Usually, pre workout supplements claim to offer a variety of benefits. However, TwinLab Nitric Fuel caught our attention when we saw it only offered 1 – enhanced muscle pumps; $57.63 is a large price tag for this.
We prefer pre workouts that offer improved energy and strength, as well as muscle pumps – but we’re here to examine whether this product is worth its asking price.
Claimed to promote:
- Muscle Pumps
About The Company
TwinLab has been around for a while, since 1968 to be exact. The founder began the company in his garage, beginning by making a liquid protein supplement – clearly they saw a rise in sales and were able to start producing a range of supplements, leading us back to Nitric Fuel.
One thing we’ll give TwinLabs credit for is their ‘About Us’ section on their website. We learned everything we needed to in under a minute – this is something all companies should strike for.
We like their website, so let’s see whether Nitric Fuel can impress us too.
The Ingredients and How They Work
Nitric Fuel contains 7 main ingredients, but straight away, we’ve spotted something on its ingredient list that we don’t like – a proprietary blend.
What’s a proprietary blend? Well, companies place ingredients inside these blends to hide the individual dosages of each ingredient inside. In effect, this cuts costs, as they’re able to add cheaper dosages into their product without you knowing – meaning the whole product might not work.
We prefer being able to see the exact dosage of each ingredient inside supplements – so we can analyze how effective it really is (and whether it causes any side effect).
Ultimately, with a proprietary blend, you’re never sure whether it’ll cause any side effects until it’s too late. But let’s work with what we’ve got here, and examine what’s inside Nitric Fuel.
See for yourself:
Beta Alanine
This is the biggest ingredient in Nitric Fuel; to put this into perspective, there’s more Beta Alanine than there is of a blend that contains 5 different ingredients.
However, this is a problem – Beta Alanine’s shown to cause a side effect called paresthesia (tingling on the skin of your face, chest, hands, fingertips and toes) in dosages over 0.8g-1g.
As a result, we avoid this ingredient as Creatine Monohydrate offers the same benefit (enahanced endurance) without causing any side effects.
- Read more: Pre Workout Ingredients That Work
Power Pump Complex
As we’ve mentioned, Nitric Fuel contains a proprietary blend – well here it is. They almost always come with a fancy name, to fool you into thinking their better than they really are.
Just remember that no-one knows the exact dosages of ingredients inside here – meaning we’re not sure whether any ingredients in this ‘Power Pump Complex’ will work.
Arginine Malate
Arginine Malate might sound like an impressive and complex ingredient, but it’s simply a mix of L-Arginine and Malic Acid – which isn’t very beneficial.
Here’s why: L-Arginine has a poor absorption rate when orally supplemented – meaning it’s ineffective when consumed in supplements like pre workouts.
Although the Malic Acid can improve your strength, Arginine Malate as a whole will be ineffective. For this reason, we always choose pre workouts containing Citrulline Malate; this has a great absorption rate and is proven to enhance your muscle pumps in the gym.
TwinLabs have been around since the 1960’s, but this is a rookie error by them.
Citrulline Malate
As we’ve just mentioned above, Citrulline Malate is your best bet for experiencing bigger and better muscle pumps in the gym. However, for this to work, you need to consume at least 6,000mg.
Unfortunately, this whole ‘Power Pump Complex’ blend adds up to 2334mg – meaning it’s impossible for there to be an effective dosage in Nitric Oxide.
See SupplementTester’s
– Highest Rated Pre Workouts Here –
Creatine Malate
Creatine is one of our favorite pre workout ingredients, as it’s proven to boost strength and endurance since the 80’s – something TwinLabs will be aware of.
However, they’ve added Creatine Malate here instead of Creatine Monohydrate; in a nutshell, Creatine Monohydrate is the more reliable and effective form (so TwinLabs have tried to fix something that’s not broken, and made it worse here).
D-Aspartic Acid
Also known simply as DAA, this has shown to be very effective in raising your testosterone levels. However, it’s not needed in a preworkout – a boost in testosterone isn’t why you’d buy a pre workout for (that’s why testosterone booster supplements exist).
Not only that, DAA only works in dosages between 2,000mg-3,000mg; this whole ‘Power Pump Complex’ only adds up to 2334mg, so it’s highly unlikely that there’s an effective dosage of DAA in Nitric Fuel.
L-Histidine
This is a conditionally essential amino acid believed to treat fungus and anemia. However, it’s not shown to deliver any benefits to actually improve your gym session – which is what you’re paying for when you buy a pre workout.
As a result, we consider L-Histidine to be a useless ingredient in pre workout supplements. The worrying thing is, as it’s inside a proprietary blend, this might be filling most of the blend (meaning almost half of Nitric Fuel will be ineffective).
Glycerol Monostearate
Glycerol Monostearate is thought to encourage your body to use body fat as a fuel source. However, this isn’t a key reason why you’d buy a pre workout (although pre workouts should help you train harder, which could result in fat loss).
If fat loss is your main goal, then a fat burner is probably your best option. Not only that, Glycerol Monstearate hasn’t even shown to be effective in any studies – making it an unreliable, potentially useless ingredient in Nitric Fuel.
Check Out SupplementTester’s
– Top 3 Pre Workouts This Year –
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Citrulline Malate improves muscle pumps
- D-Aspartic Acid boosts testosterone levels
Cons:
- Citrulline Malate underdosed (making it ineffective)
- No need for boost in testosterone levels in a pre workout
- Contains a proprietary blend (increases risk of side effects)
- Many ingredients shown to be ineffective in Nitric Fuel
Side Effects
There’s one guaranteed side effect you’ll experience after taking Nitric Fuel – paresthesia caused by Beta-Alanine (in dosages above 0.8g-1g).
Here’s a recap of what paresthesia is: it’s a tingling on the skin of your face, chest, hands, fingertips and toes – while it’s not life threatening, it’s uncomfortable when trying to focus on your gym session.
With any proprietary blend, you’ll suffer from an increased risk of side effects (as no-one knows what dosage of each ingredient is inside). Citrulline Malate is side effects free, but the other 3 ingredients in the ‘Power Pump Complex’ might cause some problems.
Here’s a list of the side effects you might experience:
- Paresthesia
- Unknown side effects from the proprietary blend.
Not what you’re looking for? Check Out
– Our Top Three Pre Workout Supplements Page –
Review Conclusion
We didn’t expect much from Nitric Fuel – it’s only designed to provide 1 benefit, so $57.63 is a big price tag for this. And we weren’t convinced otherwise from its ingredient list.
If you’re charging almost $60 for a pre workout, then at least don’t hide any ingredients in a proprietary blend and make sure each ingredient is optimally dosed – ultimately, this is what TwinLabs have failed to do.
As a result, you could get a much better pre workout that’s more likely to work (without causing you any side effects either).
