How many of you have heard of CT Fletcher? While the Arkansas born lifter is slightly better known now that he was a few years ago and the 6-Time World Champion Strong Man competition wins have undoubtedly assisted in raising his profile, he still isn’t considered ‘mainstream’ by any means. The 50+ bodybuilder has quite a story to tell and has been promoting an all natural form of bodybuilding and what he terms ‘bare handed’ workouts to create his strength and physique. Surprisingly CT Fletcher wasn’t always into bodybuilding or lifting at least not from a young age anyway and he explains that it wasn’t until he was 22 that he began to lift. His lifting career spanned until the late 1990’s and in 1997 he made the permanent switch over to pure bodybuilding although he says that he still maintains that he has no desire to go back to power lifting given that he has achieved everything in the discipline and then some. “But the highlight of my career, by far, is the 705 lb shirtless attempt at the baddest bench press in America contest in 1995.  I didn’t actually make that lift but I still feel it was my greatest accomplishment because I did it drug free against the best power lifters in the world.” -CT Fletcher, Interview with bigbackgrips.com (http://www.bigbackgrips.com/profiles/ct-fletcher/) Indeed, his diet of 7 or 8 meals from McDonalds per day for some 20 years meant that he needed to undergo open heart surgery and was told that his work out career was over for good. As a result of this massive operation he went from a whopping 300 lbs to 195 lbs. However, in typical fashion CT, who now resides most of the time in Compton, CA, got back to the gym and worked out like never before. As he said himself, he would rather die doing what he loved than live a mundane life full of boredom. However, it isn’t to the past that CT Fletcher looks to or concentrates on, rather it is the future. He is bringing out a master plan DVD for all aspiring and current bodybuilders to try and build themselves up to his level and he shows no real signs of stopping or slowing down anytime soon. “I still want to go back and defend the unbroken 225 strict curl record. I’d like to do it at the age of 54 —be able to do what I did at the age of 30 … f I could come in here with a metal valve implanted in my chest, taking 10 different medicines just to stay alive every day and do my work out, you have no excuses.” -CT Fletcher, Strength Project interview With Fletcher however it is important to remember just how close to death he came; by his own admission he was taken to hospital as an emergency more times than he can remember. Even though he has proved his bodybuilding and lifting credentials and still continues to work out his story should be one of caution. Proper nutrition and exercise is key and the man himself will tell you that a sole junk food diet – while it may bulk you up – just isn’t worth it in the long run.  

So what are basic ways in which you can gain mass? I am going to show you some very simple techniques that I have personally utilized for my own benefit. While I was never the skinniest person around and this isn’t a guide on how to go from 110lbs to 180lbs of pure muscle in a week I will show you some very basic things you can do to gain more muscle over a decent period of time. Firstly you need to remember three things that lead directly to muscle gain: Heavy compound exercises Lots of food Lots of sleep These three things, when combined, will ensure that your work out and your diet pays off. However, why do you need sleep I hear you ask? Well the fact is that growth hormones are released when you sleep. When combined directly with the right exercises and the right food (which we will go into later on) then you will quickly see your body mass and muscle grow. However, it is important that you get the right kind of sleep. A few hours here and there is not going to help you much as the growth hormones that we are talking about need a continuous period of sleep to properly work. I used to get around 8 hours every night and this helped me greatly so this is what I would recommended if you can. Even if you can’t then try and have some naps during the day to ensure that you get your 8 hours per 24. While this will not work as well it will still have an effect on how quickly your body grows. Do Genetics Matter? When speaking to people about body mass and building up your muscles, I hear a lot of talk about genetics. If you don’t have the right genes then it is very difficult if not impossible for you to put a substantial amount of weight on never mind convert this extra weight into muscle. I look at it this way. Essentially genetics in this sense mean muscle fiber composition. We can further break this down into two categories: fast-twitch and slow-twitch. Fast-twitch means that you are better when it comes to explosive activities so running 100m’s for example. Slow-twitch is more about endurance and sustainability so keeping up the same tempo for 1000m to put it into perspective. The key difference is that those with fast-twitch muscle fiber find it easier to build muscle due to the fact that they have larger growth capacity. Personally speaking, you can still get the right results regardless of your muscle genetics. It is just a little bit easier for those who fall into the first category.   Comparing Size and Strength So, how can we compare size and strength? Is it really the case of ‘the bigger you are the strong you are?’ Well, not really. I’m not the biggest, for sure I have muscles, but not compared to some other people but the difference is that I have considerable strength. Let me explain. How strong you are depends, to a large extent, on your central nervous system. Strange I know. However, it is your nervous system that determines how well your muscle fibers can be utilized. I’m not saying that someone who has literally no muscles at all will start lifting free weights like they are nothing due to this central nervous system but if you have this tuned in to what you are doing then you will find it much easier to lift without actually being particularly big in terms of your muscles. This can help your reps as well. Low reps can be quite demanding on your central nervous system, when you raise this to the double figure mark it is focusing more on your size as opposed to your strength and when it gets beyond 15 then this is endurance. Essentially, low reps help your strength, more reps help your size. Getting the balance is crucial. Getting The ‘Right’ Reps Getting the ‘right’ reps for your workout and what you want to achieve is very important. One of the first things you need to establish is the speed of your reps. If you want to increase your strength then you want to lift the weight as fast as you can but tone down the speed when you lower it. Look at your muscle and body as a coiled spring; when you lower the weight you are increasing the tension in your body much in the same way a spring would do; the compression increases the tension so that when you lift again it is essentially a release of tension called the stretch (myotatic) reflex. For size, do the same but faster and leave 3 three seconds between lowering and lifting again as this will increase the intramuscular force. Furthermore, it is important that you time your sets right in terms of the amount of time you spend between each set. So, if you are aiming for strength then it doesn’t really matter how much time you spend between sets however ensure that you get as much time as you need to successfully complete the next set. If it is size that you are going for then spend a maximum of 30 seconds between sets – remember I told you that these muscles respond better to explosive and quick movements. However, the way I do it is to take 30 seconds for the first few sets and then gradually increase the time in between sets. I’ve found that this works well.   Nutrition, Workout Length and Stress Does stress impact your workout and therefore you ability to build muscles? When you are experiencing stress you release a hormone called cortisol, that has a massively negative impact on muscle growth – it is a catabolic which is the complete opposite to what you want – anabolic (which builds muscles). It is untrue to say that if you have no stress then muscle building will easier, the fact is that it doesn’t help I found out that cortisol is actually produced the longer your workout goes on so try not to overdo things. Indeed, your workout should be an hour MAXIMUM. Some people try and go for hours but this is diminishes what you set out to achieve. Start your work time for your first proper exercises and not your warm up. Actually, now that I think of it, how much of a warm up do you actually do? Are you one of those gym goers who simply goes head first right into it? If you are then you will probably be doing yourself more damage than good. A good warm up routine can be: 5 minutes of cardio Some dynamic stretches to loosen then muscles Light warm up sets before the real things Your nutrition levels depend on your starting and build and what you want to achieve. For pure strength and to bulk up your size then basically eat everything and anything. If you do this you will put in weight but your consistent gym exercises and weightlifting should turn most of this into muscle which evens the whole process out. For actual bodybuilding then a good saying that I have always tried to live by is ‘Diets don’t work. Lifestyle changes do.’ Think about that. Apply it. See the results. Winding Down Just like those lifters who come in gung-ho to the gym, leaving right after your last set is not good for you either; you need a proper warm down. Once you have done some light exercises to allow your muscles to relax in a natural way look straight towards that protein shake (with water, no milk by the way). What I have found is that the two hours after your workout are the most important. This is when your muscles are most receptive to protein so a lot of it in this time period will do you the world of good. Once you have had a protein shake then what I used to do was go straight to actual food to help supplement this. Avoid fats if you can but eat plenty of carbs. Essentially the meal you take right after you have worked out should be the biggest one that you eat all day.   Route To Success What have I provided here? Well, I’ll tell you want I haven’t provided and that is an instant guide to building muscles. However I have shared some very simple, basic but often overlooked or ignored tips that have helped me to get to the size that I am. Like I said before, I didn’t start out as scrawny but I wasn’t exactly big either. The same is true at the moment; I am not massive but I have good strength and can certainly show my muscles. The trick is to preserve and follow some of the basic advice that I have given you. It isn’t going to happen overnight but if you stick with it the results will come and they may astound you.

Reasons Why You Should Do Front Squats   I’m going to share with you today some must read reasons as to why you should be doing front squats rather than back squats. I hear you asking, ‘why not do both?’ Well I’m going to show you why one has a much better impact than the other and the reasons why I have given up with back squats. This isn’t some magic secret that no-one knows; it is just good common knowledge that everyone should follow.   Back Squats Back Squats are bad: Reason 1 If you have ever done back squats like I used to do almost on a daily basis then you will know how much pressure they put on your lower back. Seriously, after a while it can be agony just to walk around. If you want to end up hunched over like Quasimodo then, by all means, continue with your back squats but for everyone else there is no justifiable reason to keep doing them other than to inflict pain on yourself. I should know I was doing them for long enough. Back Squats are bad: Reason 2 The potential for injury is very real. Ok, so you won’t be injured every time you do a back squat and I was only injured once (a sprain) however, when you think about it, the chances of a serious injury are great. Arching your back, leaning forward while lifting weights? This is only going to end up in one thing eventually: an injury such as a slipped disk or ligament damage. Do you really want to do that to yourself? Why take the risk?   Front Squats Now that we have established why you SHOULDN’T do back squats; is the alternative any better? Why am I such an advocate of doing front squat exercises? Front Squats are great: Reason 1 Well, for a start, they are more comfortable. We already know that back squats are not good for your posture or your back and by doing front squats instead then you are getting rid of this potential banana skin. How many people do you know that have been injured while doing front squats? None probably. I certainly don’t know any and there is a reason for this: front squat exercises are safer with less chance of injury. Fact.   Front Squats are great: Reason 2 A misconception that many people have is that back exercises increase your strength more than front end ones. Really? Where did they get this information from? Certainly not from anything that is grounded in reality. I severely boosted my strength and lifting capacity by doing front squats rather than back squats. When doing front end exercises you are effectively forcing your abs to remain active and functional to stabilize your balance. This will increase your strength and capacity to lift. I swear by this. You should too. Front Squats are great: Reason 3 Not everyone finds the ‘clean grip’ method for front squats comfortable and, neither did I at first, however once you get used to it you will see the benefits! For a start you will have a much better control over the bar itself and you will have an increased chance of lifting the weight with this method. Before I struggled to lift certain weights because I was trying to put less pressure on my wrists but after practising with the clean grip and getting used to it, I can now lift more than ever before. Front Squats are great: Reason 4 As if you needed another reason to focus predominately on front squats but I am going to give you one anyway. Think about your knees. As someone who has damaged one of their knees significantly in the past I can tell you that back squats are not good to those things in the middle of your legs. This isn’t even just my opinion, it is based on science. Electromyography (EMG) data (you heard of it? It is a way of evaluating your skeletal muscles and the electrical activity that they produce) has shown that a front squat will place less pressure on the knee and will not use as much compressive force. Indeed, that isn’t all, because a front squat exercise will work on the vastus lateralis and rectus femoris muscles more as well.   What about My Hamstrings? I can already see people responding to this with ‘but what about my hamstrings? Surely they will be neglected by not undertaking back squats as part of my exercise regime?’ Well, yes that is true but they will only be neglected if you don’t do some alternative exercises to compensate for the loss of back squats. It really is simple and here are some alternatives to back squats that I have been using for my hamstrings: -       Romanian Deadlifts                 -       GHD Machine             Seriously, these two things mean that I do not need to do back squats anymore and I can still keep my hamstrings in good condition and give them a proper workout. It isn’t rocket science.   Forget About Back Squats What I have given you is no real secret, it is just common sense. Back squat’s are not the worst exercise you can do by any means however they are quite unnecessary especially if you have back or knee trouble. Even if you don’t suffer from any of these ailments then why put yourself at risk by doing back squats? The whole point of bodybuilding and exercising is to bulk up and to feel good about yourself and how you look; that isn’t going to happen if you start pulling ligaments and slipping disk’s in your back is it? I have eliminated back squats from my exercises and, you know what, I don’t miss them one bit. I still give my hamstrings and glutes a good workout and they are just fine. I am just fine and I feel no reason to ever return to back squats again. The only question is: why are you still doing them?!

Prolab is a 20 years old sports supplementation company and a really reliable brand to vouch upon. There are some products that I have used including from Prolab namely Prolab Nlarge 2 weight gainer, prolab whey protein concentrate, creatine and caffeine tabs. You can easily find Prolab products around in the market. I liked all of the products I used and I would recommend Prolab products to my friends as well. At present, am writing this review to share my opinion about Prolab Nlarge 2. It is mass gainer from the company and consists of 52 grams of protein in 152 grams serving. You can expect good gains from this mass gainer. It is having 3 times carbs than the protein. So, it’s 1:3 mass gainer ideal for mesomorphs and ectomorphs as well. I bought this for $45 only and got 30 servings or 10 lbs tub for this great price. I have used this consistently during my gaining period to speed up recovery and complete the necessary proteins and complex carbs requirement. I can start the review with the taste, powder consistency and aroma. I have always consumed its milk chocolate flavor in milk and in water as well. It tastes good after mixing and makes a thick protein rich mass gaining drink. I found it a little sweeter and taste could have been better if it was less sweet. It smells like chocolate and I will rate it 8 out of 10 in terms of taste. There is average mixability and there are clumps left over in water and milk as well. You can’t expect to get really smooth protein shake with Prolab Nlarge 2 unless you mix it in a blender and add some water to the milk to improve mixability. This is the only con I came across with Prolab’s weight gainer. I will score it 7/10 for mixability. Next important thing is digestibility. There was some bloating not much and I didn’t use any enzymes along with the product to aid my digestion. I took around 225 grams of mass gainer each day or one and a half servings, split into three parts with milk and this never gave me a bad flatulence or gas. I can rate it 8/10 for the digestibility. You can find many weight gainers in the market and thy cost $30 to $50 for 5 lbs tub and will not last for many days or they cost too much if you calculate per serving cost. For instance, you can find gainer with serving size more than 250 grams and it will contain less than 40 grams protein which makes no sense to me. Always look for the total amount of protein you will get per serving and the amount you are going to pay for each serving. Prolab Nlarge2 contains over 1500 grams of protein per 10 lbs tub and you get this for just $45. So, it quite economic and I would put a score of 10/10 for the price/ serving and affordability. It costs $1.5 roughly for a serving and for 52 grams of first class protein. In the last I would talk about its effectiveness. I am not just guessing it or putting a vague idea for you. I gained around 8 kilograms of weight while using this in 60 days. I can score it 9/10 for the effectiveness. I have consumed three 10 lbs tubs of Prolab Nlarge2 and am really happy with my gains.    

Universal is the best brand manufacturing world class range of elite supplements for the bodybuilders and sportsmen across the globe. Everyone knows about this company and you can always rely on Universal for all your supplementation needs. Universal Ultra whey pro is a fine quality whey protein from the company and I have used it twice and I am impressed by the effectiveness. It is a whey protein concentrate and contains fractions of isolate and hydrolysates whey as well. It is processed by ultra filtration method and it is the best method that preserves the essential elements of whey protein like lactoferrins, immunoglobulin. The whey protein contains 22 grams of protein in 30 grams serving and there are 75 servings in a tub. So you can expect around 1544 grams of protein from a tub of whey. I bought chocolate ice cream flavored whey for just $45 and I guess it’s quite economic. I stacked it with Universal creatine and took it after and before my workouts. The taste is good and I liked drinking it. It’s good in water but tastes great in milk like chocolate ice cream and I took it in milk usually as I am on my gaining period. The consistency is quite granular and uniform. Universal Ultra whey pro mixes fast and without any shakes in water and milk as well. I noticed no clumps and it is quite easy to mix. Though there were some clumps in milk but a little effort will dissolve them for making a protein rich shake. I had some bloating and flatulence while I was using this. I guess there are no digestive enzymes added to the whey and I have been using digestion aids which I stopped while I was using Universal whey protein. I didn’t feel much discomfort but there was some bloating. It’s quite economic and easily available, so it won’t get hard on the pocket and you may order it online or get it from nearby offline store. Other similar whey proteins are Dymatize elite whey protein isolate, Cytosport complete whey and other WPCs. The most important part comes now i.e. effectiveness. I felt it that it helped me recover well and I gained some lean mass as well. I know creatine improves the recovery period and it is also a fact that creatine works best in presence of protein and carbohydrates. Therefore, I took it with creatine and it worked well for me. I took 2 servings after the workout for quick supply of protein to the muscles exhausted after strength training sessions. There are mixed reviews about this product. Some liked it and some didn’t. Many of friends commented about bloating and flatulence may be they must try putting some digestive enzymes in it. This whey comes in 2 lbs to 10 lbs packaging and you may buy 2lbs to just try how it tastes and what you feel about it.   Will I buy it again? – yes, I will buy it in future again.  

I never heard that Weider manufactures his own line of supplements and I checked out this whole new range on a local nutrition store. Weider produces a vast line of sports nutrition supplements and after using their Premium Whey I can comment about the quality. You can get a catalog to see from the range of supplements if your supplement retailer stocks products from the company. I purchased the Weider Premium Whey – strawberry vanilla flavor, 5lbs tub for $60. It’s quite pricey here and I still purchased it after a little bargain. It’s a mixture of whey protein concentrate and isolate. There is 80 percent protein in the tub i.e. 1840 grams of 2300 grams is protein. There are BCAAs and glutamine added to the protein. I used this protein after workouts and first thing in the morning.  It is fast absorbing whey and thus, suitable for using post workout with creatine or one can consume it during the day as well.  I took around 2 servings in water after workouts to get 50 grams of protein. I would like to kick off the review by describing about taste. I won’t say I loved the flavor but it was unique and decent blend of vanilla and strawberry. You may mix it in milk to make a tasty protein shake but in water it tastes good. The taste could have been better. I loved the mild vanilla aroma every time I consumed it. You can see the consistency of the protein in the picture below.  It will stick to the walls but it easy to mix especially in water. I never used it in milk.   Next aspect I want to share is the mixability. There were no clumps, no hardship to mix the whey. You can mix it in shaker in seconds. (You can see the image below, there are no clumps but it looks like washing soap after mixing, LOL)                         I didn’t face any problem while using it. It digests very well and I had no issues like bloating or flatulence.  I am not lactose intolerant so I felt no troubles. Price per serving is quite high. I felt I could have gone for other whey proteins that would have tasted better like ON rocky road or cake batter for a 20% lower price. So, the purchase turned to be a little harder on pocket and this restrains me from buying it in future. The most important part about any supplement is the effectiveness. I took it after workout (2 scoops) and first thing in the morning (two scoops) for a quick protein supply.  I can compare it with cheaper and similar options like Dymatize, ON, Universal if you are looking for whey protein concentrate mixed with fractions of whey protein isolate. Weider premium whey has 20% fractions of whey protein isolate and the whey protein is processed using microfiltration, a process of extracting whey protein that claims to preserve the elements of whey like lactoferrins in a better way. It helped me recover from strenuous workouts and worked well for me. The quality is good in my opinion. I used it with creatine and dextrose post workout. It helped me gain 3 pounds of lean muscle mass. I can rate Weider Premium Whey out of ten to put an overview- Taste, aroma and consistency – 7.5/10 Mixability – 9/10 Digestibility – 9/10 Effectiveness – 8/10 Price per serving – 5/10 Overall score – 7.7/10 Will I buy it again? – NO it’s an expensive whey and I have other alternatives.

MVP Biotech is Canadian supplement manufacturer and it is gradually expanding into other parts of the globe. I’ve used only two products from the MVP’s vast product range i.e. Power Mass Xtreme (Chocolate) weight gainer and MVP Prowhey 3G( in strawberry shortcake and chocolate brownie flavor). I bought these in sale from a local store. The company is popular in Canada and you can find many good reviews about these products on internet. The Power Mass Xtreme iso lean gainer got a long list of ingredients. I bought an 8 lbs tub. There are 23 servings per tub of 161 grams each. There are 65 grams of protein per serving which comes from a blend of whey protein isolate, milk protein isolate, calcium caseinate, micellar casein and egg albumin. You can get around 60 grams of carbohydrates per serving and a complex of essential fatty acids, medium chain triglycerides, fiber, vitamins, glutamine, BCAAs, arginine and betaine. Well, it looks like an outstanding profile and you may not get all this in any other weight gainer in the market. But my experiences with this product aren’t good. The chocolate lightening tastes bitter both in water and in milk. It can be due to the Vitamin B complex added to the product and the BCAAs which you can see separately in the powder. I am disappointed with the taste. Its fine to add vitamin B complex or the BCAA but the taste isn’t good. I am a chocolate lover and fortunately I bought chocolate flavor so I ignored the bitterness. It forms some lumps in milk and in water too. It can be attributed to casein and thus, being a blend it’s harder to mix than whey protein concentrate. So, the mixability is average and it takes time to mix in water or milk. The digestibility isn’t good either. It caused me bloating and I had to use digestive enzyme for improving the digestion of this supplement. It consists of vitamin B complex and this made the urine dark yellowish and I wasn’t very comfortable with this. I was bound to get this for 15 days till the time I was done with the 8 lbs tub. It’s advantageous that you can skip the vitamin B complex tablet when using this but I missed my Animal Pak for these many days which provides better and more effective micronutrient profile in my opinion. The effectiveness isn’t that great as you may expect from such a vast ingredient profile. It was not working for me and I haven’t gained any weight or strength while I was using this supplement. I expected that it would reduce my recovery time but no results. I will do thumbs down for this product from MVP. The MVP Prowhey 3G was better than this gainer and it helped me to gain lean mass. Many of people haven’t used the supplements from this company and if you are thinking to buy I will advise you to compare Cytosport Monster mass, Gaspari Real Mass (not the probiotic one, it’s not good, you will find mixed reviews about it now) and Universal real gains or the Dymatize Elite mass. You can get best value for the money spent by sticking to the reputed brands. So, I will rate it out of ten now to summarize and for an overview: Taste- 6/10 Mixability – 7/10 Digestibility – 7/10 Effectiveness- 5/10 Overall score – 6/10 Will I buy it again? – NO  

Universal is a phenomenal company in the world of sports nutrition supplements and has produced always best and out of the class products for the bodybuilders with special needs of nutrition. It always worth spending money on the Universal supplements and I never second thoughts whenever I vouched for this company.  I have used Universal Ultra whey pro, Animal Pak, Stak, Nitro and Animal Rage and Universal Max Protein that was earlier named Animal Max Protein. I have used 2 cans (it used to come in cans earlier, the packaging has changed from sometime) and the results were awesome. My lifts improved and it enhanced the endurance as well. The ingredient profile will tell you why it is superior to other whey proteins which we will discuss later. Universal max protein was also the most expensive whey I have ever purchased in terms of price per serving or cost per serving. I took this because a friend vouched for this and was very confident about the effectiveness of this product. There are recovery ingredients like glutamine, taurine and creatine monohydrate that make this an ideal supplement for post workout recovery. You may take it at other time of the day as well but I used it for post workout only along in water. It costs around $40 for 24 servings and thus, its quiet expensive in my opinion. It contains 2.5 grams of creatine, 1 gram of glutamine and 500 mg of taurine in every serving. There is 30 grams of protein in approx 42 grams of serving. It is not whey protein concentrate but a blend whey protein isolates hydrolysates and concentrate and egg white. Additionally there are glutamine peptides and isolated casein peptides. Okay, so these were the details about the supplement. I would like to comment about the cons firstly. I didn’t like the taste; it was more like a bland or really mild chocolate. You can feel the creatine crystals with the last sips as it possibly settles down in the shaker. You need to mix it well to fully dissolve the creatine in it. Universal Max Protein is having excellent mixability. Not even a single lump forms if you use it in water. Honestly, I never took it in milk so I can’t review over it. But there are no complaints if you are planning to use it in water immediately after workout. I never felt a bloat or flatulence while using this protein. The digestibility is quite good and this implies that there aren’t any filler added to this whey and I believe this can be used while you on cutting cycle as well because it contains just 3.5 grams of carbs per serving. As I said before, it’s quite pricey and I may get more than 3 lbs whey for the same price or even 5 lbs tub in sale. I wish Universal could supply it in larger packaging at a lower cost. The best part I liked about Universal Max protein is its effectiveness. It can help you recover in very less time. Take it post workout with 40 grams of glucose for insulin spike and creatine, glutamine and taurine are good enough to help you recover from stressful workouts in the gym. My lifts improved while I was using it. Bench press went up by 20 pounds. You can use it if you have sufficient funds. I will criticize Universal’s strategy to sell it in 2.2 packaging while keeping the price so high. You may add creatine to your post workout shake and 10 grams of glutamine as well with BCAA to make a really effective whey protein shake. I will rate it 8 out of 10 will refer it to others for using immediately after workouts.

Cytosport is a world renowned company developing and distributing supplements based on needs of athletes, weightlifters and sportsmen. The company’s R&D is based in USA as well as manufacturing and Cytosport sponsors sports events in various State Universities. Most of its supplements are easily available in my locality so I have used them many times. In this post, I am going to review the whey protein concentrate from Cytosport – Complete whey. You can get a 5lbs tub for $45 to $50 if you are in USA. I‘ve used strawberry banana and cookies and crème flavors and I wish to use the cocoa bean as well. I am going to talk about its quality, taste, mixability and will give it scores in the end, so keep reading. Cytosport Complete whey is a decent product and is having great profile. I bought this whey protein because it has maximum number of servings than other proteins and quality of whey comparable to Optimum Nutrition and other elite brands like Dymatize. Therefore, I consider this as a great option when you are hard on budget. I would start with the taste of the protein powder. There’s an awesome aroma from powders of both the flavors strawberry banana and cookies and crème. I usually took this whey in water after the workout sessions and the taste is not good at all in my opinion. It tastes fine in the beginning but leaves a bad chemical like taste when you just have ingested down. Same thing happens when taken in milk. I have used many proteins before this and I didn’t like the taste of Cytosport Complete whey. It mixes well and instantly without any formation of lumps in milk as well as in water. That’s an advantage if you have bought a tub of this protein powder. I felt some issues with digestibility as well. Though they have added some digestive enzymes but I felt bloating and that was even more as compared to when I used the monster mass gainer. I took papain and bromelain enzyme supplementation along with this whey to avoid flatulence. So, I am not happy with digestibility. It can be due to artificial sweeteners or flavoring that gives out chemical like taste in my mouth. If you look at the ingredient profile you can read 84 servings per container, there were 113 servings per tub in the previous packing. The new labels read 20 grams of protein per serving whereas there was 18 grams of protein in the older variant. But you can get about 1700 grams of first class protein with BV of 103 that works great to maintain and build anabolic environment in the body after such an intense workouts. Okay, the most important part about any supplement is its effectiveness. I will say it works good enough to provide essential macronutrients after workouts and at other times of day as well.  It helps in recovery and I felt good as I was using Cytosport Complete whey to recover worked up muscles. I gained around 2 pounds of lean mass while I used the product. Will I buy it again? Not sure about it.

Nutrex is one of my favorite brands. It’s all products are popular and effective. You can ask for reviews about Nutrex muscle infusion whey protein, Lipo -6 which is very popular fat burner from the company and Nutrex Hemorage Black and Hemorage black ultraconcentrate which are two popular preworkout supplements. I have used three supplements i.e. Nutrex Muscle Infusion, Hemorage black and Hemorage Black UC till now and heard great reviews about lipo 6 black fat burning supplements. You must check other supplements from Nutrex online. Nutrex Niox and Nutrex VoluGro are already in my wish list. I don’t know much of the history about this company but its R&D is based in US and spreading quickly worldwide. IFBB pro Zack Khan is in the team Nutrex vouching for the products range.                           This review is about Nutrex Muscle Infusion which is a blend of different types of proteins just like Gaspari Myofusion and BSN Syntha 6. The latter are the two most popular blends in the market right now and after using the Nutrex Muscle Infusion; I can say it’s nowhere inferior to them.                 I loved drinking the Nutrex Muscle Infusion owing to its taste. One can smell its strong aroma at other corner of the locker room. I took this in water most of the time and it tastes really well in water. You can prepare thick shakes using 2 scoops of the protein powder or mix it with oatmeal to make chocolate milk oatmeal for the breakfast so that every serving will give you more than 600 calories for gaining muscle. Well, you may feel after taking 2 scoops as I felt. Let’s talk about the mixability. One can expect that it will form lumps and mix hardly as Nutrex Muscle Infusion is a blend but ironically it mixes well in water without forming any lumps. Though it takes more time to mix in milk and there are some lumps but I liked its mixability both in milk and water. You can see the image here. I mixed a scoop of muscle infusion chocolate monster in water and you can see that there are no lumps at all.                 Next aspect about the protein supplement is the digestibility. I felt some bloating while I was using this supplement. I would blame the casein and milk protein isolate for this. There are added digestive enzymes but still I felt some bloating that was tolerable. There are 60 servings in the tub and I used it 3 serving everyday for 3 weeks – one scoop before bedtime, one with the breakfast and one with lunch. I never took it after workout because it’s a blend protein made of 7 different types of proteins to provide a sustained release.   You can read about the types of protein in the ingredient profile. On a side there are fast absorbing whey protein ,hydrolysates, egg albumin  and whey protein concentrate whereas on the other side you can see the slow absorbing micellar casein calcium caseinate and mil protein isolate to give a sustained supple of amino acids. It isn’t very pricey and easily available protein. The product helped me recover faster and fulfill my needs for the first class protein during the other times of the day.  Each serving gives you 25 grams of first class protein and I took about three scoops a day which forms 40% of the daily protein requirements. I will buy it again in future. Let’s give it scores on different aspects – Taste, consistency and aroma – 9/10 Mixability- 9/10 Digestibility – 8/10 Price – 8/10 Effectiveness – 9/10 Overall score – 9/10