Friday, November 3, 2017

Apocalypse Labz - Feral Pre









*** Disclaimer - I have not tried this product and have no affiliation nor do I know anyone from Apocalypse Labs*****

I stumbled across this company viewing them on a friends Facebook feed. When I first looked at the ingredient panel, I was turned off and figured it was time to break down this Prop Blended Pre.

Flavors - sour watermelon gummy, cherry bomb colada and sour cotton candy..all sounding great. I love companies that have unique flavors.

Lets quickly view the ingredients:

Performance Blend - 3755 mgs which is made up of Beta Alanine, Creatine HCL, Betaine Anhydrous and Agmatine Sulfate;all great ingredients to have in a Pre Workout Right? Of course but only when they are properly dosed. Lets analyze

Beta Alanine is a modified version of Alanine and has been shown to increase muscular endurance, hence it's usage in many supplements today. There are varying reports out there with some suggesting an optimal dosage being anywhere from 2000 mgs on the low end and some as high as 5000 mgs. Users sometimes suggest that if they do not get the "tingles" known as "parathesia", that the product is not working. Not always the case.

Creatine HCL - is made by adding an HCL bond. It is suggested that less is needed and by adding the HCL bond, there is less bloating and there is no loading phase. Not much research has been done on the HCL version where monohydrate has been around for over 20 yrs (thank you Bill Philips of EAS) and is one of the only suppements that has a tremendous amount of studies/data on it. Current data on HCL supplementation varies anywhere between 1- 3 gms.

Betaine Anhydrous also known as TMG is a pretty neat supplement as it has been shown to increase muscle strength, muscle growth as well as endurance.. Studies have shown intake of 1-1.5 gms 2x a day is best.

Agmatine Sulfate - is a derivitive of the metabolite L Arginine which is touted as something to increase pump. It has been added to many products with dosages extremely low at 250 mgs with more robust dosages of 1000 mgs ++

According to the panel, all of this adds up to  3755 mgs. Lets do some quick math adding values on the low end of what research and studies have provided.

Beta Alanine (2000 mgs) + Creatine HCL (1000 mgs) + Betaine Anhydrous (1000 mgs) + Agmatine Sulfate (250 mgs) = 4250 mgs........500 mgs less then the 3755 mgs.listed on the ingredient panel.

If real efficacious dosages were used, we would be over 7000 mgs. Sadly enough I haven't even tackled the Energy Focus Blend in fears of what I might find.

Again I am not trying to be malicious towards this company. I am all about the freedom to make money but when you expect the best from a product you are paying hard earned money with.....this I have a problem with. At the end of the day, if you are happy with the results and think you are getting the best then who am I to suggest elsewise.

As always thank you for allowing me a few minutes of your time.







Thursday, November 2, 2017

Understanding Proprietary "Prop" Blends


I have no affiliation at all with this person but feel his views are pretty valid.


Wednesday, November 1, 2017

VMI Sports - K-XR Review

 






As mentioned in my last post, I will be randomly picking products and breaking them down.
*** Disclaimer - This is a product I have not used as of yet. My review will be based only on data**

So I have heard/seen VMI products floating around for a few years now and finally decided to click on their site to learn more.  https://www.vmisports.com/ Since PreWorkouts (PWO) seem to be one of the most popular categories I wanted to give this a view.

Product - VMI Sports -K- XR - Preworkout - promotes Energy, Pump and Focus

Flavors - Appears to have a nice line up both "safe"; TropicalPunch and Blueberry Razz as well as a few "out of the box", which I appreciate, in that being Cotton Candy, Miami Vice, Cherry Italian Ice and Patriot Pop.

Ingredient Panel - seeing that it is a Prop Blend - I will do my best to assume dosages

*Intense Pump Blend- 3300 mgs
 Beta Alanine - recommended dosages are as much as 3200 mgs in a day. Notice the underline. Many people feel that if your skin is not tingling/crawling that the product is not working. Actually on the contrary. My best guess is that you will be feeling the Beta Alanine tingles.

Taurine - is an amino acid shown to improve mental and athletic performance.

Theobormine - is a vaso -dialator

Maximum Energy Blend- 632.5 mgs
Here is where I am a little confused, with this taken right off the website
“400mg caffeine split between fast acting and slow release forms for endless energy”…why not just add this right to the ingredient panel?


Norcoclaurine/Higenamine - this is somewhat prevalent in PWO and Weight Loss products, basically a mild stimulant with dosages anywhere between 20-75 mgs.

Rauwolfia Vomitaria Extract also sometimes known as Alpha Yohimbine is an herb that is generally put in PWO's and Weight Loss products I have seen dosages as low as 3 mgs and depending on the potency/purity can sometimes go up to as much as 50 mgs.

Focal & Cognitive Enhancing Blend- 503 mgs

Choline Bitartrate - is a molecule that increase cognitive/mental alertness. I have typically seen dosages between 250-500 mgs

Huperzia Serrate - comes from a plant that is suggested to increase memory. Dosages seen are anywhere between 50-200mcg.

Overall Review - as mentioned in the beginning of the article, I have not physically tasted/tested this product. It is classified by VMI as a PWO but does seem to walk a little of a line in being possibly a Thermogenic as well.  Although it is a prop blend, I do not see anything under dosed and do respect them for at at least offering the caffeine content, although I would like to see this on the bottle.

Would love to hear from you if you have in fact tried the product. Appreciate your time and thanks for reading.