I'd like to give a big thank you to Tim and Nimbus Nutrition for hooking me up with a big bag of raspberry flavored sugar-free Body Guard to try out. I have to admit, I was a little confused when I got the package. I thought I ended up with some protein, until I realized that it was just in a bag. I wasn't expecting that. The cool thing is that it's a 60 servings package, so that will easily last me a month or a little more, depending on dosing.
For those that don't know, Body Guard is a 5:1:1 BCAA product that also contains the Poseidon complex. I've used a lot of different intra-workouts and BCAA products, but never one with an electrolyte complex, before. My first intra-workout product was CL's Purple In-Train. I've also used: CL Purple Wraath, VPX Power Shock, Scivation XTEND (old version), USP ModernBCAAs, LG BC+EAA, Muscle Feast Anabolic Competition, and various bulk BCAAs (2:1:1 and 4:1:1).
I typically dose anywhere from 15-25g of BCAAs for my workouts. It really just varies depending on how long or intense the workout will be and what my diet looked like for the rest of the day. My workout style is a 2 week variation, which I've been using for over a year and I really enjoy. It's a 5 day split with 1 week being Max-OT and the other high intensity. Obviously, I think where the most noticeable differences will be seen are during the high intensity weeks with less rest between sets, but I'll make whatever observations I can. I'll also be playing around with the dosing.
I've used this product 3 times, already.
Day 1 (Friday) was a Max-OT Arms session. I dosed 2 scoops of BG and 9g of 2:1:1 bulk BCAAs to give me a total of 23g BCAAs.
Day 2 (Saturday) was a legs session. This didn't follow my typical scheme, because I've actually been grouping legs with delts and traps or arms for a while and not giving it its dedicated day. Thus, I didn't want to go full Max-OT and not be able to walk all week. I dosed 3 scoops of BG for this one for a total of 21g BCAAs.
Day 3 (Sunday) was a Max-OT delts/traps session. I dosed 2 scoops of BG, alone, for a total of 14g BCAAs.
I always mix my BCAAs up with a half-gallon of water and drink it throughout my entire workout.
The first day, the taste wasn't great. Usually, I'll mix 1-2 scoops of a flavored amino product with my bulk to cut the flavor and save on cost. I also don't like my intra drink to be overly sweet, either. It wasn't bad, either, but the taste was spot on for the 2nd day when I mixed 3 scoops into that half-gallon of water. The flavoring was better than the first day, but still not great on day 3 with just 2 scoops. I think people would find much more favor in mixing it with a smaller amount of water, as I'm pretty sure most guys do.
The mixability isn't bad. You do have to give it some time to settle; it's certainly not instantaneous. I put the half-gallon of water into the jug (just cold water straight from the tap) and then dump the aminos in on top, shake it up and turn the jug every which direction to mix it all up. Usually doing that a handful of times and the 5 minutes it takes me to drive to the gym is enough for it to settle. Once it mixes, it's completely dissolved and no garbage sitting on top -- that is a major plus. It also appears that there are no added dyes, so it mixes almost clear (just a faint tint to it, though it's not really colored; just doesn't look like pure water). I do like this very much; especially for the gyms that don't let anything in but water; this would be an easy way to get away with that.
The taste is good. I won't say it's great, but it's certainly not bad, either. It's weird, because it seems like two separate things are going on, especially when you open the bag. There is a strong raspberry scent/flavor and there is also a separate scent (flavor, not so much) that accompanies it. I can't put my finger on it, but it reminds me of when I first started using supplements. Maybe my memory will be jogged, later. It's not bad, but it's not an overly pleasant thing, either. Like I said, it's not anything bad, but it is worth mentioning. Aside from that, the flavor seems somewhat faint, but that doesn't bother me at all. I'd actually prefer it for something I have to sip on for an hour +.
For those that don't know, Body Guard is a 5:1:1 BCAA product that also contains the Poseidon complex. I've used a lot of different intra-workouts and BCAA products, but never one with an electrolyte complex, before. My first intra-workout product was CL's Purple In-Train. I've also used: CL Purple Wraath, VPX Power Shock, Scivation XTEND (old version), USP ModernBCAAs, LG BC+EAA, Muscle Feast Anabolic Competition, and various bulk BCAAs (2:1:1 and 4:1:1).
I typically dose anywhere from 15-25g of BCAAs for my workouts. It really just varies depending on how long or intense the workout will be and what my diet looked like for the rest of the day. My workout style is a 2 week variation, which I've been using for over a year and I really enjoy. It's a 5 day split with 1 week being Max-OT and the other high intensity. Obviously, I think where the most noticeable differences will be seen are during the high intensity weeks with less rest between sets, but I'll make whatever observations I can. I'll also be playing around with the dosing.
I've used this product 3 times, already.
Day 1 (Friday) was a Max-OT Arms session. I dosed 2 scoops of BG and 9g of 2:1:1 bulk BCAAs to give me a total of 23g BCAAs.
Day 2 (Saturday) was a legs session. This didn't follow my typical scheme, because I've actually been grouping legs with delts and traps or arms for a while and not giving it its dedicated day. Thus, I didn't want to go full Max-OT and not be able to walk all week. I dosed 3 scoops of BG for this one for a total of 21g BCAAs.
Day 3 (Sunday) was a Max-OT delts/traps session. I dosed 2 scoops of BG, alone, for a total of 14g BCAAs.
I always mix my BCAAs up with a half-gallon of water and drink it throughout my entire workout.
The first day, the taste wasn't great. Usually, I'll mix 1-2 scoops of a flavored amino product with my bulk to cut the flavor and save on cost. I also don't like my intra drink to be overly sweet, either. It wasn't bad, either, but the taste was spot on for the 2nd day when I mixed 3 scoops into that half-gallon of water. The flavoring was better than the first day, but still not great on day 3 with just 2 scoops. I think people would find much more favor in mixing it with a smaller amount of water, as I'm pretty sure most guys do.
The mixability isn't bad. You do have to give it some time to settle; it's certainly not instantaneous. I put the half-gallon of water into the jug (just cold water straight from the tap) and then dump the aminos in on top, shake it up and turn the jug every which direction to mix it all up. Usually doing that a handful of times and the 5 minutes it takes me to drive to the gym is enough for it to settle. Once it mixes, it's completely dissolved and no garbage sitting on top -- that is a major plus. It also appears that there are no added dyes, so it mixes almost clear (just a faint tint to it, though it's not really colored; just doesn't look like pure water). I do like this very much; especially for the gyms that don't let anything in but water; this would be an easy way to get away with that.
The taste is good. I won't say it's great, but it's certainly not bad, either. It's weird, because it seems like two separate things are going on, especially when you open the bag. There is a strong raspberry scent/flavor and there is also a separate scent (flavor, not so much) that accompanies it. I can't put my finger on it, but it reminds me of when I first started using supplements. Maybe my memory will be jogged, later. It's not bad, but it's not an overly pleasant thing, either. Like I said, it's not anything bad, but it is worth mentioning. Aside from that, the flavor seems somewhat faint, but that doesn't bother me at all. I'd actually prefer it for something I have to sip on for an hour +.