Testing all my samples from the Olympia Expo (thread will be updated regularly)

[PTAaron]

Okay - 3 product reviews for you guys today, and one follow-up review.

Lets start with the follow-up: I took "Extreme Drive Power Formula" again before my workout today... this one was chest/tris/delts/back - I really didn't notice the same pumps I did last time I took it. I also mixed it in a glass with a spoon this time - took quite a bit of effort to get it to actually mix completely unlike in the shaker cup.

New reviews... 2 of the products are from Eight Ball Nutrition and 1 is from SSN (the full name is printed so small I can't read it on the sample bottles).

Product: Gator Whey by Eight Ball Nutrition; Catagory: I'm not sure. Here is a link to the product: http://www.8-ballnutrition.com/Gator-Whey-P3C0.aspx See if you can figure out what the purpose of it is... I took it this morning thinking it was whey protein (the sample pack is lableled with only the name of the product) - then I read the website more carefully.
Anyway - I had Strawberry flavor... I almost threw up when I tasted it. It was disgusting. Worst strawberry flavor I have ever tasted.
I'm not really sure what this stuff is for, but don't drink it unless you like being sick.

Product: Whey 100 by Eight Ball Nutrition; Catagory: Protein Powder. This one was Chocolate flavored... and much like the strawberry flavor it tasted horrible. It smelled like burnt chocolate, and tasted like it too. I wish I owned this company - so I could have the person responsible for creating the flavors fired. Seriously, avoid this one too unless you like burnt chocolate.
Oh - here is the web description of the product: http://www.8-ballnutrition.com/Whey-100-P1C0.aspx

Product: MOV Mass Oxygen Volumizer by SSN; Catagory: Umm... Oxygen volumizer! Okay... this one I have been taking all week. It is supposed to do a bunch of things - "seperate your blood cells" and increase the oxygen capacity... they claim faster recovery and a few other things in their ad: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ssn/mov.html . To be honest I haven't really noticed anything in a week of taking it. My recovery seems about the same as usual - in fact I'm actually STILL sore from the workout I did 5 days ago, so my recovery is actually down from what it usually is. I don't know ... I've still got 3 bottles of this, so I'll keep using it and see if it does anything.

[PTAaron]

I thought I would give naNOx9 from Muscletech another try, since I had another sample of it sitting around.
This time around I had it on an empty stomach right after taking my MOV (oxygen volumizer stuff) and I took a couple of Kre-Alkylin capsules with it since the Muscletech stuff doesn't have creatine in it.

Results were a little different this time. About 15 minutes after taking it I started to get something identical to a Niacin skin flushing reaction - if you have ever taken Niacin you know what I am talking about... if you haven't it goes something like this: Your skin starts to feel really hot, you start getting big red blotches all over, and your skin starts to itch as the red splotches spread . Real fun. With niacin it comes from the fact that niacin dilates your capiliaries which makes your skin "flush".I went back and read the ingredients again - no Niacin. Apparently it actually was having a vasodilating effect as the label claimed.
During the workout today I didn't really notice much other than my whole body felt itchy from the damn skin flushing reaction. I didn't fatigue out as fast on biceps though, which was interesting. Instead of slowly getting more fatigued as the set went on I felt like a forklift until all of a sudden I couldn't move the weight. I can't really say I attribute that to the naNOx9 though - it goes that way some days for me without taking anything pre-workout.

I also tried ProLab whey protein in the cinnamon oatmeal flavor - if you read my review of N-Large2 in this flavor, you already know where this is going. It smelled great, but I would rather suck the sweat out of my knee sleeves after a leg workout than drink another shake with that horrible flavor in it. uke:

[Matt76]

good review Aaron

[PTAaron]

good review Aaron

Thanks man

[goes4ever]

bump.........did you report on all of what you got free?

[PTAaron]

bump.........did you report on all of what you got free?

I've got a few more reviews to post... I have been getting lazy with it lately, and since Tracy (my girlfriend) started working at the same clinic as me I haven't been spending my whole lunch break online like I used to. I'll try to get caught up here...

[PTAaron]

Tried a good one this morning before my workout:
Product: NO3 Overload MM5T by CMI; Catagory: Pre-Workout stimulant/creatine product.
This one was nice because it was in pill form, so I didn't have to deal with some horrible tasting powder. I took the 4 pills at 7:45am... by 8:00am I was pacing around my condo getting my workout stuff together feeling amped to go tear it up at the gym. I was actually talking to myself as I was doing things... narrating what was going on. It was kind of entertaining. This one definitely worked for getting me focused and ready to hit the gym.
I noticed later that the sample pack said "Hardcore Bodybuilders" should take 6 tablets... so maybe I'll pretend to be one of those next time and try 6 tablets! I have another sample pack sitting around, so I'll give that a try and let you guys know how it goes.

Here is a link to info on the product: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cmi/no3.html

Pre-Workout Energy And Creatine Rush For Strength!

Mind Blowing Vascularity and 100% Energy Release. Each and every serving delivers a non-stop vascular pump of Creatine Ethyl Ester Malate spelling nothing but pure muscle. Energy that hits you like a ton of bricks inside minutes of taking it. Energy and complete clarity that makes every workout your best ever. Every workout your strongest. Every workout worthy of NO3 Overload. Never let anyone mislead you again. Genetics were not made to be inherited. They were made to be altered.
At CMI, we rely on science, not rumor. Fact, not fiction. With every NO3 Overload wake up call, your body will never stop ringing. You will turn one more rep into 3. Rest will no longer be an option. Your vessels will ignite, your muscles will inflate, and your abs will tear. Your body of old will fall, while an entirely new unrecognizable physique will begin to unfold. No more 3 year old products with outdated formulas. Imagine if you will the ability to send your muscles a signal that they are training even when you are not in the gym.
30 Minutes After You Take NO3 Overload
Your body will begin a series of non-stop muscle contractions.
20 Minutes Later, your mind and body will connect.
25 Minutes Later, you will not be able to stop the pump.
30 Minutes Later, time will disappear. Your Muscles Will Swell. Your strength will ignite. Your body will grow.
No messy measuring, no mixing, no messy cleanup. Just rock, hard, dense muscle!

[PTAaron]

Couple of updates today... I'll quote part of the last review of the product, and add my new thoughts on it:

Product: SMASH by Axis Labs; Catagory: Pre-workout stimulant/NO booster: Okay... so I took this one about 20 minutes before my pre-workout shake since it said to take on an empty or "light" stomach... It helped wake me up since I was having a rough time getting out of bed this morning - so that was a good start, made me hopeful that this one would be good. The product itself tasted really good in the "Atomic Punch" flavor. Mixed up very well in a shaker cup with a little bit of water.
When I got to the gym I felt awake and ready to go... As I got into the workout I found myself feeling a lot weaker than usual, I don't blame that on this product - but it certainly didn't help boost my strength. No change in "pumps" over what I would normally feel. Definitely no increase in endurance during the exercises. Overall this product was kind of a disappointment.
I have one more pouch of it, so I'll try it again later on - but I'm not expecting much.

Took this one again Friday - I had gotten only a few hours of sleep if you guys followed my thread on how i hate my neighbor and he kept me up all night. Well this stuff really got me going that morning! i drank it down, then laid back down in bed because i was exhuasted... within 10 minutes i was wide awake and ready to go! I had a good workout, and was sweating like crazy for most of the morning.

Tried a good one this morning before my workout:
Product: NO3 Overload MM5T by CMI; Catagory: Pre-Workout stimulant/creatine product.
This one was nice because it was in pill form, so I didn't have to deal with some horrible tasting powder. I took the 4 pills at 7:45am... by 8:00am I was pacing around my condo getting my workout stuff together feeling amped to go tear it up at the gym. I was actually talking to myself as I was doing things... narrating what was going on. It was kind of entertaining. This one definitely worked for getting me focused and ready to hit the gym.
I noticed later that the sample pack said "Hardcore Bodybuilders" should take 6 tablets... so maybe I'll pretend to be one of those next time and try 6 tablets! I have another sample pack sitting around, so I'll give that a try and let you guys know how it goes.

Took this on 2 other times - only did 4 pills each time. Pretty happy with the results. Definitely got me going for the workout.

[PTAaron]

New product tested: Endothil-CR by Novex Biotech. Catagory: I have no idea.

This product says it is a "Musculogenic Cell Recruiter" - whatever that means. It claims it is "Formulated to assist: muscle recuperation cycle, muscle growth, upper and lower body strength, and muscle mass and circumference".

It is just one little tablet, and the directions say "Take 1 tablet 30 minutes before working out. Chew the tablet slowly and savor the flavor for a long period of time before swallowing. Use only as directed." Okay. No problem... 30 minutes before my workout I popped the tablet in my mouth and chewed it up... I attempted to "Savor the flavor" but after about 20 seconds I was trying really hard to stop gagging... I ended up washing it down with a huge glass of water shortly afterwards. It tasted kind of like I was sucking the sweat out of the back of a pair of shorts that I had just worn to run 5 miles.

I also took some Kre-Alkylin pre-workout... and hit the gym. I noticed nothing different than usual, aside from a horrible taste that came back up a couple of times during the workout...

I'm not sure what I was supposed to notice with this product, but if it was supposed to make me gag and almost throw up - I give it an A+ if it was supposed to do anything else, it gets a big fat F.

[PTAaron]

Product: Cell Mass by BSN; Catagory: Creatine product. Tried this out Friday... the grape flavor was pretty good. Mixed well. Can't really say if one dose of it made any noticable change for me... but I did like the taste. Too bad it is so expensive. One thing I discovered though... don't mix it into a protein shake! After my workout I decided to save time and poured the cell mass into my shaker cup with my dextrose, whey protein, and glutamine... it was the worst tasting shake i have ever had! Tracy and I were driving to work when I took a drink of it for the first time... I think she thought I was going to swerve the car off the road I started choking and gagging so bad! Something about the combination of the grape flavor with the vanilla protein powder and dextrose just was REALLY REALLY bad!

[PTAaron]

I've gone through all of the pre-workout stuff and protein shake samples I had...
Right now I'm trying out various fat burners/energy pills ... I haven't really formed any opinions on them yet so I'm waiting to write that up...

[goes4ever]

good deal PT, looking forward to the rest

[PTAaron]

Thanks man. So far I'm liking some of the GNC brand stuff I've been taking since giving up on the Y3. I'll post more on it at the end of the week... we'll see how it goes.

[PTAaron]

Product: Oxydrene by Novex Biotech. Catagory: "Deep Tissue Oxygenator".

Okay - This one I can't really say I noticed anything from taking it... I only had a couple of doses as samples, so I don't really know that it would have had time for me to notice any effect. Lets just say that in a single dose, it didn't cause any noticible change in anything.


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Product: Crunch Time by SSN. Catagory: Fat burner (I think, doesn't say on the bottle).

Again - this one didn't really have much of an effect that I noticed... I took 4 doses of it, and off the top of my head I really can't remember anything spectacular about it. I still have 2 more doses to take, I'll take those tomorrow and the next day.

[PTAaron]

Product: YJ Stinger Extreme Energy Mints (Stacker 2) Catagory: Energy (duh!)
These come in a sheet of 21 mints, and the serving size is 2 mints. I'm not sure what genius did the math on that one... Poor packaging aside, these are cinnamon flavored mints that have 100mg of caffeine per serving.
First impression when you pop these in your mouth is that they taste horrible. As you leave them in your mouth they don't start tasting any better... which is sad because they smell really good.
They do give you a nice energy kick though, so if you can get past the taste they are a worthwhile "pick me up" product.