There are so many protein supplements on the market these days, that we are spoiled for choice when it comes to price and flavor for our post workout protein hit.
However, if you are serious about bodybuilding and your health in general, these things must take a back seat to quality and overall ingredients when considering which protein supplement is right for you.
When it comes to quality, price and taste MusclePharm’s Combat Powder is at the top of many peoples list for all three. So with this in mind, let’s take a really close look at Combat Powder and the company behind it to see if the praise is justified.
About the Company
MusclePharm was founded in 2008 by former professional NFL player Brad Pyatt. Besides his formal education in Kinesiology and sports science, he was mentored by a leading herbalist during his 7 year career.
As a former pro athlete he understands the need for premium nutrition without the use of dangerous chemicals or banned substances.
His company’s mission statement says it best.
“To develop and bring to market the most scientifically advanced, safest nutritional and sports supplementation products possible. The purpose of every MusclePharm product must be to enhance athletic performance, strength and overall personal health – all without the use of banned substances. Our team philosophy is that every product will be a formulation that we, as former professional athletes, believe in and use every day.”
Nice words and judging by the industry awards the company has received in it’s short life, they live up to it. Awards the company has received include: 2012 GNC Rising Star Award and the Bodybuilding.com 2012 Brand of the Year award.
With regard to the second award I’ve mentioned, it’s interesting to note that MusclePharm’s EVP and CMO is none other than Jeremy Deluca. If you don’t know, he is the Co-founder and former CEO of……Bodybuilding.com. Read into that what you will.
Okay enough about the company, it’s time to look at Combat Powder itself.
The Ingredients and how they work
Protein powders are by nature very similar in nature and it is also hard to judge their effectiveness. Diet, physiology and workout capacity all have a bearing on the results of supplementing with protein.
However, MusclePharm Combat really does stand out from the crowd for a couple of reasons.
Sustained Release
It contains a blend of different proteins. Usually you are using Whey Isolate, Whey Hydro-solate, Whey Concentrate, Egg albumen or Micellar Casein.
Each of these have different absorption rates and if not absorbed by your body quickly enough, they will pass through your system as waste.
Literally flushing your hard earned money down the drain.
What MusclePharm has done is blend all 5 of these proteins in smaller amounts to give you a sustained release of protein, fueling growth and repair for up to 8 hours!
More than just protein
Combat Powder isn’t just protein and a bunch of useless fillers. MusclePharm have also added Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s) to the mix.
BCAA’s help to mobilize protein to where it’s needed and stimulate it’s absorption.
On top of this, they also added a blend of digestive enzymes, again assisting absorption of the protein into your bloodstream.
These are great innovations, with my only complaint being, they don’t list the actual BCAA’s or enzymes included.
This may sound trivial, but if you are already supplementing with BCAA’s, it seems pretty pointless to double up.
Nutrition Info
For those of you who are preparing for competition or simply for meal planning, here’s a quick breakdown of the Macros.
Serving size 1x33gm scoop
Calories 130 (15 from fat)
Total Fat 1.5gm
Saturated fat 1g
Trans fat 0gm
Protein 25gm
Carbohydrates 4gm
Fibre 1gm
Sugars 2gm
“Multi-level Amino acid growth Matrix” 34gm
Yes you read that right, 34gm. Now I’m no genius, but if a scoop is 33gm, how does it contain over 64.5gm of nutrients?
Benefit of the doubt time, maybe just a typo on the label.
Taste
Combat comes in 8 flavors: Banana cream, Chocolate milk, Chocolate Peanut butter, Cookies and Cream, Orange Creamsicle, Smores, Triple Berry and Vanilla.
If you can’t find a flavor in there that suits your taste, you must be hard to please.
One complaint I’ve seen a few times that Combat is way too sweet. If like me you don’t enjoy sweet drinks, mix it with 20oz of water instead of the recommended 16oz.
Mix-ability
Here MusclePharm have won a lot of praise. We all know what it’s like to spend 5 minutes shaking the life out of our shake bottles to finally get a shake that’s actually drinkable and not resembling wet sand. Combat mixes very smoothly with none of that grittiness.
Cost
Combat comes in 2lb and 4lb tubs and if you shop around they will cost you around $40 and $75 respectively. There are some good promotions out there ,where you can buy Combat for as little as $25 and $40. (www.bodybuilding.com).
So an average price per single serve is between $0.70 and $1.40 depending on the size tub and where you buy it. This makes it about mid range on the price scale.
Summing it up
The key point’s below make it pretty clear why Combat Powder has won so many fans and been propelled to the top of the food chain. (Excuse the pun)
Pros
- 5 protein profiles to give you maximum absorption for up to 8 hours.
- Added BCAAs for better mobilization and absorption.
- Added digestive enzymes to assist in digestion and absorption.
- Superior mix-ability.
- 8 flavors to choose from.
- Due to its popularity, there are some great promotions saving you money.
Cons
- Too sweet for some peoples taste.
- The nutrition scientists at MusclePharm are great at nutrition science but stink at math?
Combat Powder Review Conclusion
As I said earlier, it’s hard to judge a protein powder’s performance, but Combat Powder has an edge over it’s competition with it’s sustained release formula using 5 protein profiles.
Add to that the BCAA’s (again ignoring the math) , the digestive enzymes, superb mix-ability and competitive pricing, I have no problem recommending Combat Powder to be number one on your “Must try it out” list.