Why You Need Animal Pak
Do I really need a multi vitamin? Yes! Unless you have been oblivious to what’s going on in the fitness and nutrition world, you know that nutrition is a crucial component for success. Unless you want your gains or progress to stall, nutrition is one thing you don’t skimp on. That is why Animal Pak has been providing bodybuilders with the perfect combo of nutrition, and has been the #1 selling pack in the world.
Animal Pak has an extensive list of ingredients, ranging from vitamins and minerals, vital amino acids, a performance complex, and even digestive enzymes. Everything you need comes in a pack of pills, which is convenient to take with you if you are on the go. There are 60 key ingredients found in each Animal Pak, and each is pack is made up of 11 tablets.
A pack per day is all that is needed during the offseason, but if you are training really hard or dieting for a show, then two packs would more beneficial. Animal makes many more products and stacks that are beneficial to training, but Animal Pak is where it you should start in order to ensure that you have a strong nutritional base.
Scivation Xtend
Free form amino acids, especially L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine, continue to be one of the more popular supplements amongst weight training/bodybuilding enthusiasts. The role of BCAAs in recovery and muscle protein synthesis has now been studied for many years. In the past, I have written about XF ICE and recently had the opportunity to try out Xtend. One of the reasons I had not tried Scivation’s Xtend until now was because a lot of the feedback from the forums, complained of excessive sweetness and strong flavours of Xtend. This has changed as Scivation has recently re-formulated Xtend and removed up to 200 grams of sweeteners/artificial flavours/colours/additives in this new version.
Blender Bottle
This review is not for a nutritional supplement but for something that is found the gym bags, cars and kitchens of most health and fitness enthusiasts - a shaker bottle. If you have ever mixed a powdered supplement (protein or carb powder, pre-workout, BCAAs, etc.) you have used some type of shaker bottle or cup. And you also know that they tend to leak, leave clumps of powder in your shake, end up being filthy and stink after a few uses, are often flimsy, and are often made from cheap plastic that may be leaching harmful chemicals into your health drink. Enter the Blender Bottle - probably one of the best shakers you will find, bar none. Let’s look at how the blender bottle deals with each of the common shaker deficiencies I had mentioned about.
Xtreme Formulations ICE (BCAA)
Branched chain amino acids (BCAA) are leucine, isoleucine and valine. They are important for athletes and active individuals, especially in their “free form”, as they are metabolized in the muscles rather than by the liver. They can there provide a source of energy and are often shown to increase both endurance during exercise, lean muscle mass and better post workout recovery. There are many BCAA supplements out there, but one of the best is Xtreme Formulations ICE.
The basis of my view begins with XF using the highest quality free form amino acids that have been sourced from Ajinomoto and packaged in a GMP compliant facility. They are found in a roughly 2:1:1 ratio that has been studied extensively. ICE also contains free form glutamine, which is an very popular amino acid that is supposed to enhance recovery, gut and immune health.
AEN IntrAbolic
When it comes to workout nutrition, pre and post workout supplements tend to get the most attention. What many atheletes tend to ignore is how nutrition and supplements can help during a weight training workout. For the last couple of years, I had been a regular user of Purple Wraath from Controlled Labs that combined essential amino acids (EAA), beta alanine and citrulline malate. I have also used a couple of tubs of SizeOn. For the last six week or so, I have been using a product that has been making waves in the intra-workout supplement category - Intrabolic from Athletic Edge Nutrition.
