Hemavol Powder is a pre-workout supplement by iForce Nutrition. It comes in a range of flavors in 32 serving containers, from Cherry Limeade to Watermelon Cooler.
Claimed to promote:
- Muscle Pumps
- Endurance
- Strength
- Power
We’ve analyzed this product’s ingredient list, to see whether it’s an effective pre-workout supplement.
Take a look:
About the Company
iForce Nutrition are a supplements company that aims to market products that reduce injuries, accelerate recuperation, and extend sports careers.
The Ingredients and How They Work
There’s a negative when looking at the ingredient list for Hemavol – it contains a proprietary blend. But you might be thinking, why is this bad?
Well, a proprietary blend is a mixture of numerous ingredients shown to you as one quantity. This means that you’ll never know the exact amount of each individual ingredient inside, which can cause problems if you’re sensitive to any of the ingredients.
But there are some positives – Hemavol contains Citrulline Malate, which is a great addition to any pre-workout. We’ll expand on this below.
See for yourself:
Citrulline Malate
This is a great ingredient to have in a pre-workout supplement – it delivers intense muscle pumps while you lift weights in the gym.
Citrulline Malate works by turning into L-Arginine in your kidneys, which boosts nitric oxide levels. From there, it widens your blood vessels (vasodilation), increasing your blood flow, which promotes muscle pumps.
However, here’s the problem with Hemavol. Citrulline Malate’s optimal dose is 6,000mg-8,000mg – Hemavol only contains 2,5000mg, meaning it’s severely underdosed.
Ultimately, this means that this ingredient might be ineffective in this supplement.
Glycerol Monostearate
More commonly known as GMS, it’s an organic molecule that’s used as an emulsifier, to thicken foods – it’s responsible for giving ice cream and whipped cream its smooth texture.
It’s used in supplements as it’s believed to aid hydration by sucking up water like a sponge in your body. However, apart from that, it offers no benefits to your training session.
However, if you don’t increase your water intake, then you’re in danger of becoming severely dehydrates, suffering from side effects like headache, fatigue, dry skin, and dizziness.
Agamatine Sulfate
This is extracted from L-Arginine through the removal of a carboxylic acid group (decarboxylation). It’s shown to reduce pain and treat depression.
Ultimately, it doesn’t improve your strength or endurance – so it’s not key to a pre-workout supplement.
Norvaline
This is an amino acid that’s similar in structure to Valine. It’s believed that Norvaline promotes muscle pumps by inhibiting Arginase (what’s responsible for preventing nitric oxide production).
However, there hasn’t been many studies to prove that Norvaline delivers this benefit.
It’s also potentially harmful to those with low blood pressure – Norvaline lowers overall blood pressure, so if you have low blood pressure, you’ll experience dangerously low blood pressure levels, which can result in nausea, fatugue, and lightheadedness.
We recommend you to avoid Norvaline if you have low blood pressure.
See SupplementTester’s
– Highest Rated Pre Workouts Here –
Nitric Oxide Vasodilation Support Matrix
This is the proprietary blend contained in Hemavol. The overall quantity of the bkend is 150mg, but you’ll never know the exact amount of each individual ingredient inside.
Alpha-GPC
This is a compound that’s found in numerous foods that are rich in Choline. It’s shown to improve your mental function (memory and reaction time) and strength in the gym.
However, Alpha-GPC can cause numerous side effects such as heartburn, headache, dizziness, and insomnia.
Vitamin C
You’ll see this ingredient widely advertised on the back of fruit juices like orange juice. It’s most commonly used to treat the common cold.
However, it doesn’t offer any significant benefits to your training session. If you want to supplement with Vitamin C, you can get it separately for a cheap price.
Rutaecarpine
Also known as Evodia Rutaecarpa, it’s used traditionally in Chinese medicine, believed to increase body temperature. It works in a similar way to Capsaicin in chili’s to warm your body, but there’s been no studies conducted to prove its fat burning potential.
This also means that there isn’t enough information on Rutaecarpine to prove that it’s safe and effective to use. We recommend staying away from this ingredient until there is numerous studies conducted on it, to avoid any unwanted side effects.
Epimedium
More commonly known as Horny Goat Weed, it’s a flowering plant that’s believed to boost testosterone levels – it’s used to treat erectile dysfunction and as an aphrodisiac for this reason.
However, there’s been no human studies to prove that it increases T-levels. There are already top quality testosterone booster supplements on the market, so iForce Nutrition have no reason to attempt to create a pre-workout that attemps to raise T-levels anyway.
iForce Nutrtion has severely under-dosed Citrulline Malate and left out key ingredients for a pre-workout. Instead, there’s numerous ineffective nutrients contained.
Check out which ingredients work and which don’t in our
– Pre workout ingredients guide –
Side Effects
There are a few ingredients in Hemavol that can cause side effects, such as Glycerol Monostearate, Norvaline, and Alpha GPC.
Here’s a list of the potential side effects:
- Headache (Glycerol Monstearate & Alpha-GPC)
- Dizziness (Glycerol Monstearate & Alpha-GPC)
- Fatigue(Glycerol Monstearate & Alpha-GPC)
- Heartburn (Alpha-GPC)
- Dizziness (Alpha-GPC)
- Insomnia (Alpha-GPC)
- Nausea (Norvaline)
- Lightheadedness (Norvaline)
Not what you’re looking for? See your best options in our
– Top 3 Pre Workout Page –
Pro’s and Con’s
Pro’s
- Contains Citrulline Malate
Con’s
- Citrulline Malate is severely under-dosed at 2,500mg (its optimal dose if 6,000mg-8,000mg).
- Risk of numerous side effects.
- Many ineffective ingredients for a pre-workout (Rutaecarpine, Epimedium, Agmatine Sulfate, and GLycerol Monstearate).
- Contains a proprietary blend – meaning you don’t know the exact amount of each individual ingredient.
- Not good value for money.
Hemavol Review Conclusion
iForce Nutrition should’ve focused on creating a specialized pre-workout product, instead of adding fat burning and testosterone boosting ingredients.
Instead of these ineffective ingredient for a pre-workout, such ingredients as:
- Creatine Monohydrate (boosts strength and endurance)
- Beetroot Extract (promotes muscle pumps)
- Caffeine (improves strength, endurance, and mental function)
- L-Theanine (works in synergy with Caffeine to form a ‘smart-caffeine’ which enhances the benefits of Caffeine without risking side effects like jitters and energy crashes).
You should look for a pre-workout supplement that contains the above ingredients to get the most effective, and best value for money product.