Jack3d review

The pre-workout Jack3d from USP labs seems to be becoming more popular these days so here is my review of the product. I have never bought the product but have taken it on many occasions before a workout.

Let me start off by saying i DO NOT recommend this product. Why? The ingredients are not broken down individually- they advertise it as a 'Proprietary Blend' which anyone who knows anything about marketing knows that this is just a bullshit technique so they do not have to let people know their shitty doses. This way they can add high amounts of the cheaper ingredients and smaller amounts of the more expensive ones. I will break down the ingredients and their effectiveness anyway but please do not read too much into them we do not know the doses and when I asked them if they could provide me with the amounts they said 'No, sorry, this is part of USPLabs’ proprietary blend.'

Ingredients:

1,3-Dimethylamylamine HCL- often shortened to DMAA.

This ingredient is a stimulant which gives you a focused, energetic feeling. It has no beneficial effects whatsoever performance wise to your workout apart from making you feeling pumped up. This is a very strong ingredient which is often used as a 'filler' in ecstasy pills as it gives a similar feeling but is obviously much cheaper. There have been some cases of death after taking large quantities of this substance and for anyone that likes DMAA I would recommend stocking up on it ASAP- believe me it will not be long before it is made a controlled substance in the USA and the UK. New Zealand made the substance illegal on April 7th 2012. The substance is also not permitted for some bodybuilding competitors (WADA,MLB,NCAA). There are some negative effects to this- increased heart rate, nausea, sweating, anxiousness and a feeling of depression a few hours after taking it due to low serotonin levels. This is not highly tested and some long term effects are not known. 

**UPDATE 16/07/12**- after releasing this article, a few people disagreed with the statement that DMAA has no beneficial effects on performance. Just thought I would add this study from dmaaresearch.com which shows 'that acute oral ingestion of caffeine and 1,3-D alone or in combination does not significantly improve exercise performance'. I think anyone that thinks that it does help are feeling placebo effects but then again if that works for you then by all means use it. 

Caffeine

This is  the best pre-workout supplement out there hands down. I do not need to talk too much about this as we all know it's effects. Cheap, safe, works. This will probably be at 150mg -200mg per scoop as it is so cheap so please be careful taking 2 scoops as 400mg is a very high amount and can cause stress on the heart due to increased heart rate.

Arginine

This is a form of Nitric Oxide which increases blood flow to muscles. There is absolutely NO evidence whatsoever that 'the pump' or this ingredient in particular does anything for muscle performance.

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine is a very good supplement. I have 2 problems with this is- an average male needs >3g p/day to stay at muscle saturation and we don't know what how much we are getting per scoop which is not helpful. It is a very cheap ingredient so it is likely a high amount but not enough and if you are not taking this product every day then it is pointless. The second problem is- this can be taken at ANY TIME OF DAY. Taking it pre-workout has no benefits (no negative effects either, it just seems like a waste putting it in and taking advantage of people not knowing when it can be taken). However, I do recommend supplementing with creatine. For more info regarding creatine see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine

Beta Alanine 

This is another great pre-workout ingredient but I do not think they have dosed it high enough (studies show 3-6g is effective) for 2 reasons: 1) It is expensive. 2) You get what is called 'beta alanine tingles' after consuming this amount which I did not feel. This is like an itchy feeling on your skin 10-15 mins after consumption. People say you get the feeling after taking 2 scoops so it is most likely dosed at 1.5g but like I said- with 2 scoops you are getting dangerous amounts of the stimulants. This controlled study shows the effectiveness of beta alanine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20091069/? H 

Price

I can find it for £18.99 for 250g ($24). This is 45 servings. I did some quick calculations at a bulk ingredient supplier and i can get all these ingredients separately, mix them together AT SAFE AND TESTED DOSES and this will cost me about £20 for about 150 servings rather than 45. So unless you are just buying it for the taste then I think Jack3d is overpriced and do not recommend buying it for the reasons stated above. I would recommend making it yourself. And like I said, stock up on DMAA if you love it as it will be banned soon YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!! The FDA love controlling poorly tested stimulants when a couple of people take too much on a night out (heard of ephedrine?) even though it can be safe in small quantities.


Any questions, please ask.
Tom