T E S T O S T E R O N E J U N K I E

My 5% Nutrition Rich Piana Full As F*CK Pre Workout Review First Look

This was my second day training after a long break.

The first weights session was on a very humid Monday evening and it nearly killed me.

Sweat was literally pouring off me and it felt like a chore, was very uncomfortable and nearly destroyed me mentally.

In fact, it almost put me off training again, this was the first time I had felt like that.

However, I pulled myself together, stopped acting like a little girls, sorted my head out and decided that Saturday afternoon would be my second chance. I was keen not to fuck this up.

Therefore, I wanted a decent pre workout supplement to get me in the zone.

This looked interesting because I had no idea what Hyperemia meant plus it mentioned testosterone.

Who is not immediately attracted to words which look and sound fancy plus testosterone?! Not a man without thoughts of conquest, that is for sure.

Being from GAT (German American Technologies) which is a renowned supplement company I am hoping this will be quite good.

It takes the usual branding mantel which is quite clean and projects a quality image without being gaudy or silly.

Ingredients

Niacin (B3) –  Higher amounts of niacin can improve cholesterol levels and lower cardiovascular risks. However, the jury is out on these real benefits.

https://examine.com/supplements/vitamin-b3/

L-Citrulline – This is used as a sports performance and cardiovascular health supplement. L-Citrulline supplementation results in reduced fatigue and improved endurance for both aerobic and anaerobic prolonged exercise.

An increase in growth hormone has been noted with exercise, but not at rest.

L-citrulline boosts nitric oxide production in the body. Nitric oxide helps your arteries relax and work better, which improves blood flow throughout your body.

Supplementing can help lower blood pressure in people with pre-hypertension.

This is often found in the best pre workouts.

To supplement L-citrulline to enhance sports performance, take 6,000 – 8,000 mg of citrulline malate about an hour before exercise.

https://examine.com/supplements/citrulline/

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/l-citrulline-uses-and-risks#1

Vitamin C – Its antioxidant properties mean vitamin C provides neuroprotective effects and benefits for blood flow.

By protecting the testes from oxidative stress, vitamin C can also preserve testosterone levels.

https://examine.com/supplements/vitamin-c/

Calcium – Results show that training results in increased testosterone levels in athletes and that the increase is greater if accompanied by calcium supplementation.

However, calcium supplements are also known to increase artery plaque which in the long term can cause cardiovascular problems.

Read more about that, here.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19099204

Magnesium – Research into magnesium supplementation also increased testosterone production in men.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20352370

Salt (sodium) – An essential mineral; its consumption is critical to our health. However, Americans plus a lot of Western countries do consume double the recommended daily intake.

Excess sodium may not raise blood pressure, but it is associated with other health issues, such as kidney damage and an increased risk of cognitive decline.

https://examine.com/nutrition/awful-nutrition-myths/

Potassium – Potassium levels change with sodium levels to keep muscles working properly throughout your body, especially your heart.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/potassium-directory

L-Norvaline –  L-Norvaline showed significant improvement in serum nitrates, urea, LDH, testosterone and testicular protein level in diabetic rats.

There seems to be lots of information on the web about L-norvaline being a wonder drug, however, very little can be found from reliable, scientific sources i.e websites that are not trying to sell it to us.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26671005

Agmatine – Agmatine is considered to be a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator.

The majority use agmatine injections, not oral ingestion and there is still no evidence that working memory is enhanced with agmatine supplementation.

https://examine.com/supplements/agmatine/

Taurine – It has been touted that Taurine can help mental performance.

Early clinical research suggested that taurine, in combination with caffeine, glucuronolactone, and B vitamins, can improve attention and reasoning in adolescents, but does not improve memory.

However, there is insufficient evidence to prove this is always the case.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1024-taurine.aspx?activeingredientid=1024

Glycerol – Seems to be most effective when administered rectally (in your ass) as a laxative.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-4-glycerol.aspx?activeingredientid=4&

Beta Vulgaris (Beet) –  Beet can also increase nitric oxide in the body. This chemical can dialate blood vessels and was popular with athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

This is also found in 4 Gauge which is rated as the best pre workout, however, it is not commonly found in many others.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-306-beet.aspx?activeingredientid=306&activeingredientname=beet

Hesperidin – In animal testing at relative doses as what humans would take this seems to offer cardioprotection and protective of the organs, in particular the brain.

May also improve blood flow. Very little else has been found out.

https://examine.com/supplements/hesperidin/

Black Pepper Extract – Black Pepper is a source of piperine, a molecule that does not do much on its own but can inhibit enzymes that would attack other molecules.

Due to this, it is ingested alongside some supplements to increase their absorption rates.

https://examine.com/supplements/black-pepper/

Danshen (Salvia Miltiorrhiza) – Used for blood circulation problems but there are not scientific studies able to proof this.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-931-danshen.aspx?activeingredientid=931&activeingredientname=danshen

Dose

One sachet and serving is 12000mg.

This is not quite as much as found in some of the best pre workout supplements available.

It was fruit punch flavor which I found very pleasant but it didn’t seem to mix that well in my shaker. As a result I was left with a bit of a gritty residue.

Video Review

Effects & Benefits

Citrulline helps blood flow however, to enhance performance from Citrulline a massive dose of 6000-8000mg is required. There’s only 4000mg included in this.

We need salt for our bodies to function properly and we lose salt when we sweat a lot during sport. However, a Western diet tends to be laden with much more salt than we require.

Potassium helps keep your muscles working properly and can help prevent cramp.

Beet can help increase nitric oxide production in the body as can the aforementioned Citrulline.

Hesperidin can also increase blood flow.

Then we have ingredients such as Magnesium, Calcium, Vitamin C and Norvaline which are able to preserve and help raise testosterone levels.

READ: Read about our favorite pre workout that turned me in to a beast on the rugby pitch

How did it feel?

I felt nothing at all.

This supplement is all about the nitric oxide and blood flow, yet for all of its wittering on and even Rich Piana’s incessant preaching for a pump this offered no vascularity whatsoever.

Negatives

The Citrulline is not dosed enough to increase performance.

Niacin seems to offer little benefit here.

We can very easily consume more salt than is healthy with just our diets alone, this may not offer any benefit unless you know exactly the amount of salt you consume daily.

The jury is still out on the effectiveness of Agmatine, Norvaline, Taurine, Hesperidin and Danshen which consist of just over a third of the product.

Too much supplementation of Calcium can cause artery plaque that over a long period of time can cause cardiovascular problems.

I also felt nothing, no benefit at all!

I was really disappointed with this product as I thought Rich Piana was one of the boys who only produced products he really believes in to work, particularly how he is vocal about scams in the fitness biz. I think we’re all looking at you Mike O’Hearn.

5% Nutrition Rich Piana Full As F*CK Pre Workout Review Conclusion

There’s some beneficial ingredients in here which can assist with blood flow, Nitric Oxide and even testosterone levels.

However, there’s also a lot of ingredients that are just not conclusive in their effect.

I personally felt nothing, I felt no increase in vascularity or blood flow. I felt no performance improvements and I feel it is missing some other vital ingredients with Caffeine being one.

Take a look at the best rated pre workouts, here.