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

APS Mesomorph Ultimate Pre Workout First Look:

What’s a mesomorph?

It is a body type. For men they come in three types. Mesomorph, endomorph and ectomorph.

Mesomorph is your typical muscular guy with broad shoulders and narrow waist. Endomorph is fat and pear shaped with ectomorph being thin and lanky.

You and I want to be a mesomorph. Coincidentally this pre workout from APS Nutrition is called just that.

It also comes in patriotic colors and a great taste. Really great taste.

You may, or may not have heard me bleat on recently that I am changing my weight lifting structure slightly..

A bout 3 months or even longer ago I decided to lift slightly lighter weight s in exchange for more reps, I was hoping this may help me build a more pumped muscular looking frame, plus I wanted to put a little less strain on my joints.

However, for my naturally mesomorph frame it just hasn’t suited me for some reason or another. Maybe I am doing it wrong, but for whatever reason, I felt much bigger and definitely much stronger and overall much better in myself when I was lifting the heavier weight and a lower rep range.

So tonight, is the night that I have reverted back to old ways.

Ingredients:

Creatine – A well regarded supplement.

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

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/creatine.html

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

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 t 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/

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

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.

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

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) – 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/

Creatinol O-Phosphate – (COP) is a creatine analogue synthesized for the treatment of heart complications. It appears to protect cardiac cells at 3g injections, but does not have sufficient evidence for oral consumption.

https://examine.com/supplements/creatinol-o-phosphate/

Agmatine – Agmatine is a metabolite of L-Arginine. It shows promise for alleviating neuropathic pain and drug addiction. Agmatine supplementation can also protect from strokes and benefit cognitive health.

https://examine.com/supplements/agmatine

Glucuronolactone – Glucuronolactone is a molecule that is commonly found in energy drinks (at around 10-60mg, with variance depending on brand), although in studies ‘disassembling’ the constituents of energy drinks suggest no significant contribution towards energy.

https://examine.com/supplements/glucuronolactone/

Methylxanthine Anhydrous – The same as Caffeine Anhydrous – a stimulant and thermogenic.

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

Naringin – This displays strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Known as a citrus flavonoid and found in grapfruit, it is also good for reducing cholesterol, high blood pressure, overall obesity as well as improving cardiovascular health.

http://advances.nutrition.org/content/5/4/404.full

3, 7-dihydro-3,7-dimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione (Theobromine) – Theobromine can reduce sleepiness and in large quantities produces a jittery sensation.

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/podcast/CIIEcompounds/transcripts/theobromine.asp

Dose:

1 sachet with water which is a monster 12870mg.

It tastes great too!

Effects:

It is good to see vitamin C, it has fantastic benefits for general health and also for neuroprotective and oxidative stress protection properties.

Vitamin C also helps with blood flow too.

Caffeine is found in many supplements, however, not usually in the purest form as found here. Caffeine is probably the most popular and widely used stimulant in the Western world.

Creatine is sometimes found in pre workouts, 5000mg is usually required and that is after a loading phase of 20000mg. We do not know the exact dose but it will be less that 4500mg.

Thebromine is good at keeping you awake, particularly useful if you prefer working out at night.

Citrulline is good at reducing fatigue and promoting an increase in growth hormone while you are exercising.

Beta-Alanine can help with muscle endurance.

So how did it feel?

I enjoyed the benefits.

It was the first time I had gone ‘heavy’ for a while and I had really increased the weight and it was great to be back lifting what I enjoy.

I felt tingly for quite a while which would be a result of the Beta-Alanine and I felt energized enough to lift for an hour.

There wasn’t a huge rush or smack in the face feeling of stimulants nor did I feel aggressive or more focused.

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

Negatives:

There’s a secretive proprietary blend for part of the ingredient profile present which means we do not know the exact breakdown of the ingredients listed.

Ingredients such as creatine are too low dosed to be useful.

Taurine may not always produce good effects. Nor is AAKG or Beta Alanine according to studies.

Glucuronolactone, while it is popular doesn’t appear to actually add benefit and there’s no benefit to taking Creatinol O-Phosphate orally either.

It does feel a little that the tingly sensation from eta-Alanine does take over and become a diversionary tactic.

At $79.99 it is much more expensive than rivals.

APS Mesomorph Ultimate Pre Workout Review Conclusion:

My thoughts are that this is overall a good pre workout. It misses a few items such as Potassium, Sodium and Coconut water which would benefit the user.

There’s also a fair few ingredients that are not proven to fulfill the claims surrounding them.

It does taste good whichis a bonus and it isn’t gritty or powdery.

I enjoyed using it, however, there are more effective and more cost effective products on the market you would probably prefer to use for more explosive power and focus.

Score:

3/5