Stevie T’s Top Ten Supplements

Greetings, Howdy, Well Hello There!

Over the past twelve months I have reviewed four brands and a standalone product while at the time eating only real food.  Because of my daily life and past business I get asked everyday about what supplements to take to help do this or that with their physique, performance or both, so I am going to preface this blog by stating the definition and a few words about the word ~ Supplement; something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.  So to me that indicates that you must first start with something, you cannot complete or enhance a non-existent object, am I correct?

Supplements are to be taken in addition to, you still have to do work on a daily basis, supplements will not accelerate any results if you are not putting the work in while training, fueling your body with real food, getting adequate rest and so on.  A great friend once said to me ” You Can’t Polish a Turd” And I relate that statement to people who expect to take a pill or powder, not do any work , and yet expect to see results from said product(s), you must have a solid base and then build on it from there before any supplement will complete or enhance your physique or performance while helping you reach a short or long-term goal.

Enough about that, you get the picture & I am going to move on to this and do my best to keep it to a blog and not a novel. I reviewed, kept notes and posted blogs about the four different brands I used and a somewhat detailed description of the product, the results I got from it and anything else I felt needed to be addressed. I will provide a link to each company and if you want to look into them or a certain product you can do that for yourself but I am only going to list the product name a few additional words.

The four brands I used were – Muscle Fortress – BPI Sports – Ronnie Coleman Signature Series – Muscle Elements & the standalone was from Isatori  with the exception of Isatori of course I took a pre workout, intra workout, thermogenic and protein from all but Muscle Elements due to them not making a protein until the release of the Truth in October. The following were my favorites and what category they fall into in chronological order of the brand used.

Muscle Fortress – The muscle stack pack, a great multi vitamin pack with many extras, the Dragon test which is a natural testosterone booster and can be used by its self or as a post cycle therapy product & also the Muscle Grub protein powder, They have a great variety of flavors and I haven’t had one that didnt’ taste great,

Bpi Sports – Pump HD, a very potent pre workout, I got some of the craziest pumps while testing it, their A-HD & Solid stack was great also and helped with muscle gains and strength while staying dry and not all puffy.

Ronnie Coleman Signature Series – MyoBlitz Xs, great pre workout with instant and extended energy, the stacked NO made every workout a shirt stretcher and one of my favorites of the year.. Resurrect PM, a night-time sleep and recovery aid that proved to be invaluable thanks to my long days and very early mornings

Muscle Elements – AmiNO Flow,, Let me say it again AmiNO Flow! One of my all time favorites is amino/bcaa powders & Muscle Elements upped the ante by adding in Nitric Oxide, I used 3-4 scoops a day.  I also really liked their non stimulant metabolic optimizer LeanWorks (basically helps with appetite control, water balance and helps you burn) without the addition of any caffeine or other stimulants.

Isatori – So I decided to try out Bio Grow, which you need to look up, read about and watch the videos posted, not because I am being lazy but I cannot  justify explaining this product & you will understand it much better coming from them.  I used Bio Grow during breaks I would take between brands and while I wasn’t using any supplements and relied only on whole foods to allow my system a break before starting up again….  I won’t go to far into detail but, Bio Grow is the real thing, my strength and size were both effected in a positive way while using it as recommended for my body weight, training level and from the advice I received from them through their website.

The Next 6 months are looking bright, My goals and set and the vision is on laser mode, I want to thank everyone who has been there with me since day one along with all of you who read, follow, comment and contact me daily.  Thanks to my family for supporting me, my awesome wife and my daily partner in crime at the training facility who doubles up as an amazing friend and photographer Robert Mitchell… The fact that I get to do what I do everyday is amazing to me and I owe it to you all..

Cheers

Stevie T 

A current and a throwback, In the next 12 I will achieve the in-between

Throwback

**always consult with your physician before starting or changing a current workout routine , nutrition program or supplement.  The advice and programs that are talked about on this site are not recommended for use by any individuals with any medical condition(s) that might be compromised by intense exercise or resistance training.  If you feel any abnormal pain, nausea or dizziness please discontinue training and consult your health care professional immediately **

Final review of Muscle Elements & the TRUTH is revealed!

I’m back to give the long-term review on Muscle Elements  (Me) the brand I introduced to you in early July but before I get to that I have to pass along some very exciting news about a product they dropped on the industry this last week, the TRUTH!

For the past couple months Muscle Elements has been posting information on their social media sites regarding the truth, the information was vague yet very intriguing, you couldn’t tell if it was going to be a product release, an industry secret, or something else and then on Monday they dropped the bomb and well I will just let you watch this video because it is explained here better than I could do myself – The TRUTH You Tube

the TRUTH

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a couple of samples and used it to start my post workout recovery on Saturday.  As I do with all protein powders the first use, I filled a shaker bottle with cold water and then added the chocolate bar Truth powder to it to see if it passed the mixability test which it did with flying colors,  The chocolate was subtle but flavorful and left absolutely zero aftertaste which is to be expected considering that there is no artificial sweeteners.  I’m very impressed with the idea of being straight forward and listing the exact amounts of every protein source, the lack of artificial ingredients, the sourcing of natural hormone free cattle, the time released blend, the reassurance that you know exactly what you are getting and look forward to the launch of the TRUTH in October!

Now on to the long-term review of this brand, If you missed my introduction to it, you can find it here – Intro –  Over the past twelve weeks I used all four Muscle Elements products and this is what I experienced with each.

Pre Cre – This is (Me’s) Pre training product which I took faithfully before every training session, both resistance and outdoor sprint work or mountain biking, both the fruit punch and watermelon have a good flavor, you can tell that you have taken it but it doesn’t make you feel strung out, there is no “niacin flush” and unlike many other popular pre workout powders I never had any stomach discomfort.  PreCre delivered each and every time I took it, my strength and endurance increased steadily and without fail I got a better pump and more blood flow to my entire body during each session, PreCre is a very solid product that I have and will recommend to anyone who uses this product category.

AmiNO Flow – This product is the first of its kind, Muscle Elements created a new product category with a Branched Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) powder that also contains the always popular Nitric Oxide (NO) I started out using it as recommended but soon fell in love with the effects that it was giving me and started using it four times per day.  I’ve always been a huge fan of (BCAA) products due to the fact you can flood your body with muscle sparing amino’s all day long without the addition of additional calories and with the addition of the (NO) in this one… Well I can say that I have found my new favorite and see this being a standby for a long time.  I highly recommend getting your hands on Amino Flow and trying it out for yourself.

Grow with Me Stack
Lean on Me Stack

212 – Two Twelve… the boiling point, a great name for (Me’s) thermogenic – I added 212 into the mix at the six-week point of my review and used one to two servings a day five days per week (taking the weekends off) 212 gave me steady energy, increased my mood/sense of well-being, definitely decreased my appetite and left me without the crash that is common with these types of products.

LeanWorks – A “stimulant free metabolic optimizer” I’ve taken many of the ingredients in LeanWorks individually in the past with some success but this is the first time I have tried anything with the combination that LeanWorks puts in the 90 count bottle.  Within the first couple days of starting this I noticed a dramatic decrease in excess body water and my scale weight dropped down a few pounds, I used LeanWorks along with 212 and also took it on the weekends when I wanted to keep the fat burning furnace going but didn’t want any extra stimulants.  The two things I noticed with this product was my lack of craving sweets and the removal of unwanted water, during the review I also talked about the effects of this product to many of my clients and they have been getting the same type of results, I am a huge fan of LeanWorks and suggest that you give it a try also especially if you are sensitive to stimulants or try to avoid caffeine in you daily life but still want the effects of “thermogenics”

I will leave you by saying that I feel Muscle Elements will be a major player in the game going forward, they make high quality products, have high standards and morals when it comes to every specific ingredient that goes into their products and after staying in contact with them through the whole review process I can tell you that they aren’t going to be a “copycat” company and won’t be satisfied until they make a major impact on the industry… which I guess has already started with the bold release of the Truth!  Do yourself a favor, give Muscle Elements a shout and see what they can do to help you reach your fitness goals.

I’m off to Las Vegas later this week for the 50th edition of the Mr. Olympia fitness weekend and will catch you all on the flip side, as usual thanks for reading.

**always consult with your physician before starting or changing a current workout routine , nutrition program or supplement.  The advice and programs that are talked about on this site are not recommended for use by any individuals with any medical condition(s) that might be compromised by intense exercise or resistance training.  If you feel any abnormal pain, nausea or dizziness please discontinue training and consult your health care professional immediately **

Three weeks in, Muscle Elements full steam ahead

Hi everyone!

I’m back to give you a quick update on Muscle Elements, the current brand of supplements that I am testing out.

It’s been a solid three weeks of steady training, I’ve been religious about taking the grow with me stack and I will start out by giving you my experience so far with PreCre – I cracked the seal on the watermelon flavor first because it sounded refreshing and it has been a little warm for my liking around here as of late.  My first impression on day one was the pleasant and subtle taste that is not overwhelming or watered down, It mixes in a glass with a spoon just fine but I found it to taste even better with a shaker bottle in cold water and even an ice-cube or two if available.  I don’t like to judge a products efficiency with the first dose or even the 5th, yes you can start to make assumptions early on but there are so many variables to consider, so even though I took notes the first week I really didn’t start to form any opinions until I had gone through all my training sessions more than once so here are my early thoughts.

• Mixes well
• Tastes great
• No tingle and no stomach discomfort
• Sustained energy, I found that for me it was more effective when taken 45-60 minutes pre workout and last for several hours
• I’ve been getting a pump almost immediately – within the first 3-4 sets of a given body part
• Subtle, but noticeable strength increases in both the overall power and muscle endurance areas, basically each week I’ve been able to increase my total poundage through more weight and more reps
• No post exercise crash

So far I’m extremely impressed with PreCre and am really excited to see if these gains continue over the next 6 weeks

AminoFlow is the 2nd part of the Grow With Me Stack, If you remember in my introduction I am and always have been a huge believer in BCAA’s and Amino drinks in general,  AminoFlow is unique in the sense it combines two products in one with the addition of nitric oxide along side of the bcaa’s and other ingredients.  I started out by using AminoFlow two times per day, I was taking one dose as soon as I got out of bed (about 30 minutes) before my first meal and again pre-workout with PreCre, but after about 5 days I noticed that my muscles were exceptionally full and I was more vascular than normal early on in the morning which to me meant that it was doing exactly what the description of the product said it would.  So I thought to myself why not increase the dose, for one there is no harm in giving your body a steady flow of aminos to promote recovery and limit any chance of catabolism, secondly I loved the taste of it and it was helping me get down more fluids everyday so I took the experience from my early morning dose and decided to start upping my daily usage to four scoops per day.

1. One Scoop 30 minutes before breakfast
2. One Scoop 30 minutes before my pre workout meal (about 2 1/2 hours prior to training)
3. One Scoop about 15 minutes before I finished training (to capitalize on the post workout meal #1)
4. One Scoop before post workout meal #2 (which for me comes in the form of real food about 90 minutes after I finish post workout meal #1)

The results I have been seeing are almost hard to believe, I feel like I have a constant pump & my recovery time is phenomenal and I’m getting leaner and harder with out being on any type of cutting diet!  It’s still early but I think I might of found my new favorite overall product!

Watermelon AminoFlow

There you have the early reports from PreCre and AminoFlow.  If you haven’t already, contact Muscle Elements and get your hands on some samples, then let them know about your experience on any of their social media sites.

I’ll be back in a couple weeks when I add in the Lean on Me Stack   – Until then #trainharder2playharder

Stevie T

 

**always consult with your physician before starting or changing a current workout routine , nutrition program or supplement.  The advice and programs that are talked about on this site are not recommended for use by any individuals with any medical condition(s) that might be compromised by intense exercise or resistance training.  If you feel any abnormal pain, nausea or dizziness please discontinue training and consult your health care professional immediately **