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

Scitec Nutrition POW3RD Pre Workout Review First Look:

I love weights day. It gives me the chance to blow off some steam and try a different pre workout…even if it is last thing at night.

I played rugby at the weekend for the first time in over 3 months, perhaps knocking on the door of 4 months.

That means I feel like a bag of pain. Yep, every muscle and joint is killing me. Squats is definitely out of the question, as is, I think overhead press. I simply do not trust myself when I feel this battered. I can imagine the whole weight dropping on me like a sack of shit.

So, with that in mind I will be hitting the Powertec isolateral bench to offer a degree of safety and peace of mind as my joints labor to move the weight.

I will also, I say it in the past tense but I am actually drinking it now. Yes, I am trying this pre workout from the established Scitec Nutrition.

First things first, it doesn’t really stand out from the crowd. Pre workouts seem to fall in 2 camps.

Those that look outrageous and bought on novelty alone, let alone the content and those that are bland looking, no effort, nothing.

This falls in to the latter and I would have no desire to buy it other than for this purpose of trying it out.

It doesn’t taste that great either. It’s okay, but not amazing. Reminds me of darker times as a student at college.

Ingredients:

Creatine Monohydrate – It is the simplest form and most popular of Creatine. It is an extremely fine powder that can be mixed in water for a high absorption rate.

There are many alternative forms of creatine, however, none are more effective than the basic creatine monohydrate.

Supplementation increases creatine storage and promotes a faster regeneration of adenosine triphosphate between high intensity exercises. These improved outcomes will increase performance and promote greater training adaptations.

http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-9-33

Rhodiola rosea – Can protect against cognitive deficits, neuronal injury and oxidative stress, can also be used as a potential agent in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. This is found in our favorite Nootropic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19950527_wp_link_placeholder

L-carnitine – Acetyl-L-carnitine helps the body produce energy. It is important for heart and brain function, muscle movement, and many other body processes.

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/carnitine-lcarnitine

Beta-alanine  – Supplementation of this non essential amino acid aids the production of carnosine. That’s a compound that plays a role in muscle endurance in high-intensity exercise.

That said, studies have been small and not entirely conclusive.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1222-beta-alanine.aspx?activeingredientid=1222&activeingredientname=beta-alanine

Bet a Alanine does give many users that tingly/itchy feeling. Some love it, others hate it.

I think it is best described at Chillblains – i.e when you go in to a warm room after your hands have been exposed to the cold and they start to feel itchy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491570/

Caffeine – It stimulates the central nervous system (CNS), heart, muscles, and the centers that control blood pressure to give you an extra boost and hit that PB.

Caffeine Anhydrous is the purest form of caffeine so always look out for it.

This is found in 4 Gauge which is the best pre-workout.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-979-caffeine.aspx?activeingredientid=979

Arginine – This is found in many pre workout supplements or products designed to make you more vascular. L-Arginine opens up the blood vessels and arteries to assist with blood flow.

This may assist with any impotency issues that are not helping you attain that hot chick in the gym who is 15 years your junior, but only if you have 5g a day!

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-875-l-arginine.aspx?activeingredientid=875&

Arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate (AAKG) – Tests on supplementation draw no real benefit that would not be found from resistance training itself.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21813912

Maltodrextrin – A mixture of glucose, disaccharides and polysaccharides, obtained by the partial hydrolysis of starch. This is a fast digesting carbohydrate.

http://library.njucm.edu.cn/yaodian/ep/EP501E/16_monographs/18_monographs_l-p/maltodextrin/1542e.pdf

More alarmingly it is also used as a pesticide…

http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/aeru/ppdb/en/Reports/2379.htm

Dose:

1 sachet with water which is a mediocre 7000mg.

This particular sachet was arousing apple flavor which did nothing to arouse me as I trained in my freezing cold gym.

#noerection

Effects:

Beta-Alanine can help with muscle endurance, although not entirely proven. It does feel a little that the tingly sensation from beta-Alanine does take over and become a diversionary tactic.

Arginine can increase blood flow, but I think you would require to at least 10x more than delivered here to feel the benefits.

Creatine is good to have, as already mentioned, nothing beats normal, regular Joe creatine monohydrate for performance. As with creatine supplementation this would need to be taken daily for real effects.

Caffeine is a great stimulant and good for energy and focus.

Speaking of focus Rhodiola is good for that, too.

L-Carnitine is great for processing foods for energy, this can help give you that energy required for a long, hard session in the gym.

So how did it feel?

Nothing.

I felt utterly nothing. I am not even joking either, this was dismal. I am extremely skeptical of the actual ingredients in that sachet, I get that its not a large dose but to feel nothing at all is difficult to comprehend.

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

Video Review:

Negatives:

I can list the details of all the ingredients as much as you and I want but it doesn’t detract away from the fact that this offered no benefit or positive effect on me whatsoever.

I was in the gym through pure personal motivation and desire to stay strong, not because I felt a kick up the ass or a surge of energy and unimpeded focus.

I am broken from rugby and I needed a lift, a little help in the performance stakes but alas, naff all.

Nope, there was nothing to speak of. I do wish I had made a cup of coffee thought which would of actually helped.

It is odd though, because there are some good ingredients in this formula.

However, I fail to believe they were either contained or at the doses claimed.

I think that it is only fair to mention that while it does have a few claimed effective ingredients, there are 3 which are not exactly scientifically proven…

1 of which, while being a rapidly digesting carbohydrate is also used as a pesticide…nice.

Scitec Nutrition POW3RD Pre Workout Review Conclusion:

I cannot condone the use of something that did sincerely fuck all for me.

No tingle, no brain hemorrhage, not even a tickle. No urge, no desire, no get up or kick in the nuts.

Not a jot. Really disappointing.

I think either this needs batch testing by a non-biased third party to prove it contains what it claims.

However, even then it would/is missing some other great ingredients so its still not in the top 3 list.

Score:

0/5