Ghost Pump Review – Pre-Workout Vasodilator

Ghost Pump is the GOAT Pump Product, according to the company that makes it. “A year in the making”, they say. “The greatest ever”, they claim.

VERDICT – OTHERS PREFERRED
Ghost Pump is a good product. It is very nearly a great product.

There does appear to be a lack of real customer reviews – sure you can see tons of positive reviews but nothing beats a real person (not an already swole bodybuilder) holding the bottle.

If you wanted to buy Ghost I wouldn’t try to dissuade you too hard but I would seriously advise checking NO2 Max Nitric Oxide booster before hand.

Ghost Pump Review

Ghost is a relative newcomer to the sports, ergogenic and bodybuilding supplement industry, but it’s already making waves on social media with their daily activity.

The company is one of quite a few juniors that have landed on the scene with a loud statement at the ready:

– Transparent labels, scientifically proven ingredients, effective dosages, no BS.

Having learned from the mistakes and successes of the industry’s behemoths, Ghost and their peers have the option of starting off on the right foot, and hitting the ground running as a result.

I’d say they’re making a good go of it as well, which is more than I can say for some of the upstart supp companies out there. I won’t name and shame just yet.

Their products, so far, are going down a treat, and while their message, marketing and mingling might be on point, the real litmus test is the efficacy of the product.

So, is Ghost all noise and no trousers? Or do they have a winning formula with Pump?

Why Use Ghost Pump?

I mean, how much different can one muscle pump supplement be from the next? Surely we’ve got a grasp of the best ingredients and dosages by now.

You’d think so, but the reality is we still have much to learn about these ingredients, and we have more ingredients – natural and anthropogenic – to discover.

That said, we do have a scientifically supported effective dosage range of most of the currently known commercial muscle pump ingredients.

So, the key is whether companies like Ghost are willing to put those clinical doses in their products. That determines effective supplements from the crap ones.

What differentiates the effective ones from the must-haves is a combination of things.

1. A little added pizzazz, in the form of a unique ingredient inclusion or additional benefit
2. Strong flavour game – yeah, you chug this stuff but it’s better when it doesn’t taste like the sack sweat of an ostrich jockey
3. Money money money – hey if I can afford another tub because you’re not ripping me off, then you’re one up on those dudes charging for a silver tin for, ummmm, no reason whatsoever.

Why Ghost Pump over another?

Well, as you’ll see in the ingredient section, they check all the boxes I’ve highlighted to above. They have also elected to leave stimulants out of it, which allows you to caffeinate or otherwise stimulate, yourself to your heart’s content (‘scuse the pun).

There’s also the fact that they’ve prioritized the vasodilation / nitric-oxide boosting / muscle pump benefit over everything else. Literally every ingredient in Ghost Pump has some beneficial effect on blood flow, vascularity and hyperemia.

For me, a good muscle pump is the primary thing I’m looking for in a pre-workout supplement, and that’s because of its utility in the gym.

More blood to the muscles = more oxygen and nutrients. It also means your muscles look jacked because that increased blood flow is being pumped into the tissue in response to the mechanics of concentric and eccentric repetitions under load.

That doesn’t just look great. It feeds into the very cascade of reactions that ultimately trigger an anabolic growth response. You see, the pressure that the increased blood traffic puts on the cell walls in muscle tissue is one of the signalling mechanisms for the hypertrophy process to begin.

Increase that muscle swell and the signal is a little stronger. Add to that the additional work you can put in because of reduced fatigue and improved muscle oxygenation, and you have the anabolic programming for getting permanently jacked.

What Are the Ingredients and Dosages in Ghost Pump?

Again, it’s open label so the ingredients and their inclusion rates are all there on the packaging.

Here’s the formula in 2 scoops of Ghost Pump, which is 17.5 grams. There are 20 x 2 scoop servings in each tub:

• 4000 mg – L-Citrulline (vegan fermented)
• 2500 mg – Arginine Nitrate (NO3-T®)
• 2000 mg – Taurine
• 1500 mg – Glycerpump™ (Glycerol Powder 65%)
• 300 mg – Norvaline
• 200 mg – Pine Bark
• 50 mg – Astragin® (Astragalus membranaceus and Panax notoginseng)

L-Citrulline

L-Citrulline is the daddy of muscle pump and anti-fatigue ingredients. Citrulline converts to l-arginine in the kidneys, which in-turn boosts nitric oxide, which signals blood vessels to widen for increased blood flow.

Taking arginine itself used to be the way, but arginine is very quickly broken down before it reaches the blood. It’s still the key component to the muscle pump, but inside your body.

Arginine Nitrate – NO3-T®

Arginine Nitrate’s presence in the formula might make you think my comments on arginine above are wrong, or that this formula is weak.

It’s neither. This patented form called NO3-T takes advantage of nitrate bond allowing it to last a hell of a lot longer in your system.

The dose of 2500 mg is probably the strongest available on the market.

Two powerful pump ingredients at whopper doses, and we’re only 2 ingredients in.

Taurine

Taurine has quietly become a regular in pre-workout supplements across the board. It can increase blood flow, supplying yet more to the Citrulline / NO3-T swell.

A recent meta-analysis – the king of scientific studies (because it’s a study of studies) – informed us that taurine is beneficial for endurance too.

Taurine is an organic osmolyte, meaning it can regulate the volume of your cells via hydration. This serves to protect the cell during oxidative stressors such as exercise.

In many ways taurine is a lot like a neurotransmitter, and likely exerts positive effect on cognitive function, though no nervous system receptor has been found yet.

All in all, taurine remains a bit of an enigma, but one that is undoubtedly vital to survival and beneficial to supplement. The 2 gram dose is safe, and double the average industry dose.

GlycerPump™

GlycerPump is a patented form of high-yield glycerol that is a massive 65% glycerol by weight (old school clumpy glycerol powder was about one tenth, 10%, glycerol.

It’s more stabilized for better mixing and absorption (again, do you remember the clumps of old?).

Dosage is key here – 1500 mg at 65% yield is high!

The glycerol of yesteryear required grams of the stuff because of the low yield, poor mix, instability and clumpiness. Glycerpump (which is made by Pinnacle Ingredients by the way) requires less powder to work…but even then Ghost still put 1500 mg in!

Norvaline

I told you there’s nothing but pump ingredient after pump ingredient in this stuff.

Norvaline works as the NFL blocker for Arginine in your blood.

…what?

Nitric Oxide (NO) levels are boosted by arginine, which is increased by the L-Citrulline and the NO3-T. That NO then triggers vasodilation, and hence the muscle pump swoleness.

To regulate the process, an enzyme called arginase is also set loose. This inhibits arginine and caps the NO production. It’s a good thing, because it creates a cycle, rather than a runaway reaction.

Norvaline blocks some of the arginase, which keeps your serum arginine doing its thing for longer, and boosting Nitric Oxide for your whole workout and a good while afterwards.

Basically, Norvaline extends the cycle, so you can extend your PPUUMMPP.

Pine Park for Pinus Pinaster at 95% Proanthocyanidins

“Pine bark in pump products is nothing new” says Ghost. They go on to say that the Pinus Pinaster genus has some hefty science in its favour with respect to NO boosting, performance and endurance.

It’s probably a bit of a ball-ache to look these things up yourself so I’ll throw a couple studies your way.

By the way, Pycnogenol is a branded form of French Pine Bark extract, which happens to belong to the Pinus Pinaster genus that Ghost are talking about:

• Here’s a study looking at vasodilation and NO production
• This study evaluated triathlon performance by athletes supplementing pinus pinaster extract, and of “normal subjects” having a crack at the Army Physical Fitness Test
• One study showed pine bark can even improve cognitive function, attention, mental performance and professional skills

There’s quite a lot more out there as well but I had those knocking around on my laptop and thought they added a bit of meat to Ghost’s claims.

If you don’t have time to dive into those links, suffice it to say that this ingredient improves performance, both mentally and physically and can boost nitric oxide production.

The Army fitness test and triathlon study there used a 100 mg/day and 150 mg/day respectively.

Ghost have lobbed 200 mg in to the formula. Because why not!

AstraGin®

AstraGin is a patented blend of Astragalus membranaceus and Panax Notoginseng. It’s purpose in the blend is to improve the absorption of amino acids, proteins and glucose.

Here’s a video from NuLivScience’s website explaining the ingredient’s benefits:

The two component herbs have also been studied for their neuroprotective capabilites, and found to also increase levels of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), improve energy metabolism and delay/reduce apoptosis (cell death).

A great ingredient to round out the formula.

Will Ghost Pump Work for You?

That is a very loaded question. We like Ghost Pump – when this review was first written we pretty much drooled over it

This is one of the best dedicated muscle pump pre-workout supplement I’ve seen. Yes it should work for most people, and it’ll do it tasting beautifully as well.

Ghost are making stackable supplements the right way. You could use Pump on its own and you’ll get monster swole, but they’ve elected to keep stimulants out of it.

Some of you might have seen that as a disappointment, but it’s actually what makes the most sense.

Think of it like this: Ghost have probably made the industry’s most effective muscle pump product by focusing entirely on ingredients that achieve that goal.

Adding a cursory 300 mg of caffeine would mean you wouldn’t be able to just dump a half or whole scoop of Pump into another stimulant based pre-workout.

It’s also at a price point that makes it feasible. You can buy Ghost Pump PLUS your stimulant/thermogenic pre-workout and stack the two together for not much more money than your all-in-one pre-workout…and I can almost guarantee the combination will do more for your workout anyway.

Ghost are partnering with other companies to make the Warheads flavour, and to include the GlycerPump, AstraGin and NO3-T, and they’re doing it in style, with good taste and with potent efficacy.

It’s hardly surprising they’ve made such a product when the CEO of the company is a huge fan of getting swole.

A man after my own heart.

Recommended Pre Workout

Although Ghost Pump is a premier supplement I feel that NO2 MAX is simple unbeatable.

NO2 MAX contains high dosages of the ingredients to get the most from your workout.

NO2 MAX is suitable for men and women and for people of all levels from the beginner to the competitive trainer.

Read the NO2 Max review