AdrenN.O.lyn Cuts by Black Market – Pre-work our REVIEW (F – Epic F) – DANGEROUS!

AdrenN.O.lyn Cuts by Black Market – Pre-work our REVIEW (F – Epic F) – DANGEROUS!

As many of you have noticed I primarily review only supplements I try on various cycles for specific purposes- mostly in order to lose weight or gain muscle, etc.  During the course of these experiments I have found it helpful to use various pre-workouts to help get up and get going to the gym to help give the supplements the exercise needed to give them the best results.  This is usually the case when trying to build muscle.  Many of the supplements I test for a bulk cycle have no stimulants, so a little something at 5am in the morning in the way of a pre-workout can be helpful.

This time, I found myself in weight loss cycle and halfway through, realizing that the supplement I was taking was plateauing fairly prematurely.  I still wanted to finish out the entire regimen, and I felt like I still wanted to give it a chance at the gym.  So I always wanted to try a pre-workout focused a little more heavily on cutting or weight loss to give it a try.  When I went to my local health food store, the supplement section has a sale on all of the Black Market pre-workouts. 

I loved the branding, and seemed pretty extreme looking, and the fact that they had one focused on cutting was exactly what I was looking for.  I was pretty pumped (no pun intended).  I purchased it on sale, and took it home. 

I should take a note here, that throughout my entire life I have been pretty physically tolerant of anything I put into my body.  I have never really “gotten jitters” or had any extreme reaction to stimulants.  I also never workout to the point of nausea… it just isn’t something I do, nor do I think it is something I can physically capable of.

The first morning I took a full scoop of it (recommendations was one to two scoops), and went to the gym.  I didn’t really notice anything, but had a normal workout.  I didn’t feel bad, no jitters, but I also didn’t notice much of a lift in push – which can be good.  I do think my performance was better, not because I felt like I did more, but the speed on the treadmill was better (so the machine said I did more).

On the way home I started to feel nauseous.  When I got home I laid down, and then within an hour started vomiting.  I initially thought I had overworked myself at the gym, but I eventually needed to call into work, and I started to get the flu.  I was violently ill for over two days, until I could finally return to work.  At this point I realized that it had nothing to do with the pre-workout, or my workout at all but I had gotten the flu.

Another two days after I had recovered, I was feeling pretty good and felt like I could make it back to the gym for the first time in five days.  I work up after a little late sleep (it was  Saturday), and too another scoop and headed to the gym.  Again, I worked out okay – and on the way home got nauseous again!  Then for the next two days got violently ill.  I couldn’t return to work until Tuesday.  

At this point I was pretty suspicious, and convinced that it was the pre-workout. It made me freakin miserable!

This time, I didn’t take it again – and started to ask a few questions about it.  About two weeks later – I had completed the cycle I was on, and on a detox.  I really wanted to see one more time if it was the pre-workout.  This time before a run, I only had maybe 1/3 of a scoop – and within 15 minutes vomited.

Luckily this time it wasn’t days – just half a day of sleeping that got it out of my system.

This was the single worst experience I had had with any supplement!  This is an EPIC FAILURE, and I believe that AdreN.O.Lyn Cuts by Black Market is DANGEROUS.  I have never said that about any supplement, and I have no other reason to WARN PEOPLE on this.

A week later, I was having lunch with someone that I had worked with in the past that formulates products for companies.  I asked him about that – and he said, he had a competitor to Black Market come to him to develop “the same type” of product.  After looking at the ingredient deck, and the scoop size he said – “it’s impossible that this ingredient deck is in that scoop – the laws of physics will not allow it.” He alluded to the fact that in order for anyone to have any types of “popular” results from a scoop of that size it has to have something in it that isn’t on the label.

STAY AWAY – EPIC F

ANABOLIC KING & ALPHA MASS X – by ATS Labs – RESULTS (B-)

ANABOLIC KING & ALPHA MASS X – by ATS Labs – RESULTS (B-)

Starting BODY Numbers – 237.8 lbs; 32.3 Body Fat

Ending BODY Numbers – 235.4 lbs; 31.9 Body Fat

2.4 lbs DECREASE and .4% Body Fat Decrease

Results Summary:

This is a more complicated review to give on this product.  Anabolic King and Alpha Mass X by ATS Labs (Achievements Through Science Labs) are a different type of product then I have taken before.  Up to this point the focus has been more on thermogenic and weight loss.  However, these products are for bulking and building muscle.  The idea was that I would take a cycle and build as much muscle as possible in order be able to lose more weight using that increased muscle when I went back on a cut cycle.

So as I started to apply this – I noticed a few things.  I gained a butt load of weight really quick.  Within the first week I went from 237 pounds to 243.  To be honest for some this is a great… for me I wasn’t emotionally prepared for this.  Having struggled with my weight, even though I could logically see that it was GOOD weight increase, I wasn’t ready to actually address the numbers.  This was surprise to me, and I learned a lot about myself – a lot of things that I didn’t really know. 

I immediately panicked and I shouldn’t have.  My wife pointed out how obvious this increase in weight was actually a good thing – the body composition indicated a lot of it was muscle.  This was still hard. 

As a result I started to change my behavior.  I still hit the gym every day and did weights… heavy weights and low reps.  I kept this up because I really started to love the improvement I could see everything single time I revisited a exercise.  I was able to increase my lift by 5 to 10 pounds on nearly EVERY exercise EVERY TIME I repeated an exercise during the week.  In this light it was FREAKIN AWESOME. 

But because of those numbers I started to watch more of my diet, and not in the way I should have.  I knew that if I wanted to build muscle I needed to eat more and focus on protein.  I still focused on protein, but I pulled back the amount – and in hindsight I didn’t’ do my muscles any justice.  By the second week I was still up from my starting weight, and I started to do cardio every other day rather than weights every day.  From there I was able to shred some more weight.  This helped me emotionally recover.  But again, I didn’t do the actual objective of gaining muscle any favors.

With that being said, even without doing what I wanted right. I was very happy with this – and it wasn’t because of the numbers.  It was because I could see and feel a HUGE different in my body.  My composition changed.  I didn’t see tons in the numbers, but in my posture, and in the shape and form of my body – it was incredible. 

I gave this a B- because I didn’t get the numbers I wanted (even though it was primarily my fault and I was unprepared for actual weight gain) – but I gave it a B because I was pretty surprised as a result of what I did do.  Despite myself, my body still changed pretty phenomenally.  I felt like if I actually did what I was supposed to do it would have been remarkable.

So I loved it, I loved the way I felt, I loved the results – I honestly just wasn’t ready for them!

This was definitely more on me than it was on ATS Labs.  I was impressed enough with how I felt that I was eager to try there other products.

ANABOLIC KING & ALPHA MASS X – by ATS Labs – INTRODUCTION

ANABOLIC KING & ALPHA MASS X – by ATS Labs – INTRODUCTION

After having really focused on weight loss and surprisingly having found some success with some previously tested supplements, I found myself in an odd place.  I have been a little concerned about becoming bored, and plateauing.  I have found myself working hard at the gym with my cardio, and not seeing as much movement as I would like, and I have also found myself halfway through my workout and not really being as mentally engaged as I previously have.

With this, I consulted with my guy at the nutrition store I have come to enjoy (my local COMPLETE NUTRITION here in American Fork).  When I walked through where I was at, he made the comment, that seems obvious now, that I should at least incorporate some muscle increase and weight lifting into my program.  The most muscle I can get the more fat I can burn. 

With that in mind, I decided to take whatever recommendation he would make, and I would go all out and focus on muscle building.   There was something about this was that a little intriguing…. The idea of building muscle and being “one of those gym bros” kind of was a secret sense of comfort.

What was recommended to me was Alpha Mass X by ATS Labs and Anabolic King by ATS Labs.  I have never heard of the company before, or the product; but I went for it.

Alpha Mass X by ATS Labs (Achievements Through Science Labs)

Product Goal: “Extreme Anabolic Growth Agent”

What is it supposed to do:  To be honest I am new to this – but I suppose it is to increase muscle growth and maximize the results from my new weight lifting regimen.

Ingredients:  The ingredients are broken up into three sections.  The first sessions has Zinc, Vitamin B6 and Magnesium Oxide all in underwhelming amounts.  I am usually used to seeing some of these supplements with excessive amounts of whatever they put in… but this seemed okay, and typical ingredients. 

The next section is the “MassX GH boosting blend” which contains: Deer Antler Velvet and something called Trigonelle foeum-greecum.  I only understand Deer Antler Velvet, which I understand has been hyped to help with growth hormone, but in reality has only shown to be great for recovery (and therefore helps build in that fashion).

The last section called “MassX muscle Matrix” with three ingredents I have never heard of: 3,5,7-trihydroxy-4-methoxyflavon; 3,4-divanillyitetrahydrofuran; and Mucuna Pruriens.  I have no idea what any of that is – so don’t ask me.

Directions: The directions are to take this 2 to 3 times daily, and there doesn’t seem to be any restriction as to when to take it.  In talking with the gym I bought it from they said I should take it before the gym, after the gym, and before bed.  That sounds like a plan to me.

Price:  I paid $99.99 for this bottle.

Anabolic King by ATS Labs (Achievements Through Science Labs)

Product Goal:  Support Muscle Growth

What it is supposed to do:   I believe this is supposed to support an increase in testosterone production, as well as decrease estrogen.  This is supposed to be through increasing testosterone and then inhibiting the conversion of the excess testosterone into estrogen; which will both keep the testosterone levels elevated (increasing muscle growth), as well as keep estrogen levels low.  This large “differential” between testosterone and lowered estrogen is supposed to be some secret sauce.

Ingredients: Again the ingredients in this is broken down into three sections:

The first being “Growth Matrix” including: 5a-androstan-3B-ol-17-one; and Androst 3,5-dien-7,17-dione.  Two more ingredients I have no idea what they are.

The second section being “Aromatase Inhibiting Complex”.  This is the complex that is supposed to inhibit the conversion of excess testosterone into estrogen, preventing that from happening and creating that differential.  This section includes: Pomegranate Extract, White Button Mushroom extract, Chrysin, Luteolin, Kaempferol, Quercetin, Soy Isoflavones, and Stinging Nettle.  At least this section has some ingredients that I have heard and seen before, however, I am not sure how they work… they are just more common to me.

The Third Section is “Absorption Amplifier” and includes: Black Pepper Extract,  and 6,7 Dihydroxybergamotin.  Although I have never heard of that last one, I have plenty of supplements that include Black Pepper Extract to increase absorption, and for the most part I do notice positive results from those products over similar products.

Directions: The direction on this is similar to the other product… 2 to 3 times daily.

Price: The price I paid for this bottle at my Complete Nutrition store was FREE because of a rare buy one supplement and get the other of equal or less value free.  This is normally $99.99.  Honestly, it was only because of the sale, I was so ready to try stacking both of these products together.

MY PLAN

So here is my plan.

After talking with the guy at the store, it was clear that there were not any stimulants to speak of in these.  With that beings said, I did opt for a pre-workout which I wanted to try.  I picked Bucked-UP as a pre-workout I would take once I got up in the morning (5:00 AM) so that I would at least be able to make it to the gym.  For the last six months I have been using diet pills (hence the blog) and trying tons of stimulants, I suppose I am afraid that if I don’t use something that I won’t be able to get there.

I also have been recommended to increase my food and protein intake.  I really am not too comfortable not being in ketosis, but it sounds like I need to increase my caloric intake.  A part of me is excited about this and another part of me is terrified about it – just being honest.  I have worked so hard to lose weight, and strict no carb lifestyle seems to be the only way I can maintain and lose weight.  I’m a little nervous about this – but I will make sure I give it a go and see if I can’t just focus on muscle increase.

I will also take each pill three times a day, once before the gym, once before work after breakfast, and once before bed; as directed by the guy at the store and in line with the directions.

Lets see where we go from here.

LOWER BOWEL FORMULA – by Dr. Christopher – CLEANSE

LOWER BOWEL FORMULA – by Dr. Christopher – CLEANSE

This is a unique review of this product, as I stopped using this product a couple days into the plan. 

I had gone to the health food store to find what the next cleanse was going to be – and it was recommended that I might try Dr. Christopher’s Lower Bowel Formula for 12 days.  It was a tincture that cost about $15.

In looking at the ingredients it seemed to have everything that should do the trick, and I was excited to try something new.  It was told to me that this is a formula that is a classic and has been around for decades.

Again, I will try not to take too much time on this product because I didn’t finish it.

The directions were to take it three times a day with a full dropper full (30 drops). 

Immediately when I started I learned that this was more HORRIFIC tasting thing I had ever had.  There were times in the four or five days I took it that I think I almost threw up from it.  It has cayenne pepper in it as well so it burned the back of my throat every time.  It was almost impossible to take – and I am extremely open to terrible tasting things.

The next thing I notices is my body started to respond weird to it.  My body tempeture increased, I started to run a fever, and I developed excess flem.  I first thought that maybe this was a routine cold or flu, but the symptoms started to go away once I stopped – but I had to work through removing the excess flem afterwards.

The final straw that determined to stop – was that it constipated me.  I believe I went four days without a bowel movement. This increased the physical discomfort. 

So within five days into the test with the product, I was done.  I stopped using the product and immediately returned to normal within a day – and then just jumped onto my next cycle.

Having already jump into the my stimulant product, I am more disappointed in this product.  As I don’t feel like I actually got a good cleanse, I can see that this is hampering the results from the current product. 

I give this product a flat F.

SHRED STACK (ADRENALIZE & OMEGA SHRED) - by Legal Limit Labs - RESULTS (A!)

GRADE: A

A is for AWESOME!

Numbers is a Nutshell:

30 days

- Beginning weight: 255.4; Ending Weight 244.8 (-10.6)

- Beginning Body fat: 36.4%; Ending Body Fat: 33.6% (-2.8%)

Total Weight LOST – 10.6 lbs.  Total FAT lost – 10.7 lbs

My Experience:

This is by far the best results I have had to date with any product.  I loved what I saw week after week.  Here is what happened and what I loved about it and why I am getting an A.

First of all, the system was easy, and it was actually easy to take.  The stimulant formula (Adrenalize) was easy on the stomach, in fact most of the mornings I would take it on an empty stomach and run to the gym without any problems.  I don’t know if that was a good plan or not – but it seemed to work.  I always took this with the Omega Shred, which might have helped.  In the past I know that if I have some fat it can help the stomach when taking something stimulating.

Regardless of how great my tummy felt on the combo, I noticed that the type of energy I was experiencing was unique.  There were no jitters, or jolts.  In fact, if I am completely honest with you I had some strong reservations it was doing anything of significance.  The increase in energy was so gradual and natural feeling that I was concerned it wasn’t do much at all.  I am used to feeling like if it isn’t crawling under my skin it isn’t working – and that wasn’t the case. 

Not only did I lose over 10 pounds in the month from it, I lost it all in fat.  I kept tabs on my muscle mass and I protected all of it, increased my hydration (which I was focusing on), and only lost fat. 

As for the rate I lost weight, it seemed pretty typical.  As I started I got the biggest kick with I think 6 pounds in the first week, then I dropped only 3, then two, and then one the last week.  It seems to be pretty typical of these types of products.  High kick at the beginning, and then slows down to eventually plateau by the end of the month.  So as much as I loved the product and the results of the product, seeing the weight loss ratios diminish over the weeks, I am more excited to jump off, detox and try out another product.  It is the right time.

What this does do for me, is increase my confidence in Complete Nutrition.  I personally go to the one here in American Fork, UT – and have found the guy Jeff extremely knowledgeable, but also authentic.  I can tell the strong difference between the formulations in this product compared to other products that are supposed to do the same thing from other stores.  This is something that I don’t expect to see very often; and explains why when I have wandered through Complete Nutrition stores in the past I was a little put off with the extremely limited selection – apparently they focus on only specialized goals or products.  They don’t have a million ways to do the same thing – they have three and each one is a little different than the last.

All in all I give this product an A.  I enjoyed it, it was easy to use, I not only lost weight, but lost FAT – and I exceeded my 6 lbs benchmark my a lot!

SHRED STACK (ADRENALIZE & OMEGA SHRED) - by Legal Limit Labs - INTRODUCTION

SHRED STACK (ADRENALIZE & OMEGA SHRED) - by Legal Limit Labs - INTRODUCTION

This was something that I purchased on my first real visit to COMPLETE NUTRITION.  I figured I would give them a chance - and it was the same visit that I bought the DeCycle cleanse which I already reviewed.  By the end of DeCycle, I was pretty pumped to go forward on this recommendation.  ( I should note that I wrote this at the beginning, but forgot to publish it until I went to write the final review... I just finished... so if you want to see the result than take a look at the RESULTS page for this product... as a result I am not editing my initial introduction at all to stay consistent.)

ABOUT THE PRODUCT

MSRP: $119 (But in reality if you purchase it on site you will probably be around $90 - and if you hit a sale maybe less)

This is a combo product that contains a stimulant formula Adrenalize and a fat based shred product OMEGA Shred.

ADRENALIZE is a product designed to increase the activity of your adrenal system, improve energy, and ultimately fat burning.  This product attempts to do these things through 25 mg of both Thiamine and Niacin (more or less to increase initial feeling); as well a a proprietary combination caffeine, green tea extract, and then a list of things that I have never heard of before.  On the list I see Bitter Orange, which an ingredient that became popular after Ephedra was taken off the market - it has a fake version of ephedrine (synphedrine) which has gotten marketing for names sake, but I'm not sure it works at all like the alkoloids from ephedra would.  At least nothing I have used in the past with Bitter Orange ever worked as well, or at all, like the old school ephedra did.  To be honest I get a little nervous when I see Bitter Orange on the label - because I think they put that on there just to market the product, not as much to create a product.

It does include some 5-htp which I anticipate is intended to boost mood through the process; and then there is a whole slew of ingredients I don't recognize but has fancy names!  Check it out.

There is no indication on the bottle or box how much caffeine is in each pill, but I assume a good amount.

Instructions: Take one in the morning and one in the afternoon - and a bottle provide a 30 day supply.

OMEGA SHRED: This seems to be like the OMEGA weight loss pill on steroids.  I say that because it has about everything in it that you have ever heard of in regards to what types of fats you should be supplementing with for weight loss.  It has OMEGA 3 (both EPA and DHA), ALA, CLA, GLA, and MCT Oil.

They are smaller than I anticipated having all of that inside, but they look cool and black.  I wonder if they have enough of the active ingredient of each to be effective, but I trust the formulation process.  Each servings of two pills have nearly 800 mg of this blen.

Instructions: Take two in the morning and two in the afternoon - and a bottle provides a 30 days supply.

My plan is to keep my exercise program - averaging about an hour of cardio a day in the morning.  To take both of these both in the morning and in the afternoon.  To keep a fairly ketonic diet to focus on fat burning.

Lets see how it goes!

DE-CYCLE - by The M.A.S.S. Project - 7 Day Cleanse

DE-CYCLE – by The M.A.S.S. Project – Cleanse Review (B+)

Price: $49.99 (Retail)

Duration : 7 – days

Stats – Started 253.4 and ended 255.4 (+2 lbs)

Review:

At the end of the last cycle, I was a little hesitant to really go into a full fledge detox.  The main reason was, I had just complete an intense cycle consuming upwards of 600 grams of caffeine a day from multiple sources, and by the end of the 30 days I could tell that I had quickly become accustomed to it – as my energy had plateaued from it, and so did my results.   (This was the Cellucor products reviewed right before.)  So I was nervous that I would have a killer crash with crack like withdrawal symptoms – which I had had before.

This time I walked into a Complete Nutrition store and talked with them about what I was doing.  They recommended this product, as it was specially formulated to help people come off of intense cycles.  It was supposed to increase detoxing, give the adrenal system a rest, support it to heal, and generally reset in between cycles.  In addition to that, it is loaded with a comfortable and gentle quantity of vitamins intended to help support the lack of energy that is expected.

So I thought I would give it a shot. 

Regimen:

You get exactly seven days of pills. And take three in the morning, and three in the afternoon.

Results:

The first day was the hardest.  I noticed my energy drop pretty heavily – but I still seemed to have the mental power to keep going, and I didn’t need to lay in bed all day.  I got a little bit of a headache, and made sure to go to be early.  With that said, I remember thinking how impressed I was that all I needed to do was hit bed early to really make it through the day. 

The second day I could tell I was still recovering.  I had the energy to go – but found myself yawning.  Yet there was no real exhaustion at all.  I started to increase my bowel movements, and the volume increased slightly – but nothing that was uncomfortable.

By the third day I felt totally recovered.  I didn’t have the energy I had when I was jacked up on the previous supplemented, but I felt like I was back to normal.  From that point on – I found that I really enjoyed it.

I did gain two pounds in the process, but I attribute that more to my lifestyle at the time.  I was slower, didn’t work out as often, and honestly I think there was some bounce back from the previous supplement.

I loved it for what it was – and I felt like it really worked!  I was super impressed.  To be honest with you I would give this an A – however, it wasn’t a perfect cleanse.  It really was only a cleanse to rest and cycle through my adrenals – which I feel like it did really well.  But I don’t know that it did much more than that.  That is the only reason why I wouldn’t give it an A.  If you are looking for a good cleanse generally – you should probably find something more intense and involved; but if you are looking for something to use between cycles on product – I think this is perfect!