimbe extract.
Flavors include – or have included – “Blue Raz”, “Cherry Limeade”, “Fruit Punch” and “Furious Grape”.
McGilla –
EVL’s Shred is a swiss army knife with a couple nice PWO/Thermo gadgets.
—-Introduction—-
Part Two of the Epic 3 part series, Gilla’s Goodbye Gala (GGG). Like my other review stated, GGG will not be entertaining. I don’t want to bring anymore “fun” reviews to sully SR.com’s reputation. I ran this product in conjunction with RSP’s Amino Lean and a standalone Garcinia Cambogia in an effort to lose weight training for a half marathon. I’ll state now, I particularly like PWOs that are creatine-free and low-pump, like BSN’s Hyper FX and RCSS’s YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH Buddy, so my expectations were quite high going in. Oh and the label for this product is awesome. It’s one of those things that the image changes depending on how you hold it and makes a weird/annoying/cool sound when you run your finger across it. I don’t know what it’s called, but I dig it.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
Meh to start. A “Mind to Muscle Matrix” blend that contains, Beta Alanine, Agmatine, Choline, Tyrosine, Alpha-GPC and Huperzia. So it’s a grab bag of Endurance, Pump and Focus ingredients. This whole blend is only 2016mg per scoop. The basics being properly dosed at BA (3G), Agmatine(1-1.5G), Tyrosine (750mg – 1G), Choline (1G+), so a lot of things here are underdosed. Next is the “ENGN Shred Matrix”, where things are properly explained. 500mg of CLA powder, 500mg of Carnitine, 100 mg of Forskolhii, Capscium 25mg, Yohimbe 40mg. Again, on paper most of these are underdosed. With proper doses being double on the Carnitine/CLS, Forskolhii being varied, but sometimes 500 mg. Capscium can vary, but 50mg is a common trend. Last is the ENGN Energizers blend totaling 260 mg, of coffee(green?) and green tea.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
I got my favorite flavor of anything in life, Cherry Limeade. Being a cherry limeade connoisseur, expectations were high here too. EVL does this flavor very well. I was skeptical because the powder smelled extremely chemically when the powder smoked up out of the tub and into my lungs. However, when mixed, it’s a slight, not chemically at all, bordering on “natural” tasting flavor. I dig it. Mixed fine. Dosed at 1-1.5ish scoops. Just a big ass heaping scoop basically.
—-Effectiveness—-
Now, as previously stated, I like this type of PWO. As also stated, the ingredients were underdosed. So, odds were stacked against EVL here. However, the product is a winner. Energy/Endurance – This product for me is a great combination of Stim City and Natural flow. Basically, it gives me a decent jolt that doesn’t get my heart completely racing but at the same time, was sustained. I never felt any bit of a letdown over the course of a 2 hour workout. There was never any crash after any workouts and I never dragged when using this product. I felt there was a great amount of “endurance” with this product, as my lifting workouts (which there were less of in my current program) were more centered on lower weights, more explosive movements and more reps since I’m working on endurance training for the half marathon. Nailed it. Pump – I was looking for this product to NOT pump, since I was using this cardio heavy and on leg day and it worked exactly as I hoped. If you are looking for a pump to admire yourself in the mirror, you will not get it from this product. So, in a way the pump was “not good”, but it was exactly what I wanted. Focus – As previously stated, I was putting my body through more of a rigor in this program, so keeping my focus and determination on point was key. Shred does a great job of keeping my eyes on the prize for the entire workout. At no point in any of my workouts did I want to give up early. It nails it here too. The “shred” element – This is where Shred is different from a lot of PWOs, as it’s got a focus on the weight loss elements. I must say, if the Capsimax is underdosed, it’s some HIGH quality stuff. Even on leg days, I would start to get sweaty on my first set of my first exercise. Each and every workout I was completely soaked. I think the CLA and Carnitine ingredients in terms of purity helped with my not wanting to be hungry element, while running the product. In the last 12 days (since I started tracking my weight using our ridiculous biometric body composition scanner in our gym at work), I am down 5.7 lbs. So, I was probably down more since I started running Shred, but I simply wasnt weighing myself at the time and only had a “guesstimate” to what I was previously. Whatever.
—-Value—-
Distribution seems limited, but it appears bb.com has the best deal on the product at 2 for $47. That’s 60 scoops if you run it one at a time, or about $1 per if you give it a “heaping scoop” like I did. Not bad, but could be slightly better. Say…2 for $40…
—-Side Effects—-
Nope.
—-Conclusion—-
Overall, this product was met with skepticism and high expectations and EVL does exactly what I was looking for with this product. Now, like I said, if you are looking for a typical meathead lifting PWO, this is not it. If you are looking for a straight “weight loss”/”Thermogenic” it’s not that either. It’s a product that hit’s each of those marks “well”, but neither great…which was perfect for my goals. If your goals were similar to mine, this product is an excellent option.
JarrodBright –
Great way to get real sweaty for a really long time
—-Introduction—-
(About yourself, 1-3 sentences maximum) My goals are pretty straight forward at the moment. I am not looking to get super shredded or massive I just want to get to 1/2/3/4 lift and keep somewhat leaned out while doing so. I do not take any fat burning supplements outside of this product but I do keep a small caloric deficit at most times.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
For the ingredients portion I will focus mostly on the “Shred matrix” which is the main thing that differentiates this product from the regular ENGN product that EVL offers. CLA (500mg) L-Carnitine L-Tartrate (500mg) Coleus Extract (100mg) Yohimbe Bark Extract (40mg) Capsimax (25mg) As you can see, most of this is just stuff that you would find in most fat burning supplements but here they are meant to initiate the fat burning process along with the exercise. Along with the “Shred matrix” the ingredient list is almost identical to that of the regular ENGN product so it comes with all of the problems that ENGN has as far as dosing (https://supplementreviews.com/evlution-nutrition/engn#pdbody-reviews). The only other big difference between the two is that this product comes with NO creatine which is to be expected in any product that has “Shred” in the title.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
The taste are mixability are pretty much on par with the regular ENGN product: top notch. No clumping, no grainy texture, great taste, pretty much across the board the product excels on this front.
—-Effectiveness—-
I think that the effectiveness is kind of a mixed bag. While I certainly sweat A LOT using this product, I wouldn’t say that it inherently aids fat loss efforts more than any other pre-workout would. Aside from the staple of “It makes you actually drip sweat” I think that this is a pretty mixed pre-workout. Energy and focus: the energy is probably the highlight of the ENGN line for me. It is long lasting, intense and doesn’t lead to a crash. I feel as amped and ready to go an hour into my workout as I do 10 minutes in. As far as focus it kind of goes hand in hand where with these two things in synthesis the product makes it kind of hard for me to leave the gym sometimes. Power and Strength: this is where my experience with ENGN Shred is a little bit disappointing. I do not get any real “increased power output” from this product and I feel that I am no stronger than if I just drank a cup of coffee before hitting the gym. If anything, the lack of creatine can lead to decreased power output and strength (i sometimes add my own monohydrate) Duration: As I mentioned in the focus and energy part, the longevity of this pre-workout is pretty outstanding. With even a half scoop I am motivated to stay even past the 1.5 hour mark with no real side effects.
—-Value—-
The value is pretty run of the mill for pre-workouts with it coming in at just about $30/30 servings depending on where you look. I don’t think that it is necessarily an unreasonable price considering how much some other pre-workouts are these days but it limits me from going to wild with buying it as it is more than I would like to spend most of the time.
—-Side Effects—-
I don’t think there are any real side effects to mention other than the aforementioned sweating thing. Personally i loved it but if you don’t like to sweat too much at any one gym session (first of all: you’re weird) then this product might not be for you.
—-Conclusion—-
Overall i think that ENGN Shred is a solid choice for a pre-workout and while there are certainly better options out there for some people this is one that i will keep in my supplement shelf for the foreseeable future.
Wis3guy –
What is better than weights? Weights while on EVL ENGN SHRED!!!
—-Quick Summary—-
EVL ENGN SHRED: This pre-workout combined with regular training can support, better workouts and weight management. Which is exactly what I am always looking for. I found this product to give me a nice kick in the pants for my workouts.
—-Introduction—-
I am a 46 year old guy trying to fight the ravages of time. Time that seems to be coming to get me a little more than it did before. During this run I was trying to increase strength and lose fat. You know the “Holy Grail” of us fitness junkies. I was lifting 4 days a week and doing some form of cardio most days. I want to say thanks to the SRTrooper program and to EVLUTION NUTRITION for allowing me the opportunity to try this product. Feel free to check out my log for more information. Pages 85-88 https://supplementreviews.com/forum/index.php?topic=33345.1305
—-Ingredient Profile—-
Niacin@30mg (not the biggest dose but a good entry point) Vitamin B6@2mg (I take a multi vitamin, so I say skip this one) Folic Acid@800mcg (same thing) Vitamin B12@25mcg (under dosed, so I would skip it) Mind to Muscle Matrix (hated prop blend crud) 2016mg Betaine Anhydrous, Choline Bitartrate, L-Tyrosine, Agmatine Sulfate, Alpha-Glycerolphosphorylcholine, Hupersine, Club moss. So we know these are not “maxed” out dosages as just the first ingredient can be taken in dosages of 2500mg. I have however started to notice as I age that “Clinical” dosages are not always necessary for me. It still worked for me, and that is what is important to me. ENGN SHRED MATRIX: CLA@ 500mg/ Normal dosage is 3200 to 6400mg daily, so if you add to this it could help get there. L-Carnitine L-Tartrate@ 500mg/ Same thing here, I would bump the dose up to 1000mg’s Colous Extract@ 100mg/ Suggested 250mg’s 2x a day. Supposed to help burn fat Capsimax@25mg/ I personally am not a big fan, dosage here seems ok for me anyway Yohimbe Extract@40mg/ Yohimbe is a interesting product as depending on strength you get different results. At this level I had no issues, some people do not react well to it so be aware it is in here. ENGN Energizers:280mg Natural Caffeine, Green Tea extract This is interesting as it seemed to hit pretty good for me. Interesting because GTE I can take 500mg of and not really feel, caffeine I can go between 100mg and 500+mg’s in a dose. This is not on the high end, I would like to know how much caffeine. I think it would help people who are stim sensitive. —-Taste/Mix-ability/Dosing—- I received the Furious Grape. I will not say that it tasted bad. I didn’t hate drinking it, which means it is probably pretty good. I am not really a grape flavor fan. I did enjoy getting to try something I wouldn’t normally add to my cart, however I would probably pick another flavor in the future. You can adjust the taste by changing the amount of water. I used more than suggested. I had no real issues with this products Mix-ability. I use a shaker bottle with a metal whisk and it worked for me. I do tend to get a little fine white chalky stuff on the sides of my container if I don’t wash it every time. But that is a me being lazy, not the product not mixing. Suggested dosing is 1 scoop in 8oz of water 15 to 30 minutes before training. I used between 6 and 12oz of water and settled on 10oz. That is where the taste was most palatable for me. Timing really isn’t an issue either. Most of the time I was in their suggested use, however I had a couple short times and long times. When short I just didn’t feel it until I was into my workout a little. When I waited due to other peoples needs I still had the desire just no the “perfect” start.
—-Effectiveness—-
What can I say ladies and gentleman. This was a step up from the Previous Pre I was using from pro-source. I had great workouts in my opinion. I felt like lifting heavy things, as well as not minding some extra cardio. I don’t know that I really lost a lot of weight, but I feel tighter if that makes sense. I think that if I continued with this it would continue to help.
—-Value—-
As of 12/4/2018 I found the following prices. Bodybuilding.com has it listed for $34.99 for a 30 serving container. https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/evlution-nutrition/engn-shred.html They have it for the same price on the manufacturers website. $34.99 for 30 servings. https://www.evlnutrition.com/products/engn-shred-pre-workout-engine-powder-30-serving For me this currently is a really good deal. This had the kick that I wanted and I didn’t “Get used to it” during my run. I worked everyday, so for a little over a buck a day I can deal with it. I still in my stinginess will look for it on sale, but hey who wouldn’t? It is $5.00 more than Yeah Buddy which I also like but it is cheaper than NutraBIO’s Pre which is $5.00 more than this.
—-Side Effects—-
I had no negative side effects from this product. Those of you who are sensitive to Caffeine might need to check your tolerance out, but for me this was good.
—-Conclusion—-
My take away on this is if you are interested in a pre-workout you can go out and grab this. Cool thing is Walmart stocks it, or at least in my location it does, so if you forget a pre on vacation you can grab some pretty easily. I found my run on this to be enjoyable and I think it was beneficial. Somedays it gave me the pick me up that I needed. Somedays it just helped to push me a little harder. I would think that whether or not you are strength training or looking to increase endurance you could find a use for this product.