My USN Hyperdrive Extreme PRE2 Pre Workout Review

Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

USN Hyperdrive Extreme PRE2 Review

First Look

Can a pre workout from USN help me get some house chores out of the way for summer?

It is Sunday evening, I have been painting different rooms in my house all weekend and thankfully I am hangover free today.

That much cannot be said for Saturday morning when I felt like rhinoceros had taken a great big dirty shit inside my head.

However, last night was a fairly late one, I went over to see my girlfriend in the evening and we both fell asleep on the sofa, when we woke up and I went home I then couldn’t get straight to sleep.

Then I was up fairly early this morning to have breakfast with a buddy and then spent a shit load of cash on supplements.

One of those supplements is this pre workout from USN called HYPERDRIVE EXTREME PRE2.

I glanced over the ingredients panel when in the store and almost stared in to disbelief…there are some great ingredients included.

This was shaping up to be an excellent supplement for me to have before I hit the weights this evening.

Unfortunately I had a kitchen to paint first and a shit Sunday dinner to cook, but once those minor hindrances were out of the way I mixed a scoop of 10g as instructed before my gym session.

It mixed well and tasted great…things were just getting even better…or were they..?

TL:DR – Video Review

Who Are USN?

USN are a UK based nutrition company.

They claim to offer the best sports supplementation and fitness advice. Established back in 1999, USN have positioned themselves as a market leader and are actively involved with professional sports clubs and athletes.

USN are not a small operation with stacks and stacks of different supplements under their belt.

PRE2 Claims

One thing to note is that this isn’t just a load of caffeine, there’s lots of different ingredients in here and these are reputed to increase overall physical performance.

The website claims that this pre workout supplement can do the following:

Boost endurance
Provide muscle pumps
Increase oxygen delivery
Improve recovery
More energy

Ingredients: The Science

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

Vitamin B6

B6 is one of 8 B vitamins, but B6 is very well suited for this supplement because not only does B6 contribute to testosterone levels and fat loss it also helps with energy production plus helping you sleep better.

Additionally, B6 works towards treating anemia which is a condition whereby you have too few red blood cells. [1] [2]

L-Citrulline

Citrulline helps open up your blood vessels which allows a greater flow of blood. This is because it helps create nitric oxide.

However, citrulline may also improve you immune system and even contribute to muscle recovery while improving performance.

Ideally you will need 8g. [3] [4]

Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)

B12 is another key B vitamin from the 8.

The B12 vitamin has a great ability to help produce energy, but it also helps keep cells and blood levels healthy.

As a water soluble vitamin, B12 needs to kept topped up daily through foods and supplementation. Any excess is passed through th ebody and leaves the body when we urinate. [5]

Vitamin C

Vitamin C helps prevent oxidative stress, it is also noted for improving blood flow. Better blood flow increases the amount of oxygen and nutrients our muscles and organs will get.

This will improve physical and mental performance, so an ideal addition to a pre workout supplement. [6]

Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential mineral that has many health benefits, not least because it can help strengthen bones and reduce blood pressure.

However, magnesium is also able to help treat fatigue and increase endurance while optimizing hormone levels. [7]

Zinc

Zinc, like magnesium is linked to testosterone production but it is also an integral part of burning fat, too.

However, zinc also reduces inflammation and boosts immunity while treating male infertility. An all-rounder for sure. [8]

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is so beneficial to our health that government bodies advise that we supplement with 2000iu per day if we are not getting enough safe exposure to the sun.

This is lacking somewhat at just 280iu.

However, vitamin D does help improve our mood, bone health and it is becoming more apparent that vitamin D can contribute to lower blood pressure while increasing strength.

There’s a plenty of articles I have written covering the benefits of D3 you can read about, here, here and here. [9]

Creatine

Creatine is possibly one of the most well known and safest bodybuilding supplement.

It can increase muscle size and strength, but it can also improve testosterone levels in very high doses.

Studies have found that endurance levels will benefit from creatine as can some neurological diseases. [10] [11]

Caffeine

If you have not of heard of caffeine which rock have you been living under?

Caffeine is consumed in masses every single day around the globe, and it is for good reason, too.

Caffeine help increase focus and energy it is also good to increase muscle recovery rates. As a result most pre workout supplements include it.

This is found in 4 Gauge which is the best pre-workout. [12]

Beta-alanine

Beta-alanine has yet to be proven that it is effective at increasing muscle endurance or performance.

It does make your skin feel very tingly though which gives the impression that your body is surging with energy. [13]

D-Aspartate (DAA)

DAA is a non-essential amino acid, it is more commonly found in testosterone boosters because it can raise hormone levels and fertility rates.

However, in a pre workout, this doesn’t make much sense because it cannot alter or change power output or performance. [14] [15]

Dose

10g 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 taste was a nice and quite sharp. I really enjoyed it.

It did make me fart really bad though, I stunk the gym out. I almost asphyxiated down there…

Pros

Caffeine is a great stimulant that can effect the CNS which controls muscle and heart stimulation.

Vitamin D and Vitamin C is great for testosterone and Vitamin C is good for blood flow which will help get nutrients and oxygen to organs and muscles.

Speaking of which, the inclusion of D-Aspartic Acid, Zinc and Magnesium is also good for keeping testosterone levels elevated which is great for strength, energy and muscle building.

B6 has cardiovascular benefits and B12 can help provide the energy required to exercise.

Creatine is known throughout the supplement world as being a very effective ingredient to help build muscle and strength. It too, can raise testosterone levels.

Citrulline is great for increasing nitric oxide and increasing performance.

How Did It Feel?

I didn’t feel anything, not even the Beta-Alanine.

This really got me thinking…

Nearly every ingredient is excellent, so why did nothing happen..?

Pros

I was surprised that I did not feel the Beta-Alanine, however, even if I had felt it, it is not proven to offer any performance benefits anyway.

However, this is the least of the issues concerning this pre workout supplement…

The doses for almost every ingredient is criminally low.

Okay, so it is not actually criminal, but they are too low to have any real effect on performance.

For instance, B6, B12, Magnesium and Zinc is just so far below the offerings we find for testosterone boosters they may as well not be there.

This is the same for Vitamin D, which then brings me on the the next issue with the Vitamin D that is included, it is D2 not the more effective D3 commonly found in the most effective testosterone booster supplements.

Creatine is at a level whereby if the dose was doubled it would be more beneficial and this is the same for D-Aspartic Acid, because from just one serving it is at least 500mg too low.

However, there would be no hope for Citrulline which would need to be dosed twelve times more to reach a level where it would offer any performance benefits.

If you increased the serving by 12 the amount of Caffeine would probably burst your heart or at least send you in to a killing frenzy.

At much higher doses the Beta-Aline would also probably feel like someone is actually nailing you alive to a crucifix.

USN should really just increase the amount of almost all of the ingredients instead so we do not have to go through a ritual of self torture just before we hit the gym .

USN Hyperdrive Extreme PRE2 Pre Workout Review Conclusion

On the very surface this looks like a beneficial pre workout that can also double up as a testosterone booster.

Sure, it is missing some other vital ingredients to make it a more accomplished pre workout, but it was impressive to see.

However, then, when we scratched the surface a little more, it opened up a whole number of failings.

These failures are based around doses.

10 grams i not enough, especially when you have to consider what the other, effective and beneficial pre workout supplements offer.

Overall, there’s lots of theoretically beneficial ingredients, however, they have not been dosed high enough to offer any real benefit.

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.

Therefore, as it is missing the following ingredients and not being dosed adequately I would not suggest that this pre workout from USN is worth bothering with: