Supplements 101- Know Your Supps
If you want to know what works, you must know the facts first. Here is what you need to know in order to become an educated supplement user!
No Proprietary Blends
Look at the supplement facts panel on your favorite pre-workout product and you'll most likely see the term "proprietary blend." Supplement companies want you to think this means they've created a special blend of ingredients that magically work together to deliver unique results. Because this blend is so amazing, they have to keep the doses of each ingredient secret so no other company steals the formula.
The truth, however, is that propriety blends serve a different purpose. They allow supplement companies to hide how little of each ingredient they've actually put in a product. This results in cheap, underdosed, ineffective supplements. Many of these companies attempt to get away with listing ingredients on the label, yet they are at ineffective doses because the companies put in just a "dusting" of each ingredient.
Dusting simply implies that a product includes miniscule doses of ingredients in order for the manufacturer to be able to list the ingredients on the label but without listing the actual dose. Hence, just a dusting of beta-alanine, creatine, citrulline, betaine and others in order to save money but make you think that there is enough of each ingredient in there. The truth is that they don't have enough of each ingredient included in the product to actually provide you any real benefit. Most times that you see the term "proprietary blend" you can be certain that the ingredients included in that proprietary blend are provided in a dose so low that they are just a dusting.
Pre JYM doesn't use proprietary blends or dusting. Take a look at its supplement facts pane and you'll see the actual doses of all 13 ingredients. I have nothing to hide. I'm proud of the amount of each and every ingredient I've included. Together, those 13 ingredients in those exact doses are the closest thing to a magical formula that you're going to find.
Proper DosesFor the reasons detailed above, many supplement companies are moving toward transparency and axing proprietary blends. That's a good thing. However, these companies are still guilty of grossly underdosing ingredients.
Take citrulline malate, for example. The research on this potent amino acid shows that you need 6 grams per dose. Most pre-workout products leave out citrulline entirely, and none of them provide anywhere close to 6 grams. Until now.
No "Abbreviated" FormulasA handful of companies are as fed up as I am with proprietary blends and underdosed formulas, but they fall short by using "abbreviated" formulas. An abbreviated formula is one that uses proper dosing of all ingredients, but only includes a few ingredients.
Take, for example, a pre-workout formula that includes beta-alanine, creatine, caffeine, and tyrosine. There's nothing wrong with it, but it could be made a lot more effective through the addition of ingredients like citrulline malate, betaine, and BCAAs, to name just a few. Why would companies not create the most robust formula possible? Because adding more ingredients costs too much money.
Pre JYM includes 13 ingredients that work in concert to prime the body for intense workouts, making it the most complete pre-workout supplement available.*
No ConcentratesMany companies also try to trick buyers by calling their pre-workout product "concentrated." A serving of one of these "concentrated" products can contain as few as 3 to 6 grams of powder. What kind of magic did they use to cram enough creatine, beta-alanine, citrulline, arginine, caffeine, and other ingredients into that tiny dose? They didn't use any magic, which is why all of those "concentrated" formulas also include proprietary blends. That's also why the serving size of Pre JYM is more than 26 grams. It contains 13 ingredients at proper, powerful doses.
JS, Not BSI've been studying supplement science in the lab and gym for decades. I've been delivering supplement advice to millions of people in the pages of Muscle & Fitness, FLEX, and Muscle & Fitness Hers, as well as here on Bodybuilding.com and my own website, JimStoppani.com, for over a decade.
Most importantly, I've been training since I was 11 years old. Before each of my workouts, I would draw on all of my experience and all of my education to concoct my own pre-workout supplement, combining ingredients from 13 different bottles and tubs.
That's why I developed Pre JYM. I wanted to give my friends, colleagues, all of you, and myself the ability to access, in one bottle, the best ingredients in the exact doses suggested to help build lean muscle, torch body fat, improve strength, and boost speed.*
