EHP Labs - Oxywhey Lean Protein

So after a few busy weeks helping out with family stuff, its time to write another review.

This time, I'm going to be reviewing EHP Labs Oxywhey protein powder.

EHP Labs are relatively new on the supplement market, and have a quite sizable range of supplements that they offer. It ranges from BCAA's to protein powders and pre-workouts. I first noticed the brand on Instagram as I follow a few of their sponsored athletes.

The Oxywhey supplement that they offer is their version of a 'lean' whey, which means its meant to help to maintain and support muscular development and aid in the loss of fat. This is caused by its high content of amino acids.

One serving contains:

• 110 calories
•  24 g protein
•  1 g fat
• 2 g carbs

The protein powder is made up of both whey protein and casein elements.
The casein element will provide slow releasing proteins, making sure that you feel full, while the whey protein component will provide you with the fast releasing proteins to aid in muscle recovery.

The results I found while using this products are as follows:

• Aids in the loss of fat while maintaining the majority of your muscle mass.
• Provides you with a full feeling after consumption.
• Mixabililty was good, and the taste was also good (Chocolate)

The only problem I have with this supplement is that I am from the UK, and am yet to find a seller with a reasonable price, in comparison to what it retails at in the USA.

5 Simple Ways To Speed Up Your Workouts!

For those of you that are fighting through long sessions at the gym, here's 5 tips I've used to speed up my workouts!

1. Supersets.

These can really speed up your workouts, and give you a pretty awesome pump too. All you do is as you complete a set on one exercise, jump straight into the next exercise and blast out a set, then back to the first exercise.
I use it when training chest. So I'll do a set of incline dumbbell flyes to hit the upper chest, then straight into dips to hit the lower chest. It gets hard after maybe 2-3 sets, but it gives you a very rewarding pump, and it won't be too easy for you.

2. Take shorter breaks between sets.

This is a very good point in my book. I was training legs on Wednesday and there was a guy using the squat rack in my gym. He was having around 5 minute breaks between each set, and he wasn't really training that hard.
Because there is only one squat rack, there was a queue of people behind him waiting, and he just didn't seem to care!
I try to keep my rest periods under a minute. This way I am using my cardiovascular system as well as the muscle I'm training. It also means that nobody is waiting very long for the piece of equipemnt I'm using either.

3. Turn your phone off.

You only have to look around the gym to see this, and I'm not gonna lie, I am guilty of it sometimes too.
You finish your set and immediately your phone comes out of your pocket, your texting or looking at pointless information that you don't really need at that moment in time.
Unless I've started a new workout plan or I've got my earphones in, I've stopped taking it to the gym because it is just a distraction.

4. Intensity over duration.

Instead of plodding along for 30 minutes on the treadmill, swap it up for high intensity training. Sprint for 15 seconds, rest for 45, until you feel as though you can't do anymore.
It will take much less time, and in my opinion shows greater results.

5. Know what you are doing before you get there.

This is important really, and I'm sure most people already do this. You can save time by knowing exactly what exercises you are going to do before you even get to the gym.
I always decide exactly what I'm training, which exercises I'm going to use, and the intensity or rep range before I even set foot in the gym.
This also helps you to mentally prepare yourself.

I hope you have found this helpful and if you have any ways of speeding things up that I haven't mentioned, leave a comment!

The Great Hypertrophy Hoax

How many of you truly believe that there is a set rep range for hypertrophy?

I've read article after article claiming that they have found the best rep range for muscle hypertrophy, and they all quote different research and studies into the subject.
After reading maybe 9 or 10 different articles, I noticed they all have conflicting information in regards to this matter.

Personally, I don't believe that any rep range is perfect for muscle growth. I believe as long as you are forcing that muscle to adapt, be it from 6 reps or 12, hypertrophy will occur. This is one of the key beliefs I go by when training, and as you can see in one of my recent posts, A full year of fitness, I've trained in a lot of different rep ranges.

I was reading through a workout plan the other day, and it had you do a full body exercise routine 3 times a week. When performing the routine you would perform two exercises per body part for either one or two sets of ten reps.
This was said to be hypertrophy specific training. Now I haven't yet tested it out for myself, maybe it is really good, but as far as I can see I'm not too sure.

For me, the volume and intensity doesn't seem to be high enough, but maybe that's a mistake I'm making.

When I train, I train to overload my muscles, either by using as much weight as I can, or by doing as many reps as possible with a lighter weight. I aim for failure.

At the moment I've been training a little different. I've been training for a set number of reps per set, and trying to choose the correct weight so that it is almost impossible to achieve the last rep of each set. This way, I'm hitting lots of different rep ranges, whilst maintaining my aim of failure.

The hardest part for me whilst doing this is choosing the correct weight. The number of times I've had to do an extra set or change what I was originally planning for the set is ridiculous, and this is just because I've either had too much or too little to hit the reps I was aiming for.

The last article I read stated that the best rep range was from 6-12 reps. How many of you train within this rep range?

What are your opinions on muscle hypertrophy and do you believe that there is a specific range for maximum muscle hypertrophy?

Let us know in the comments.

5 Warning Signs Your Spending Too Much Time In The Gym

So over the last week I've noticed some signs I believe you develop from going to the gym. Here's a list of a few I've noticed:

1. No matter what you're doing, you think about technique.

Now, I noticed this one while I was just sat at my desk. One of my colleagues was picking up a pile of folders off of the floor. These folders weren't particularly heavy as they were quite empty, but all I could think was "keep your back straight, use your legs to do the lifting"

2. Constantly thinking about what muscles your using in day to day tasks.

I was mowing the grass at the weekend, and we have quite a steep hill in our garden. The lawnmower we have is quite heavy as well, so as I was pushing the mower up the hill, I was thinking "this would be great for legs if it was a bit heavier"

3. "How many grams of protein does he eat?"

The amount of times I've heard that phrase come out of people is amazing. We all know at every gym there's that one guy who looks like he could eat a whole cow in one sitting, and you always wonder how much he must be eating to stay that size. Well, it's a mystery to me!

4. No matter what time you go to the gym, you always see the same faces.

Every time I go to the gym, whether it's at 2pm on a Saturday or 9pm on a Wednesday, I can guarantee that I will see the same group of men training either back or chest. It's so strange, do these people just live in the gym?

5. You know what everyone else in the weights area is training, and when they are training it.

This one seems to be a given in most of the gyms I've been in. If you go on Monday after 6pm you will not be able to get a bench or used the bench press; everyone is training chest. Tuesday is back, Wednesday shoulders, Thursday is arms, Friday it's empty, and the weekend is as well. Is this the same in all gyms?

What have you noticed when you've been training? Let us know in the comments!

A Full Year of Fitness

So as of today, I've been seriously concentrating on fitness for a year. This includes the persute of my ideal physique and improvement of my health.

I thought it might be a good idea to sum up how I have found it and what I have done in my first year.

Firstly, I'd like to go through the numerous different training methods I've tried through out this year and what results I've found.

The first method I used was the traditional one, which every one knows about when they first start the gym. It's the one the trainers in the gym give you on your first day. I was doing 3-4 exercises per body part 3 times a week, typically aiming for 10-12 reps and trying to better my technique and understanding of each exercise.
Typically I'd train a few different body parts per session, such as chest back and legs or something, depending on what the trainer told me.

The results I saw from this type of training were quite good, however this was expected because I'd never actually done anything like it before, so results were bound to be seen.

A good tip though, if listening to a trainer: try to avoid picking up their bad habits. For example, my trainer used to bend their knees while performing lateral raises, which, of course, I picked up from him. And I cannot warn you enough, once you pick these habits up, they aren't that easy to get rid of unless you're consciously thinking about it all the time.

After doing this for maybe 2 months, I started to see other people who were only training one body part per day, and they seemed to be a lot bigger and stronger than me. So I thought it might be an idea to train like them.

I started using a body part split, so chest on Sunday, back on Monday, shoulders Tuesday, etc. This was a key move in my training as I actually started to see significant gains in strength when I made this transition. I stuck to the 10-12 rep range and trained 5 times a week rather than 3 in order to fit everything in.

This was when I started to actually enjoy training. I started joining in with the group of lads at the gym and taking in tips they were sharing with me. This was when I discovered the supplement world.
I remember I saw this lad I with a shaker and a small tub of protein in the changing rooms, and I thought it was the strangest thing ever.
I started googling stuff like "supplements to get big" and "how to build a massive chest" looking for any way to further progress my training. This was when I found out about mass gainers.

Now my diet was poor when I started to train because I had a really fast metabolism and didn't seem to put any fat on, so I started using Optimum Nutrition's Serious Mass shakes.
I just wanted to gain weight and be bigger. To start with I only weighed about 54kg with around 10% body fat. Yeah, I was small and skinny.

After using these shakes for about a month I'd managed to put on some weight, nudging myself up to around 58kg, but I'd noticed the abs I'd had before had gone and I didn't have half of the veins when working out that I used to get. I'd increased my body fat quite substantially. And if that wasn't bad enough, my metabolism started to slow down as well, making it harder to lose the fat I'd gained.

At this point I was stronger than ever though, I could squat 80kg, bench press 60kg and deadlift 60kg. So I stopped it with the mass gainers, and moved on to a normal protein shake and increased my cardiovascular exercise levels.

A few months went by and I seemed to hit a plateau. I wasn't progressing with my training, the weight seemed to stay continuously heavy and I wasn't gaining or losing any weight.

I started reading up on different methods of training and diet plans, anything I could to gain information on how to beat the plateau. I tried to change my diet to lose fat, but was constantly tired, so thought maybe I should change my training.

I moved to a different gym with different people and lost my training partner for a short while, as we were both members of different gyms so far away from each other. It was getting harder to fit the gym in with everything else and I was always on my own when I was there.

After training with 10-12 reps for round about 7 months, I started training with different rep ranges. My first idea was to train really heavy, aiming for 4-6 reps each set, for 4 sets on 4 exercises per body part. I'd managed to make friends with people at the gym so I could always ask for a spotter if I needed one.

My training hit a new level. Obviously my body wasn't used to training like this, so it had to adapt to the constant heavy weight on top of it. I was lifting more weight than ever and was seeing a steady increase in both the weight I was moving and my body weight. I was up to 64kg.

I trained like this until the increase in weight began to slow and I changed it up again. This time, I was aiming for high intensity. I was doing 6 sets rather than 4 and 8 reps rather than 4-6.

My cardiovascular system was fitter than ever, I was performing 15 second bursts on the battle ropes for 15 sets and my training was going well. My body fat was decreasing and I felt generally healthier with it, this lead to the 8x8 method of training.

For the last few weeks, I've trained as heavy as I can. I've managed to hit new PB's on everything. Bench press has increased to around 85-90kg for sets of 6 depending on how strong I'm feeling on that particular day. I can leg press 320kg for sets of 8 with a full range of motion, and can deadlift around 130kg for sets of 6.

The Diet.

To start with, this had no effect on me. I didn't change my diet in any way. But after training for probably 8 months I realised I needed to eat the right stuff! I cut down on takeaways, all the snacks like crisps and chocolate and just tried to eat healthier, and to be honest, I feel a lot better from it.

I started experimenting with supplements and that's when I thought it might be a good idea to share my opinions and findings from the different types I've tried.

So here we are at todays date. I weigh around 70 kg at present with around 11% body fat. I train 5 days a week including cardio and am loving every minute of it.

I hope you enjoyed reading!

GAT Nitraflex Pre-Workout and Testosterone booster

This one was a bit different from the usual pre-workouts I've tried. It seems to take a little longer to kick in, but you'll know when it has.

I started using this after Body Power Expo as I tried it there and the taste was awesome. It seems to mix very well and is easy to swallow. However, after using this for a few weeks, there are some things I'd like to share with you all.

Gas. That is the first thing. After about 30-45 minutes, I was burping and tooting left right and center. And the flatulance isn't all. I was using this product with my brother, and he seemed fine with it at first, until he started to itch. It wasn't even in normal places either, his ears, cheeks, and hands started to itch.

While this product can provide huge amounts of energy to push you to that next level, with both intensity and endurance, there are multiple side effects of using it.

On the up side, I found that it helped me increase my normal weight on every exercise after just a few days of using it, my energy levels had never been so high. I was able to train all my usual stuff and include extras, like an extra ab session or calf session here and there.

My cardio improved, going for longer and harder with my usual HIIT.

So overall I'd say this product works very well, you just need to watch out for the side effects, if you're lucky, you might not experience any!

Thank you for reading!

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout

As far as pre-workouts go, I've tried quite a few, from Grenade 50 Calibre to GAT Nitraflex. All these different products seem to come back with different effects.

Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard products are exactly as labelled, Gold Standard. They give good results from use and are always reviewed as effective.

I used this Pre-Workout about 30 minutes before I began exercising. I felt a massive rise in energy levels, increased weight on multiple exercises and was able to perform my usual HIIT, but for a much longer period of time.

The focus I felt when using it was insane, rest periods decreased, it makes you want to go and go until you physically can't anymore!

As well as providing you with the focus and energy, you get a pretty decent pump when you're finished.

It's overall effectiveness in providing you with energy is a 10/10.

The taste of the product is something which you would have to adapt to, as I found it really sweet and quite sour. To get around this I mixed it with slightly more liquid in order to dilute the flavour.

So for taste I'd give it a 7/10, I had the Fruit Punch flavour, and it tended to be quite bitty the first few mouthfuls.

Contents wise, the product has creatine, beta-alanine and Caffeine to give you that boost.

Overall I would rate this product as an 9/10. I've heard that the watermelon flavour is the best so maybe if I'd have used that one, it could have been a 10!

Thank you for reading!

Abdominals 101

Everyone has different ideas of how to train abs. In my personal opinion, I believe training abs should be more than just looking good without a top on. It's all about core strength.

If you're like me, you'll have read multiple websites saying to do 50 sit ups and so on and just keep increasing the volume. I don't believe this is effective. You run out of energy and I don't believe you truly activate the abdominal muscles from doing this.

For my first set of tips for training abdominal muscles, I'm going to go over a few techniques I've used to help my abs.

1. Train it like you would any other muscle.

Now I've read page after page saying they need to be trained different because there a different type of muscle fibre, and that we don't want to add size to our abs. I just don't think this is true. I always train for 8-10 reps on abs, the same as back, or chest.

I do this by doing either cable crunches, weighted crunches on a decline bench, and for lower abs, do leg raises with a dumbbell between my feet or use a resistance band.

2. No matter how many reps you do, it won't get rid of fat!

That layer of fat covering your abs is still going to be there after 100 reps. You need to hit that cardio in order to get rid of the fat!

Abs become truly noticeable when you hit around 10% body fat, under that and you get the real definition!

3. A strong core means strong lifts.

Having strength in your core can help with big lifts like squats and deadlifts, and vice versa. So always remember to hit those golden lifts to get those abs you're craving!

As always, thank you for reading and leave a comment!

How many reps do I do?

In the world of weights and muscles, there is a great debate as to how many reps per set you should perform in order to achieve the best results, depending on what you are aiming for.

Now for me, I just want to gain size and strength in every muscle in my body. Some people want to gain definition and some to lose weight, but how many reps should you be doing?

As you trawl through the thousands of different sites offering an answer to this question you'll notice they all tell you different. Some say to build size, you should hit 12-15 reps, others 10, and others even say 4-6 reps.

I do not believe that there is a set number of reps to achieve this.

After training in multiple rep ranges for the last two years, I've found that as long as you are pushing the muscle to the point of overload, whether it be from the number of reps, or the weight, the muscle will have to grow and adapt to the strain. As long as you do this every time you train, you will see change.

I always try to hit 6-8 reps just due to personal preference. Below this rep range shows increased risk of injury and this could stop you training all together. Above this tends to take a long time to train and I like to keep my workouts between 45-60 minutes.

As for losing weight and gaining definition, I believe that diet and cardiovascular training are where you should be looking. Obviously along side lifting weights.

You cannot target fat loss to one specific body part. This is often confused and is why you see people who are craving abdominal muscles doing hundred's of sit ups and crunches and seeing minimal results. They are training the muscle, but that isn't the problem.

You are training your abs yes, but they are covered by a layer of fat that needs to disappear before those abs will appear.

If you want definition and striations in the muscles, you need to lose fat, and regular cardio and a clean diet is the path to achieving this.

Firehouse Fitness

For a change from lifting weights, I decided last night that I'd give something different a go. I heard that two firefighters had opened a gym close to where I live and thought I'd give it a try.

It was a like a class type of training with a group of around 20 people. He explained that he'd only had around 8 people per class until this one!

We started off with a basic warm up, just some jogging and high knees and stuff, then moved on to more HIIT type training.

We pushed a weighted sled as fast as we could for 10 seconds then switched people and carried on until we'd covered the whole road there and back.

We then moved on to some circuit training with around 10 different stations. There was battle ropes, tyre flipping, shoulder press with a barrel like on worlds strongest man, and a few others.

Overall I found it really fun, and hard work towards the end. The staff were really nice and pushed you, and kept it entertaining for everyone.

If anyone is ever in the area I suggest giving it a try as it's something out of the ordinary.

Overall it was very enjoyable!

Thank you for reading!

Bowflex SelectTech Dumbells

So, my girlfriend's dad has a home gym and decided to buy a set of these Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells because they are compact, rather than having a row of different fixed dumbbells taking up loads of space.

The problem I found with these dumbbells is that if you change the weight on the dumbbell and pull it from the stand too quickly, the discs left behind can get knocked and you have to find which gap on the stand it fits in, or you can't put the dumbbell back correctly.

Another Problem with these is the length of the dumbbell. Say you're doing bicep curls with them, the length of the dumbbell imposes on the movement and the quality of the rep. As I turned my wrist to carry out this motion I found that the dumbbell tended to catch on my clothing.

A few upsides to these dumbbells is that they are space saving. They do not take up a lot of room at all even with the stand.

The grip on the dumbbell is good and doesn't slip during use.

It is quick, and easy, to select which weight you want. All you have to do is twist the disc on each end of the dumbbell to the correct weight and off you go.

However I believe that these dumbbells are very pricey for what they are. There are cheaper alternatives on the market and they could save you some money.

In my personal opinion, I would much rather have a set of fixed dumbbells or spin locks, as they are a lot cheaper, and for the amount of time you would save using adjustable dumbbells, I really don't see the point.

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps! If you have anything to add please leave a comment

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein

So I was reading around about protein powders and other supplements, as you do, and thought I'd give Casein a try as an addition to my normal whey protein.

First things first, the price. Almost all of the Casein supplements I found were more expensive than a normal whey protein. I always try to stick to one supplement brand and Optimum Nutrition are my favorite because their products all tend to be good.

The consistency is completely different to what I was used to. I found it quite gritty when mixing with both milk and water. This was the main downside I saw to using this supplement.

When reading the guide on the tub, it suggests to take it first thing in a morning and before bed, as it is a slow releasing protein therefore it will slowly release throughout the day and while you're asleep. Whey protein is a fast releasing protein and should therefore be used immediately before and/or after physical activity.

The content in this powder is good 24g slow releasing protein, 3g of carbohydrates and 0.5g of fat. But you can see for yourself below.

Overall, I believe this supplement is good, other than the gritty consistency, but you can't have everything. My training stayed consistent and recovery periods were short so I believe it is also an effective supplement.

When taking first thing in a morning it was effective at holding off my hunger right through until my dinner break at work. This is a plus because a whey shake fills you up, but the full feeling doesn't last half as long as with this shake, making it an ideal meal replacement.

As always, thank you for reading and if you have anything to say about this product, leave a comment.

Vince Gironda's 8X8 Training

As a change from the normal workout's you see everyone in the gym doing, I decided to try something a little more radical that I hadn't seen anyone doing before. This was when I was scrolling forums and body-building websites looking for something extra-ordinary.

Vince Gironda's 8X8 training caught my eye just from the sheer volume of reps you have to carry out just to complete one workout for one body part.

The general idea of this type of training is to progressively overload the muscle with a consistent weight throughout the 8 sets. Rest periods should be kept short (from 25-30 seconds) between each set.
As for choosing the correct weight to start with, this can be tricky due to having to last eight sets. A tip to solve this would be to reduce the weight you would normally use for eight reps by around 40% in order to last eight sets.

While performing this form of training you should aim for three to four exercises per body part, I personally carried out three per body part except on arms where I only carried out two.

I trained like this 5 days a week, no cardio, usual diet and supplementation, for around 2 months. I noticed significant increases in cardiac performance and endurance after this training as well as better muscular endurance and a decrease in rest time needed between sets when lifting weights.

As for other improvements, I've noticed increases in strength and a decrease in body fat as well as some gain in muscle mass.

Just as a general rule, I try to stick to the key exercises that nearly everyone will, or should include in their workout in one way, shape or form. I'm talking bench press, deadlifts and the squat. My variations would be incline bench press when I train chest, normal deadlifts on back day and squats on leg day.

If anyone has tried out this form of workout feel free to share your results and leave a comment!

thank you for reading,

Josh

PVL Mutant whey - thickest shake I've tried!

After a few weeks of using this protein powder I thought it was about time to share my opinion.

Overall I believe this is a good powder to use. 37g serving contains 22g of protein. It doesn't mix the best as it leaves some small lumps of powder behind, however adding more milk/water gets rid of this problem.

It has a very thick consistency and an acquired taste as it is quite hard going, however after a few days you get used to the taste, and how filling these shakes are.

In my opinion this is a good taste. It delivers exactly what it says on the bag and with, in my opinion, a good taste and consistency.

I also believe that this product is priced fairly (depending on where you purchase from (Discount Supplements on sale!))

I used this along side my usual workout and cardio sessions and found it helped with the aching you get after a hard session.

Overall I would give it an 8/10 just because of the mixing problem, other than that a really good product!

Thank you for reading,

Josh

Universal Nutrition Animal Cuts - 9 tabs per pack!

I've been using this product in preparation for a better year, less body fat year round and a better gain in muscle mass.

I've read reviews which say its hard going and a pain to take the packs and to remember the timing, but they all point towards good results, so I thought why not try it.

The serving guide tells you to take two packs, one as soon as you wake with a small meal, and one 4 to 6 hours after with a small meal.

I found that after taking the first pack, with a hell of a lot of water by the way, I felt slightly dazed and a little bit nauseous. I think this is due to the amount of tabs you have to take per pack (9).

These 9 tabs consist of a yellow one, red one, two blue ones, an orange one, two white ones, a red and white one, and a blue and white one. The information on the box tells you what each tab is and what it does so I won't bore you to death with that.

Following the instructions on the packaging, I took two packs a day for 3 weeks followed by a week without.

I found that using these tabs and my usual diet and exercise, I managed to lose 3% body fat in 3 weeks. This is a very good result as I find it quite hard to lose body fat, even with regular HIIT sessions and high rep workouts.

The queasy feeling I was getting after taking the tabs subsided after a few days and it just became part of my day to day life.

I found an increase in energy during my workouts, and even some gains in strength.

I haven't noticed any loss in muscle mass or density as a result of using this product and found it very useful in reducing fat.

As an overall review I would give it a solid 9/10, as some side effects were experienced at the start, but these weren't serious and they subsided very quickly!

Again, thank you for reading,

Josh

Steroid use in the UK

I know this isn't a product review, however it is a subject related to the fitness industry and, sort of, supplementation.

I was on the way to work this morning listening to my usual radio station when I heard a news story about the use of steroids in the UK.

It quoted that nearly a million people within the UK are using steroids as a shortcut to "get ripped".

I found this news quite shocking.

Having watched endless documentaries on the side effects of using steroids, and seeing interviews with people who have used them previously, I thought people would know that the abuse of such substances can cause serious health problems.

I know that there is a divide as some people believe if you cycle them correctly you can have positive results without having side effects, but how can you guarantee that in the long term?

It also quoted that children as young as 13 were using the substance to "get ripped quick" and this really did cause concern from myself.

As a nation should we not educate our children to what effects the use of such substances can cause? And at such a young age how do these children manage to get their hands on them?

I believe it is stories such as these that should catch the attention of parents, carers, and even the government in order to better educate younger generations when it comes to such serious topics.

If you want to be ripped, then there is no shortcut, it takes dedication, hard work and perseverance in order to achieve great results. Shortcuts or the use of substances can cause serious Heath problems in later life, as proven by previous users.

Thank you for reading,

Josh

Maximuscle Cyclone - The First Taste

Good evening,

For a change in my supplementation, I've decided to try out Maximuscle's Cyclone weight gainer.

Maximuscle are now known as MaxiNutrition.

This one seems to have a good combination of complex carbohydrates and a large amount of protein. It also contains 10g of Creatine Monohydrate per 2 servings.

As for the taste, well, you can't have everything. It isn't a horrible taste, however I find it overly sweet and a little hard to stomach, but I'm fussy like that.

I'll be back to fill you in on how I go with this product and what results I find, until then, thank you for reading!

Josh

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey

I've been using this product for the last few months and have found it to be one of my favourites. It has a good taste and consistency, and always mixes easily.

The flavour is exactly as described on the bag, and is pretty easy going. This is in comparison to other products I've tried such as Matrix Nutrition's whey protein powder, which has a very strong flavour and isn't as easy to consume.

I tend to lean towards the chocolate flavour as I have a love of chocolate, but I have also tried the vanilla and the strawberry flavours of this powder and they all taste spot on in my opinion.

The effectiveness of this product all depends on whether or not you follow the suggested supplementation pattern, which I believe is to use it 1-3 times daily, pre and post-workout mixed with either water or milk.

I personally prefer to mix it with low fat milk as it adds a little bit more of a milk shake consistency to the shake.

The product has all the key components for building lean muscle while using it along side a good weight training routine as well as having a balanced healthy diet. It has a low fat and carbohydrate content with only 1g of fat, 1g of sugar and 3g of carbohydrates.

It also contains 5.5g of BCAA's. These Branch chain amino acids make up 35% of our muscle mass and need to be present for the development of said muscles. They aid in the repair of the muscle tissue after exercise, so 5.5g per shake is a good amount to help you recover faster.

Below is the product label so you can see the content for yourself.

I used this product for around 2 months before Christmas and managed to gain around 1.5kg in weight while using it. This may be due to the fact that I have only trained properly for around a year and a half to two years.

I believe this product to be an all round good product from taste to effectiveness and for this reason I would give it a solid 8/10, due to it being quite a pricey product in the first place.

I tend to buy this product either off of Amazon, or Discount Supplements, due to these being fast with postage and have a relatively low price for this product in comparison to other websites.

The newest limited edition flavour, caramel frappe, for this protein is next level, it tastes amazing!
I'd recommend getting yourself a tub before they stop doing it!