USN Amino Stim

 

Overview

USN have built an amino product with the addition of stimulants to propel your workouts to new heights. Flooding your muscles with both BCAAs and EAAs will create the perfect environment to add slabs of rock hard muscle to your body. 

USN want your workouts to be the best they can to come out of the gym feeling like you have accomplished something. They feel that this product can make sure that you have the necessary energy and drive to make that happen each and every time you set foot in the iron paradise! 

Amino Stim comes in 6 flavours.

Nutritional Information

Serving Size: 10g

Per 10g

Calories 10  

Carbohydrates 2g

Calcium (Dicalcium Phosphate) 24mg

Potassium (Monopotassium Phosphate) 55mg

Focus Energy & recovery Blend - Taurine, L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, L-Valine, L-Threonine, L-Histidine,

L-Methionine, L-Lysine, DL-Phenylalanine, L-Glutamine, HydroMax™, Betaine Anhydrous (BetaPower®), Agmatine Sulfate (Agmapure®), L-Tyrosine, Choline Bitartrate, Caffeine Anhydrous (75mg)

Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Artificial Sweeteners (Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium), Silicon Dioxide, Red Beet Powder (color).

Amino Stim is a BCAA product with added kick. You have the usual 3 BCAAs along with some of the Essential Amino Acids making the formula more potent. Amino Stim is also laced with a small amount of caffeine which almost acts as a top up after your preworkout. It’s a shame we aren’t given an exact breakdown of the nutritional profile but rather told that it’s a blend.

Coming in at 10 calaroies per serving this can be used on any cycle and regardless of your stance on carbs during your workout (for the record I’m incredibly pro-carbs).

Taste

We used the Blue Raspberry flavour and its taste great but does have a slight aftertaste, not so much to spoil the product but enough to notice. It also comes in Acai Berry, Orange and Mango, Pineapple Punch, Watermelon and I’m genuinley disappointed that I didn’t try Strawberry Limeade because that sounds amazing.

The products mixes up in a standard shaker or USN steel shakers without a trace of grit.

Side Effects

None

Price

£29.99 for a tub with 30 servings in.

Results

Amino Stim is primarily going to be used as an intra product although technically it could be used at any time. Amino Stim won’t interfere with any of your other supplements unless you are particularly sensitive to caffeine. USN have wisely included EAAs alongside the BCAAs making the product more effective. This product is designed primarily for endurance during the workout with the extra boost of caffeine being the driving force behind Amin Stim.

An important factor of an intra is that it doesn’t cause bloating, discomfort or interfere with your workout. I never experienced any issues with Amino Stim – its easy to drink and tastes great. Blue Raspberry does have a slight aftertaste but it doesn’t detract from the products excellence.

USN’s products aren’t known for being cheap and Amino Stim isn’t breaking the trend. At £29.99 it isn’t over priced but it will put it out of some peoples price range. Coming in at just under £1 a serving it is above the average cost for similar products.

If you can handle the cost then Amino Stim is excellent. It excels in almost every area and accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. 9/10

You can buy Amino Stim here

Muscle Magpie Ho'Whey

 

Overview

HO’WHEY, powered by Muscle Magpie, is a high quality, fast release whey protein formula that uses 100% premium whey. HO’WHEY combines a specially developed blend of whey isolate, hydrolysed whey and whey concentrate and is designed to give you an immediate supply of high quality amino acids. Muscle Magpie insists on quality assurance as standard so has further enhanced and fortified HO’WHEY with Glutamine, BCAA’s and Digestive Enzymes.

Glutamine (4g per serving) is the most abundant amino acid found in skeletal muscle. Glutamine gets depleted during times of intense exercise and becomes conditionally essential. High levels of Glutamine are vital for muscle health and recovery. BCAA’s [Branched Chain Amino Acids] (5g per serving) are considered to be the most crucial amino acids for athletes. We have strengthened HO’WHEY with BCAA’s to ensure that there is a sufficient pool of these vital amino acids. Digestive Enzymes (50mg per serving) have been added to HO’WHEY in order to maximize and magnify absorption.

With 22g high quality protein per serving, this low carb, low calorie, low fat, protein shake will tick all the boxes for you!

Nutritional Information

 

22g of protein from Whey Concentrate, Isolate and Hydrolysed Whey. The protein has been fortified with glutamine and BCAAs. The carbs (1.7g) and fats (2g) are kept low to fit in with any diet plan. Although the Sugars are less than 1.5g it would have been nice to see just Stevia used - although trace amounts of sucralose isn’t going to hurt too much.

Although no creatine has been included you do receive Glutamine in a fairly strong dose and a digestive enzyme to make sure you absorb as much as possible.

Taste

We have tried all 5 flavours Chocolate, Mint Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry & Banana. All of them are very pleasant to drink but the Mint Chocolate does have a slight aftertaste which is a shame because it tastes like melted Mint Aero. There isn’t really a weak flavour among them but if I had to rank them I’d say the Banana is the best. All of them mix well in a standard shaker in single or double servings and apart from the mint chocolate none of them have an aftertaste.

Side Effects

None

Price

£27.99 for a tub with 30 servings. If you use code MAGPIE20 then you get 20% off making it a much better at £22.39 per tub.

Results

Muscle Magpie is a pure protein shake so its not specifically designed for postworkout, fat loss or mass gain. Its basic structure isn’t a drawback it just means that it can be used on any cycle to help you hit your macros. The nutritional information itself is fairly good – decent protein content, low fats, low carbs. The Glutamine is nice addition as speeding up recovery will help with almost any cycle. The extra BCAAs are a little bit overkill but they aren’t going to hurt you. We never experienced any side effects with Ho’Whey so the digestive enzyme must be working.

Ho’Whey tastes great in all its flavours but I have to recommend the Banana, 350ml of water and a double scoop of Ho’Whey and you have a high protein banana milkshake. The vanilla flavour was actually very useful for baking protein treats.

Muscle Magpie have priced Ho’Whey competitively but with the additional 20% discount code (MAGPIE20) it makes it only £0.75 a serving which is excellent.

Ho’Whey is a great all round protein shake that can be slotted into any diet to help fit your macros. 8/10

You can buy Ho’Whey here – remember to use MAGPIE20 for your discount

Biosynergy Insanity

Overview

Here’s what BioSynergy has to say:

Insanity is an explosive pre workout supplement designed for people who are serious about increasing their performance, size and strength in the gym. The insane blend of creatine monohydrate, arginine AAKG, beta alanine, caffeine, taurine, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and pantothenic acid is designed to help you lift more weight, push through more sets and truly take your training to the next level. Train insane or remain the same with Insanity.

Nutritional Information

Good doses of all the usual suspects – creatine, AAKG, Beta-Alanine and Taurine. Caffeine is kept to a moderate level, it’ll still be effective but wont lead to a massive energy spike and crash. Pantothenic Acid helps the body make use of protien and turns carbs, in this case a small amount of dextrose, into energy.

Insanity doesn’t have any ground breaking ingredients included but it has everything a good preworkout should.

Taste

I had Cherry Bomb and it was actually fairly nice (for a preworkout) it tastes very strong and takes a few servings to get used to it but it grows on you. Mixes up fine and as a bonus the bright red/pink colour will look awesome in a DuelFuel shaker.

Side Effects

None – the Beta-Alanine may cause some tingling but it’ll pass in 10-15 minutes and I only experienced it when I up the dosage.

Price

£34.99 for a 250g tub with 50 5g servings in – or 25 10g servings depending on how strong you want it.

Results

Insanity is a solid preworkout but there are a few drawbacks. Biosynergy has crafted a fairly standard preworkout. None of the ingredients are unique or groundbreaking but they are high quality and they are within effective dosing ranges. This makes for a pre that will work much like any of the high quality ones on the market. The flavour is what sets it apart. Preworkouts are known for not tasting great but Insanity’s Cherry Bomb makes an impact. It can be a little bit sweet but it tastes really nice.  

Insanity is geared more towards strength and muscular endurance rather than a buzz and energy spike. This will keep your muscles working rather than make you feel like you've had a bump of MDMA.

The price point will depend on how strong you are going to need it. Our male reviewers need a double dose making it cost about £1.40 per serving but our female reviewers found it to be effective with only a single serving coming in at £0.70.

The main drawback to Insanity is the packaging. The tube it comes in is fairly narrow and when you get near to the bottom of the tube it can be difficult to get the product out. The product itself it a well crafted, if slightly unoriginal, preworkout that’s sure to give you the kick you need to give it your all. 7.5/10

You can buy Insanity here