Carbon Prep Pre Workout Review

carbon-prep-review

Carbon Prep

6.7

CleanLeanMachine Rating

6.7/10

Pros

  • Optimal doses of some good ingredients
  • Some top pre workout ingredients included
  • No proprietary blends

Cons

  • Astragalus and Creatine combined could lead to dehydration
  • Alpha GPC has potential side effects
  • Some ineffective ingredients

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Carbon Prep Review

When it comes to pre workouts, we sometimes feel as though we have seen it all. Will our Carbon Prep review show us something different?

The problem with purchasing online is returning the product is often difficult. That’s why you want to be as sure as possible before you buy. You cant just hope that this is full of the best pre workout ingredients.

Today, we are putting Carbon Prep into the spotlight. The first thing made clear by the website is it comes in two flavors, Fruit Punch and Cranberry Grape. It has all the usual promises including:

  • Increased Energy
  • Bigger Muscle Pumps
  • Enhanced Concentration

All good so far then. We aren’t the sort of people to take someone’s word for their supplement, it is always important to look a bit deeper. And that is just what we intend to do.

It’s nearly time to lift up the lid and see what the ingredients are all about. But first we like to get to know who makes it.

Makes Prep Review: Who Makes This Pre Workout?

Carbon Prep are a brand under the supplements company BioLayne. The website is there to support Dr. Layne Norton, the man with a PhD and who is the focal point of the BioLayne website. Although it is difficult to find any relevant about us type information to begin with.

The supplements are buried a little and although there is a lot of useful information about workouts and routines on there, we found it a challenge to find what we were looking for.

When we did manage to get to the about page we found out that Dr. Layne is a professional bodybuilder who also does professional seminar touring. Brains and brawn combine to make this product clearly. He has a long list of powerlifting achievements as well as various scientific publications so he clearly knows his stuff.

Let’s see if this has been transferred into the product.

Carbon Prep Ingredients

Like always, a good pre workout is only as good as its ingredients and Carbon Prep is no exception. From the off we can see that there are no proprietary blends.

This means all the ingredients are listed with their dosages, instead of being combined in a blend where you don’t know how much of each ingredient is included. So, for us a good start.

We can already see from a quick glance that there are some decent ingredients here. A good start to our Carbon Prep review. So let’s go in for a closer look…

Citrulline Malate

We’ll start with one of the better ingredients that Carbon Prep has to offer. This is an amino acid that boosts your body’s blood flow by turning into L-Arginine in your kidneys. This is all part of the process that ends with a massive increase in those all important muscle pumps.

Prep seem to know their stuff already, a good ingredient with a proper dosage. The 6,000 mg is within the optimal amount required to have the desired effect.

Creatine Monohydrate

Often you see creatine in your post workout protein shakes because of the many positive effects it has on muscle recovery. Because of this it is still a sensible inclusion for a pre workout as it can get to work whilst you are working out.

Its other properties include the ability to boost your strength as well as endurance meaning you can train harder for longer.

A decent dosage of 3,000 mg is safe and should be effective enough for you to get the benefits.

Betanine

The bubble had to burst somewhere and unfortunately it is here. When we see this on the ingredients list we are never sure why, no matter what type of supplement it is in. Some studies have shown it to have an effect on your endurance levels, so you can see what their intentions are.

However, there is enough evidence to suggest that this isn’t actually the case, and it is ineffective in a pre workout. This being the case we can’t exactly talk up its benefits.

On top of this, you don’t have to do a lot of research on Betanine before you see that it can cause some odd side effects – some research has shown it to cause fishy breath, good luck getting someone to spot you with that!

The dosage is within the right amount if you go by the studies that say it can enhance your pre workout. If not, this dosage is more likely to make you smell like a kipper (or something like that!).

Astragalus Membranaceus

Can’t we just call this Astra? Ok, complicated names aside, this has been used for many years in ancient medicine for various purposes, one of them is that it is a diuretic. Great for the reduction of bloating and reducing water retention.

This is good for your waistline and for getting really cut in the gym. Some will argue that it could cause dehydration as it encourages your body to go to the toilet more. But, if you are working out, you should be reaching for the water anyway.

It is when it is taken with creatine that you should keep an eye on your water intake. Creatine uses water as part of the process of bloating your muscles, so it is more beneficial for your body to retain it.

A difficult one in that it has its uses, but at what cost?

L-Carnitine

A decent inclusion in a pre workout. Although it is not the most effective, it is good at increasing your strength, important when going up the weights.Your mental functioning will also benefit here. A harmless ingredient that has enough good for you to say it is a sensible inclusion.

It has been shown to aid muscle growth and recovery so it can be taken before or after a workout and still be beneficial.

Alpha Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline

It wouldn’t be out of place in a nootropic and you don’t always see this in pre workouts. We think one of the reasons for its inclusion is that it can aid your concentration levels, and is sometimes mooted to help your strength.

However, like some of the other ingredients already mentioned, there isn’t enough strong evidence to support its inclusion. Especially in the dosage of 300 mg that is in Prep.

Rhodiola Rosea

A great pre workout ingredient, finally we are back on track again. It helps to fight fatigue, making your workout more effective for longer. Ever wondered why some people in the gym are still able to lift such big weights even towards the end of their workout? It’s because of ingredients like this one.

Huperzine A

Often thought to enhance your memory it is a common ingredient in nootropics. It is difficult to find much evidence to support its inclusion in a pre workout. We will file this under the ineffective ingredients here.

Carbon Prep Side Effects

There isn’t a lot wrong with this product, but we are a little concerned about the inclusion of Astragalus Membranaceus and Creatine together. Creatine increases the swells by increasing the water intake of your muscles.

Yet Astragalus is a diuretic and therefore this leaves the user at risk of dehydration.

Be careful when using this product and make sure you are taking in enough water to compensate for this as well as the hydration required whilst exercising.

It also contains Alpha GPC which is known to have side effects in larger doses that include Confusion, Dizziness, Headaches, Heartburn and more. This remains to be seen though since the dosage isn’t too high.

Carbon Prep Review Pros and Cons

Carbon Prep Review Pros

  • Optimal doses of some good ingredients
  • Some top pre workout ingredients included
  • No proprietary blends
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Carbon Prep Review Cons

  • Astragalus and Creatine combined could lead to dehydration
  • Alpha GPC has potential side effects
  • Some ineffective ingredients

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Carbon Prep Review Conclusion

Whilst we think there are some useful ingredients that will make this pre workout do a good job for your body, it is not without a price.

The problem we have is that some of the ingredients either just serve no purpose for being in this supplement, and some are potentially hazardous. It is as though the ingredients are all or nothing.

Because of this, we can’t fully recommend Carbon Prep pre workout. We only advise using completely safe and natural pre workouts, that have a proven list of ingredients.

Our top rated pre workout is currently 4 Gauge. It has a combination of the most impressive ingredients at optimal dosages with no side effects. Exactly what your body needs…

No filler and no risky ingredients and nothing but the very best is what we expect. Check out our in depth review of 4 Gauge to see just how beneficial it is.

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