Hey guys, Sean Nalewanyj here of BodyTransformationTruth.com, and in this video I'm going to be doing a
quick review of Mike Chang's Afterburn Fuel Pre-Workout Product, otherwise known of course
as "Mike's Magic Red Drink".
So you've probably seen the ads for this particular supplement plastered in every corner of the
web just like I have, but what is the real truth when it comes to Afterburn Fuel?
Is this a well formulated and worthwhile supplement, and is it worth the price?
So you can find hundreds of other reviews online for this product by simply running
a basic Google or YouTube search, but what most people don’t realize here is that almost
all of the reviews and write-ups that you find for this product are NOT actually written
by knowledgeable, credible fitness experts.
They’re written by affiliate marketers who are promoting the product in order to earn
commissions through their referral link, and this is why virtually every single Afterburn
Fuel review that you find online portrays it in such a positive light, and it's also
why the link that sends you over to the website to buy the product almost always contains
an affiliate ID.
In most cases, it’s really nothing more than a sales pitch, and this is true for a
large percentage of online supplement reviews out there and is definitely not limited to
this product only.
So in this video you're going to be getting a real, no B.S review from someone who is
actually knowledgeable in this area and who has zero vested interest in this product or
in any other specific supplement brands.
So whether or not you buy this product makes absolutely no difference whatsoever to me.
All I’m offering you here is my dead-honest opinion based on the available evidence.
Now I don't want to ramble on here for 20 minutes or more so I'm going to attempt to
keep this as concise as I can.
Okay so right off the bat, there is a very basic, fundamental problem with Afterburn
Fuel and that is that there’s no way for you to know what’s actually in it, and this
is because, like many other popular bodybuilding and fitness supplements out there, all of
the specific ingredient amounts are hidden behind a proprietary blend.
In other words, the scientists at the “Afterburn Fuel Research Center” (and yes, the sales
page over on Mike Chang’s website claims that this is actually a real place) they're
willing to tell you which ingredients are included in the product, but they're not willing
to tell you the specific dosages for each one.
Instead, all you get is the total amount of all the ingredients combined.
Now when it comes to choosing an effective pre-workout supplement (or any supplement
for that matter), proper dosing is absolutely critical.
It makes no difference whatsoever how great the specific ingredients included are unless
you’re receiving a proper study-validated amount of each one.
So honestly, on that basis alone I would personally never purchase this supplement and I would
never recommend it to anybody else either.
There’s just no good, viable reason for ingredient dosages to be hidden behind a proprietary
blend, ever.
It doesn’t actually prevent other companies from finding out what’s in your product
(and this is the basic principle behind what a proprietary blend is supposed to be used
for) because a simple lab analysis can easily tell you that.
So, what do supplement companies actually use proprietary blends for?
Well, I’m not saying that this is the specific reason why Afterburn Fuel uses a proprietary
blend, but in almost all OTHER cases, it’s simply done to cut down production costs by
allowing the company to intentionally under-dose a certain percentage of the ingredients with
the understanding that the average supplement-buyer isn't going to know the difference either
way.
In any case, if I’m going to be ingesting a combination of 17 different ingredients
into my body (and this is the specific amount that is included in Afterburn Fuel) I sure
as hell want to know how much of each ingredient that I’m getting.
Okay, so moving on.
Afterburn Fuel is separated into 2 different proprietary blends: the “Get Jacked Matrix”
(and yes, this is the actual name) and the “Cognitive Energy Matrix”.
So I'm just going to point out some very basic things about each one here.
So first off is the "Get Jacked Matrix".
So always keep in mind that the ingredients in a proprietary blend are listed on the label
from the most prominent to least prominent, so with that in mind, we know that Creatinol
O-Phosphate is the primary compound in this blend.
Now why they would use this as the main ingredient, I honestly have no idea.
This is not the same thing as creatine, and most of the research that was done on this
compound is a few decades old and it primarily studied its effects as a cardio-protective
drug.
On top of that, the studies were done using direct injections into the muscle rather than
oral consumption, so it’s not even known at this point whether or not this compound
is bio-available in humans when it's consumed orally or what its specific effects would
be.The second most prominent ingredient is L-Arginine AKG.
This compound is usually consumed for its supposed effects on raising nitric oxide levels
in the body, leading to improvements in endurance, and work output and overall recovery.
Unfortunately, the research on L-Arginine AKG for this purpose is very weak, with many
studies showing no benefits at all, and this is probably because l-arginine is poorly absorbed
by the intestines and a large portion of it doesn’t even make it into your bloodstream
in the first place.
After that we have Agmatine Sulfate.
This another so-called “nitric oxide booster” with very little available data on its effects
in humans, and for the small number of studies that have been conducted, those also used
direct injections rather than oral consumption.
Three ingredients that are included in the “Get Jacked” blend that are scientifically
supported and that I do stand behind and recommend are creatine, beta alanine and citrulline
malate.
Creatine and beta alanine supplements have both been very reliably demonstrated in the
research to increase muscular strength and endurance, while citrulline malate has been
shown to improve overall ATP production and blood flow to working muscles.
However, there are still two important issues here.
First off, creatine and beta alanine do NOT have immediate, acute effects on strength
and performance and aren’t actually “pre workout” ingredients at all.
The benefits that you achieve from these two compounds is a result of consistent daily
supplementation over the long term, and taking creatine and beta alanine immediately before
a workout is not going to give you any direct effects.
Now this is not necessarily a bad thing however, because mixing these two ingredients into
your pre-workout is still fine as a matter of convenience.
The other, and much more serious problem, however, is that the “Get Jacked Matrix”
only provides 7 and a half grams of total active ingredients per serving.
So if you simply take a look at the research studied dosages for each of the compounds
that are includedin the blend, it’s very clear to see that this is not providing you
NEARLY enough in order for all of the ingredients, or even a reasonable portion of the ingredients
to be properly dosed.
So here are the study-validated doses for just half of the ingredients that are included
here.
Creatinol O-Phosphate is around 3 grams, L-Arginine AKG, 3 to 6 grams, Beta Alanine, 2.4 to 6.4
grams, Creatine, 3 to 5 grams and Citrulline Malate, 6 to 8 grams.
And that means that this blend would have to provide you with around 17 – 22 grams
of total active ingredients in order to deliver the actual doses of each of these compounds
that was used in the research.
And even that’s not true – it would have to be even higher than this, because I didn’t
even include the other half of the ingredients found in the product in those totals.
So all in all, this blend gets a huge thumbs down.
It consists primarily of ingredients with no reliable research to support their effects,
and it is clearly under-dosed in a big way.
So next up is the "Cognitive Energy" Matrix.
This blend consists of 7 different ingredients that are designed to increase energy levels
and mental focus during your workouts.
So in terms of overall ingredient selection, this blend actually starts off really well
with three compounds that I am a big fan of and that do work very effectively for these
purposes: Acetyl L-Carnitine, L-Tyrosine and Caffeine.
Unfortunately, it basically all goes down the tubes yet again when you simply look at
the total gram amount of the blend that is included which is 1.6 grams.
The study dosage for acetyl l-carnitine is between half a gram up to 2 and a half grams,
l-tyrosine is around half a gram up to 3 grams or more, and caffeine is going to land anywhere
between 100 to 400 milligrams.
So when you consider that the total gram amount given here is only 1.6 grams, and that there
are still four other ingredients included in this blend beyond the 3 I just mentioned,
it’s clear to see that in the very BEST case scenario you’d still only be getting
the absolute bare minimum dosage here.
And based on that alone I really don’t see any need to go further on this portion of
the product.
You're getting a few decent ingredients here, but based on the total amount that is included
in the blend, which is 1.6 grams, it’s just not possible that they would be present in
significantly usable dosages.
The exception here is caffeine, which I will address shortly.
Now, what about the price?
Well it should be clear at this point that I am strongly NOT in favor of the overall
formula that's being used here, but on top of that, Afterburn Fuel is actually one of
the most expensive pre-workouts on the market as well at an absolutely insane, offensive
price of 67 dollars per bottle.
To think that people are actually spending 67 dollars a month on this stuff is honestly
just crazy, especially considering that you can easily make your own far more potent blend
for a tiny fraction of that cost.
67 bucks a month would be a massive amount to spend on a pre-workout even if it was well
formulated, and you'd be far better off spending your money on things like chicken breasts
and whey protein and oatmeal instead.
Not only that, but unless you read the tiny fine-print on the Afterburn Fuel website when
you make your purchase, you might not realize that you are actually signing up for a monthly
subscription program that automatically bills your credit card every single month unless
you call the 1-800 number to cancel.
Now I know that some people will find this video and say "Sean, you don't know what you're
talking about, I used Afterburn Fuel, and it really worked well for me.”
Well, aside from the basic placebo effect that you experience whenever you take a product
with the positive expectation that it's going to work well, and trust me, this is WAY more
powerful than you might think, there’s also a far simpler reason why you might have used
Afterburn Fuel and felt good about the results it gave you, and that is because just like
virtually every other popular pre-workout supplement and energy drink out there, it
contains caffeine.
Not only is caffeine dirt-cheap, but it’s also the single most powerful pre-workout
supplement available by far and will have the most dramatic effects of ANY ingredient
included in ANY product out there designed to be taken before your workouts.
So, as long as there is caffeine in there, then yes, the product will “work”, but
that doesn't mean that the product as a whole is well-formulated, or that the other ingredients
are contributing to the overall effects in a significant way, or that it’s worth spending
67 dollars a month on.
So, what's the bottom line on Afterburn Fuel?
Not only is it laughably over-hyped in classic Mike Chang style, but it’s also poorly formulated,
it's under-dosed and it's hugely over-priced.
So if for some reason you are a Mike Chang fan who feels the desire to contribute a personal
donation to his bank account so that we can all continue to be bombarded by his annoying
ads and videos on a daily basis, then by all means, buy this product.
However, if you’re actually looking for an effective, scientifically supported pre-workout
that is going to safely enhance your training performance, and for a reasonable price, then
leave this stuff on the shelf at the “Afterburn Fuel Research Center” and just make your
own homemade blend instead.
To learn about a basic pre-workout that will deliver the exact effects that you need for
less than 5 bucks a month you can click here or check the link in the description box below
for a post over on my website that discusses exactly that, or if you want something a little
bit more comprehensive but still simple and inexpensive then you can check out my free
fitness supplementation guide which I'll also link in the description box below and just
scroll to the “Pre-Workout” section for more information.
So thanks for watching this video lesson, I hope you found this review useful.
If you did, please make sure to hit the "like" button, leave a comment and subscribe to stay
up to date on future videos.
Also make sure to check out my complete step-by-step muscle building and fat loss programs over
at BodyTransformationTruth.com by clicking the icon at the top of the video or using
the link in the description box below.
Talk to you again soon.