BSN have built a strong reputation in the supplements industry; they’re one of the most recognizable brands in both the USA and UK.
We noticed Nitrix 2.0 had earned an award of ‘excellence’ from Bodybuilding.com, and this was enough for us to review this product.
Claimed to promote:
- Muscle pumps
- Endurance
- Recovery
- Performance
It’ll be interesting to see what’s inside BSN Nitrix, and see whether it really deserves awards. Take a look:
About The Company
BSN is a supplements brand owned by Glanbia plc, which is an Ireland-based company. They sponsor some big athletes such as Conor McGregor and Flex Lewis – but there wasn’t much more information available about them on their website.
As a result, let’s move straight into examining Nitrix 2.0’s nutrient profile.
The Ingredients and How They Work
Strange Servings
Before we start looking at the ingredients inside this pre workout supplement, we have to point out something strange. Usually, pre workouts come in powder form – but BSN have tried something different here, by offering Nitrix 2.0 in tablets.
The serving size of Nitrix 2.0 is 3 tablets (which is alot of tablets to consume at once, especially if you don’t like swallowing them). We don’t have a problem with pre workouts coming in powder form; there was simply no need to try and fix something that wasn’t broken here.
Proprietary Blends
This is one of the worst things you can find on a supplement’s ingredient list. But you might be wondering, what are proprietary blends?
Let us explain: proprietary blends are when companies add numerous nutrients into a single mix, under a fancy title (in this case, the first blend is titled ‘Concentrated Nitrix Composite’ – so you get the idea).
These blends are bad for a few reasons:
- You don’t know the exact dosage of each ingredient inside
- You have an increased risk of side effects (due to not knowing whether nutrients have been dosed safely)
- Potential waste of money (due to not knowing whether ingredients have been dosed effectively)
Nutrient Profile
Anyway, we’ve told you why we think BSN’s Nitrix 2.0 won’t compete with the best pre workouts on the market; but we can never truly know until we’ve analyzed each nutrient inside.
See for yourself:
Concentrated Nitrix Composite (Proprietary Blend)
This is the first proprietary blend inside Nitrix 2.0 – so remember that no-one knows the dosages of each ingredient here.
L-Citrulline
Citrulline is usually one of our favorite ingredients in pre workout supplements. Why?
Well, it’s shown to improve your muscle pumps in the gym – which ultimately enhances your endurance, strength, and reduces muscle fatigue.
However, you need 3,000mg l-citrulline for this to work. As the overall quantity of this blend is 3.6g (3,600mg), it’s very unlikely that there’ll be an effective dosage here.
Personally, we prefer citrulline malate (which is l-citrulline mixed with malic acid, to deliver enhanced strength as well as muscle pumps) – but l-citrulline is still proven to enhance your muscle pumps.
Hawthorn Extract
Also known as crataegus pinnatifida or Chinese hawthorn, this is believed to possess anti-inflammatory effects and improve your heart health.
For this reason, it’s often used by bodybuilders cycling steroids. However, there’s no evidence to suggest hawthorn extract boosts your performance in the gym.
As a result, we believe this to be an ineffective nutrient inside BSN Nitrix 2.0. The worrying thing is that this might be filling most of the proprietary blend without you knowing (which would make the whole blend ineffective).
Ultimately, this is a great example of why proprietary blends should’ve be added into supplements.
Grape Seed Extract
Grape Seed Extract is believed to improve your blood flow due to containing high amounts of nitrates. The good news is that it has shown to deliver this benefit.
We’re assuming that this increase in blood flow will enhance your muscle pumps – but there hasn’t actually been any studies to prove grape seed extract boosts your muscle pumps.
We’ll give this the benefit of the doubt here, but it might not be included in an effective dosage for it to work anyway; studies have shown you need 150-300mg for it to work, but it’s inside a proprietary blend…you know the rest.
See SupplementTester’s
– Highest Rated Pre Workouts Here –
Red Pepper Extract
Also known as chilli peppers, you must have eaten some spicy meals by now. Well, this will usually be the result of chillies inside – you know from watching spicy food challenges that they can make you SWEAT.
Well, this is exactly how they boost your metabolism (which encourages your body to burn more fat). For this reason, chilli peppers are one of the best ingredients you can find in fat burner supplements…but hang on…Nitrix 2.0 is a PRE WORKOUT supplement.
Ultimately, you don’t need chilli peppers in here, as the purpose of a pre workout isn’t to directly help you burn fat. You want nutrients that’ve shown to improve your workouts instead.
As a result, we don’t believe red pepper extract is needed in Nitrix 2.0.
Trans-Resveratrol
This is a molecule known for being inside wine – it’s what’s responsible for people thinking wine can expand your lifespan. Unfortunately, studies have shown that resveratrol has no effect on increasing your lifespan.
The only positive is that resveratrol can improve your general health; but this isn’t why you’d buy a pre workout supplement for. As a result. we believe resveratrol isn’t needed here.
Black Pepper Extract
Yes, we know what you’re thinking – this is the same stuff you add to your food to make it taste better. Well, we know that pre workouts don’t need some seasonining (or salt either), but black pepper extract can deliver a benefit you might not aware of.
In a nutshell, this ingredient can improve your digestion and the absorption rate of supplements it’s added into. As a result, it’s a useful addition to any supplement, but it’s not a key nutrient.
The worrying thing is, as black pepper extract is part of a proprietary blend, it might be filling most it Nitric 2.0. This might mean that Nitrix 2.0 might just taste very peppery without doing much else.
Myogenic Matrix
This is the second proprietary blend in Nitrix 2.0. But BSN haven’t even provided the overall dosage of this blend – meaning you can’t even guess the individual dosages of each ingredient inside here. Very strange.
Anyway, we’ll take you through each ingredient inside:
Creatine Monohydrate
This is one of our favorite ingredients inside any pre workout supplement. In a nutshell, creatine monohydrate has shown to improve your strength and endurance in the gym (perfect benefits to enhance your gym sessions).
However, as it’s part of a proprietary blend, you can’t be sure whether it’ll work.
Creatine Hydrochloride
This is the ‘newer’ form of creatine on the market. It’s believed to be more water soluble, meaning you don’t need as much water to dissolve it.
However, it hasn’t shown to be any more beneficial than creatine monohydrate. In fact, there hasn’t been many studies conducted on creatine hydrochloride (making it unreliable).
Not only that, as you don’t know the dosage of this ingredient inside Nitrix 2.0, you can’t be sure it’ll even work.
Creatine Anhydrous
This is simply a completely dehydrated form of creatine, which is supposed to deliver more creatine on a gram to gram basis. However, no study has shown that this is more beneficial than creatine monohydrate.
Ultimately, we wish that BSN had simply only added creatine monohydrate as it’s creatine source, and made sure to dose it effectively (without putting it inside a proprietary blend).
See SupplementTester’s
– Highest Rated Pre Workouts Here –
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- L-Citrulline shown to enhance muscle pumps
- Not likely to cause any side effects
Cons:
- Missing key pre workout nutrients
- All ingredients part of proprietary blends
- Not likely to be very effective
- Ingredients likely to be underdosed
Side Effects
The good news is that none of the ingredients inside Nitrix 2.0 are likely to cause any side effects. However, there’s always the increased risk of side effects due to the proprietary blends.
Even an ingredient as safe as creatine can cause side effects such as diarrhea and bloating when consumed in large dosages; as no-one knows the exact amount of creatine inside Nitrix 2.0, the risk is always there.
The potential side effects with Nitrix 2.0 are:
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Muscle Cramping
- Stomach Pain
Not what you’re looking for? See our
– Top 3 Pre Workout Supplements Page –
Review Conclusion
Ultimately, this pre workout doesn’t seem to be very effective. It’s marketed on its ability to enhance muscle pumps – but it only contains 1 nutrient proven to deliver this benefit (Citrulline). And even then, there’s no knowing that it’s been dosed effectively.
Not only that, Nitrix 2.0 is missing key pre workout ingredients – instead, BSN have chosen nutrients not suited to pre workouts.