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

My Gaspari Nutrition SUPERPUMP MAX Pre Workout Review First Look:

So, last night and yesterday afternoon I was proudly wearing my new vivid pink compression top that I will wear when cycling, but now the temperatures have dropped a little more, it will go under my softshell jacket.

However, to my disgust I received more rude comments than I would like from my co-workers.

Not to be deterred, I wore it all day and night, then hit the gym in it and it was a great experience.

The thing is, these compression tops do make you look pretty jacked, hence why I was so insistent on wearing it…all day…at work.

Therefore, I thought, if I wear it when I work out and then do my video review I will looked tonked.

Especially after taking a pre workout supplement called ‘SUPERPUMP MAX’.

So, did it work?

Considering this consists of a large proprietary blend, it doesn’t look too positive.

Ingredients: The Science

>RELATED: We’ve tried and tested the best pre-workout supplement HERE!

Vitamin C – Widely hailed for its benefits. It can help protect the testes from stress and therefore preserve testosterone levels.

Being an anti-oxidant helps with blood flow too.

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

Vitamin B6 – Comprising three chemically distinct compounds pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, and pyridoxine, is involved in the regulation of mental function and mood.

Vitamin B6 is also an essential homocysteine re-methylation cofactor, and deficiency is associated with increase in blood homocysteine levels.

Homocysteine is a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease and may also have directly toxic effects on neurons of the central nervous system.

Neuropsychiatric disorders including seizures, migraine, chronic pain and depression have been linked to vitamin B6 deficiency.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14584010

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/

Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) – Gives you more energy and boost your metabolism, helping you shed unwanted pounds. Ensure you are not deficient in Vitamin B12 so you can do that quick 10 miler at 5am…

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/vitamin-b12-cobalamin

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

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/

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

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

Phosphorus – Higher serum phosphorus levels are associated with cardiovascular disease. It is unknown if sex hormones associate with phosphorus levels in humans.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3787687/

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

Calcium Glycerophosphate – A study on rats concludes that it is of considerable importance of greater disposition of calcium in the skeleton.

Therefore, it is good for bone and teeth development. However, this was tested on rats and injected, not an oral dose.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1259556/?page=10

Sodium Glycerophosphate – This can prevent or at least regulate phosphorous disturbances in the blood.

Phosphorus is a mineral that performs many vital functions.

http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC2528378/pdf/archdischfn00064-0048.pdf

Di Magnesium Malate – This is a soluble form of Magnesium which can help turn food in to energy.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-998-magnesium.aspx?activeingredientid=998

Di Potassium Phosphate – This is a highly effective way to increase phosphate levels in the blood if they are low.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-735-phosphate%20salts.aspx?activeingredientid=735&activeingredientname=phosphate%20salts

Glutamine – It is generally touted as a Muscle Builder, but has not been proven to enhance muscle building in healthy individuals; only those suffering from physical trauma such as burns or muscular wounds (knife wounds) or in disease states in which muscle wasting occurs, such as AIDS.

Taking glutamine by mouth does not seem to improve athletic performance according to studies.

https://examine.com/supplements/glutamine/

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-878-glutamine.aspx?activeingredientid=878

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

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

Men who were supplemented 2g per day showed an increase of Insulin like growth hormone when combined with exercise.

Very limited evidence to suggest any fat loss unless you are an elderly person.

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2003/08000/The_Effects_of_L_Carnitine_L_Tartrate.5.aspx

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Carnitine-HealthProfessional/

https://examine.com/supplements/l-carnitine/

L-ornithine-L-aspartate (LOLA) – 1000mg per day in excessive metabolic demand, growth, pregnancy, or urea cycle enzyme deficiencies, these amino acids need to be supplemented with the food.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20642112

BCAA – BCAAs (typically a combination of  L-Leucine, L-IsoLeucine and L-Valine) play a critical role in muscle development because they are metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver.

Because BCAAs are metabolized in the muscle, they can be used for building new proteins or for energy.

However, Supplementation is not necessary if you eat eggs and meat regularly.

https://examine.com/supplements/branched-chain-amino-acids/

Creatine – A well regarded supplement overall!

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

L-Tyrosine – Tyrosine is taken for depression, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the inability to stay awake (narcolepsy), and improving alertness following sleep deprivation.

It is also used for stress, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS).

https://examine.com/supplements/l-tyrosine/

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.

It is also found in Instant Knockout which is the best fat burner available at present.

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

Glucuronolactone – A component of many energy drinks, not great news considering there’s fuck all research on it.

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

Dose:

11,594.41mg mixed with water before training.

This does not compare particularly well to many of the best pre workout supplements which will offer over 15,000mg.

The flavor was black cherry. I don’t think it tasted of that, but it was pleasant all the same.

Pros:

Surprisingly there are a few ingredients present that, on paper, and in theory should be able to offer some sort of benefit.

We are looking at:

• Vitamin C – Helps blood flow
• Sodium – Replaces essential lost salts through perspiration.
• B6 – Helps regulate mental function and increase testosterone
• B12 – provides energy
• Calcium – Increases testosterone levels
• Magnesium – Increases testosterone levels
• Sodium Glycerophosphate – Regulates phosphorus in the blood
• Di Magnesium Malate – Turns food in to energy
• Di Potassium Phospate – Increase phosphate levels if they’re low
• Citrulline – reduces fatigue and increase perfromance
• Carnitine – Produces energy
• LOLA – Can help with tissue regeneration
• BCAA’s – Help with muscle development
• Creatine – Helps with strength increases and testosterone
• Tyrosine – Increases alertness
• Caffeine – Stimulates the central nervous system

With that massive list of beneficial ingredients, you would be confident in thinking this is the best product available.

On the face of it, it is.

Ingredients such as Citrulline, Carnitne, Creatine, Caffeine, Calcium and B vitamins feature in the best pre workout supplements.

How Did It Feel?

I really didn’t feel anything.

Now, the thing is, it has a lot of ‘headlining’ ingredients, but if they are not dosed adequately, they are not going to work.

So, it looks good on the packet to have them included, that gets the sales in, but there’s no effect.

Video:

Cons:

So, with that mountain of effective and beneficial ingredients, what could possibly go wrong?

Let’s get the unproven ingredients out of the way…

• Niacin
• Taurine
• Calcium Glycerophosphate
• Glutamine
• Glucuronolactone

These are a small number and pale in comparison to the mass of proven ingredients.

However, the majority of the effective ingredients are either offered in extremely low doses or hidden within a proprietary blend.

Due to the lack of effectiveness from the product, I believe that the ingredients within this proprietary blend are dosed extremely low.

Therefore, it doesn’t work.

Due to a proprietary blend being able to hide exactly how much of each individual ingredient is included.

This means, that legally, each ingredient could just be a trace amount and the rest consisting of just bulking agent.

My Gaspari Nutrition SUPERPUMP MAX Pre Workout Review Conclusion:

If you just take a quick look at this, it looks like a very beneficial pre workout supplement with its many proven ingredients.

Okay, it doesn’t include absolutely everything to make it the best pre workout supplement on the market, but it isn’t far off.

Once it is tested though in a real world situation its failings start to unravel…

The problem is not with the number of ingredients, or even most of the ingredients included…but how it is delivered.

For a start, just over 11 grams is not enough, especially when you have to consider what the other, effective and beneficial pre workout supplements offer.

Yet, overall, there’s a good number of theoretically beneficial ingredients, the problem being is that they have not been dosed high enough to offer any real benefit.

The majority of the ingredients have been locked away in a hidden proprietary blend so we know very little of how much per each ingredient is included.

It also omits many proven ingredients that are present in many of the best pre workout supplements.

This was absolutely clear when I tested it for my gym session I felt no effects at all. Absolutely nothing.

Due to the limited effects,the fact that it is missing the following ingredients and not being dosed adequately I would not suggest that this pre workout from Gaspari Nutrition is worth investing in:

• Coconut water
• Potassium
• Theanine
• Rhodiola
• Beet

There is a better product than this that will get you fired up and cause hell in your chosen sport.