I was recently contacted by a friend of mine working for The Protein Works (TPW) telling me how good their new pre-workout supplement ‘Raze’ is and how I have to try it as this is the best hgh brand for bodybuilding. As much as I am happy to take pre-workout supplements, I do not usually buy them purely because I am pretty tolerant to them and aside from a small boost, a headache, and a big comedown after my workout, I just don’t feel them enough to spend my money on. Anyway, my friend insisted I give it a try and had so much confidence in it that he sent me a 500g bag, so here is a little personal review.
Ingredients
Starting with what is in the pre-workout supplement Raze here is a breakdown of the ingredients per 25g serving. (taken from The Protein Works)
For those of you who are already familiar with supplements, you will know these ingredients make for a pretty impressive pre-workout. Straight away you notice 5g of IBCAA’s, these are usually more expensive than standard BCAA’s due to how easily they mix in, this means unlike with some other pre-workout supplements you mix in your shaker, the ingredients of Raze will not leave unmixed BCAA’s to swallow at the bottom of your drink (as much as we all enjoy those bits..:) ).
The added B6 vitamin also helps with the bioavailability of the ingredients in Raze. Creapure is one of the highest quality forms of creatine monohydrate and for some of us the 4g serving is enough for one day but see more on this below. The 220 mg of caffeine worked very well for me, enough to feel very awake but without overdoing it and giving a bad headache or comedown when it wears off. Glucoronaltone is a pretty new ingredient to me but I believe this is one of the most notable ingredients in Raze, it claims to boost energy levels, increase alertness and reaction times as well as improving performance and mood when taken with Taurine and caffeine, which are both already in Raze, meaning it works out pretty good for us. So why do I think Glucoronaltone is so effective? Well although I got all the usual benefits of a pre-workout supplement, I felt extremely positive, motivated, and focused about my workout, much more than usual, to be honest, I felt great!
Serving size and cycling
The ingredient list/quantity shown above is for a 25g serving. TPW recommends taking 3 and a half (12.5g) to 7 scoops (25g) per serving. I went straight for the 25g serving, however, if you are new to pre-workouts I would recommend starting with the 12.5g serving after all that’s the use of going through the bag faster when you can benefit from smaller servings. If you feel the 12.5g serving was not enough, up the dosage to a 25g serving. Eventually, however, after continued use of any pre-workout supplement that contains caffeine, creatine, and beta-alanine I would recommend taking a break so your body does not become tolerant to the ingredients. There is no set time you have to follow but personally, after 6-8 weeks of continued use I would simply take a month off before doing the same again. Then again some people (including myself) only use pre-workout supplements when they are feeling tired or have a hard workout coming up, therefore the frequency of use is less and may not require any cycling at all. Listen to your body, if you feel you are no longer feeling the effects of your pre-workout supplement, take a month off.
What to expect from Raze
Raze, like most pre-workouts is designed to ‘take your workouts to the next level’ in other words, improves your workout giving synergistic effects due to the well-thought-out ingredients.
-increased energy levels
-an increase in performance intensity
-Greater pump
-increase in focus and motivation
-no come down after your workout
Due to the beta-alanine ingredient in Raze you may feel tingling on your skin about half an hour after, this is nothing to worry about, just one of the effects of beta-alanine, this doesn’t last long.
Creatine and beta-alanine
A quick note, If you are taking beta-alanine and/or creatine please bear in mind there is 1.5g of beta-alanine and 4g of creatine per 25g serving of Raze. It is fine to take Raze whilst taking beta-alanine and creatine separately but make sure you include the quantity’s from Raze into your daily intake. for example, if you are taking 5g of creatine and 3g of beta-alanine each day, you would only need 1g of creatine and 1.5g of beta-alanine for days you take Raze (25g serving).
Flavor and ease of mix
Raze is available in the flavor‘ Orange blast’ and as far as pre-workout supplements go, it tastes pretty good! I wouldn’t go as far as to say “I could sit and drink it all day it’s that good!” but it is certainly more than tolerable, the smell is pretty damn good though, smells like orange cordial. As far as mixing goes, I used a shaker every time I had Raze and it mixed up very well, easier than most pre-workouts do. This could be down to the BCAA’s being IBCAA’s. I was not actually asked to write a review for Raze, however, I felt this was the least I could do for a supplement that does exactly what it says on the tin! As of writing this review, I can easily say this is one of the most effective pre-workouts I have used, maybe even one of my favorite supplements due to the fact you can feel the benefits straight away, and I am yet to have a bad workout following Raze. I would recommend Raze to anyone looking for that extra boost during their workouts and to keep them feeling determined throughout.