Brad Murphy

Evlution LeanMode Review – Stimulant Free Fat Burner

Updated on May 11, 2020 by Brad Murphy

If you are susceptible to caffeine and other stimulants your choice of fat burning supplement is rather limited. LeanMode is stimulant free – and one of your choices. How do we rate it? – Read the review.

Leanmode review — Stimulant free weight loss support

PROS
Made by respectable company.
Good Ingredient profile.
Well priced.

CONS
Mixed customer reviews.
Key ingredients missing.

VERDICT – OTHERS PREFERRED
Stimulant free fat burners are never going to deliver the fat burning results their stronger counter do. Having said that LeanMode is decent supplement from a respectable company. If you are susceptible to caffeine you could do a lot worse than buy this.

If you aren’t a sensitive soul then PhenQ should be your fat burner of choice

Evlution LeanMode Review

LeanMode is a stimulant free fat burner developed and distributed by Evlution Nutrition. The company is based in Florida and all its products are manufactured in FDA registered facilities in the USA.

Evlution Nutrition was founded in 2012 by retired BMX pro, Mike Spinner. The company launched its first product the following year and presently boasts a wide range of health and fitness supplements that includes amino acids, testosterone boosters, and pump enhancers.

The thing to know about LeanMode is there are two versions. One is a powder and it comes in a tub. The other is a capsule version and Evlution Nutrition sell it by the bottle.

Although the powder and capsules bear the same name and contain exactly the same ingredients, they cannot really be considered the same product. The inclusion rates are completely different.

The powder contains double the amount of some ingredients and significantly less of others. Due to the staggering differences in inclusion rates, the potential benefits and side effects will not be the same. Each one will need to be evaluated separately.

This is a review of LeanMode capsules. The observations and inclusions presented cannot be seen as being equally applicable to LeanMode powder.

What Are the LeanMode Benefits?

According to Evlution Nutrition customers who combine use of the pills with proper diet and exercise can expect additional support in six areas:

Appetite control
Metabolism
Weight management
body composition
Energy
Antioxidant levels

So What Does All This Mean?

Any attempt to lose weight presents certain problems. As with any other diet pill on the market, LeanMode exists to help make those problems go away.

The first problem dieters face is hunger. That one is a biggie. Any dieter who allows hunger to control them is not going to get far.

Unfortunately, hunger is a very distracting sensation. Resisting the urge to appease it can be a tortuous experience. That’s why so many dieters give in, give up, and get nowhere.

If LeanMode can provide the necessary appetite control, weight loss will become easier.

Overcoming hunger is only half the battle. Sticking to an energy-restricted diet is a great way to force your body to burn fat. However, the same calorie deficit that enables this also causes fatigue.

Most diet pills combat diet-related fatigue by providing caffeine and/or other stimulants. LeanMode is a stimulant-free fat burner so it’s going to have to provide energy in another way.

Apart from (hopefully) combating these two negative aspects of dieting, LeanMode is also designed to provide additional benefits.

The main one is a faster metabolism. A faster metabolism burns more calories. That can be a big help to anyone who is trying to lose weight.

Evlution Nutrition doesn’t explain what it means by “body composition”. It may suggest the company believes the formulation may improve muscle mass.

Nor does Evlution Nutrition mention why antioxidant support is worthy of mention. In fact, the company doesn’t provide much information about LeanMode at all.

However, antioxidants boost the immune system and help protect the body from disease. So, if the capsules are providing them, at least it’s a good thing.

LeanMode Ingredient Profile and Blend Evaluation

Each (3 capsule) dose of LeanMode provides:

Garcinia Cambogia – 500 mg
Green Coffee Bean Extract – 500 mg
Green Tea Extract – 250 mg
Acetyl L-Carnitine – 500 mg
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)- 500 mg

Garcinia Cambogia

Garcinia cambogia is a tropical fruit. The rind of the fruit contains hydroxycitric acid (HCA). This is the all-important chemical that puts much of the “super” in this popular superfruit.

A lot of people believe the ingredient only has value as an appetite suppressant. This is not the case. The HCA provided by garcinia cambogia extracts also prevents and reduces abdominal fat accumulation [SOURCE]

Green Coffee Bean Extract

Green coffee beans contain chlorogenic acid. Roasted coffee beans don’t because the heat from the roasting process destroys it.

Chlorogenic acid is an antioxidant. It also regulates blood glucose levels and inhibits the absorption of dietary fats. This versatile chemical is also associated with numerous other health benefits. Furthermore, research shows it has the potential to reduce body fat. [SOURCE]

Green Tea Extract

Green tea is another ingredient that is rich in antioxidants. In fact, it has dibs at being the most healthy weight loss ingredient in the world. Green tea supports weight loss by increasing calorie expenditure and thermogenesis.

Lots of studies support the use of green tea for fat loss. One clinical trial is particularly interesting because it suggests the benefits may last for 24 hours.

Acetyl L-Carnitine

An amino acid that helps provide the body with energy. Not surprisingly, Acetyl L-Carnitine is often used as a performance booster in sports supplements and pre-workout formulations.

In addition to its other merits, Acetyl L-Carnitine also supports faster recovery after exercise. That’s one of the reasons it’s often added to bodybuilding supplements. The other one is it protects against muscle loss. [SOURCE]

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

CLA is a fatty acid that’s naturally-occurring in beef and dairy products. It’s not one of the most potent fat burners available, but researchers have ascertained it’s value as a weight loss aid.

How to Use Evlution Nutrition LeanMode

Only two doses are required per day. That’s three capsules 30 to 60 minutes before breakfast and a further three capsules 30 to 60 minutes before dinner.

LeanMode Customer Comments

Some customers say the product is a winner, but others say no go.

A few randomly-chosen customer comments read:

“This is working well for me. I’m amazed at how thin I’m looking after just 8 weeks..”
“Maybe it’s my metabolism or maybe I’ve been conned. All I know is these pills are doing zilch for me.”
“I’ve been taking this product for 9 weeks and watching what I eat. So far I’ve lost 17lbs and am content the pills are doing their job.”
“My idea was to use this in place of my usual fat burner. I thought it may work better. My gym routine is the same and my diet has not changed. I was losing weight slowly before. Since the switch, I’ve gained a few pounds back. It’s a garbage product.”
“My appetite is not much different, but I do appear to be losing a little weight. It’s a slow process but I’ve started going swimming a few times a week and I’m sure that helps too.”
“Wow! six pills a day! That’s all it takes. Just six little, pills and you can feel the disappointment too. Try it you’ll see. Better still don’t try this crap. Buy something else instead. You may have better luck. LeanMode doesn’t work.”

Reported Side Effects

No side effects have been reported but LeanMode is not intended for anyone who has pre-existing medical problems. Nor is it suitable for women who are pregnant, nursing, or hoping to become pregnant.

Evlution Nutrition says the product is unsuitable for under 18s as well.

Cutting to the chase, what the company is trying to say is, unless your health is good, LeanMode isn’t for you.

Where to Buy LeanMode

As with all Evlution Nutrition products, you can buy LeanMode via the company website. Many independent online stores have the product as well. Buying via GNC, Walmart, and Amazon is also an option.

There are three packs sizes, including a 10 serving trial size. However, the 30-serving bottle appears to be the most popular option. In fact, it’s the only size available via some suppliers.

The price for a 30 serving bottle is around $20 if you buy directly from the official site (price correct at the time of this review). It can be a little more or less when purchasing via other suppliers.

LeanMode is not one of the more expensive fat burners on the market. However, it’s not as cheap as it may appear. Most competing products are sold in bottles that provide a 30 day supply of pills.

Thirty servings of LeanMode is only a 15-day supply because two servings are required per day. Be aware of that before going all googley eyed over the price.

Guarantee

Evlution Nutrition does not provide a money back guarantee. The company makes that very clear via its returns policy which states in no uncertain terms: “ALL SALES ARE FINAL”.

It may bend the rules a little for items that have been damaged in transit, but that’s the only exception. So if you buy LeanMode and then find it doesn’t work you will have to chalk it up to experience.

Is Evlution Nutrition LeanMode Worth Buying?

The ingredient formulation looks good on paper, but LeanMode is not one of the better fat burning options available. Granted, it beats a lot of competing products on price, but it’s unlikely to beat the better ones on results.

Although plenty of customers say it works, many say that it does not. Cheap or not, that’s a problem for any product that is not backed by a guarantee.

So, how can a product that contains good ingredients possibly not work? There could be many reasons for this. The most obvious one is a failure to use it in association with a calorie-restricted diet. That’s a failing that can scupper any diet though—with or without supplementary support.

In the case of LeanMode, it could be due to a design flaw. The pills are designed to be taken with breakfast and dinner. That’s a long period between the two doses. The effects of the product are likely to be weak or non-existent during the middle of the day.

Then again, it could be the ingredient quality is not as good as it should be. LeanMode is a little cheaper than many other options. There may have been some corner cutting along the way.

It’s also worth noting the fact that, when it comes to appetite suppression, garcinia cambogia is pretty much going it alone. Hunger is a diet killer, so that could be the problem as well.

The bottom line is, LeanMode seems to work for some people, but not for others and it has no guarantee. That’s makes it a gamble. The odds of success are much better with some of the other options available.

Recommended Alternative: Our top rated fat burner is PhenQ. It is suitable for both men and women and can be used as a weight loss pill for anyone wanting to lose body weight. Or it can be used as fat burner or fat loss supplement to remove excess body fat.

SX-7 Revolution Shatter – Pre-Workout

Updated on September 29, 2021 by Brad Murphy

It’s the “ultimate pre-workout with dual-phase technology” according to MuscleTech, the manufacturer of all things HydroxyCut. How does SX-7 Shatter compare to other pre workouts?

Hydroxycut Shatter — Do the best workouts start with Shatter?

PROS
The Best HydroxyCut Pre-Workout I’ve seen to date.
Great ingredients.
Powerful stims.
Fat burning.

CONS
Not the best pre workout I’ve seen.
Usual BS marketing hype.
Two different formulas (dep. where you live).

VERDICT – OTHERS PREFERRED
Although this is the best Hydroxycut pre workout I have seen to date, the bar is not set particularly high.

It is a confusing product with 2 differing formula’s depending if you are in North America or Europe.

There are several other pre workout’s that I would recommend over and above – Check out D-Bal Max for example.

HydroxyCut SX-7 Revolution Shatter Review

It’s the “ultimate pre-workout with dual-phase technology” according to MuscleTech, the manufacturer of all things HydroxyCut.

Many products have a US version and an “International” (non-US) version of their formula, and the HydroxyCut line is a prime example.

In a nutshell: The US allows some ingredients like Yohimbe to be sold, and other countries don’t. This means the international version usually has that/those ingredient/s swapped out for something else.

Muscletech have never been shy about hyping up their Hydroxycut products, and SX-7 Revolution Shatter is no different.

They make some massive claims, and pull some weird competitor-comparison table out of the hat to show you that this pre-workout is the best and others don’t even come close.

The MuscleTech brand might very well be the best selling bodybuilding supplement brand in America, but does that mean they manufacture pure bodybuilding gold, or does it mean their marketing game is strong?

Let’s see how Hydroxycut SX-7 Revolution Shatter holds up to some real scrutiny.

SX-7 Revolution Shatter – The USA Version

The American recipe is the one they want to sell you, because the ingredients it contains are the controversial ones. The ones that make people think they are taking something edgy, potent and maybe, just maybe a little dangerous.

MuscleTech have cottoned on to the fact that anyone with real sense wants to see an open label, i.e. all the ingredients and their inclusion rates laid out to bare on the back of the packaging.

If they could, these companies would put proprietary blend inside proprietary blend all day long, because it means they can put crap all in to the products, and still charge you an arm and a leg for them.

These days however, they are dealing with Customer2.0, that’s you by the way, and you are way more savvy about what you are putting in your body.

What Are the Ingredients and Dosages in the US Version?

The ingredients are presented in the MyoShock™ Performance Blend and the NeuroAMP™ Sensory Matrix

You can take 1 scoop or 2 scoops of the pre-workout, which equates to 50 or 25 servings respectively.

Here’s the ingredients in 2 scoops:

MyoShock™ Performance Blend

3200 mg – Beta-alanine (CarnoSyn®)
3000 mg – L-Citrulline (as pure form and peptide form as PepForm®)
2500 mg – Betaine anhydrous
1000 mg – Taurine

NeuroAMP™ Sensory Matrix

350 mg – Caffeine
250 mg – TeaCrine® using ActivSphere™
100 mg – Lion’s Mane
40 mg – Guayusa
40 mg – Yohimbe extract

Beta-alanine, L-Citrulline, Betaine and Taurine should come as no surprise to you if you’ve used pre-workouts.

They’re there for muscle pumps, intra-set muscle endurance, acid buffering, blood flow, tissue protection (from oxidation). And I’ll say right now that they are included at decent dosages.

However, there might be a few ingredients in the NeuroAMP Sensory Matrix that you’d like to know more about.

Lion’s Mane – aka Yamabushitake is a dietary mushroom that’s associated with cognitive benefits, such as general cognitive function, reduction of anxiety and depression.

Human studies with Lion’s Mane are thin on the ground but it’s showing some great potential. There’s evidence showing it can improve nerve-growth factors in the brain.

This could mean a couple of things: (1) it might be used to help people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. i.e. it could help attenuate the loss of neurons; and/or (b) it could improve cognitive function in healthy people.

Option (b) there is a dream scenario. New neuron growth in otherwise healthy people would essentially equate to enhanced cerebral capacity and processing speed.

The study on humans (Japanese men between 50 and 80 years old) used a 1000 mg daily dose.

HydroxyCut SX-7 Revolution Shatter only has a 100 mg dose at the 2 scoop serving. One tenth of the studied dose.

In itself, that doesn’t necessarily mean 100 mg is useless but going from the study findings of “Yamabushitake is effective in improving mild cognitive impairment” at 1000 mg to the vague “contributes to the unique sensory experience” (at a 100 mg) that MuscleTech/HydroxyCut talk about…is a bit of a stretch.

Now, let’s look at Guayusa.

Guayusa (ilex guayusa) is a tea leaf extract similar to Green Tea and a natural source of caffeine.

It contains phenolic compounds, including Chlorogenic acid (one of the bioactives in green coffee) and several carotenoids of which lutein is the most abundant.

A study has shown it to be safe, comparable to Green Tea at appropriate dosages.

Another study investigating the effects of Guayusa as a natural source of caffeine showed that it induces less of an epinephrine (adrenaline) response than green coffee.

Cutting to the chase, Guayusa doesn’t look like a very potent nervous system stimulator and therefore won’t have much fat burning effect via that pathway. At least, not compared to caffeine anhydrous and even green coffee (and probably green tea).

By the way, Ilex guayusa tea is commercially available as Runa tea. There are probably similar benefits as green tea (C. Sinensis) with respect to antioxidant activity.

I’ll wrap up Guayusa by saying that the study that found less of an adrenaline boosting effect than green coffee also used a 200 mg dose of guayusa.

HydroxyCut SX-7 Revoluton Shatter contains 40 mg at the maximum serving of 2 scoops.

It also contains Caffeine, Theacrine and Yohimbine, the latter being potent, so I’m not too bothered about the dose Guayusa as it all stacks up cumulatively.

However, with a 40 mg dose of Yohimbe extract, 350 mg of caffeine and 250 mg of Theacrine, I don’t see the Guayusa making a drop of difference.

Yohimbine is definitely worth a mention at this point

The 40 mg dose in 2 scoops is actually Yohimbe extract bark, from which the Yohimbine – the active compound – content is estimated.

Here it’s standardized at 6% which yields a 2.4 mg dose of Yohimbine. That’s considered a good starter dose of the stimulant, especially in the presence of the other stimulants in the blend.

That said, there are definitely some precautions you should take with Yohimbine.

Yohimbine can cause anxiety symptoms, even panic attacks, especially in people pre-disposed to such conditions. It’s actually often used in scientific studies: to induce such side effects in investigations of anxiety.
It’s a powerful stimulant and can raise the heart rate, sometimes uncomfortably if combined with intense exercise.
The yohimbe bark used in this product is associated with more side effects than the isolated yohimbine compound.

If you want to try Yohimbine, I would try and find a product containing isolated Yohimbine rather than the yohimbe bark.

Also start with a very low dose, particularly if it’s stacked with other stimulants. And go steady in the gym, on the track or whatever the first few times you use it.

Will The HydroxyCut SX-7 Revolution Shatter USA Version Work?

Yes.

As a pre-workout supplement for getting a muscle pump, as a cognitive booster for focus and drive, even as a fat burner…it will work.

Personally I would like to mess with the dosages a bit so that it’s not simply a case of halving every one of them if you take 1 scoop versus 2 scoops.

Basically, I’d like the option of keeping the MyoShock blend at the 2 scoop doses and the NeuroAMP blend at the 1 scoop dose.

As that’s completely impossible, I’ll say this: Please, if you are unused to stimulants, or pre-workout supplements, take the single scoop – or even half a scoop – on your first try.

Ironically if you use caffeine and other stimulants habitually/daily then you are going to get less out of the product in general.

My advice would be to cycle off stimulants, winding down your daily intake until you are basically on nothing for a week. Then start your cycle on this.

Begin with a half or single scoop on day 1 and see how you go from there.

Rant alert !!! Incoming Rant !!!

I don’t like the way MuscleTech compare their products to the unnamed “Competitor 1” and “Competitor 2”.

I don’t like the way they say it’s “Creatine Free” as if that’s a good thing – Creatine is one of the most proven and effective muscle growth/strength supplements ever.

It means nothing to say other companies “bulk up their formula with creatine” without any context.

Yeah, some companies, e.g. Nutrex and (all hail) Jim Stoppani (JYM Supplements) put Creatine in their pre-workout formula. But they also have massive 26 gram single scoops of ingredients compared to the 16 grams in 2 scoops of the HydroxyCut SX-7 featured in this review.

Winds me up. Anyway…

MuscleTech also say there’s no L-Citrulline and no Lion’s Mane in Competitor 1 and 2. Also that there is Beta-alanine and Betaine in the competition, but the amounts are hidden in proprietary blends.

Exactly who are these competitors, MuscleTech, and why do you select those as your #1 and #2 ???

It’s a crock of sh!t, plain and simple!

These days, every single company with open label products are saying “other companies hide their ingredients in proprietary blends”.

Some still do, sure, but not your main competitors. And all of these companies with open labels are only doing so now because they have been forced out of their BS ways by the trail-blazers.

Rant. Over.

Conclusion: This product will definitely get you going. There’s just no need for MuscleTech to be d-bags about it.

Additional Comments – International Recipe for HydroxyCut SX-7 Revolution Shatter

Yes, right, there is another recipe for people who don’t live in the US, because certain ingredients can’t get through customs.

MuscleTech have taken out the Yohimbe, which is due to the aforementioned side effects of the stimulant.

They’ve also taken out the Guayusa for the non-US version. I’m not sure why but perhaps it isn’t economical to source it in Europe and other countries. Either way, it’s got the boot, but I doubt it’s a safety issue.

Niacin, as nicotinic acid, is the one replacement at 10 mg or 20 mg (1 or 2 scoops). That’s basically a bit of Vitamin B3. In those quantities there’s not much point talking about it because it won’t do much. It certainly isn’t a replacement for Yohimbine in terms of stimulation.

All other doses are the same in the US and International versions. At least with the international recipe you don’t have to worry about the potential for anxiety. Some people might prefer that assurance.

Summary

HydroxyCut SX-7 Revolution Shatter is an effective pre-workout supplement, and in my opinion a vast improvement on many of the previous products in the same line.

There is a lot of quality competition out there though, so I would ignore the blatant marketing trickery of MuscleTech, and encourage you to do your own comparisons.

I understand they have to do something to stand out in a competitive market, but there must also be people like me to balance the equation.

I’m the Yin to their Yang…or something.

Recommended Pre Workout

There are hundreds of pre workout supplements on the market with a hundred different ingredient profiles.

We consider D-Bal Max to be a premier supplement as it contains high dosages of the ingredients to get the most from your workout.

It is suitable for men and women and for people of all levels from the beginner to the competitive trainer

Role of Genetics for Muscle, Strength, Training – Hardgainers and Extreme Responders

Updated on April 23, 2020 by Brad Murphy

Most of the time, informative health, fitness, nutrition and supplementation articles and essays that end up on our computer screens, books and magazines deal with averages and majorities.

You can’t cater to everyone due to the very nature of uniqueness. This is no more apparent than when you offer advice about strength and muscle building to an audience rather than an individual.

The bigger the group, the more generalized your advice has to be. By definition, you have to talk about averages in order to resonate with the majority.

You are, however, an individual, and for some individuals making gains in the gym is not as easy as it is for others.

The topic of genetic predetermination, giving rise to natural talents, or “gifts” as they are so often called, is a subject of unending debate.

It isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon either, and that has a lot to do with the emotional furor that can erupt when dealing with such sensitive issues.

Put two men in a room together, one a self-professed “hardgainer” and the other a professional bodybuilder. The small guy might tell the bodybuilder that he’s just lucky on a genetic level.

The bodybuilder might reply with something along the lines of, “my physique is a result of extremely hard work and determination. You are small because you don’t train like me.”

The argument could go on ad infinitum because they might both be partly correct, and partly wrong, or one might be almost 100% correct and the other almost zero.

No-one really likes the idea that you can be dealt a good genetic hand at birth, for anything, because it negates a lot of that hard work, true grit, steely determination, motivation, drive stuff and replaces it with, “meh, they just have the right genes.”

For the person with the talent, this is a pretty big blow because no matter how close to reality it is, the hard work they have actually put in has lost some meaning.

And for the person who wants the talent but can’t have it, they might have to deal with the fact that no amount of hard work will get it.

Like I said, it’s emotional.

Born With It, Or Not?

The underlying principal of success in any given skill or discipline is hard work, at least that’s what most of the free world is raised to think. “Work hard and the sky is the limit.”

It sort of craps on someone’s parade when they find out just how much of their success can be down to something they have zero control over.

People like the idea that they control their destiny, generally speaking. The notion that much of their life’s fortunes and failings are a product of genetic fate and the chance discovery of it does not sit well.

Truth be told, there’s no easy way to know the actual proportions of success in terms of “practice makes perfect” and “born talent”. At least, not with our current level of genetics science.

Even the research of innate skill/talent variations in athletes is frowned upon. Many nations’ governments are comfortable with, even built upon, the concept of the existence of a god…

…but apparently not one who, at the design stage, programs us individually with advantages or disadvantages relative to one another.

Life would be much more fair if hard-work, grit and determination were the only variables involved in skill level and success.

Alas, genes have a bigger effect than a lot of people want to accept.

Why do some people seem to make such quick progress and I can’t?

On the other hand, genetic determinists – people who think it’s all in the genes – are missing the point of practice. Practice might not make perfect, but it damn well helps.

Despite ourselves, most of us probably think our talents and skills are a combination of the genetic factor and hard-work factor.

There’s more truth in that assertion than any of the extreme points of view. Of course there’s a mix. The elite bodybuilders of the world still have to put in the work, just like the fastest marathon runners, and strongest powerlifters.

But how much impact can our genetics have on our ability to get stronger, bigger and more powerful? That is, after all, what most readers are interested in.

How much of my potential has been pre-determined for me?

What can I do to improve my strength and hypertrophy gains?

Why do some people seem to make such quick progress and I can’t?

There are so many questions. I can’t answer them all. Like I said, we just don’t know enough, and modern, western science tends to avoid the issue for fear of opening a gigantic can of worms.

Still though, some research has gotten through the cracks, and it’s overwhelmingly obvious that innate genetic variations from person to person can lead to large differences in their ability to grow massive muscles.

To the initial question: Born With it Or Not? – It’s too simplistic. For example, there isn’t a singular on/off switch for muscle growth potential in response to resistance training.

There are a bunch of genetic switches with complex variations, and yet more to be discovered, but the odds of having all the switches turned on to give you the perfect genetic propensity for muscle growth are trillions to one.

In all likelihood, there has never existed a single human being who was born with the royal flush of activated genes.

Pre-Training Variations in Body Type

The fact that there can be a large genetic influence should be obvious from the start if we’re honest with ourselves.

Even before doing a single session in the gym, muscle mass varies pretty wildly from individual to individual.

Your natural size and strength is not necessarily a factor in how strong and big you can get from training, but it’s a good indicator as to what sort of template you’ve been born with.

Obviously diet and activity level as you grow up into adulthood are major factors in your “novice” strength and size, but even if those are accounted for, genetic variations make a big difference.

Bone density, size and strength variations are – all else being accounted for – highly subject to genetic combinations.

Even the distribution of slow-twitch (type 1) and fast-twitch (type 2) muscle fibers can be genetically pre-determined to a large extent.

All in all, about half of your variability relative to others in adult pre-training muscle mass, physique dimensions and skeletal structure have been dialled in before you even start training. Before you were even born!

people can have hugely different muscle growth responses to a specific resistance training exercise.

Genetic Trainability for Muscle Size and Strength

You’d think if there was any logic to this, the people who have a genetic head start – i.e. naturally bigger frames, muscle mass and strength – would be the ones who would respond the best to resistance training.

After all, why would they be naturally big and strong if it wasn’t a sign for them to be an even greater physical specimen?

To that, and any other questions of a similar philosophical flavour, I would strongly urge you to give up asking why, because that discussion quickly descends into unresolvable debates.

What we know from studying people under controlled conditions is that people can have hugely different muscle growth responses to a specific resistance training exercise.

A study looking at the differences between the subjects response to bicep training showed that the variation in muscle size ranged from about a 60% increase down to some that got smaller!

Strength-wise there were people who didn’t increase at all, to someone who increased their one rep max (1RM) by 2.5 times their starting strength.

The average response was 19% in size and 54% in strength.

In scientific studies, people who don’t improve in response to the training (or test) stimulus are called non-responders.

Note: Non-responders are only technically non-responders for the test in which they have been studied. Their biceps size and strength might not get bigger in the specific training program of the study, but they might from a differently designed program.

Also, without full body training, no-one can know whether the non-responders are only so for that muscle group.

The same subjects are not called up time and again to test different parts of their bodies, with varying training volumes and styles, so it’s impossible to say for sure what could be, given some tinkering.

Other studies, including a better designed study which controlled the nutritional intake of the subjects, give us a better picture as to what happens.

Muscle hypertrophy – the growth in size of muscle tissue – appears to be the largest variable when it comes to the differences between non-responders or hardgainers and average/extreme responders.

Putting some numbers to that: extreme responders have been observed adding four times the lean mass of a “low-responder” during a 3 month training program, with controlled nutritional intake.

Variations in strength improvements however tend to be far smaller, to the point of statistical insignificance.

How can there be such a difference in variation between strength and size trainability?

There might be a couple of reasons that combine to cause this to happen.

Firstly, when you begin a resistance training program, you will see dramatic increases in strength during the initial 2 to 3 months.

This strength boom is largely attributed to neural adaptations taking place, which is a fancy way of saying you learn how to lift heavier weight with your existing muscle mass. The ongoing discussion between your brain and muscles is fairly efficient at this and so you improve quickly.

Even really low responders/hardgainers will experience this ramp-up of strength in the early stages because their slower rate of muscle mass growth is not necessarily holding them back.

After 6 months, the strength increases might level off. We don’t really know from a research perspective because these studies don’t go for that long.

Limitations of Scientific Studies

I started this article by saying how unique everyone was and that information which fits the majority is not necessarily useful for everyone.

That is unfortunately where scientific research leaves us much of the time. Studies that have investigated the effect of genetic differences on variability of response to resistance training mostly tell us that genetics clearly play a significant role.

What they don’t offer is much in the way of solutions for people who might be considered low-responders or non-responders.

The biggest limitation is highlighted by the uniqueness of the individual subjects.

The high responders and the low responders to a particular exercise at a specific frequency with heavy weight might not be the same low and high responders to another exercise, using another muscle group, at a different training volume with low-load-high-rep training.

What’s more, studies only last for a virtual blip on the possible timescale of a person’s training career.

Given personalized training programs and a lot more time, who’s to say a “non-responder” won’t start to make real progress?

In fact, a study conducted in 2017 demonstrated that perfectly, when individually designed training programs were given to the subjects.

Every person in the study got stronger with the personal program whereas only about two-thirds of the standard cookie-cutter program participants did.

Studies are a snapshot, and only provide a glimpse. As an individual you have many years to mess with your training program and see what produces the best results for you.

Hardgainers and Non-Responders – What Are the Implications?

There’s no avoiding the fact that some people are born with a better set of genes lit up than others when it comes to muscle and strength adaptations to resistance training.

You might be roughly aware of your own circumstances already if you’ve got a good base of comparison and solid observation skills, but even then it’s hard to take much away from observing similar people doing similar training.

You might be wondering if you are a “hardgainer” – the gym bro word for low/non-responder – and hoping for some kind of sign as to what you can do about it.

There are medical DNA tests but they are far from accurate and they only test for the genes that are known about, which aren’t fully understood and aren’t even very good predictors of training response potential.

A much more satisfactory approach would be to acknowledge the limited research that highlights the advantages of personalized training programs.

Something simple as increasing training volume can literally make the difference between success and failure for a hard gainer. However, it may be a reduction of training volume that is necessary if the problem you have is not allowing enough time for the recovery process plus the overcompensation/growth process to occur.

The occasional investigation like this one even broadens the measurement criteria to show that when people train, there will always be some positive response.

The same study actually followed a group of 65+ year olds and resulted in only one non-responder for strength gains.

That demonstrates again that there is a much lower rate of non-response for strength, and given it’s amongst a group of people 65 years of age and over, the chances of younger people experiencing non-response in strength numbers is as good as zero.

Training Volume and Intensity

I mentioned earlier that increasing or decreasing your training volume might be the key to unlocking some growth responsiveness from said training.

When we break muscle in the gym, it must be repaired before it overcompensates and grows bigger. Overtraining can interrupt the process even for moderate to high responders because the process is curtailed after the first recovery step by another training session, which damages them again.

One theory floating about with respect to hardgainers is that they have a larger than average inflammation reaction to the training/damage phase which may last well into the phase in which growth would normally occur.

With that in mind, if a hardgainer with this inflammation response problem trains alongside a moderate responder they might not be seeing gains purely because they are cutting the growth phase off every single time.

Training intensity can make a difference too, especially combined with volume alterations. There is evidence to show that different people respond differently to high-intensity-low-volume compared to low-intensity-high-volume.

Intensity here refers to how much weight is being lifted, and volume, how many reps/sets. Another way of looking at it is high-weight-low-reps versus low-weight-high-reps.

Muscle grows in different ways from both approaches and it’s entirely possible that people who don’t respond well to one will respond well to the other.

Consistently getting 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night is one of the best ways to ensure you are getting enough time to recover and grow.

What Can You Do as a Hardgainer or Low-Responder?

My advice to hardgainers, if you think you are indeed a low-responder for muscle mass and strength adaptations is to first and foremost optimize each of the variables that you have ultimate control over; diet and sleep being the most obvious.

You will be surprised at how many people aren’t eating the right amount and types of food to generate an efficient anabolic response. For a hardgainer, that aspect is going to be even more important.

Sleep is the time when our bodies can do the most muscle building. You break it in the gym and build it in bed. Consistently getting 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night is one of the best ways to ensure you are getting enough time to recover and grow.

Stress is another important factor to get under control. Hormones related to stress are notoriously bad for muscle growth and energy levels. Getting that additional sleep will help, as will improving your diet, but there are other things you can do. Explore them because they will help.

Once you’re on top of those aspects of life, you can look at training volume and tinker with it. The best thing is to increase it at first, because the results will be the most obvious if they change.

Within that increase of volume, you can adjust your intensity to suit your fatigue level. If you are having trouble growing muscle in size then it’s worth exploring high-volume-moderate-intensity (high rep sets of moderate weight) and tweaking the weight and rep-count up and down.

When you do this, you have to give it enough time to be allowed to work. The first adaptations to a change in training might not be apparent for a while so it may need a few of months to kick in.

Document all your numbers and muscle measurements, science the shit out of it, and enjoy the process.

Some ergogenic training supplements can help. Some type of Protein supplement is no-brainer for muscle and strength development.

I’ve also written an article on Creatine Monohydrate which you should take a look at if you haven’t already considered it. Eventually there will be many more articles related to supplementation.

Exercise Variations for Accelerated Muscle Mass Growth

Updated on February 11, 2020 by Brad Murphy

Mna on workout machine varying exercises

Exercise Variations for Growing your Muscle Quickly

I’ve discussed set design, rep variations and load manipulation in previous articles, all of which I encourage you to read if you are interested in maximizing muscle growth from your training.

This article will cover another element of training that you can play with to stimulate improved mass gains: the exercises themselves.

There are several changes that can be made to the exercises you do, including the order in which they are performed, your body position, the type of grip you use, unilateral versus bilateral and so on.

Again, the exercise changes trigger adaptations to be made that can improve your strength and size improvements when you return to your regular training program or move on to another variant.

Extended Sets

The extended set describes a lot of sets. The “extended” part simply refers to the set lasting longer than it otherwise would due to something you do to allow it.

A dropset is technically an extended set because in the process of reducing the weight in increments, you can keep working the muscles to failure again and again within the same set.

You can extend a set by changing your grip on a barbell. Moving from a close to wide grip on the bench press, for example, can enable you to push out a few more reps in the set.

Adjusting your stance in a squat or deadlift can similarly extend the set. Widening your stance throughout a set of leg exercises should help you squeeze more from the set.

man working out on machine vary his sets

Hardest to Easiest

Perhaps the most effective extended set variation is that in which you adjust your position through the set from the most difficult to the easiest, while using the same load from the beginning to end.

Put another way, each positional shift puts your body in a stronger position to complete the movement you are doing.

The best example of this in my opinion will always be the bench press or dumbbell bench press with an adjustable bench. For optimal results, the bench should be able to be adjusted from incline to decline.

The trick here is to use a weight which you can only complete mid single figure reps with on the incline bench press. This will be a load that sits in your strength building range of 4 to 6 repetitions.

The first portion of the set you should complete 4 reps in the incline bench position. Your only break is the quick time in which it takes to adjust the bench to its flat position.

For the second portion of the set you should attempt to complete another 4 reps but only if this does not work your muscles to failure. If you can only perform 2 reps then so be it. Once complete, adjust the bench once more to its incline position.

In the final portion of the set you should rep to muscle failure in the decline position.

When you perform a set like that, what you are doing is using a load which is normally within your strength range of a maximum or 6 reps and extending the set to a range more synonymous with hypertrophy, somewhere in the range of 8 – 12 repetitions.

Muscle Fibers

All that you change is your position, which in turn helps you recruit more muscle fibres to complete the task. By making your position stronger throughout the set you are extending the set, and thus heightening the stimulus for hypertrophy.

This has excellent carry-over to your regular strength and hypertrophy training.

There are several exercises within which you can change position to achieve similar results. The shift can range from something as simple as a grip to the kind of equipment manipulation discussed in the adjustable bench press example.

Another good example for an extended bench press set using dumbbells involves changing your grip each time.

Start with your grip reversed (palms facing you) and complete the first portion of the set like that. You can do this either on a flat bench or a slight incline.

The reverse grip may feel odd at first if you are not used to it, but you will find that pushing the dumbbells up from closer to your waist will begin to help.

This grip activates the upper pectoral muscles more than an incline bench with regular grip does.

Reverse Grip

The reverse grip is also the most difficult to perform out of the three grips in this extended set.

For the second part of the set, you should twist the dumbbells roughly 90 degrees so that you have a neutral grip (neutral grip is what you would use for dips on parallel bars).

The third part of the set should be completed with a traditional bench press grip / overhand grip (aka prone grip), i.e. knuckles towards your face.

I’ll give a third example, and that is the pull-up. If you are used to doing bodyweight pull-ups and want to get more out of them, this extended set is for you. You can obviously add weight if you need to as well.

The hardest form of a pull-up is the prone, or overhand, grip (palms facing away from you). So begin your set with those.

If your gym or home equipment has neutral grips, then move to those next (parallel, palms facing one another).

Next move to under hand/reverse grip and complete the set to failure. This last element is the easiest form of a pull-up because it recruits your biceps and allows you to tuck your core more tighter.

Unilateral Exercises – One-Sided Lifting

If you follow major fitness publications, or social media trainers, you’ll see unilateral training is becoming a big thing.

Oddly, those of us who know what we’re talking about, and don’t just follow trends, have been doing one-sided lifts from the very beginning.

A basic example is the shoulder press. Bilateral shoulder pressing involves a barbell, or two dumbbells. being pressed vertically to train both left and right deltoid groups.

Unilateral training involves lifting only with one side at a time. There are lots of benefits to this.

Bilateral Deficit

Bizarrely, our bilateral lifts are not as strong as the sum of their equivalent unilateral lifts.

The weight you can push on your one-arm dumbbell press is probably more than half of what you can bench press standard.

A number of studies have confirmed this to be true, though they can’t quite explain why. It probably has something to do with more support and stabilizer muscles being recruited for one side rather than being shared by both.

Another interesting paradox is that by training unilaterally, the bilateral deficit becomes smaller!

Cross Transfer

Perhaps even weirder than the bilateral deficit thing is that training on one side of your body improves the strength of the untrained side.

Again, there’re studies to back this up, no matter how crazy it sounds. In fact, there are instances of people training certain muscles for several days on end but only on one side of the body. When their untrained side was tested afterwards it had gained considerable strength. [source].

This phenomenon is called cross-education, or cross transfer. It also goes a long way to support the theory that initial strength gains are largely a case of neural adaptation over physical growth.

Either way, strength helps size and size helps strength, so unilateral training is good.

Core Improvements

Another benefit is to your core muscles and stabilizers. Your core’s purpose is not to flex the spine (as most people who do crunches seem to think).

The core muscles are stabilizers, there to resist other movement by bracing and acting as a counter point.

Building the core group of muscles also helps improve your overall strength and keeps you injury free.

Unilateral lifting encourages new growth and strength improvements in a novel way, by making the core activate in different ways to provide counterbalance to the one sided lifts.

The carry-over to your other training is excellent.

Adaptation

Aside from the other benefits, unilateral training is another stimulus for growth. Perhaps your weak side is weaker than your strong side by enough to make a difference to your regular training.

If that’s the case then adding some unilateral training into your program, or indeed following it as a program for a while, will help to bring your weak side up to par with your strong side. When you then return to bilateral training, you will notice the difference immediately.

Often, we don’t realize we are creating imbalance with bilateral training. Our strong side can take over and our core compensates for it.

The lift might look perfectly fine on inspection, when in fact there is an ever-growing differential being introduced between your left and rights sides. And ultimately, that can start to show in your appearance, and through injury caused by imbalance.

Unilateral training: it’s not just a gimmick. Try it out and get the benefits.

Training Different Muscle Fiber Types – Fast-Twitch and Slow-Twitch – What You Need To Know

Updated on June 8, 2021 by Brad Murphy

This is an exciting post for me to write, mostly because it’s one of those subjects that misinformed people and broscientists think they absolutely know everything about.

When, as usual, they don’t even know the half of it.

Muscle Fiber Types and the Training Techniques

Muscle fiber types and the training techniques to grow their size, increase their number or increase their strength is the basis of a lot of weight lifting talk, both in and out of the gym.

Of course it’s been a subject scientists have been interested in getting to the bottom of, not to mention professional athletes and coaches.

Can you train in a way that increases your slow-twitch (Type 1) or fast-twitch (Type 2) muscle fibers? Or will you be making a workout mistake and wondering why you are not making the muscle gains.

The age-old broscience response is, of course:

low-rep count with high weight/load for fast-twitch fiber growth; and …

high-rep count with low weight/load for slow-twitch fiber growth

You’ve probably also heard it said that Type 1 (slow-twitch) are predominantly activated for muscle endurance, and Type 2 (fast-twitch) for short spells of high power and strength.

You may even have come across some sage advice about which muscles are type-I or type-II dominant, and how to train them thusly.

So, what’s true, what’s almost true and what is BS?

Continue reading, and you might just be surprised what you get out of it, specifically in terms of directly applicable and practical tips for your weight training.

Muscle Fiber Types 1 and 2 – An Overview

There are two main types of muscle fiber.

Type 1 = Slow-twitch fibers
Type 2 = Fast-twitch fibers

There’s also two basic sub-categories of Type 2:

Type 2A
Type 2X

Type 2A are somewhere in between Type 1 and Type 2X.

The force output requirement of the task you are performing determines which muscle fibers are recruited by your nervous system.

It happens in a sequence called the Principal of Orderly Recruitment, starting with Type 1 fibers activating in greater and greater numbers until Type 2 are brought in.

If the load/force requirement keeps increasing, your muscle will ultimately reach the point of failure when there are no more Type 2 to recruit.

Type 1 fibers take the longest to fatigue, which is also why they are the principal muscle fiber type used in endurance sports like triathlons and marathons.

It’s also why the theory of low weight – high reps training is a logical approach for growing Type 1.

When you lift heavy weight, the first few reps recruit mostly Type-2 fibers, so that training type for that muscle type obviously follows.

Type 2X fibers are even more powerful than type 2A but they endure much less again. For training purposes, they are not very useful because their time of effect is extremely small, as is their proportion in trained muscles.

Therefore, when resistance training and other physical exercise is discussed, any muscle fiber talk will refer to Type 2A.

Both Type 1 and Type 2 can produce about the same amount of force per unit of area.

That’s interesting because people often think force and power are interchangeable, and also that Type 1 muscles shouldn’t be able to exert the same force as Type 1.

It’s true that Type 2 are more powerful but that’s because they can exert the same force over a shorter period of time.

Training and Muscle Fiber Growth

Different training triggers different growth responses in type 1 and 2 muscle fibers.

Resistance training, more accurately strength training, tends to elicit a higher growth response in Type 2 fibers by a quarter to three quarters more than in Type 1.

Athletes who train for and compete in power dominated sports such as the shot put or sprinting have a higher proportion of Type 2 fibers.

Likewise, endurance athletes like distance runners, cyclists and triathletes grow more Type 1 compared to Type 2.

Endurance sports and type 1 muscle draws energy from fat storage and oxygen, whereas sprinting 100m is requires anaerobic respiration fuelled by glycogen and phosphocreatine stores.

It might seem odd then that proportions of Type 1 to Type 2 fibers in bodybuilders and lifters are roughly the same as they were before they started training.

So what does that mean for your muscle fiber types? And, more importantly, how can you use it to your advantage with respect to your training?

The answer to the first question is: if your weight training is the dominant part of your program, then you most likely have a fairly even split – 50/50 – of Type 1 to Type 2 muscle fiber, with perhaps Type 2 having the edge.

The answer to the second question is more interesting.

You may have read my article about concurrent training and part where I discuss quadriceps training, particularly the observational study that saw quads grow larger in response to strength training plus endurance training compared to strength-only training.

It now seems more obvious why this would be the case. Your quads are roughly 50% type 1 and 50% type 2. It might stretch to 60/40 from one individual to another but the proportions are close enough to make the following argument:

Concurrent training builds bigger quads than focused strength-only training because it’s building both muscle fiber types equally.

Now, take most muscles you train and try and work their Type 1 fibers out using a treadmill or a static bike and you’re going to look extremely silly.

That’s where we come back to the low weight – high reps style of training.

To maximize growth, at least from the perspective of muscle fiber type, which definitely has an impact on size and strength of the muscle, perhaps a mixture of high load and low load training is a good idea.

An Interesting Muscular Exception

There are some muscles that don’t have an even split of muscle fiber types. Mostly they are those muscles with functions irrelevant to training such as tiny fast-twitch eye muscles.

There is one “macro” muscle that can be 80% to 90% Type 1 (slow-twitch), and that’s the soleus.

The soleus is one of your calf muscles – not the gastrocnemius, which are higher up and recognized by their tell-tale “split” when they are well developed. The soleus is on the inside of these and extends most of the way down your achilles tendon.

You can always tell a runner from their well developed soleus muscles.

Training Specificity Based on Individual Muscle Fiber Proportions

As always, it comes back to what you want to get out of your training. As far as performance goals are concerned, it’s fairly easy.

if pure strength is your goal then you have to lift heavy and often and, at some point in the near future, increase the weight. Your muscles overcompensate and grow in order to be able to handle that kind of weight better then next time.

For strength gains in the 85% 1RM and above kind of training, the growth will largely take place in the form of myofibrillar hypetrophy – basically the contractile proteins in your muscle fibres.

The degree of Type 2 fiber development will probably exceed Type 1 but don’t forget that powerlifting athletes – who live for the squat, deadlift and benchpress triple – end up having proportions of type 1 to type 2 that are similar to the un-trained Joe.

Endurance athletes will train primarily in the realm of their chosen sport, be it running, cycling, triathlon or whatever. The distance, time, fuel requirements and so on will undoubtedly lead to greater Type 1 development, and of this there is little doubt.

Bodybuilding, where size of muscle growth takes an equal or even greater priority than strength, it seems appropriate to mix your training methods up as I mentioned earlier

But what about your body type, and muscular make-up?

It’s fine to say that on average, muscle doesn’t tend to have overly unbalanced proportions of muscle fiber types, and training specifically for Type 2 doesn’t even seem to change that very much.

However, there are exceptions. And those exceptions probably play a role in an athlete becoming exceptional at one sport or another.

So, can you somehow find out what type of sport or training you’d be more suited towards, based on your muscle fiber proportions?
And, can you actually convert your muscle fiber type from one to another?

The answer to both questions is, not really.

In terms of finding your Type 2 fiber proportions for example, your different muscle groups might be slightly different, so that talking about your quads might not be relevant for your chest.

Secondly, this has been investigated in a couple of studies (here’s one of them…oh, and here’s the other), where scientists sought to discover whether there is a connection between proportions of muscle fiber type and the amount of repetitions a weight lifter can perform at a certain (usually high) percentage of their one rep max (1RM).

These studies were attempts to verify or debunk theories that lifting 85% of you 1RM for 6 reps or more means you are Type 1 dominant, lifting less than 4 reps, you’d be Type 2 dominant and anywhere between that would mean you have an even spread.

The flaws in the theory are plentiful, and doesn’t address the glaring issue of what a Type-1-dominant person compared with a Type-2-dominant person’s maximum single lift (1RM) would be if all other factors were equal.

Similarly the number of reps you can do varies exercise to exercise even using the same muscle group. For example, I can do more reps of 85% of my leg press 1RM than I can of my squat 1RM.

Skill is another massive factor. Someone who’s squatted for a year won’t be as skillful in the movement as someone who’s done it for a decade. Skill development in the case of compound lifts refers to many factors, including technique, neurological adaptation, support muscle growth, nervous system function and flexibility.

Going back to those studies, the second one even involved taking biopsies (samples) of the muscle tissue itself. That study (Terzis et al) found less of a correlation to reps at % of 1RM than the previous one (Douris et al), and that wasn’t very convincing.

The Douris study should a significant correlation of repetitions and weight to type 2 muscle fibres but it was so small as to be virtually insignificant.

And the more invasive study was even less impressive. It found that only 4% of the difference in lifting certain weight at certain reps was down to the participants’ muscle fiber types.

Summarize That Last Section, Please

Basically, you’d have to go and get chunks taken out of every one of your muscles and lab tested to get even a slightly accurate idea as to their fiber type proportions.

And, it would have to be more than one chunk from each – to get an average spread, because muscle fiber type can change across the span of muscle tissue.

No-one should have that procedure done, and it’s not clear from lifting weights at this or that percentage of your one rep max whether you are Type 1 or Type 2 dominant.

So don’t bother.

To answer whether you can convert you muscle fiber from type 1 to type 2 – again, not really.

Some kind of extreme muscle damage can cause it to happen, as can old age, but neither of those things are relevant to a person looking to improve physique and strength healthily (that would be you).

Conclusion – Muscle Fiber Type – Go Big, Go For Both

For me, it all comes down to how you use the knowledge you have. Now you know a little more than you did about Type 1 “slow-twitch” and Type 2 “fast-twitch” fibers.

Perhaps you are more enlightened than before, or perhaps I have confused you. I’m sorry if it’s a case of the latter.

I try and write these things as concisely as possible, but oftentimes brevity doesn’t help the subject matter stick, it just leaves more questions than answers.

My answer to the muscle fiber debate is to pursue the path most obvious. We have two main types of muscle fiber. Training them both will stimulate both to grow.

If size and strength are important to you, this should be good news. Instead of focusing entirely on high-rep-low-load or low-rep-high-load training you can do both. Variety being the spice of life, I hope that is music to your ears.

Still, depending on your primary goal, you can have a dominant focus in your training, and a secondary focus. If increasing your maximum lift is your main goal then you should primarily attack your high-load training, with some high-rep thrown in.

Perhaps your main aim is to be a massive brute. If so, primarily focus on moderate-high rep training with some heavy low-rep stuff on top.

The beauty of all of this is that you no longer have to limit yourself to certain lifting practices to make headway, and you don’t have to think in terms of fast-twitch or slow-twitch.

D-Bal Review – Muscle Gainer, Great Bulking Supplement, Legal Dianabol Alternative

Updated on July 21, 2021 by Brad Murphy

If you are looking for fast muscle gains and want to avoid the harmful effects of Dianabol then D-Bal is the supplement you should look at. It is made by CrazyBulk and also ideal for increasing strength and stamina.

D-Bal from from GGHC — DBal is completely legal and available to buy direct. It can be used on its own or part of a stack (bulking stack)

PROS
Rapid muscle gains.
Rapid strength gains.
Boosts testosterone.
No side effects.
Great stacking options.

CONS
Doesn’t ship to some counties (Asia)
3 tablets required per day.
Available only via CrazyBulk.

VERDICT
A great product if you want to naturally gain muscle quickly. It can also increase your strength and stamina. D-Bal is a true natural Dianabol alternative for the bodybuilder who wants results fast but safely.

D-bal can only be ordered directly from the official CrazyBulk website. The website has been translated into many languages and alternative currency options are offered ($, CAD$, AUD$ € and £).

Can be used as a standalone product or part of a stack to maximum results.
Please note: No CrazyBulk Coupon Codes are in effect due to the current special offers.

GET D-BAL Direct

D-Bal is available from the official Crazy Bulk website. You can change currency to USD$, CAD$, AUD$, GBP£ and Euros. You can also change the language.

CrazyBulk D-Bal Review – Before and After Results

D-Bal from Crazybulk is ideal for anyone who wants rapid muscle gains. It is a bulking supplement that you take 45 minutes after your workout.

It will give you increased strength and stamina and can be used as a standalone mass gainer or as part of a stack.

D-Bal has the reputation of being the best Dianabol alternative on the market. People love it. Even former steroid users. In fact, many of them say it works as well as the steroid it’s designed to replace.

The are many real life before and after pictures of D-Bal results (scroll down for some impressive results). We have included several before and after photo’s from real customer as we feel this add to the products validity.

In this D-Bal review, I’m going to take a closer look at the product and it’s ingredients and find out what makes it such a big noise.

As a note to you, the reader – we test the products. We either buy them or contact the company and ask for samples.

What is D-Bal?

D-Bal belongs to a class of bodybuilding supplements called legal steroids. Supplements of this nature don’t present any of the dangers associated with anabolic steroids.

Using legal steroids won’t get you banned from competitions and it’s not against the law. D-Bal is actually a pretty important steroid substitute too because it replaces Dianabol.

Dianabol is one of the most popular anabolic steroids in the world and has been for more than 50 years. This is an amazing feat because the Dianabol steroid can screw up your health in a lot of different ways.

It can damage your liver, push up your blood pressure, and ruin your sex life. Dianabol is bad news, but it’s good at building muscle so a lot of bodybuilders don’t care. D-Bal exists to provide them with a safer option.

Who Makes D-Bal

D-Bal is one of several legal steroids developed by CrazyBulk. The company specializes in producing this type of supplement. It’s all it does. CrazyBulk has not diversified its activities into other areas, so it’s not spreading itself thin.

That may explain why the company enjoys such a good reputation as a legal steroid provider. In fact, ask anyone who is in the know and they will tell you CrazyBulk is #1.

CrazyBulk products are favoured by athletes at both ends of the scale. Many professional bodybuilders choose CrazyBulk products to help fuel their muscle growth and keep them lean. It’s equally popular with amateur bodybuilders as well.

However, CrazyBulk’s outstanding success as a legal steroid producer has not tempted the company to push up the price. That’s great. Nobody should have to pay extra just because a product has “a good name”.

D-Bal Pros and Cons

Improved workouts
Faster recovery times
Rapid muscle gains
Increased strength
Higher testosterone levels
100% natural ingredients
Vegetarian-friendly
No side effects
Stack with other legal steroids
Good customer reviews
Fairly priced
No competition bans
Safe and legal steroid alternative

Only available directly from the manufacturer
3 tablets required per day
Single bottle orders can be pricey (large discounts given on multiple months/stacks)

D-bal Benefits and Main Selling Points

Massive muscle gains
Through-the-roof strength increases
Vegetarian-friendly legal steroid
Results within 30 days

How Does D-Bal Work?

D-Bal works in three ways.

1. It Increases Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is the name of the process that builds muscle tissues and causes your muscles to grow.

Exercising your muscles causes the muscle tissue to break down. Even rookie bodybuilders know that. What’s really happening is all that physical exertion is causing tiny tears on a cellular level.

Blood flows to the damaged tissue, bringing with it the amino acids necessary to make a repair. This is protein synthesis and the body overcompensates by making the muscles bigger and stronger than before.

However, the muscles only grow when muscle protein synthesis exceeds muscle protein breakdown. That’s why over-training and/or failing to provide the body with enough nutrients causes muscle loss.

If you are training right and eating/supplementing right, your muscles will grow. D-Bal gives protein synthesis an incredible boost that helps you to pack on extra muscle in record speed.

In fact, some bodybuilders have gained up to 20 pounds in less than 3 weeks by using D-Bal.

2. It Improves Nitrogen Retention

Nitrogen is also important to muscle growth. Your muscles normally obtain it from food.

Fats and carbohydrates consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They do not provide nitrogen. Any nitrogen you obtain from your diet has to come from protein.

When you workout, your muscles lose nitrogen. This causes a negative nitrogen balance and muscle wastage.

If you want to remain in an anabolic state, you need to maintain a positive nitrogen balance.

You probably know people who workout regularly, but never make any gains. You may even have this problem yourself. This failure to progress can be the result of a number of things. A negative nitrogen balance is one of them.

Don’t sweat it. D-Bal’s ability to improve nitrogen retention will allow your body to absorb more protein and make your muscles grow.

3. It Boosts Testosterone

Apart from being the male sex hormone, testosterone is the most important anabolic hormone in your body.

Testosterone also helps boost energy levels and makes the body less likely to store fat.

It’s important for a lot of other things too, including strong bones. A lack of testosterone can even cause depression.

The problem is testosterone production peaks during adolescence. After that, it’s downhill all the way.

Even bodybuilders who are in their early 20s may be being held back by the fact that their testosterone levels are down.

D-Bal tackles this problem by providing an ingredient that improves testosterone production. The upshot of this is you will be able to train harder and longer and get better results.

D-Bal Ingredients

A lot of legal steroids contain too many ingredients. This often results in inadequate doses. It also increases the likelihood of interaction issues.

The supplement companies that take this approach probably do so to try and make their products seem more complicated. They want to blind you with science.

CrazyBulk is different. All the company’s legal steroid formulations contain just a few serious ingredients in serious doses. D-Bal is no exception. It contains just six powerful ingredients.

Each 3-capsule serving provides:

MSM (750mg)
L-Leucine (600mg)
L-Isoleucine (150mg)
L-Valine (150mg)
Protease (150mg)
Ashwagandha Extract (300mg)

Additional Information

CrazyBulk D-Bal has no binders or fillers and the formulation is free from wheat, colorants, preservatives, and yeast. It’s also 100% vegetarian-friendly.

D-Bal Ingredient Evaluation

CrazyBulk only uses pharmaceutical-quality ingredients and all the company’s supplements are manufactured in GMP certified and FDA inspected facilities. That means D-Bal is a quality product.

Now let’s take a closer look at the ingredients one by one and see what’s going on in this formulation.

MSM(Methylsulfonylmethane)

Okay, we’re off to a good start. MSM is an organic sulfur that occurs naturally in fruits vegetables, grains, and milk. It’s also possible to produce MSM in a lab.

MSM is good for reducing inflammation and it’s often used as a treatment for arthritis. However, it’s more likely to be included here because it helps prevent muscle cramps. That and the fact that it may reduce the risk of exercise-related muscle damage.

The normal dose usually ranges from 500-800mg per day. D-Bal provides 750mg per day so, as far as the MSM dosage goes, CrazyBulk has got it spot on. [SOURCE]

L-Leucine

Leucine is one of three important branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) your body uses as a raw material for muscle growth. The body needs other amino acids as well, but BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, valine) are of paramount importance.

There are 20 amino acids in total, but BCAAs make up around 33% of all muscle tissue. Leucine is the most important of the three and 600mg is a generous dose.

As soon as leucine enters the cells it triggers the kinase enzyme mTOR and protein synthesis begins. It’s the key that sets things in motion. [SOURCE]

L-Isoleucine

Isoleucine is the second most important BCAA. It participates in protein synthesis and regulates blood sugar and energy levels. The body also needs isoleucine for hemoglobin production.

Studies show supplementing with isoleucine helps prevent muscle wastage. This important BCAA also has a lot of respect for its ability to help heal muscle tissue and increase levels of physical endurance. Again, CrazyBulk is providing a very good dose. [SOURCE]

L-Valine

Although valine is the least important of the three BCAAs, it still plays an important role in protein synthesis. Your body needs it for muscle growth and tissue repair and it’s good to see CrazyBulk has not split up a winning team. D-Bal provides the top-three amino acids.

Apart from supporting protein synthesis, the trio also works together to improve nitrogen retention. [SOURCE]

Protease

Proteases are enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of proteins and make their amino acids available.

All proteins consist of amino acids linked together by a peptide bond. Some proteins contain just one peptide bond. Others have several thousand. Proteases break the bonds so the amino acids can be put to work.

Active proteases are distributed throughout the body. They’re part and parcel of the human machine.

Although their presence in D-Bal will not aid the BCAAs they are blended with, proteases will work well beside them.

By speeding the breakdown of protein-rich food and protein shakes, proteases will be able to help ensure the muscles get all the amino acids they need to heal and grow. [SOURCE]

Ashwagandha Extract

Ashwagandha is a popular Ayurvedic herb. Its uses include reducing inflammation, modulating thyroid function, and relieving stress and anxiety.

On top of its other abilities, Ashwagandha also increases stamina and endurance, but that’s not all.

Research shows using Ashwagandha supplements alongside resistance training can produce significant increases in muscle mass and strength.

Additional benefits recorded include reduction in exercise-induced muscle damage, increased testosterone levels, and reduced BMI. [SOURCE]

How to Use D-Bal

D-Bal is intended for bodybuilders who are hungry for fast muscle gains and increased strength. It’s also good for bridging between cycles and maintaining gains.

The recommended dose is three capsules per day. All three capsules are taken at once. The best time to take them is 45 minutes before your workout.

For best results, CrazyBulk suggest using D-Bal in cycles of 8 weeks on, followed by 1.5 weeks off.

Basically, you need to be thinking about using it in a similar way to a pre-workout supplement. Just train hard, eat right, get plenty of sleep, and let D-Bal do the rest.

The Kind of Results You Can Expect with D-Bal

D-Bal is for people who want an awesome physique and are willing to work for it. If you are looking for some kind of magic pill you need to stop dreaming and get with the program. Presuming you’ve already got the right attitude, here’s the kind of D-Bal experience you can expect.

Improved Workouts

As soon as you start taking D-Bal you’ll be amazed at the changes to your workouts. Becoming stronger will make the weights seem lighter, so get used to stacking extra weights onto the bar.

Additionally, you’ll find you have more endurance and can keep going for longer as well. Most D-Bal users also report experiencing a phenomenal pump.

“I was using steroids before and they were really screwing me up. The crazy bulk stuff has made a big difference to my life. I find I workout harder and do more on this than I could on dianabol. The pumps are fantastic and there are no negatives to it at all.”

Faster Recovery Times

Because D-Bal provides BCAAs and improves protein synthesis and nitrogen retention, it makes you heal faster.

So, even though you will be working out harder and lifting more weight, muscle soreness should be less of a problem.

“Jesus, this D-Bal is good stuff. It’s got me training like a crazy person, but my muscles don’t feel nearly as sore as they should.”

Rapid Gains

The average natural bodybuilder only gains between 0.5-1lb of muscle per week. Most people who are using D-Bal for bulking find they are regularly gaining 1.5-2lbs of muscle per week.

That’s an incredible improvement and it’s natural. There are no needles, steroids or anything nasty that can damage your health.

“I bought one bottle to see how things went. By the time it was empty I’d gained 7 pounds of pure muscle. That’s amazing. I’ve just ordered a few more bottles. If something works for me I stick with it.”

D-bal Stacking Options

D-Bal is designed to be included in training day and non-training day stacks (as specified by a sports nutritionist).

It stacks best with DecaDuro (Deca Durabolin), Anadrole, (Anadrol), Trenorol (Trenbolone), and Testo Max (Sustanon).

Potential D-Bal Side Effects

There aren’t really any side effects as such. If there were it would be a big problem for CrazyBulk because D-Bal is intended to provide steroid benefits without steroid side effects.

However, one of the things the formulation does is boost testosterone. Because of this, you may find yourself experiencing an increased desire for sex.

You may also discover you’re getting erections more often and more easily than before. This isn’t really a side effect though.

Think of it as a sexual enhancement. Sure, you may find yourself having to wear your shirt untucked from your pants a little more often, but there will be compensations as well.

The Dianabol steroid would be more likely to make you impotent. D-Bal is a better option right across the board.

D-Bal Customer Reviews

The customer feedback and comments are very positive. Here are a selection

“I’m upping the weights every time now. Two weeks ago I was curling with 20s, now I’m doing the 28s. I was actually expecting to have a bigger problem with muscle soreness. The truth is it’s working the other way. Damn this is good stuff.”
“I bought 3 bottles for the price of two. I’ve just finished the first bottle and I’ve gained 6lbs so far. The good thing is I’m gaining muscle not fat. I’m a lean, mean D-Bal machine.”
“Works like a dream. Helps me to train harder, and I’ve already packed on 10 pounds of extra muscle.”
“Great product. Really works well. I use Anvarol for cutting and this stuff for bulking and strength.”
“When I switched from Dianabol to the Crazy Bulk version it was the best decision of my life. Dianabol was making me feel really ill, but D-Bal doesn’t have any side effects at all. It works well too. Almost as well as the real thing in my opinion. There’s no going back for me now.”
“D-Bal has got me in the best shape of my life. I just got back from a holiday in Rio. I noticed I was getting a lot of extra attention from all the hotties at the beach. Next time I go I’ll leave the wife at home.”
“I’ve never used a product like this before, but it’s working really well. My gains are through the roof. There are some interesting fringe benefits as well. I don’t feel so tired now when I get home from the gym and I get harder boners now than I did back in school. This stuff is doing wonders for my marriage. After 20 years, things were getting stale, but not anymore.”

D-Bal Review Summary

D-Bal is designed to provide benefits that are similar to the anabolic steroid Dianabol and to do so without causing side effects. The combination of ingredients in D-Bal has the ability to do these things, so full marks for CrazyBulk there.

Customer reviews are also exceedingly good. That’s an important point to remember. The best people to say how any product works are the ones who have experience using it.

For most people, the price of a product is always an important consideration. The fact that the people at CrazyBulk have not let success go to their head and jacked up the price is a further point in the product’s favor. The cost per bottle is very fair.

It’s also good to see customers presented with an opportunity to obtain three bottles for the price of two. The fact that there are no shipping costs is good as well. It means the price customers see is the price they pay.

CrazyBulk has a reputation for supplying the best legal steroids in the world. It’s a reputation that is both well earned and well deserved.

If you are presently looking for a safe and legal Dianabol alternative, you won’t find a better option than D-Bal. It’s top of its class.

Where To Buy D-Bal

You can only buy D-Bal from the CrazyBulk website. Don’t try and buy it elsewhere. If you see it on other websites, including Amazon and eBay, the product will be a fake.

The people responsible for distributing fake supplements are very good at duplicating bottles, but the pills inside them won’t be able to duplicate the abilities of the genuine product. They may even contain ingredients that could make you ill.

So, if you want to buy D-Bal, the CrazyBulk website is the only place to go. However free worldwide shipping is offered on all orders.

Customers also get 8 training and nutrition guides, along with a free subscription to a tips and tricks newsletter. CrazyBulk used to sell the guides for $150, so getting them for free is a pretty good bonus.

As far as the price goes, D-Bal is surprisingly cheap. You’re only looking at paying $59.99 per bottle (30-day supply).

That’s a very reasonable price, especially for a legal steroid of this quality, but it gets better. If you order two bottles, CrazyBulk throws in a third bottle for free.

CrazyBulk offer of three bottles for the price of two does not restrict you to a single product though. They allow you to mix and match. That’s pretty useful for anyone who is planning on building a stack.

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