Natural Workout Supplements for Men

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
Great price for a great product!
By Ryan Pedigo
Whenever you are considering taking a supplement, it's always important to ask "what is the evidence behind this supplement?" Too many companies sell products that essentially do nothing but make your bank account smaller. Citrulline malate and beta alanine are both evidence-based supplements that have proven efficacy over placebo in randomized trials showing that these actually do something. So what do they do?Beta alanine: physiologically, this is the rate-limiting precursor for carnosine, which essentially acts as an intracellular buffer and helps improve athletic activity. Since it buffers acid, it is more likely to be beneficial during anerobic activity (where you are producing lactic acid via anaerobic metabolism) than aerobic activity. There is good evidence that beta alanine increases intracellular carnosine concentrations over weeks in studies that did muscle biopsy. There is also good evidence (by a couple of double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trials) that the beta alanine group did better (improved performance) than the placebo group, and also lost more weight and gained more lean muscle mass. However, some of those trials had flaws in that the supplement group took a daily 4g dose, which essentially unblinds the study because of the paresthesias ("pins and needles sensation") that you get with initial use of beta alanine. That said, the evidence is pretty strong that beta alanine (1) increases carnosine concentration over weeks to months of daily supplementation, and (2) this increased carnosine concentration improves ability to do anaerobic exercise (such as lifting weights or sprinting). There is no good evidence (or any physiologic reason) that beta alanine supplementation significantly improves aerobic activity (such as marathon running). There is some evidence that beta alanine supplementation can lead to cardiac taurine deficiency (Allo, Harada, Dawson, et al.); these studies used much higher doses of beta alanine than are typically used by bodybuilders, but it is a possibility. This is not due to inhibition of uptake of taurine, but rather increased usage of taurine. So the jury is out on whether or not that matters to you, and whether or not you want to supplement with taurine or not.Citrulline malate: whereas beta alanine (and creatine) both have solid evidence that they assist in anaerobic activity, citrulline has some evidence that it improves aerobic activity. If you remember your biology class, you'll remember that the citric acid cycle (TCA cycle, Krebs cycle, etc.) uses malate as an intermediate in the production of NADH to go to the electron transport chain to make lots of ATP. However, this is oxygen-dependent, and you don't even get to begin the citric acid cycle in anaerobic metabolism. Supplementation of citrulline malate is probably important because of this; the malate is the key player, and the citrulline may just be there along for the ride. Regardless, there is evidence that supplementation with this decreases fatigue in aerobic activity but not anaerobic activity, which is on par with its physiologic role as an intermediate in aerobic metabolism.So there you have it. Beta alanine has great evidence that it helps in anaerobic exercise (just like creatine does). Citrulline malate has some decent evidence that it helps in aerobic exercise. So a reasonable stack would be creatine, beta alanine, and citrulline malate. Some people also take branched chain amino acids, but the evidence for this is not great. Also, as an aside, creatine monohydrate (micronized if you want it to mix easily) is fine; there is no good evidence that you need any of these fancier new preparations.Lastly, a review for this seller: outstanding price for the product in comparison to others, will continue to order from them in the future. It is even now shipped by Amazon so it'll get here quick! Great seller, great product.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Tasty and tingly
By SilverTongue
I've been taking these products together before workouts for the last week, and I'm a big fan. They taste a bit acidic, like citrus, which is nice because it masks the flavor of my disgusting BCAA powder. I don't get the face tingles, but I do seem to get tingles under my wrist wraps. There's not a really obvious increase in energy, above what I'm getting from pre-workout caffeine, but there's a sensation of warmness that's pretty nice. As with all supplements it's hard to separate placebo from real effects, but I think there is some pretty probable positives from this stuff.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Great pre workout
By Regine Schutt
I'm a 37 year old female and I go to the gym 4 times a week trying to get rid of a few un needed pounds. I would workout for an hour and a half and be exhausted after. I started putting both items in my water that I take with me to the gym, I noticed an increase in energy and stamina. I was able to push myself just that much more. I always put lemon in my water so I absolutely love the sour taste this adds to my water. It's a great deal and worth a try even if your not a body builder which I am not.