Some background about myself: I've been a stalker for over a year on the bb forums, but I just recently decided that I'd post honest reviews of a lot of supplements I've tried in order to help others. I'm pretty big on real science, not broscience, but anecdotal evidence has it's place too. I'm a fan of Alan Aragon, Martin Berkhan, and others, but I like to keep an open mind and listen to all sorts of viewpoints; we all can still learn. Blah blah blah you get it, now on to the review...
Mixability: No problems here, it's a small serving size and I like to water it down a little more (I'll touch on this in the next category). 10/10
Taste: Amazing! I was pleasantly surprised. The reason I water it down a little more is to make the drink last longer because I enjoy the taste so much. The fruit punch flavor smelled alright, but tasted great. A little sweet, a little tangy, great job PES. 9/10
Thermogenic effects: I've been using this product for a few weeks, which is too short of a time span to accurately judge it's effects, but I still have noticed greater ab definition from the mirror test, and I'm a few pounds lighter while still gaining strength. I have not been doing a serious cut, I'm more going for a recomp, so this is great! I've taken this pre-basketball, pre-jogging, pre-sprinting hiit, and in the morning a few times with no exercise, but just as an added boost of thermogenesis. Whenever I've taken it I've noticed an increase in sweating and an increase in body temperature; signs of thermogenesis. Alphamine has a form of yohimbine, which is I always take with caffeine pre-cardio a-la Lyle Mcdonald, so it's great by my standards. 8/10 (too early to fully gage though).
Nootropic effects: Whenever I've taken it, I've been more focused and energized. This is probably due to the added choline and other goodies. It's great pre-cardio. I haven't tried it pre-weights yet but I will surely in the future. 8/10
Muscle Hardening/anti catabolic effects: First off, I am extremely skeptical of any claims of "muscle hardening" by supplement manufacturers. I can see how alphamine would cause noticably denser muscles simply through the loss of water weight through sweat, but I haven't noticed any great differences. As for anti-catabolic effects, alphamine contains leucic acid as well as a few others. Regarding the leucic acid, I only hope that it does not cause an insulin boost that will negate the yohimbine in this product. I also am not sure of the effective dosage. Maybe some PES reps could clear this up for me, as for now, I wouldn't take it as a fasted weightlifting boost without also adding BCAAs. I definitely haven't lost any muscle or strength on this product, but I won't attribute it to alphamine as much as I'd give credit to my good high protein diet and strength training routine. 5/10
Side effects: When I took it pre basketball, my hands became very cold and I lost my shooting touch, like lebron in the fourth quarter (had to make at least one joke in here). That is not a surprising effect as it has happened to me before with other fat burners. My midsection has become warmer when I take it though so I suppose the blood and thermogenesis is concentrated in my abdominal region rather than extremities, which is fine by me. I've taken a lot of stims and fat burners before, so I am familiar with the effects of stimulants and I was doing great on 3 scoops a day of alphamine. Others who are more sensitive to stims, could lower the dosage easily and precisely, which is the beauty of a powdered fat burner.
Regarding PES: I've taken Erase and alpha t2 before. I stacked alpha t2 with oep and it worked great, but by the end of my run, I was so worn out. Alpha t2 is a great product though. As for erase, I'm in my 20s so I don't really think anti-estrogens/testboosters have great effects on me. I did well on it, but I'm not so quick to attribute my gains to erase. I'm always skeptical of natty products. PES is a solid supplement company that is coming out with well-recieved innovative products, so I applaud them for that.
Regarding fat burners: The best and cheapest fat burner is a caloric deficit and a great diet and training regimen. However, certain ingredients (caffeine, yohimbine, ephedrine) can definitely help you achieve your goals, if you are willing to dish out some cash. I have tried OEP, Meltdown, Alpha-t2, LX, shred matrix, fat free, animal cuts, and many others. I've never tried EC though because I've never felt the need to, but the point is I have a lot of experience. As of now, I can safely say Alphamine is one of my favorite fat burners, if not my new favorite. I say this because of the precise dosing ability (powder not pill), great taste, great energy, solid results, minimal side effects, a feel-good fat burner without ending up burnt out, and many other reasons. Fat burners are definitely not necessary. Before trying one you should assess if you are healthy enough to take one, lean enough to have it help you, willing to spend some money, and you should already have a solid diet and training plan. I use fat burners for added focus energy and thermogenesis, but I don't expect unrealistic results. There's no such thing as a magic pill (or powder in this case), but quality products like alphamine can give you a little boost to reach your goals.
Final thoughts: I wish PES would release the caffeine content per serving, but that's just about my only complaint. I would definitely recommend alphamine. Hopefully this helps out some of you out there looking for honest insight about new hyped products. I'll post more reviews soon.
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