Will VolcaNO Extreme give you the pump. Read the review and find out what’s in it, how it works and what its user say.
Force Factor VolcaNO Extreme helps you achieve your maximum strength and power potential, it triggers a potent mind-muscle connection and unlocks relentless pumps and endurance…
…according to Force Factor, the manufacturers.
Nitric oxide boosters that come in capsule form have never gotten past me without getting completely ripped apart.
Capsules simply don’t have the space to fit the mass of powdered ingredients required to give you a good muscle pump.
For starters, the current scientifically proven dose of Citrulline-Malate (the most effective NO booster known) is between 6000 mg and 10000 mg, i.e. 6 to 10 grams.
And that’s just the first ingredient. Muscle pump, NO boosting, vasodilation pre-workout drink powders usually go on to include some other pump ingredients, plus the usual energizers and muscle nutrients.
Try and take that as a pill and you’d be swallowing something the size of one of King Kong’s nuts.
With that said, I’m willing to give anything a chance. After all, there could be some kind of new ingredient that I haven’t yet tried.
Why Use Force Factor VolcaNO Extreme?
I don’t know about you, but for me the pump is extremely important.
I’ve been studying supplements and muscle building for years, and ever since the start I’ve been tinkering around with individual ingredients and formulations trying to get swole AF on a daily basis in the gym.
Dietary nitrates are my first stop: lots of leafy greens and foods like beetroot. But a well stacked pre-workout supplement puts ingredients together that would otherwise be tricky to acquire.
Force Factor make some other products that I’ve been pretty impressed with, for example LeanFire Ultimate, which is a good fat-burner, albeit a pricey one.
So, putting my misgivings about capsule NO boosters aside, Force Factor say Volcano Extreme is legit, and it does contain a decent spread of ingredients.
I’ll open up the formula next and have a look at what it can actually do for you.
What Are the Ingredients and Dosages?
Each bottle of VolcaNO Extreme contains 90 pills, which equates to 30 servings at 3 capsules each.
Force Factor advise you to take it on workout and rest days so that’s a 30 day supply.
There is two blends within the formula. Bother are completely open-label, i.e. we know the precise inclusion rates of the ingredients.
Nitric Oxide Strength Matrix – 3150 mg
- 1500 mg – Inositol-Stabilized Arginine Silicate (Nitrosigine ®)
- 750 mg – L-Citrulline
- 750 mg – Creatine HCl (CON-CRET ®)
- 150 mg – Grape Seed Extract
Mind-Muscle Optimization Blend – 105 mg
- 100 mg – Alpha Glycerylphosphorylcholine (AlphaSize ®)
- 5 mg – Toothed Clubmoss
Nitrosigine is a stabilized arginine silicate which lasts a lot longer than regular arginine in the human body. According to the research [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4603712/] it is fast acting, elevating serum (blood) arginine levels within 30 minutes.
It also keeps them elevated for more than 1.5 hours. The study used a 1500 mg dose and so does VolcaNO Extreme. Arginine is the principal NO booster in the body.
Citrulline is considered better than basic l-arginine as an oral supplement because it survives the initial break-down process and makes it to the kidneys where it is converted to arginine.
Usually, L-Citrulline is taken at doses of 4 to 6 grams and when combined with malic acid to form Citrulline-Malate it is often taken in 6 to 10 gram doses for maximum effect.
VolcaNO Extreme contains only 750 mg of L-Citrulline. This may have some positive effect due to the presence of Nitrosigine.
Creatine HCl included at 750 mg is not altogether that useful. Creatine accumulates in your cells, forming a phosphocreatine reservoir. Creatine monohydrate is still the cheapest and best, and is my recommendation for creatine supplementation.
The small inclusion of creatine here feels like an afterthought.
Grape Seed Extract studies have shown an impressive increase in blood flow as a result of supplementation. However, they employed much higher dosages of 2 grams and 400 mg (from the two most relevant studies so far).
AlphaSize is a patented form of Alpha-GPC, which is one of my favourite ingredients of all time.
The mind-muscle connection is a weird, undefined, almost pseudoscientific phenomenon, but to anyone who lifts, it’s as real as it gets.
Alpha-GPC boosts neurotransmitter acetyl-choline which has a major influence on the neural triggering of muscle contraction force…ergo, the actual mind and muscle connection.
It’s a good ingredient, and one that is expensive to get hold of in any meaningful amount.
Ideally you’d want 500 mg of the stuff but you won’t find that much in a multi-ingredient product because it would cost so much.
Toothed Clubmoss is in for its Huperzia serrata, or Huperzine-A, content. It works in concert with Alpha-GPC because it inhibits the enzyme – acetylcholinesterase – that breaks down the acetylcholine that Alpha-GPC boosts.
Will The Force Factor VolcaNO Extreme Work for You?
When I first looked through the ingredients on the label of VolcaNO Extreme I was unimpressed.
That’s mostly because when I have an “NO booster” in my hand, I look for some key NO boosting ingredients and their inclusion dose.
Citrulline is often the first one I look for, and it’s in at 750 mg which is about 15% of the dose you ordinarily take.
Creatine is almost pointless in this product. You can buy 6 months worth of creatine monohydrate for half the price of Volcano Extreme.
The Nitrosigine, Alpha-GPC, and Huperzine-A sort of neutralize my urge to be wholly negative though. They are great ingredients, but they wouldn’t make me spend another pile of cash on this product.
My opinion: stick with your heavily dosed pre-workouts for getting swole.
Recommended Alternative to Force Factor VolcaNO Extreme
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.
D Bal Max is suitable for men and women and for people of all levels from the beginner to the competitive trainer
