Review: N.O.-Xplode 2.0

N.O.-Xplode 2.0’s claim is that your workout performance will explode. In reality it may just be a mixture that mostly consists of simple carbohydrates, amino acids, caffeine and creatine. Here is the review.

Type Of Product

Pre-workout supplement

Manufacturer

Bio-Engineered Supplements and Nutrition, Inc. (website)

The Claim

From the manufacturer’s website:

Taken during the crucial Pre-Training Supplement Timing Window™, N.O.-XPLODE™ 2.0 is designed to support muscular endurance, strength and resistance to muscular fatigue, muscle growth, mental alertness and focus, nitric oxide production, muscle fullness, pumps and vascularity, anaerobic working capacity of muscle tissue, oxygen delivery to muscle tissue, fat-burning, promotion of electrolyte and fluid balance

Price Per Serving

US: $0.62 – $2.19 ($7.44 – $26.28 / month)
EU: €0.78 – €5.19 ( €9.36 – €62.28 / month)

(Monthly cost calculated with a basis of three workout sessions per week)

Ingredients

Vitamin B6, vitamin B12, trace element mixture, maltodextrin, Beta-Alanine, Di-Creatine-Malic Acid Interfusion, Betaine HCL, Sodium Bicarbonate, Creatine-Sodium Phosphate Matrix, Creatinol-O-Phosphate-Malic Acid Interfusion, Glycocyamine, Creatine Ethyl Ester HCL, Guanidino Propionic Acid, Cinnamon Extract (Bark), Ketoisocaproate Potassium, Creatine-Alpha-Aminobutyric Acid Matrix,L-Tyrosine, Taurine, Glucuronolactone, Methylxanthine (caffeine), L-Tyrosine-Alpha Ketoglutaric Acid, MCT’s (Medium Chain Triglycerides), Lesser Periwinkle, L-Arginine-Alpha Ketoglutaric Acid, L-Citrulline-Malic Acid Interfusion, L-Citrulline-Alpha Ketoglutaric Acid, L-Histidine-Alpha Ketoglutaric Acid, NAD (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide), Gynostemma.

In Detail

N.O.-Xplode 2.0 derives its name from nitric oxide, a chemical compound that in humans was shown to expand capillaries and pulmonaries. The effect allows for easier transportation of blood through the body, and is therefore used in the treatment of high blood pressure.

In the fitness industry, the argument goes that this will also let trainees last longer during workouts, as nutrients should be transported to the muscles more easily. Supplements that rely on the supposed effect, including N.O.-Explode, do not directly deliver nitric oxide to the user, but arginine, an amino acid that is one of its building blocks.

Yet when in studies arginine was supplemented by itself, there was no noticeable positive effect on fitness performance. Only when combined with other amino acids there was a significant difference.

N.O.-Xplode includes these amino acids as well, but they also are readily available in regular protein supplements. Any trainee using one of those most likely already has an elevated nitric oxide level and a further increase may not provide any added benefit.

BSN Inc. is probably aware of this and may have for this reason decided not to rely on a nitric oxide increase alone, but combine it with two ingredients that have solid scientific proof as performance enhancers: creatine and caffeine.

Right at the beginning of the ingredient list we also find “modified glucose polymers (maltodextrin).”  In other words: simple carbohydrates, the muscles’ #1 energy source for demanding tasks. Maltodextrin is nothing but an artifically produced carbohydrate, that chemically looks like a complex, but is digested as fast as a simple carbohydrate.

Finally, and as in the review of of Animal Pak, the minor active ingredients in the form of roots and leaves (cinnamon extract, lesser periwinkle, gynostemma etc.) have effects with little scientific backing. Others are simply a metabolic precursor of the scientifically proven ingredients mentioned above (eg. glycocyamine is a precursor of creatine).

The Verdict

To anyone already using a protein supplement, the possible performance-enhancing effect of nitric oxide might not happen.

N.O.-Xplode’s other effective ingredients, simple carbohydrates, caffeine and creatine, can be had much cheaper in the form of fresh fruit and a cup of coffee 30 – 60 minutes before a workout and in a dedicated creatine supplement.

Vendors

N.O.-Xplode 2.0 is available at Amazon US and Amazon DE.

Picture courtesy of “PDPhoto.org“.