My SuperPump 250 review

In the interest of becoming a hypocrite I decided it was time to take one of these NO supplements for more than a one off session. Previously I have gotten one serve freebies from stores or friends and never been impressed. I've also posted a lot of science on the ingredients and the supplements in general to show that the muscle building effects are dubious at best.

But something that Blake/Braaq and I were discussing struck me as being a reason to try a NO supplement. These pre-workout supplements are meant to give your training a boost by getting you fired up and ready to train. I've felt flat prior to workouts far too often, to the point were I can actually notice the days when I feel fresh and I usually set one or two PB's (most notable was a 60kg rack deadlift PB out of the blue). So if I can feel a bit more switched on before and during a training session this can't be a bad thing.

So I've started taking SuperPump 250.

I'm taking the Lemon Burst flavour version.

Ingredients:

Serving Size: 1 scoop (20g)
Servings Per Container: - 40
Calories - 32

Calories form Fat - 0

Total Fat - 0g
Saturated Fat - 0g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 180mg
Potassium - 90mg
Total Carbohydrates - 8g
Sugars - 0g
Protein - 0g
Vitamin B6 - 25mg
(as Pyridoxine HCL)
Vitamin B12 - 140mcg
(as Cyanocobalamin)
Folic Acid - 420mcg
Magnesium - 350mg
(Phosphate & Oxide)
Phosphorus - 280mg
SuperPump250 Proprietary Blend - 20,000mg
[Gaspari Nutrition Novel Compound #250 (Patent Pending)]

Anabolic Signaling Complex™
(Patent Pending) L-Arginine alpha-Ketoglutarate (A-AKG), L-Arginine Ketoisocaproate (A-KIC), Tri-Creatine Malate, Creatine Monohydrate, GuaniproTM (Guanidino Propionic Acid), American Ginseng Extract, White Willow Bark Extract (standardized to 15% Salicin).

Lipolytic/Xtreme Focus Agent
(Patent Pending) L-Tyrosine, NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine), N-Acetyl-Tyrosine, Glucuronolactone, Methylxanthines (Caffeine), Rhodiola rosea Root Extract (Standardized to 5% total Rosavins), Ginko Biloba Extract (standardized to 24% Ginkosides & 6% Terpenes), Vinpocetine, Huperzine.

Myogenic Transcription Factor/Agonist
(Patent Pending) Taurine, L-Leucine, L-Glutamine, L-Citruline AKG, L-Valine, L-Isoleucine, Acetyl-L- Carnitine, Turkesterone (11,20 Dihydroxyecdysone from Ajuga turkestanica Extract), Choline Bitartrate.

Insulin Secretagogue Complex
(Patent Pending) Trimethylglycine, Indole-3-Carbinol, 4-Hydroxyisoleucine (from Fenugreek Seed Extract), Cinnamon Bark Extract (15% cinnamic aldehyde), Bacopa Monniera (Standardized for 20% bacosides A & B).

IntraSORB Rapid Absorption-Myo-Hydration Matrix
Potassium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Potassium Gycerophosphate, Magnesium Glycerophosphate, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Bioperine™.


Ingredients: Maltodetrin, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Phosphate, Natural Orange Flavor, Magnesium Phosphate, Magnesium Oxide, Sucralose, Beta Carotene.

So why am I dubious on the benefits of NO supplements?

Well a number of reasons:
Most of the ingredients will be in small amounts.
Lets take the list of ingredients in the proprietry blend and assume that there is a sufficient quantity of the first ingredient of each section of this product. You only get to through the first two complex/agents lists before your up to 80% of the product serve. This means that only 4-5 ingredients are possibly present in their most beneficial serving.....

Do I really need another serve of creatine?
MuscleTech thinks so clearly, but my kidneys seem to just want to say goodbye to it.

I eat food with protein in it already.
How much actual benefit will someone on a healthy (non-cut) diet that gets plenty of nutrition from whole foods actually gain from this? The answer in science appears to state that you have to be a recovering burns victim or elite level endurance athlete to need some of these aminos and ingredients.

There is a lack of real scientific support.
Because these graphs just doesn't sell me at all:

I could take a stab at guessing the significance level of these and state that neither graph is actually showing anything. Compare this to the reviews and studies done in science (not by companies) and you start to wonder about the actual efficacy.

So if I'm not sold by marketing hype and personal opinions (because not to be offensive but personal opinions are worthless, I could find people who think the world is flat still) then why the hell am I spending my hard earned cash on a NO supplement?

Well if nothing else I too will have an n=1 statement to make about its efficacy. But more to that I will have tried out the stimulant side of the supplement to see if I react to it and whether that benefits me. Plus I'm willing to try stuff to prove I may have been wrong. But I'm also willing to try stuff (within reason) to prove I'm right.

If you want to join the journey then click on the link to my log for more details.

From my workout log said:

This was my first workout using SuperPump 250. Yes I have travelled to the pointless side of supplements
Braaq made a point about taking NO supps that resonated with me. Basically they are meant to give you more energy and pep you up and give you a better workout, and any extra muscle growth is incidental or related to training just a bit better. Considering how flat I've felt prior to workouts for awhile now it seemed like a good idea (although really expensive in comparison to a caffeine pill) so I'm trialling it to see if it does help get over the flatness.

Click to expand...

My review of SuperPump 250 Lemon Burst flavour DAY 1:

Mixability in water - used a spoon in a cup with little success. It clumped to shit and floated mainly on top. Eventually got most of it to mix. 2/10

Taste - had to check that I hadn't accidentally mixed in the lemon scented dishwashing detergent. Overpowering is the term, although not terrible. 4/10

Aftertaste - tangy back of mouth feel that you get from sucking a real lemon. 3/10

Feeling - felt like I wanted to throw up to get that taste out of my mouth. No ill effects but just the overpowering fake lemon taste was a little nauseating. No tingles, no itches.........

Effects - I had a slight headache and tired feeling leading into this which disappeared about 30mins after ingestion. Didn't feel to have any more energy nor the magical tingling people talk about nor did I have the skin tearing pump. I did notice though that I did train a little bit more this evening and (prepare for my obligatory n=1 anecdotal statement) could feel my muscles becoming fatigued at the end of sets.

Conclusion - the jury is still out. Will need many uses, especially on some days when I'm unmotivated and tired from work.

1min
God help me I have to drink a whole cup of this

5mim
God help me I have a whole tub of this

6min
My face is not starting to heat up.

7mim
I´m not feeling any placebo effects at all.

10min
Earliest I could expect to feel real effects and also placebo effects..... none so far.

15min
Oh my god my skin has turned pale. Oh wait it is always that colour.

20min
I feel like I have a really bad fever, I'm all hot a sweaty. That could be because I've just finished doing the dishes in boiling water and have been cooking dinner over a hot stove but I'm putting it down to the SuperPump.

25min
Obligatory statement about something happening that isn't really.

30min
Headache is gone and feel "awake".

45min
Start workout. Breathing harder than normal from the warmups.

50min
No pump to speak of, sweating a fair bit. Oh wait it is reasonably warm outside......

60min
Into Clean and Jerks now and breathing heavy. No pump, no tingle and I need to blow my nose.

70min
Now into squats and no pump in them either. Damn I wanted to be swole.

SuperPump DAY 2.

Mixability - used a shaker this time rather than a spoon. It mixed just fine this way. Guess it needs more elbow action and less wrist motion.

Taste - lemon burst is still grating across the back of my tongue. I swear there is a whole bag of fake lemons in every scoop. Which also means there is no room for actual real ingredients :angrydude:

Aftertaste - I avoided it by using a router rooter on my throat. Unfortunately I'd used it to clean the blocked toilet just prior.

Effects - Leading into this workout I had more "pep" so it was hard to notice whether the SuperPump lit a fire under me or not. Did feel more energetic than normal and trained longer than normal. Probably inadvertently trained a bit harder as well. Still no skin tearing pump and shirt tearing fullness, but in fairness I don't aim to pump up and get swole like those massive guys with the 13" arms curling in the squat rack.

Conclusions so far - Still not sold on SuperPump nor NO supplements in general. The experiment continues. I may increase the dose from one scoop to two for the next session.

Given my general soreness today I'm given to think that I have managed to train harder than I have in awhile, but hard to say what the cause of this is. I also did more than normal, so yay me. I'd like some noticeable results from SuperPump to convince me one way or the other that this was or wasn't worth the money (not that I'm particularly concerned about the cost).

Looking forward to your conclusion! Really good review so far.. Repped

Ive allways had my doubts about NO products so im really looking forward to see what becomes of this. Looking forward to more updates Tim.....

lol your hilarious tim. haha I really enjoyed your time table there.

And how much on this supp Timbo?

raggamuffini said:

Looking forward to your conclusion! Really good review so far.. Repped

Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to it too. I have a feeling that I'll notice the most difference when I stop, much like creatine.

Patdiddy said:

Ive allways had my doubts about NO products so im really looking forward to see what becomes of this. Looking forward to more updates Tim.....

Click to expand...

There does seem to be a lot of rave reviews for NO supplements and that is what you would expect with mindless teenagers. If there is a supplement with that sort of support then you usually get independant scientific trials, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Bambam55 said:

lol your hilarious tim. haha I really enjoyed your time table there.

Click to expand...

A little satire of some similar reviews for NO supplements.

El Freako said:

And how much on this supp Timbo?

Click to expand...

Cost? or Serving Size?
Well it cost me somewhere around $89 (Aussie dollars) as I bought it from a store as opposed to online. It works out at about $2.20 a serve. Which is why I went for a serving of one scoop (20g). Going to anything more and it is starting to get to be an expensive supplement. Which is just what I have done now.

SuperPump Day 3

Due to the lack of any particular sensation over the last two days I decided to up the dose to 1.5 scoops or ~30g.

Mixability - used a shaker again. It mixed just fine this way but wanted to clump so had to shake it longer. Guess that is due to the extra half a scoop.

Taste - Either my taste buds have died from the past two uses or I'm starting to "like" that taste. I'm hoping that I'm suffering brain/tongue damage from the SuperPump rather than starting to like drinking this stuff. Otherwise I might be tempted to start using battery acid PWO.

Aftertaste - Still there. But the sharpness is going. I'm just glad I'm not bullemic

Effects - Today was the first session after a work day. It was a deadlift day and things went pretty well (check my log for details). Grip was roughly back to normal levels (160kg pronated) after being down for a fair while. This is usually a good sign that I'm feeling good. So was I up a bit because of the SuperPump? Should I be looking at a more "Pump" style workout to see the effects (although what is the point given that I don't usually train that way anyway)?

Another thing is that I have no personal experience with the "SuperDump" moniker that this supplement is linked with. I'm a pretty regular guy and I would suggest that the people that complain of the runs or shitty underwear should have a hard look at their crappy diet and fix that shit up with some good solid fibre.

Something I've noticed is that I'm up 1/2kg morning weight. May or may not be significant change.

Conclusions so far - Still not sold on SuperPump nor NO supplements in general. I may have more energy and I may be having better workouts than normal but it is not overtly noticeable. The experiment continues. I may increase the dose to two scoops for the next session.

cool review, ive never had any faith in these supplements at all. ive tried both horsepower and NaNO vapor, and none of em gave me anything extraordinary. good old monohydrate and whey for me baby

if ure feeling flat or tired tim, maybe back off a bit? take a week off or deload. that always does the trick for me

Bulkboy said:

cool review, ive never had any faith in these supplements at all. ive tried both horsepower and NaNO vapor, and none of em gave me anything extraordinary. good old monohydrate and whey for me baby

if ure feeling flat or tired tim, maybe back off a bit? take a week off or deload. that always does the trick for me

Click to expand...

I've been feeling flat on a regular basis. I do back-offs regularly and the flatness is more than any overloading. I think it is more related to work and sitting all day in front of a computer. As I said earlier in this thread when I do feel fresh I am able to do something special, but the rest of the time I'm off and really battling to hold "normal".

Some studies:

Factorial Supplementation with Arginine and Glycine on Nitrogen Retention and Body Weight Gain in the Traumatized Rat
The Journal of Nutrition
Yurk Mui Lee Pui and Hans Fisher

It has been reported (Sitren & Fisher (1977), Br. J. Nutr. 37, 195–208) that diets supplemented with both arginine and glycine increased the nitrogen retention of rats following ether anesthesia and femur fracture. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether arginine, glycine, or both are required to improve nitrogen retention following trauma. Four groups of 12 adult, male albino rats, each weighing around 220 g, were given one of four diets: a control diet containing 25% casein, the control diet supplemented with 2% arginine plus 1% glycine, the control diet supplemented with 2% arginine alone, and the control diet supplemented with 1% glycine alone. When the rats reached a body weight of about 250 g, they were subjected to the trauma of ether anesthesia plus hind leg fracture. The effect of the diets on body weight and nitrogen balance before and after trauma was studied. Food consumption was controlled by moderately restricting the intake of all animals. The diet supplemented with arginine and glycine improved growth before and after trauma, and nitrogen retention after trauma. The arginine-supplemented diet did not promote better nitrogen retention but improved growth posttrauma. The diet supplemented with glycine alone depressed nitrogen retention before and after trauma. The results demonstrated the need for the simultaneous addition of arginine and glycine to a relatively high protein diet to improve nitrogen retention in traumatized rats; adverse effects resulted from glycine as the sole supplement. Possible reasons for these observations are discussed.

Click to expand...

Int J Sport Nutr. 1999 Sep;9(3):241-50.
The effect of a carbohydrate--arginine supplement on postexercise carbohydrate metabolism.
Yaspelkis BB 3rd, Ivy JL.

The effect of a carbohydrate-arginine supplement on postexercise muscle glycogen storage was investigated. Twelve well-trained cyclists rode for 2 hr on two separate occasions to deplete their muscle glycogen stores. At 0, 1, 2, and 3 hr after each exercise bout, the subjects ingested either a carbohydrate (CHO) supplement (1 g carbohydrate/kg body weight) or a carbohydrate-arginine (CHO/AA) supplement (1 g carbohydrate/kg body mass and 0.08 g arginine-hydrochloride/kg body weight). No difference in rate of glycogen storage was found between the CHO/AA and CHO treatments, although significance was approached. There were also no differences in plasma glucose, insulin, or blood lactate responses between treatments. Postexercise carbohydrate oxidation during the CHO/AA treatment was significantly reduced compared to the CHO treatment. These results suggest that the addition of arginine to a CHO supplement reduces the rate of CHO oxidation postexercise and therefore may increase the availability of glucose for muscle glycogen storage during recovery.

Click to expand...

Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care:
November 1999 - Volume 2 - Issue 6 - pp 539-544
Review Article
Amino acid supplements to improve athletic performance
Wagenmakers, Anton J.M.

Abstract

This review provides a critical evaluation of the metabolic rationale for the use of individual amino acids as nutritional ergogenic (work-generating) aids in athletes. The conclusion is that in contrast to the claims made on sport nutrition products, branched-chain amino acids do not improve endurance performance, that the evidence that glutamine supplements may improve immune function is rather weak, and that the available commercial supplements contain too little arginine to increase growth hormone levels. No studies have been performed to investigate the claim that tyrosine supplements can improve explosive exercise.

Arginine

Arginine is a potent stimulator of the release of many hormones by several endocrine glands. The intravenous administration of arginine to adult humans in doses of 30 g in 30 min causes a marked increase in the secretion of human pituitary growth hormone [58-61]. Intravenous, oral, or intraduodenal arginine also induces a marked insulin release from the [beta]-cells of the pancreas in humans [62,63]. The contention that arginine increases the secretion of anabolic hormones such as human growth hormone and insulin has served as a catalyst for the use of oral arginine supplements by healthy body builders and strength athletes. The doses of arginine present in sports nutritional supplements are most often small (between 1 and 2 g per day) in comparison with the intravenous doses that have been shown to have potent secretagogue actions. Well-controlled studies (double-blind, cross-over) [64,65] failed to show an effect of oral L-arginine supplementation taken in these low quantities on the daily variation (24 h profile) and concentrations of growth hormone and insulin in male competitive weightlifters [64] and in male body builders [65]. The ingestion of larger doses of arginine causes severe gastrointestinal discomfort (Wagenmakers, unpublished data).

Click to expand...

Yeah cost was what I was enquiring about. I left out the word 'spent' for some reason.

And another that is looking like a good read:

Isr Med Assoc J. 2005 May;7(5):328-32.
Proteins and amino acid supplementation in sports: are they truly necessary?
Nemet D, Wolach B, Eliakim A.

Although dietary protein supplementation is commonly used by both athletes and people engaged in recreational sports, the data supporting its wide use are still limited. Some evidence supports the use of creatine and possibly HMB as ergogenic aids in specific situations [8], however this is also based on limited data. The use of supplements for the healthy, non-competitive adult engaged in recreational sports is usually not warranted.

Click to expand...

LOL at the review, its entertaining to read. I gotta say one thing though, I can't take Superpump 250. My head hates it. I do love Supercharged! by labrada. Do i believe it helps me with healing or creating new muscle? Hell no, it does have arginine, caffiene and other good stuff to help me get going in the gym after a 10-12 hour day. Good enough for me.

Methylxanthines

The side effects of methylxanthines are described as being similar to drinking too much caffeine, and they include:

* Stomach upset.
* Heartburn.
* Trouble sleeping (insomnia).
* Headache.
* Nervousness or irritability.
* Rapid heart rate (tachycardia).
* Rapid breathing (tachypnea).

Big04pimpin said:

LOL at the review, its entertaining to read. I gotta say one thing though, I can't take Superpump 250. My head hates it. I do love Supercharged! by labrada. Do i believe it helps me with healing or creating new muscle? Hell no, it does have arginine, caffiene and other good stuff to help me get going in the gym after a 10-12 hour day. Good enough for me.

Click to expand...

i do agree with you big, i only take NO supplements for energy(creatine, caffeine, beta-alanine) and aminos all in one and taste awesome ( NO shotgun by VPX).

don't waste your money and time in superpump tim!

if you really want insane pump, try this:

applied nutriceuticals RPM

that stuff is the burner, i mean the burner.. you will be swollen like a horse

I use Super Pump or No Exp. I need something to give me a kick, I usually only have time to lift in the morning. I found they both work better on a near empty stomach. I use the magic bullet to mix it, water and a few ice cubes it tastes good to me no headachs or shits. I like the blue raspberry Super Pump and the blue one from No Exp. It always gets me amped up but the pumps are not on a regular basis.
How long have you been taking RPM miamircing? Im always up for trying something different.

El Freako said:

Yeah cost was what I was enquiring about. I left out the word 'spent' for some reason.

Click to expand...

And I should have ordered the stuff off the nets, so it all works out.

Big04pimpin said:

LOL at the review, its entertaining to read. I gotta say one thing though, I can't take Superpump 250. My head hates it. I do love Supercharged! by labrada. Do i believe it helps me with healing or creating new muscle? Hell no, it does have arginine, caffiene and other good stuff to help me get going in the gym after a 10-12 hour day. Good enough for me.

Click to expand...

My head hasn't been bothered, but refer to Ben's post for a possible reason.

BigBen said:

Methylxanthines

The side effects of methylxanthines are described as being similar to drinking too much caffeine, and they include:

* Stomach upset.
* Heartburn.
* Trouble sleeping (insomnia).
* Headache.
* Nervousness or irritability.
* Rapid heart rate (tachycardia).
* Rapid breathing (tachypnea).

Click to expand...

With a list of side effects like that how can it not work

l12l21l2012l said:

i do agree with you big, i only take NO supplements for energy(creatine, caffeine, beta-alanine) and aminos all in one and taste awesome ( NO shotgun by VPX).

Click to expand...

A lot of agreement here. Where are all the haters telling me that it makes them grow 100x as fast?

A bit late now that I own the supplement and have started taking it

But once I'm finished this review I am more than willing to take free donations of supplements to review. $$ or actual supps and I'll go through breaking down things critically. Plus I'll actually go into the science behind each that is available.

RIP said:

I use Super Pump or No Exp. I need something to give me a kick, I usually only have time to lift in the morning. I found they both work better on a near empty stomach. I use the magic bullet to mix it, water and a few ice cubes it tastes good to me no headachs or shits. I like the blue raspberry Super Pump and the blue one from No Exp. It always gets me amped up but the pumps are not on a regular basis.
How long have you been taking RPM miamircing? Im always up for trying something different.

Click to expand...

Circadian rythmns actually show that mid to late afternoon is when you are at your strongest, so technically this sort of supplement would have to work wonders to get you going and performing at the same peak.

Ok time for some more science on this supplement:

American Society for Nutrition J. Nutr. 137:1646S-1649S, June 2007
Supplement: 6th Amino Acid Assessment Workshop: SESSION 2

Pharmacokinetics of Arginine and Related Amino Acids
Luc Cynober*

Arginine (ARG) and its related amino acids (AAs) ornithine (ORN) and citrulline (CIT) find a range of applications as dietary supplements in subgroups of healthy subjects (e.g., bodybuilders) and patients with acute or chronic malnutrition. These AAs appear to be well utilized in humans with, in general, a rapid return of blood concentrations to basal values (i.e., within 5–8 h) and low absolute and relative excretion in urine (< 5% of administered dose). Based on published data for the maximum observed plasma concentrations (Cmax) after administration of doses in the range 5 to 10 g, CIT appeared to present relatively better absorption and systemic bioavailability than ARG and ORN. The few relevant dose-ranging studies available include 1 limited to a single subject receiving 5- to 20-g doses of ornithine -ketoglutarate and another in which 8 subjects received from 5 to 15 g of CIT. Comparison of these 2 studies further indicates that CIT has higher bioavailability than ORN. The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of these AAs are modified by the coadministration of a salt such as -ketoglutarate that modifies AA metabolism, as has clearly been demonstrated for ornithine -ketoglutarate. Concomitant administration of a meal leads to a 15- to 30-min delay in Cmax. Finally, data from various pharmacokinetic studies together with basic physiology and biochemistry indicate that ARG is a net urea producer and ORN has a nitrogen-sparing effect, whereas CIT is neutral. However, most of the studies performed to date carry methodological weaknesses and are difficult to compare because of a number of confounding factors. To date, there have been no pharmacokinetic studies on the long-term administration of these AAs in healthy subjects despite the need to determine the safe upper limit of daily intake.

Click to expand...