My Quest to Find the Best Pre-Workout NO supplement, Yarghh!

[eightballer41]

Okay, obviously I'm going to first say right off the bat that this review is for me personally as all supplements work differently for everybody, but feel free to use this as a guide to helping you choose a future pre-workout supp. In addition I will be reviewing these supplements after at least a week's use of them so that I still have a fresh idea as to how they work.

The following supplements will be *planned* to be reviewed and this first post will be updated accordingly if possible, or at least the thread! I will also update ALL scores after all products have been tested, using the best one as a scale of 10, to compare the others to. Obviously nothing is perfect, so the one that works best, is in my mind the "10" We can all imagine a product giving us amazing pumps every day, a big energy rush, etc. etc. but we all know that no company can do that....yet.

BSN N.O.-Xplode
NOX Surge
VPX N.O. Shotgun
Gaspari Superpump 250
Starchemlabs Armageddon

I would also appreciate any criticism/compliments/advice as to how I did or what you would like to see me put in this!!

1. NO-Xplode
Ok, the first supplement that I'm reviewing will be NO Xplode. Like MOST people, I did my research and No-Xplode seemed to be one of the more popular pre-workout drinks out there, at least for a first time user of NO products. So this was where my hard earned money went to! I've begun using it for about 2 weeks now, but I am stopping after learning about the negative effects of glycocyamine. (research it, I don't have time to explain it all here) Anyways, here goes...

Flavor reviewed: Fruit Punch

Number of days taken: 2 weeks

Taste: 9/10 - In my opinion, taste isn't relevant to me, and this was fairly easy to drink. Only reason I give it a 9, for those who actually care about taste is because once it was in your stomach it felt a little acid-like, however that did not bother me at all. Once I started to work out or wait a full 30 minutes it was at least gone by then. Or at least I didn't even notice it. Nothing big.

Mixability: 9/10 - You need to use a spoon for this product as the label states no shaking (I assume because that will create gas, and blow off the top? as this has happened with superpump users I believe). But anyways, it mixed pretty easily when using 12 ounces of water for about 1.5-1.75 scoops. Some very small balls would be in there and I'd chew them which tasted like a sour cherry candy or something, but it was still pretty much in liquid form.

Energy: (10/10)/(7/10) - Energy was average. In fact some days I didn't really notice a energy jump, more of a focus and "Let's move these F'in weights" kind of mindset. However the beginning of the second week, I had this HUGE rush of energy, I dont know why it happened that day except for the fact that I worked out in the morning. I took it the usual 1.5-2 hours after eating a meal? But it was the best feeling in my life! Unfortunately I haven't experienced this feeling again and so the rating SHOULD be getting a 6/10 instead of the 10/10 (it recieved a 7 because of endurance, read a bit further). However if that was how it was like everyday, then this product definitely would have scored a 10. Other than that the energy boost isn't as noticeable and its only been used for about a week and a half!!!

By the way, I was able to increase my reps/weight, but I felt as though my progress could have been achieved naturally. Although this is still what happened while ON the product so I cannot deny it. Perhaps the energy is just not noticeable??? I did notice my endurance went up though which was great for squeezing in the last rep or two.

Focus: 9/10 - Focus was pretty much on the spot! Nothing but moving the weight up and down was in my mind. However come the end of my workout which usually lasts a bit more than an hour, it would lose some of its effect. I noticed this towards the end of the week. In the beginning it was pretty much full on.

Pump: 7/10 - Depends how long you like your pumps haha. Pump was decent, but didn't last very long. During workouts I found the pump to be the greatest in the first 30 minutes. Maybe an hour after working out was the pump still there. I did notice however due to the water retention that I looked a bit fuller.

Side Effects: Experienced cardiac arrythmia when using 2 scoops. Did not occur during my workouts but at night only. This stopped after I was off the product for a few days. Glycocyamine is in this stuff too....not a big fan

Overall: 7.5/10 - Needs to maintain that energy edge I experienced that one day. Pump wasn't every good for a product whose purpose is to give you a pump!! Focus though was awesome and is what keeps this score from going down to average along with the fact that my endurance seemed to be above average. In my opinion, the hype didn't live up the the testing.

Next Up! Gaspari Superpump 250 will be up at the end of the week!

[HSP10]

It's definitely an okay product. You must not have a high caffeine tolerance. Anything unusual about that one AMAZING workout day?

[eightballer41]

It's definitely an okay product. You must not have a high caffeine tolerance. Anything unusual about that one AMAZING workout day?

Like before taking the supp?
Yeah....I worked out in the morning (10 am) because I started summer classes as opposed to my usual 6:00 pm workouts. Maybe my body had something going on that accepted the boost so fairly well. Could also have been because i used 1.75 scoops instead of 1.5 that day. I doubt such a negligible amount could produce such tremendous effects, since using 2 scoops later on in the week didn't even compare.

I still have half a tub left that I'm prob going to toss sooner or later, but once I'm off my superpump week I'll try taking Noxplode for a morning workout again to see if I get the same results.

Oh, I've also decided to keep track of my daily results for energy just so that you guys can get a better idea...including myself