Until fairly recently, protein powder was marketed to a very specific demographic: men who read bodybuilding magazines, could quote scenes from Pumping Iron verbatim, and would happily bathe in a bucket of badger shit if it meant adding an extra inc [...]
This is a product we’ve been wanting to try at Gymtalk for quite some time.
Not just because it’s weird, but because of its crazy awesome nutritional profile, and the fact that it’s a protein powder made from beef.
Yes - beef.
Isolated beef. [...]
I’m going to start this review by declaring some previous biases, in that I think testosterone products are mostly underdosed rubbish, but that I also have massive respect for the Animal brand in general, something my Animal Pak review certainly s [...]
We tried out the first iteration of the Huel product last year with good results, and in the name of ultimate convenience the company has now launched a bar alongside their powdered drink range.
Dropping a big part of your daily nutrition on a bar r [...]
With the success of The Great British Bake Off and an ever-stiffening cultural hard-on for healthy eating and high protein foods, it won't be long before some TV exec puts two and two together and The Great British Protein Bake Off hits our screens. [...]
Another day another mass gainer.
This time round it's a new product from Optimum Nutrition: their Gold Standard Mass Gainer.
In my eyes Optimum have been releasing too many products recently - whether it's the lean women's range or three differentl [...]
There is place, glimpsed only on social media, called "Fitness Land".
It is a gleaming, spotless kingdom, populated by rippling abs, avocados and neon leggings, where people communicate solely in motivational hashtags, always stay humble and are con [...]
Peanut butter has long been the emperor of the nut butter world.
In recent years, however, its monopoly has been lifted by a host of other nut butter spreads which have risen in popularity.
Cashew, almond, walnut, macadamia, hazelnut and Braz [...]
"When I was in the National Service, every morning would start at 5am when a bucket of cold water was thrown over your bed and a drill instructor spat in your face and called you a c**t."
This was the anecdote my dad would recount to me when I was [...]
Two things that go together perfectly:
Chocolate and orange.
Peanut butter and jelly.
Caffeine and kilos.
Unfortunately too much caffeine and late night workouts can be a bit of a nightmare.
My mind is already thinking of the endless memes of pe [...]
Peanut butter is one those foods where all restraint just goes out of the window.
Confronted with a tub of peanut butter and a spoon, I'll inevitably show the same level of self-control as a Premier League footballer on a stag weekend in Ibiz [...]
We often review individual supplements or a series of similar supplements at Gymtalk, so I thought we’d try something different and review some supplement ‘stacks’, starting with the ‘Rippedcore’ series by popular UK brand Sci-MX.
For the [...]
BCAAs are a staple of the committed lifter, becoming a go-to for providing an anti-catabolic environment in the body during hard training sessions, and often in-between too.
I’ve been drinking BCAAs all day in my gigantic Myprotein 1.9 litre water [...]
I’ve actually gotten to the point where I see the word "amino acids" on a supplement and start to zone out.
BCAAs are a great product, sure, but as I’ve said before they aren’t really a supplement you need to take.
So many brands are pr [...]
Oh protein bars, how I’ve come to depend on you.
You’re always there when I need you, stopping me from eating inferior sugar-filled bullshit from the nearest corner shop.
But the protein bar market has become massively saturated in the past [...]
It's 2pm Monday, the first day of your new healthy eating regime.
That spinach and avocado chicken salad you had for lunch was nice enough but it didn't quite hit the spot, and after hearing Linda from HR refer to her stupid fucking children as he [...]
Beef jerky is without doubt the manliest of snacks available to humans on planet Earth.
It bloody stinks, yet tastes amazing, and it’s pure fucking beef which you can carry in your pocket.
What’s not to like?
It’s often hard, however, [...]
More and more, nutrition companies are eliminating any semblance of effort from our bid to stay fit and healthy.
I can envisage a future where we intravenously plug in to our smart phones and download macronutrients straight into our bloodstream, [...]
You’re probably wondering what the hell is Huel?
Well, Huel is nutritionally complete human fuel.
And by that I mean it differs from a supplement in that rather than supplementing your diet it can completely replace food.
Seriously.
As they sta [...]
Here at Gymtalk we've tried a number of hit-or-miss protein foods recently, ranging from the good, the bad, to the frankly ridiculous.
In fact, some recent protein creations (garlic protein grasshoppers?) sound as if they were commissioned by a t [...]
Having spent the summer in the south of France eating baguettes, drinking wine, taking a two hour lunch, not cancelling my signal after changing lanes, working 37.5 hours a week, not wearing a veil, driving a shit French car, striking regularly, drin [...]
Summer has come and gone, and many lads all over the country have returned from booze-infused Magaluf holidays (hashtag Chundergeddon) with the abs they worked so hard for (for a maximum of three weeks prior) now coated in full-board hotel breakfast [...]
Everyone has a weakness.
For Achilles it was his gammy heel, for Superman it was Kryptonite, and for Michael Jackson it was a drunk Macaulay Culkin passed out on a bed shaped like a formula one car.
For me, like many others trying to maintain [...]
I’m going to go ahead and start this review by being completely honest.
I've always thought that the brand Multipower were a bit... well, shit.
Back in the day, when I first started lifting, Multipower were notorious for producing ‘workout’ [...]
Here we are again with yet another protein-infused food review.
Like I said in my recent protein pancakes review, I’m still waiting for protein Haribo, but for now it seems that Myprotein have the perfect solution: protein muffins.
Yeah, muff [...]
The thought of pancakes on a regular basis is something which excites me greatly, and I'm sure a lot of people would agree.
A big trend in the protein cooking scene - i.e. where we just add protein to literally fucking everything (still waiting fo [...]
Apologies if we sound like your grandmother, but at Gymtalk we believe vitamins should be an important part of every lifter’s diet, and the easiest way to ensure you’re getting a benchmark of vitamins is by taking a good quality multi.
When I r [...]
Science in Sport (SiS) have been around for years, and my general perception of them has been a brand who lurk in the bargain buckets of your local supplement store, rearing their heads when the sell by dates are nearing.
But head on over to the Sci [...]
We've all been there.
That sinking sense of shame as, sprawled naked across your sofa like some kind of vast bloated slug, you shovel down the last slice of a billion-calorie Domino's pizza.
With reckless abandon, you toss aside the greasy carb [...]
Protein bars are the go-to supplement for busy bodybuilders and athletes, and have become a staple part of many people's supplemental regime.
But it's often hard to find the sweet spot with protein bars - the perfect balance between taste, amount of [...]
Primal and paleolithic dieting and training is all the rage nowadays.
Popularised mostly by American Crossfit nutters, their diets aim to get your body into a more ‘ketogenic’ state.
That is, using fat for energy by eating more fats and less c [...]
There is a battle raging.
In the shadows, in the darkness, right under humanity's nose.
It is a bitter war fought between supplement companies as they try to turn the most mundane of everyday snacks into protein-enriched gains tools.
The l [...]
Like 'Gary Glitter' - 'innocent', 'Ed Miliband' - 'win', 'female comedian' - 'funny', 'protein supplement' and 'luxury' are words that are rarely associated.
However, when a flash sale popped up on my Facebook feed from The Protein Works for a lux [...]
Powerman Supplements are new to Gymtalk, and most people won’t have heard of them as they are relatively new to the UK too.
Originally established in 1979 in Germany, these guys have been around for a while, and have carved out a niche in the sp [...]
Oh my god, it’s another pre-workout review!
I can’t type fast enough to review all the new pre-workouts coming out!
But seriously, there’s fucking loads.
And why would we review another pre-workout?
Well, because Myprotein were nice enough [...]
Crisps (as these will henceforth be referred to for SEO purposes).
Alongside the dog, low quality lesbian porn, and YouTube videos about how to properly bleed a radiator, they truly are a man's best friend.
The perfect accompaniment to sandwiches, [...]
USN have recently gone through a re-brand with the majority of their products.
They invited me to try some of the new range, which included their casein protein offering: 8 Hour Premium Casein.
There’s a huge amount of casein products on the [...]
I am a man who likes food, there's no doubt about that, and when I heard about about Fresh Fitness Food I had to see what all the fuss was about.
A company that sorts out all of your meal prep?
Gains heaven.
So let's hear more...
Product ov [...]
BSN CELLMASS has been around for a few years now.
I remember taking it when I was just starting out weightlifting, thinking I was going to get hench in four weeks.
It comes in shiny packaging and has exclamation points after every ingredient writ [...]
There are many things containing soy that I dislike:
Soy milk, Soy sauce, the Spanish, Soy Chubby Brown.
So when The Protein Works released one of their regular Facebook communiques informing me that they were releasing a soy free whey protein [...]
Mum always said, "Eat your veg - you’ll get big and strong!"
Well, Mum, you were wrong.
It’s protein that makes you big and strong you bloody idiot, do you even lift?
Jokes aside, it’s often this very reason why guys who lift skip out on a c [...]
Anyone who's followed Gymtalk from humble inception will know that we're still looking out for the perfect protein flapjack.
This is hardly the race to stop Ebola spreading through Africa or 1970s BBC TV and radio personalities trying to wipe the [...]
Animal Pak, which has been around for over 25 years, is the all-time most respected multivitamin of the bodybuilding world.
Not many supplements last the test of time, often jumping on the marketing bullshit bandwagon and disappearing when they do [...]
Protein crisps, protein cookies, protein ice cream, and now protein dessert, yet another holy grail of the craze that is protein enriched treat foods.
This new Complete Protein Dessert from Bulk Powders aims to fill the gap where sweet after-dinne [...]
Recently I was invited to an event at the GSK Human Performance Labs where we were taken on a tour of the labs and shown the kind of work they do.
A lot of this work involves testing athletic performance in relation to nutrition, and GSK also prod [...]
Ahhhhh, the protein bar.
Surely God himself would've been in charge of this fine creation.
If not him then maybe one of his high-level elves that oversaw the human eye, dinosaurs, or Kelly Brook's rump.
Or, if you're not into such things, in [...]
Fish has long been a staple of the bodybuilding diet, especially for those looking to lean up.
It's high in protein, low in fat and has a superb range of health benefits.
But here in the UK we're rather unadventurous when it comes to the kin [...]
Pancakes.
Associated with American diners, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson memes and the death of Jesus (or something to do with the Bible anyway).
But protein?
Not so much.
However, those culinary boffins at Go Nutrition, no doubt locked in a [...]
I love pre-workout supplements but recently I’ve had trouble finding something I like that isn’t either really expensive or just plain terrible.
So I decided to try Raze by The Protein Works.
I'd also been off caffeine for a few weeks before I [...]
So, it's summer (unless you live in Scotland in which case it's always grim) and bodybuilders up and down the country are looking for any excuse to show the world the sum of their hard work in the gym.
And, as always, there's the perennial dilemma [...]
Let's start with a confession - I've never taken a pre-workout before.
To me this doesn't seem unusual and I imagine there are myriad others in my situation.
I often see kids turning up at the gym, downing a shot of what looks like SpongeBob's [...]
For whatever reason I find the MuscleFood exotic meats range particularly appealing.
Ezra Pound might have inferred that's because being amid the primal things lends life more urgency and meaning.
But I'm more inclined to think it's because th [...]
Maximuscle have recently rebranded themselves as MaxiNutrition, in what I can see as an attempt at making their products more appealing to a wider audience.
This is something which a lot of nutrition companies are doing at the moment.
And, in this [...]
Protein chips (crisps) - the zenith of bodybuilding nutrition.
If you're anything like me you can happily demolish a sharing bag of Doritos in a few minutes, and while this will leave you feeling both satisfied and disgusted in equal measure, the [...]
For the last few years my weight gainer of choice has always been Mutant Mass.
It's my 'clutch' supplement, dependable in crucial situations when I need that big hit of muscle and size.
However, I recently found Optimum Nutrition's Serious Mass on [...]
I'm a big fan of all-in-one supplements.
Unlike fellow Gymtalk writer Charlie, I just don't have the time/can't be arsed to measure out the specific quantities of creatine or glutamine needed for each serving.
Like a 69oz Mixed Grill, with all-in-o [...]
Myprotein has for a long time been one of my 'go-to' supplement brands and I've spent a fair amount of change with them over the years.
As a student, along with jägertrains, fake moustaches and peri-peri chicken platters, it's pretty much where all [...]
Old school bodybuilding fuel!
Peanut butter has always been a favourite of the hardcore bodybuilder - after all there can't be many foods that are high in calories, protein and deliciousness.
That definitely made sense.
And in conjunction wi [...]
When juggling a career and trying to keep in fairly reasonable shape, grabbing a quick meal that's both highly nutritious & proteinous (that's actually a word) becomes a military operation.
Trying to prepare beforehand can also seem arduous when [...]
For me, whoever invented the protein snack is truly up there with the great minds of our time: Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur, George Foreman.
Who would've thought that you could take the somewhat humble chocolate bar and make it acceptable for gym [...]
Being a naturally skinny ectomorph, I've always been a big user of mass gainers to add in extra calories throughout the day.
But, as I've found over the last few years, it takes a lot to find a decent gainer that isn't just loaded with sugar and doe [...]
The age-old bodybuilding conundrum: how to make tasteless food interesting without spoiling gains or overdosing on macros.
The oh so often solution: once again it's our good friends over at MuscleFood.
Snooping around their website shows what a [...]
The ultimate reviewer's dichotomy:
Brilliant product, godawful taste.
What stars should I give?
I'm actually thinking of submitting those lines to a poetry website.
No doubt some clueless, jumped up Sylvia Plath clone will see the signif [...]
Peanut butter has always been one of my favourite foods.
And while I've never smeared it over my ballbag for canine fellatio purposes, I do use it for almost everything.
(Poor old peanut butter, what did it do to deserve an affiliation with bestial [...]
Protein snacks are the holy grail for lazy arse guys like me.
As a boost to your protein levels without any prep, they are always appealing, particularly when they are disguised as cookies or flapjacks.
But more often than not they don't quite [...]
I've never been a big fan of pre-workout supplements.
I prefer the old-school mentality of just hitting the bar and getting it done, regardless of how demotivated you feel.
Also, there is just so much hype surrounding a lot these supplements, it's [...]
Hopefully the title didn't put you off...
So it seems there are now ways of building muscle through everyday meals without shoveling down 20 chicken bites or 400g of mince.
Yes, my vegetarian bodybuilding friends, you're back in luck.
Despit [...]
If you were born in the 90s you’ll be a fan of Nesquik milk.
That nostalgic drink that drags us right back to our childhood; of days playing outside in the summer sun, way before Facebook and Twitter sucked the daydreams out of today’s kids.
St [...]
Let's be honest, whey protein is, for the most part, the same regardless of what your brand of choice slaps all over the label.
Hell, do you know what whey even is?
It's what's left over after milk has curdled and strained.
It's the byproduct of c [...]
Right now the supplement market is absolutely flooded with products.
It seems like every man and his dog is peddling pills and powders, and with all the marketing mumbo jumbo, unpronounceable ingredients and celebrity endorsements, it can sometimes [...]
For the second of Gymtalk's MuscleFood reviews we're going a bit carnivorous.
Millennia ago, or around 2,500 years if you're a Christian, early man was programmed for just two things: killing and knobbing.
And it was a diet rich in red meat th [...]
As a twenty-something career man I like nothing more than convenience and the glorious rise of ecommerce in recent years has been as welcome as a taxi driver not trying to rip you off at 3am on a Sunday morning.
Now the idea of having meat deliver [...]
Grenade Thermo Detonator floated across my radar a few years ago but I immediately ignored it.
Almost all weight loss supplements are overhyped and this product, with its gimmicky macho marketing, screamed branding over substance.
I quickly decide [...]
Looking at some of our recent reviews, you could be forgiven for thinking that we're on the payroll of The Protein Works and Go Nutrition.
Well I don’t have the security clearance to access that information.
We had to beef up security after we fo [...]
Ahhh MaxiNutrition.
Your favourite jumper, your 2am girl, that unnervingly over-affectionate uncle you're not actually related to.
(The last point is obviously not a comparison.)
Mr Reliable, MaxiNutrition, have been at the vanguard of the U [...]
Like an all-powerful Caesar, Gold Standard 100% Whey bestrides the supplement market like a Colossus.
It is the king of whey protein, towering over swarms of competing brands which lurk jealously in the shadows like Cassius or Brutus.
It is, if Opt [...]
Every so often you have the serendipity to come across a new product that's so absolutely fantastic it evokes the same emotion you experienced when you stumbled across the answers to the nine times table quiz aged six.
I really can't remember at w [...]
Like an early 2000's beef between two New York rappers, the ex-directors and founding father of Myprotein have been slogging it out to gain supremacy in the value protein market.
The latest manifestation of this 'battle' comes from Myprotein founder [...]
Everyone has their staple supplements.
Whey protein, creatine, pre-workout, maybe a casein-protein mix.
And if you’re anything like me you have some ancillary supplements that you keep on the bench to give yourself a little boost or maybe eve [...]
Although protein shakes are by far and away the most popular protein supplements, there are a number of alternatives on the market.
Do you own a hat with corks hanging from the brim and a two foot long knife?
Why not try an ostrich egg.
Do y [...]
After looking at GymTalk's Google Analytics account, particularly the 'Geo-Displacement' section, it became abundantly clear that we need to branch out a bit into supplements that are sold outside the UK.
Indeed, aside from our home-based readership [...]
There are a few things in life which I find overwhelmingly mundane.
Washing up, baby photos, the Victorian era (it's just too long), Hugh Grant, anything by Jane Austen...
Another is dieting.
It's just so difficult to summon up the enthusiasm to e [...]
Writing for Gymtalk has taught me a few things:
1. You can shoehorn a knob gag into pretty much any genre of writing;
2. Having a basic understanding of meta-tags and H1 tags can elevate your position in Google's rankings considerably;
3. Most imp [...]
Let's face it, cutting can be a pain in the arse.
When done properly, it requires discipline, hard work, and meals so banal even Levi Roots' special sauce couldn't spice them up (I'm referring here, or course, to Reggae Reggae, not Jamaican man juic [...]
Bulk Powders, as their name suggests, provide sports supplements at heavily discounted prices.
They've been around since 2005, but underwent a huge rebrand at the beginning of 2013.
Seemingly, this was a move to differentiate themselves from their [...]
I was so ruddy impressed with The Protein Works Whey Protein 80 that I decided to try another one of their products.
Being a bit fed up with my usual diet of fish, eggs and tuna – as well as protein shakes so sweet they tasted like Gok Wan’s b [...]
The Protein Works made quite the stir when they opened for business back in 2012.
Founded by three ex-directors of MyProtein, the company soon set about shaking up the sports supplement industry by combining premium quality, great value-for-money [...]
Maximuscle Cyclone is a brand so synonymous with muscle and strength it has to be up there with other respective market leaders like Apple, Nike and Walkers Crisps.
Let me put it another way: if Maximuscle Cyclone was heroin, it would be endorsed by [...]
I discovered Impact Whey Protein six years ago when I was a penniless student.
Like most of the male student population, my chief concern was trying to get laid.
The problem was I had socially awkward demeanour and a haircut that made me look l [...]
Summer means one thing for bodybuilders up and down the country:
Getting topless at every possible opportunity.
Grocery shopping - topless.
Lunch break at work - topless.
Nightclub dancefloor - topless.
Funeral of a beloved relative - topless.
[...]
As some of you may or may not know, the pre-workout supplement Jack3D got banned recently because somebody thought it would help them run a marathon faster.
Why they thought a product designed to increase your anaerobic energy systems would help t [...]
