Performix have jumped on board the female supplements bandwagon with their Ion Glow pre-workout. It’s marketed as a “female beauty workout” that helps “you look and feel your best”.
Claimed to promote:
- Energy, Endurance, Stamina
- Toning and skin elasticity
- Luminous hair, skin & nails
It’s an interesting product, as it’s the first gym supplement we’ve seen that claims to improve hair, skin, and nails. But is it an effective pre-workout? We’ll take you through the positives and the negatives of Ion Glow Review to help you decide.
Take a look:
About the Company
Performix are a supplements company that markets premium products – which is evident through their prices, in Ion Glow’s case, $67.99.
They place an emphasis on their “Terra Intelligent Dosing Technology” that’s in all of their products, which is supposed to activate “multi-phase extended release” – this is a strange concept to have in a pre-workout, as surely you want it to affect you immediately and feel a great energy boost, not for hours after your workout.
The Ingredients and How They Work
Most Performix products contain proprietary blends, with Ion Glow following their trend. But you might be wondering, what is a proprietary blend?
A proprietary blend is a mixture of numerous ingredients that are all shown to you as one quantity – you’ll never know the exact amounts of each individual nutrient inside products that contain these blends.
The problem with these blends is, you might be sensitive to a certain ingredient inside and not knowing the exact measurement of exposes you to a range of unwanted side effects.
But there are some positives to Ion Glow – it contains some quality ingredients to have in a pre-workout, like L-Citrulline and Caffeine.
See for yourself:
Beta-Alanine
Performix haven’t made a good start with this ingredient. Although Beta-Alanine has shown to enhance endurance and anaerobic running capacity, it’s can cause paresthesia.
Paresthesia is a tingling on the skin of your face, chest, hands, and extremities in doses over 0.8g-1g. As Beta Alanine is part of a proprietary blend, you don’t know the exact amount of it inside – there could be more than 1g inside, meaning you’ll be more at risk of suffering from paresthesia.
Paresthesia not life threatening, but it will ruin your workout and progress in the gym, so we recommend staying away from products containing Beta-Alanine. Performix should have simply replaced this ingredient with something more beneficial, such as Creatine Monohydrate (boosts muscular endurance and strength in the gym).
L-Citrulline
This is one of the best ingredients in Ion Glow and can really improve the quality of a pre-workout. L-Citrulline turns into L-Arginine in your kidneys, which boosts your nitric oxide levels and increases blood flow, resulting in great muscle pumps during your workout.
However, here’s where the problem is with the L-Citrulline in Ion Glow. It’s part of a proprietary blend, so you don’t know the exact amount inside, and its optimal dose is 5,000mg-8,000mg.
The overall quantity of the blend is 4,800mg, so it’s impossible for there to be enough L-Citrulline to be effective in delivering great muscle pumps in the gym. We strongly recommend looking for a pre-workout that contains 5,000-8,000mg of L-Citrulline to experience its full benefits, and get the best value for your money.
- Related: Pre workout ingredients that work
Creatine HCL (Hydrochloride)
Creatine Hydrochloride is a form of creatine, which is a molecule that can rapidly produce energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) – this leads to increased strength and endurance. It can be found naturally in meats, eggs, and fish, but it’s hard to consume enough in your diet to have an effect – this is why many choose to supplement creatine.
Although Creatine Hydrochloride is more soluble in water, it’s not the best form of creatine – Creatine Monohydrate is the most popular form as it’s the most effective.
Having Creatine Hydrochloride in a proprietary blend is actually risky. It’s more soluble in water, so it’s more likely to cause side effects in smaller doses – you don’t know the exact amount of Creatine Hydrochloride in Ion Glow, so you’re at risk of suffering from such side effects as stomach cramps and diarrhea.
If you’re going to supplement with Creatine Hydrochloride, choose a product that doesn’t contain any proprietary blends. But we recommend choosing Creatine Monohydrate instead – it’s the most effective, tried and tested form of creatine on the market.
L-Tyrosine
This is an amino acid that is used to produce noradrenaline and dopamine, which results in lower stress levels and enhanced mental function.
However, it doesn’t deliver muscle pumps or boosts in strength, which are two benefits of top quality pre-workouts. L-Tyrosine is a great ingredient that’s proven to have its advantages (enhanced mental function and lower stress levels), but it’s more suited to a Nootropic supplement.
Performix should’ve replaced this ingredient with an ingredient like Beetroot Extract – Beetroot Extract contains high amounts of nitrates, which boosts nitric oxide levels and increases blood flow, resulting in intense muscle pumps while you lift weights.
See SupplementTester’s
– Highest Rated Pre Workouts Here –
Black Pepper Extract
Everyone knows what Black Pepper is, as it’s used to season food on a daily basis worldwide. But not many people know about the benefit it can provide in a supplement.
Black Pepper Extract improves the absoption of other ingredients that it’s consumed with – this means it boosts the overall effectiveness of a product that it’s inside.
There are no negatives to having Black Pepper Extract in a product, and it’s definitely a bonus to see it on an ingredients list.
Rauwolscine
Also known as Alpha-Yohimbine, it’s used in supplements as it promotes fat burning. However, Rauwolscine is another form of Yohimbine (just with slightly altered properties), both being MAO inhibitors (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors), meaning they’re actually a class of drugs used to treat depression.
This is worrying, because if you’re reading this in the UK, then you won’t be able to get hold of Yohimbine as its banned – Yohimbine proved to cause extreme anxiety in patients. What’s even more concerning, is that Rauwolscine’s shown to have more potent negative effects than Yohimbine.
We strongly recommend that you stay away from this ingredient to avoid these severe side effects.
Linoleic Acid
This is a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid that’s used in numerous products, from quick drying oils (that are useful in oil paints and varnishes) to beauty products. It’s believed to benefit your skin, and has anti-inflammatory, acne reductive properties when applied directly onto your skin.
Here’s the problem with Ion Glow. While Linoleic Acid has many beneficial properties to improve your skin, these benefits only occur when applied onto your skin – there’s been no evidence to suggest that it works the same way when consumed through oral supplementation.
Ultimately, improved skin isn’t an important benefit in a pre-workout at all – leave that to your beauty products which are made specifically for this, and search for a pre-workout focused on getting you results in the gym.
- Related: Pre workout ingredients to avoid
Hyaluronic Acid
This is a substance that’s naturally present in your body, found in high amounts in your eyes and joints. When this is found in medicine and supplements, it’s made in a laboratory.
It’s most commonly used to treat eye injuries and as a lip filler in plastic surgery, as well as for healing wounds and as a moisturizer. However, it offers no benefits to you during your workout.
This is part of this product’s gimmick. Performix are trying to make you believe that Ion Glow is effective as a beauty product as well as a pre-workout. Don’t be fooled by this gimmick.
Caffeine
Caffeine is one of the best ingredients in Ion Glow. It’s one of the safest nutrients out there, and is found in countless products ranging from tea/coffee to chocolates.
We’ll give credit where it’s due – Performix have avoided including Caffeine in their proprietary blend so you know exactly how much is contained in Ion Glow, which is great for those sensitive to it.
There’s actually a great amount of Caffeine in this pre-workout (125mg) – the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for Caffeine is set at 400mg, which means you can still enjoy your morning coffee or teas throughout the day when consuming Ion Glow.
We recommend that you look out for products that have no proprietary blends and show you the exact amount of each individual ingredient inside, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
Performix are trying to make you believe that Ion Glow is an effective beauty product, as well as a pre-workout supplement. Don’t be fooled – it’s filled with a proprietary blend containing with a dangerous ingredient (Rauwolscine).
Check out which ingredients work and which don’t in our
– Pre workout ingredients guide –
Side Effects
There are a few ingredients in Ion Glow that you should be worried about, such as Beta Alanine (which can cause paresthesia – a tingline on the skin of your face, chest, hands, and extremities) and Rauwolscine (which can cause extreme anxiety).
Performix should have left Rauwolscine out of this product, especially as Yohimbine (a similar nutrient) has been banned in the UK as it was shown to cause extreme anxiety – Rauwolscine is more potent and has the potential to deliver increased side effects of Yohimbine.
Here’s a list of the potential side effects from taking Ion Glow:
- Paresthesia – a tingling on the skin of your face, hands, chest, and extremities (Beta-Alanine).
- Extreme anxiety (Rauwolscine)
Not what you’re looking for? See your best options in our
– Top 3 Pre Workout Page –
Pro’s and Con’s
Pro’s
- Some quality ingredients for a pre-workout (L-Citrulline and Caffiene).
Con’s
- Contains Rauwolscine, which is more potent than Yohimbine (Yohimbine is banned in the UK for causing extreme anxiety).
- Made up of a big proprietary blend, meaning you don’t know the exact amounts of each individual ingredient.
- Gimmick – tries to fool you into thinking it’s an effective beauty product.
Ion Glow Review Conclusion
The fact that it contains Rauwolscine should be enough to put you off this product – it can cause extreme anxiety and should be banned.
It’s also made up of a big proprietary blend, meaning you’ll never know the exact amounts of each individual ingredient contained – the whole blend is 4,800mg, so there’s no way that ingredients are effective in Ion Glow (L-Citrulline’s optimal dose is between 5,000mg-8,000mg).
Look out for some ingredients like L-Citrulline (when dosed between 5,000mg-8,000mg), Beetroot Extract (promotes muscle pumps), and Creatine Monohydrate (the most effective form of creatine that improves strength and endurance) to get the best value for money – all these ingredients are proven to benefit your workouts.
We strongly recommend that you look for a product that doesn’t contain Rauwolscine, Beta-Alanine, or any proprietary blends to avoid any unwanted side effects.